Page 85 of For All My Effort
“It was.” I almost winced as I said that since my words were hard to pivot to a new discussion.
“No doubt the experience you had with the press a few weeks back has only added to your emotional distress.”
I nodded, not really sure how to answer that statement, before I remembered that I wasn’t supposed to do that.
“I was watching over the clips of what happened, and a lot of questions were thrown out about politics.”
I bit my lip, then stopped, remembering my lipstick. For the last few weeks, I’d literally practiced on how to keep from making meaningless gestures and I was already messing up, but I had no idea how to respond to her statement. My gaze quickly glanced over to Jackson, my only alpha easily in my line of sight. He was too far for me to take any comfort in his scent, but just being able to see him helped me relax.
“I know that omegas typically stay out of the political world, but your circumstances are unique. You’ve almost been forced into it, and I know everyone is wondering your opinions. For instance, do you think the betas at the protest where you were injured should be held responsible for the damages incurred by you?”
“No.” Fuck, I wish I’d said that louder—more confident. I tried again after quickly clearing the embarrassment from my throat. “No.”
That got Presley to lean forward, her face never losing that kind look as if she wasn’t actually fazed by my answer. “You have a kind, forgiving heart, then. How about your alphas, though? Surely, they think that some sort of punishment should be allotted for putting you in a hospital?”
“Well, sure, but that wasn’t what you asked before.”
The smile she gave me was condescending.
As soon as I saw her mouth about to open, I quickly added, “You asked about punishing the betas who were protesting. That wasn’t who attacked me. All the accounts I’ve heard were about an alpha peace officer. That he pulled me from behind with too much force.”
“That’s quite a version of events. I’ve covered protests before, and things get out of hand. An alpha’s instinct is to protect omegas, I imagine that’s what any peace officer was trying to do in an event as volatile as that.”
“Except I was tackled hundreds of feet from the building. Sprinting away from the protest.”
For just a moment, I watched Presley’s smile turn sharper, as if she’d realized I wasn’t just a boring omega to pass the time, but some interesting prey for her to play with. “The peace officers were called out only after several hours had passed of the restaurant losing revenue. It’s most likely possible that you got caught up in the crowd or that your alphas were far enough away that an alpha noticed an unattended omega. Where were your alphas during the incident?”
A trick question with a trick answer. “The emergency personnel struggled to get my alphas out of the way once they arrived. Apparently, I’d blacked out moments after my skull cracked. It really worried my alphas despite our bond.”
“Being newly bonded myself, I can understand their fear. If that was me, I would be wondering how I could have prevented such an injury to my mate. If I should have been closer.”
This time, it was my turn to change the topic, because I knew an argument about how my alphas shouldn’t be blamed for someone else hurting me wasn’t going to go over well. Alphas thought it was their duty to protect omegas. I figured alphas should just learn to control themselves since they were the prominent cause of omega related injuries. Especially unbonded alphas and omegas.
“My mates always stay close,” I admitted, “that’s the only reason I wasn’t completely overwhelmed when all the reporters tried to get their answers on my date.”
“If I remember correctly, several alphas from the orchestral band had to come help you both into the elevator.”
I wondered how many times she’d watched those videos, all of them the same, just from different angles, making a note of each slight head movement I had. She made it sound like she had just glanced at the video, but I knew her question was rhetorical. She knew.
“I’m very grateful to those alphas,” I told her.
“How come you were out alone with just one of your alphas? After what you’d been through, I would have kept my own omega on lockdown. And if he needed to go out, it would be with the whole pack.”
“We’ve never had an issue out in public before all this—”
“That you can remember. With years lost from your memory, you can’t really say for certain that this instance hasn’t happened before.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. But omegas shouldn’t be forced to live in fear of going outside.” I was getting too riled up, making it harder to keep my tone in check.
“I agree. Although a certain level of protection needs to be appointed to omegas. Like this bill proposed by representative Adam. In limiting the times that omegas are out in society, it ensures that the peace officers will be able to maintain proper surveillance. It was one of the hallmarks of Adam’s proposal.”
She didn’t ask a question because she wanted me to simply nod my head along. Sebastian had warned me about that—stopping my natural tendencies in a conversation to simply acknowledge when someone was talking.
“Omegas are supposed to be protected to the point of allowing us out. If you keep us locked up for safety reasons, it seems more like an insult to the alpha, claiming they couldn’t protect their mate.”
“In extreme cases, the worst can happen. Look at you—”
“Exactly. Look at me. My alphas have protected me again and again. We were at a shopping district for the first attack, I might not remember how or why or when we got there, but I could imagine I wanted to go shopping so my mates came along. Then I went on a date, with my alpha, and again, he protected me. Now I get to sit here because the worst didn’t happen.”