It Started With a Scent

Fourteen Missed Calls

Her phone had been ringing all day.

She was studiously ignoring it.

Turning it on silent would have been the next best thing to do but she couldn't find the strength to move from her bed.

It had been two days since she'd been fired, the words from her dismissal ringing in her mind constantly.

The thought of being pushed up against that diner wall, the thrill of being at Jason's mercy, haunting her dreams.

That's why you'd be safer at home, Rachael. Maybe some omegas can handle the corporate world but you're not one of them. Taking over this diner would lead to disaster. You're just not cut out for this.

She could still feel the hand imprinted on her hip.

He had called an omega-only cab service for her.

She had gotten home to the crippling emptiness and done the only thing that made her feel a sense of purpose at the time.

She had eaten the whole damn cake.

It had been a stupid thing to do and she had regretted it as soon as the last piece had passed her lips.

She had transformed into wolf form and only shifted back into a human when she had to eat or use the toilet. Otherwise, for the last two days, she had been moping around in the apartment and howling so pitifully that the neighbour below her had hit the ceiling with a broom until she shut up.

It had gotten to the point where she was sick of her own company so she shifted back and grudgingly grabbed for her phone, answering it when it rang for the fifteenth time.

"Tina."

"Thank God you're okay." Tina blew out a breath of relief on the other end of the line. "I didn't want to overwhelm you with calls but I was getting worried that I hadn't heard anything from you. Are you sick? You haven't been at work."

"I was fired." She said, simply.

There was silence from Tina's end.

"Are... you making a joke?"

"No, Tina. I'm actually not joking." Rachael deadpanned. She had done enough crying over the last few days to have her feeling worn out over the whole situation. "Denny fired me on Thursday."

The silence dragged out for longer this time.

"Can I come over?" Tina finally asked.

Rachael gave a non-committal grunt.

"Okay, I'll pick up Chinese on the way."

"The door's unlocked. Just let yourself in." Rachael said. "I'll be in my bed."

Forty five minutes later, Tina was jumping on to her bed with the food and they were munching on egg-fried rice and sweet and sour chicken.

Tina wasted no time getting to the questions she deemed important.

"How on earth did you get fired?" She asked, looking appalled at the whole situation. "The hell, Rachael?"

Rachael flushed with shame, "it was Jason." She mumbled out the words, hating the fact that she was about to recall the event to her friend but thankful that Tina was someone she could trust with her embarrassing stories.

"Sorry, I didn't quite get that- WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT WAS JASON?" Tina's face went bright red as she went into half-shift, nails turning into claws as she pointed a finger at Rachael. "What did he do?"