“Your mother didn’t disappear without a trace. She died of cardiac arrest.”
Cardiac arrest.
Her heart stopped.
Suddenly, Isobel couldn’t breathe again. It was everything she had feared. Her mother had taken on all of her father’s darkness without Isobel there to share the load … and it had proved too much.
“And what’s the worst that could happen if you stopped fighting your feelings for … well … your feelings?” Teak prodded, squeezing Isobel’s fingers, and ducking her head to catch Isobel’s attention.
“I could lose the person I’ve found here that finally feels like me,” she rushed out, realising that she was shaking so much, she was causing Teak’s sleeves to tremble slightly. “I could lose this awful spark of happiness that scares the hell out of me. It’s not that I felt invisible before and now suddenly I’m famous. I still feel just as invisible, but now there are people who seem to understand me. It’s like they know me better than I do, and I don’t want to lose how that makes me feel. I’m discovering myself through them, and I wish I wasn’t. I wish I was doing it all on my own.”
“We don’t go through life all on our own,” Teak said soothingly. “Changing your environment is how you change yourself. Your environment has changed in a big way, and it looks like the Alphas in Dorm A are a big part of your environment here. If you like the way they’re influencing you, then maybe don’t fight it so much. If something happens to pull you away from them, you’ll still have everything they taught you. You won’t lose any of it.”
“And it makes total sense that they’re having such a profound impact on you.” Charlie moved to sit on the arm of Isobel’s chair, draping her arm over Isobel’s shoulder and giving her a gentle squeeze. “Their lives have been the opposite of yours in every single aspect. They’re respected where you’re looked down on. They’re powerless where you have all the wealth and influence of an Icon’s daughter. They’re celebrated and you’re disregarded. They have impossible standards to live up to, and you’re underestimated every single day, in every way possible. They have so much to teach you and you have so much to teach them. It’s not surprising that you’re drawn to each other … I mean some things are surprising—”
Teak swatted at her again. “Stop it.”
“Do I sound like I’m judging?” Charlie laughed.
“No,” Teak grumbled. “You sound impressed.”
“She counted out eight of them,” Charlie stage-whispered. “And then she said and.”
“I was just trying to count Cian twice because he’s so … hot,” Isobel protested weakly.
The two women retreated, Teak checking her phone while Charlie just sat back in her chair, still smirking.
“I asked your father for an update on what his plans were to help you through the summer break.” Teak frowned as she scrolled across her screen. “It looks like he still hasn’t replied. Has he spoken to you?”
“Not since last week.” Isobel shrugged. “He’s really preoccupied with getting this new superhero movie. He’s up against Bellamy’s dad and things are getting a bit tense. I’ve met with his assistant and Cooper more than I’ve met with him the past few weeks.”
“Cooper’s the guy with the goatee, right?” Teak asked, tapping her chin. “I saw him in some of the coverage of your settlement tour. Is he your official manager, or your father’s?”
“Mine, now. Dad made me sign a contract to keep him on after I got out of the hospital. But he’s more of a messenger than anything.”
“I’ll try to get into contact with him instead.” Teak sighed, slipping her phone away. “I’m worried your father won’t prioritise the need for surrogates over the break. He should have submitted an application for one of them already, and there’s been nothing. At this point, it’s going to have to be an emergency application.”
Isobel’s blood ran cold. “Maybe he forgot. He’s been really busy.”
“All right, well we can leave it there for now. I think we should continue our sessions over the break. At least once a week. We can video chat and I can intervene if I see that your health is at risk.”
Isobel stood, chewing on her lip. “I didn’t last very long on the settlement tour without a surrogate.”
“I’ll video call you three days into the break,” Teak assured. “You’re not just your father’s responsibility anymore. Now you’re … Ironside’s.”
“You were about to say yours, weren’t you?” Charlie teased, sending Isobel a wink.
“Also mine.” Teak sniffed, looking Isobel over. “Give me your phone. You’ll need my details for our online sessions.”
After they exchanged information, the panic dropped back into Isobel’s gut, and she found herself with nerves dancing all the way to her fingertips.
“You’ve got this,” Charlie muttered, patting her on the shoulder before opening the door and striding out.
The hallway was blissfully bare, and she slipped into the elevator with Teak and Charlie, wishing she could just follow them all the way to wherever they lived and never have to face the Alphas again, but there was no such luck.
It wasn’t just Cian and Oscar waiting for her.
The rest of the Alphas were gathered in the family centre, spread out around three of the tables with Kalen and Mikel leaning against the wall between two of the windows looking out toward the front of the academy.
“Well, well, this is surprising.” Teak stopped as soon as she exited the elevator, her gaze drifting over the gathered men, taking in their carefully guarded expressions. “Professor West, Professor Easton.” She turned her attention to the tall bodies at the back of the room. “Can I help you?”
“No,” Mikel replied, “we’re good.” His tone wasn’t harsh, but it wasn’t sugary sweet either. He examined Isobel closely before settling his attention back on Teak. “Is there anything I need to be aware of?”
“What could you possibly need to be aware of?” Teak feigned ignorance, putting on a calm, confused demeanour.
It made Isobel like her that much more.
It wasn’t every day she saw a Sigma stand up to ten guarded Alphas, all radiating tense, overwhelming energy.
Actually, it wasn’t any day.
“Carter is one of my Alphas.” Mikel nodded toward Isobel. “Her welfare is my concern. Is there anything I need to be aware of?”
“Um, Carter is a Sigma,” Charlie inserted, raising her hand.
“You should prepare emergency paperwork for some of your Alphas to travel if the need for a surrogate arises,” Teak said, surprising everyone. “Have them ready to be filed. It would appear that Isobel’s father hasn’t arranged a care plan for the summer break.”
“She’s going home alone?” Cian growled, jumping up from the edge of the table he had been sitting on, his tattooed hands curling into fists, which he quickly shoved into his pockets.
Pockets that pulled the material of his pants tight around his crotch.