Everyone broke out in loud chatter. I was suddenly very grateful for Caden's hand in mine and his steady work presence behind me which calmed my frantic heart. He held my hand in a tight grip and led us both towards the front of the interrogation line.
My legs bounced from nerves and my body was overcome by nervous shudders. Caden took notice and slightly pulled us to the side of the line and turned his body so that he was locking their view of me.
He leaned closer to my ear to whisper, "it's better to get this over with, I can go into the tent first for questioning and wait for you to finish. It's nothing to nervous about there are cameras all around the campus that will show we were in your building while the fire was set." He looked directly into my eyes, "okay?"
I nodded. He raised his eyebrows clearly waiting for a verbal answer, "okay." I whispered back.
He pulled me in front of him and wrapped his arms around me filling me with warmth. He placed his chin on my head cocooning me into his space and making it easier to breathe. When they motioned for the next person to step into the text, my chest felt empty without him.
Caden said he felt the same way about his pack members that he does with me. Does that feel similar to how I feel? Is it even normal to feel this deep of a connection to someone I barely know?
A few minutes passed before Caden stepped out of the tent and stepped off to the side giving me an encouraging nod. I walked into the pale grey tent. A big bald man was sitting on a chair and motioned for me to sit across from him. I did with a stiff back. He turned to a new page in his clipboard and looked back up at me through narrowed eyes, "где вы были час назад?" (where were you an hour ago?)
I blinked at him opened my mouth then shut it. He seemed to recognize the problem and rolled his eyes at me motioning one of the other guys in the back of the tent to talk to me.
The other police officer looked much kinder and he politely asked me about my whereabouts at specific times and checked in with the cameras to make sure I was telling the truth. After confirming I was in fact telling the truth, they sent me on my way.
The second I stepped outside I immediately searched for Caden. Only after I was safely engulfed in his reassuring sweet scent did I realize how unusual it was for me to be so attached to someone. The little voice in my head blew it off and claimed it was love at first sight. I wrinkled my nose, love at first sight doesn't exist I shouted back at it.
Caden grabbed a pass from an officer outside the tent meaning that we were already questioned and not a suspect.
A stern looking woman stood on a small platform with a microphone and was shouting things into it. Caden ushered me away before I could hear the English translation.
He walked me back to my house waited for me to unlock the door and then lock it behind me to speak, "the police and teachers don't want the students to go far but it's not safe at the school. They are contacting parents but they don't want to sent students all the way back to another country. They were saying that people who live in Russia can go live with their families until this is over. They think three to five days will be long enough to sort this out. But they were talking about renting out hotel rooms for the students who live in different countries."
I cringed at that. Stuck in some big building with a lot of noise, no thank you. But what choice did I have, "I guess I better start packing then."
Caden nodded, "I can help. You probably won't need more than a weeks worth of clothes."
"Thanks. Are you staying at the hotel too."
He winced, "no sorry, I'm going to be staying with my pack. But, would you let me convince you to come with me?"
Before he had even finished that sentence I was already shaking my head no. "I can't invade your pack's space just because we may or may not have a thing going on between us."
He huffed, "we do have a 'thing' and I already told you, open relationship. They won't mind and then you can meet them." He looked at me with widened eyes and a slight pout, "pretty please."
"No, sorry. It just would feel to awkward for me."
"When will you meet them then? You can't avoid them forever." Caden asked.
That made me pause, Caden had already claimed he's in love with me to his pack. Why can't I meet them? I think a part of me expected Caden to lose interest in whatever he saw in me. I shook my head again, "I don't feel ready to see them yet. Maybe a different time under less stressful circumstances."
Caden seemed to mull it over in his head and finally agreed. He pulled out my big suitcase from my closet and helped me pick out comfortable outfits to lay around in all day at the hotel. The teachers had announced on the intercom in multiple languages that there would be a bus in thirty minutes to pick up the kids for the hotel.
I said my goodbyes to Caden with the promise of texting him every five minutes and calling him every night. Only after swearing on my life that I would constantly call and text him did he let me go. As I walked towards the bus I glanced back. Why was I so scared to be away from Caden? He waved and blew me a kiss which made me giggle and rush up the rest of the stairs and onto the bus.
During the bus ride from the school and the hotel, Caden had FaceTimed me once, called me twice and texted me fifteen times. It was cute at first but slowly got annoying. He made me send pictures of the hotel room and remarked about how the guest room at his house was much larger. I rolled me eyes at that and firmly told him I was going to sleep to get a moment of silence.
I threw my suitcase down by the bed and changed into my pajamas. I was about to get into bed when an unquenchable thirst hit me. I decided to sneak downstairs and get a water bottle from a vending machine.
I was trying to fit my dollar into the machine when I felt someone staring at me. I looked at the mirror in front of me to see the reflection of a man standing a few feet from me. I tried not to react and kept punching in the numbers and took a deep breath in, cursing the half human part of me. I couldn't pick up a scent from him but his physical appearance looked too bulky to be an omega.
My water bottle shot down and I crouched to lift it out from the bottom of the machine. Then I smelt him, it was a heavy smell of muddy water. The dominance radiating off of him meant one thing, he was an alpha.
I had only met a few alphas back in town and haven't met one yet in Russia. The alphas in my town had watered down scents and were mated so I didn't feel a strong pull on me. Also I had only ever seen them before I had perfumed. So that would explain how they barely affected then.
Now, I was a fully perfumed omega. His scent was making my knees weak, in all those classes I took, they mentioned that an alpha would have a stronger pull on an omega but never warned me it was this bad. I would have to ask Caden about it later.
It took all of my strength to straighten up and walk past him without wandering in his direction. Although his scent didn't call to me like Caden's, the alpha pheromones escaping his pores did call to the omega part of me.
He roughly grabbed my wrist before I could go far, "woah they're pretty omega, not so fast. Where are you going in such a rush. Hmmm, why don't you come back to my room with me. I can satisfy all your needs."
He was drunk or at least tipsy, his words were slurred. His grip was so tight I knew I had no hope of getting free unless I caught him off guard. I attempted to twist around so I could knee him in the dick. After a few tries with him completely oblivious I was centered just right and summoned all my strength up into my leg.
He yelped forgetting about me and grabbing his balls instead. I sprinted back up the stairs to my room. After a good few minutes of trying to calm myself down, I gave in and called Caden. I picked at my lips while waiting for him to answer.
His cheerful tone filled the phone only a few moments later, "hey, princess. Missing me already."
I bite down on my arm to muffle my sob. Shut up Odette. You're fine. I breathed in through my nose sharply. Why did I call Caden then if I was fine? What did I even plan on saying to him? I weighted my options and thought about completing lying to him.
Concern filled Caden voice now, "Odette. Are you okay?" I heard some shuffling and a door shut, I hoped he distanced himself from his alphas so their first impression of me wasn't a blabbering idiot. "What happened?"
I shook my head, "nothing I meant to call my mom. Sorry. Night."
I moved my finger to hang up the call when Caden's usual light voice turned stern, "no, Odette tell me what happened."