After an indefinite amount of time to catch her breath, Erika continued driving, her eyes fixed on the road, though her gaze was dull and lost. Her hands gripped the steering wheel as if letting go would mean she would completely collapse, as if the wheel were the only thing keeping her from falling apart.
Her knuckles were so tense they were turning white, and her fingers barely trembled as the car moved through the brightly lit streets of a city that, at that moment, seemed foreign to her, familiar, yet impossibly distant.
Like a dream she couldn't fully wake from, or a memory that no longer belonged to her.
The traffic lights, the bright billboards, the urban murmur of a Friday night… everything felt disconnected, as if it no longer belonged to her reality.
As if her body were there, but her mind had been left behind, trapped in the dressing rooms, in the heat, in the invisible force that tugged at her soul and didn't let her breathe.
Without Erika noticing, a few blocks away, a second vehicle was following her closely.Emma drove with absolute concentration, following Omega's car with a mixture of nervousness and concern. Meanwhile, Alison, sitting next to her, finished adjusting the bandage on her left forearm; her fingers were skillful, but somewhat slow due to the intense pain that still burned in the wounds.
"This is serious, Ali." Emma murmured, her jaw clenched, her eyes never leaving the figure of the car ahead.
"I know, Ems," the alpha replied without hesitation, cutting the tape with her teeth."And not just because of how she is now. When the suppressant wears off, when her body cools down..."
She paused.
"She's going to feel like she failed at everything. And you know how hard she can be on herself."
Emma slowed down slightly when she saw Erika stop at a red light.
The silence between them was filled only by the faint sound of the car's turn signal.
"Are your cuts okay?" Emma asked finally, glancing quickly at her partner's bandaged arms.
"Meh," Alison replied, dismissing it with a shrug. "Erika just pulled a little stunt on me, that's all. Omega claws when they panic are no joke, but I've had worse."
She gingerly rubbed her right forearm, though a crooked smile, half sarcasm, half resignation, appeared on her face.
"They look more serious than they are. I didn't mean to. Her body just... reacted. But I'm fine. With rest, I'll be as good as new."
Emma let out a short sigh.
"If you say so," she murmured, raising an eyebrow.
"Still, when we get back to the apartment and make sure Erika's okay, I'm going to check those wounds out.
And if I see infection, you won't stop me when I get out the strong disinfectant."
"You know I like it rough, but that threat really scares me," Alison joked with a faint smile.
Emma didn't laugh.
She just glanced at her with genuine concern.
"Ali... today was too much. For all of us."
Alison nodded slowly, leaning her head back against the seat.
"Yeah... it was like someone pulled a string we didn't even know was there," she said softly. "The atmosphere became strange. And she... Erika had never reacted like that. I've been around omegas in heat before, and I'd never seen anything so sudden. So violent... It was almost as if her body was trying to run away from something she didn't understand."
"Do you think someone forced her? Some kind of trigger?" Emma asked, biting her lower lip.
"I don't know. But I know what I felt. And I didn't like it at all."
The alpha shifted in her seat, her gaze growing darker.
"There was something there. I don't know what it was, but suddenly... the atmosphere changed. I felt it. It wasn't just attraction or sexual tension. It was like a dark energy took over the room. And Erika... she reacted like every cell in her body was screaming, and all she wanted to do was run away."
Emma nodded, gripping the wheel.
The light turned green, and they both resumed driving.
"What if it wasn't just fear?" she asked softly. "What if it was... something else? Something more internal."
"Like a bond?" Alison whispered, though she didn't sound convinced. It was more like she was testing aloud a suspicion she didn't want to name.
"It's possible," Emma admitted.
"We don't know. But if it was, Erika didn't want it. That much was clear."
The conversation fell silent again.
Erika's car continued forward, although her driving had become erratic, sometimes veering slightly out of her lane before correcting it.
She seemed to be driving more out of instinct than actual awareness.
"Do you think she'll let us near her tonight?" Emma asked suddenly, her voice tinged with unusual vulnerability.
Alison turned slightly toward her, a small, disheartened smile forming.
"Maybe she doesn't want to see us, Emma. And honestly... I don't know if I want to force her to do anything right now," he said, looking down at his bandages before looking up again. "But that doesn't mean she doesn't need us. Erika's going to need all the support she can get... And I'm not taking a single step back."
Emma nodded silently.
A tear slid down her cheek, quick, almost invisible, as she returned her attention to the road.
"I love her," she said suddenly, barely above a whisper.
Alison looked at her gently.
"Me too. And that's why we're going to protect her, no matter what... even if it means confronting whoever was there tonight and is responsible," Alison replied, her voice firm and steady. "Because whoever it was... I didn't like her. Not because of what she did, but because of what she caused... No one should have that much power over someone without even touching them."
Erika's car finally turned onto the street that led to her building.
Both women followed her, determined not to leave her unsupervised, not in that state.