"Well," Andrew shifted in his chair, glancing around the room, "I…uh, am still not fully sure how I did it." Andrew admitted, a little embarrassed. "But when I thought I had finally manifested, things got…strange. I'm aware now, but I wasn't really aware at the time that when someone manifests, they either go into heat, or rut depending on what they manifest as." The reporter nodded. She was, after all, an omega. She knew this.
"So," Andrew continued. "I was in rut. She, my ex, could tell, and she was fucking elated. I was sick to my stomach because she smelled like rancid garbage." Someone snorted, muffled of course, and Andrew felt his lips curl up. "You can laugh. That's funny. It had to be a reason why others didn't want to bond with her. Her scent reflected how rotten she was inside out." Andrew shrugged. "Either way, I knew what she wanted, I used that to my advantage and I…" Andrew swallowed.
He was never proud of what he did. What he had to do. The reporter, able to sense that something had happened, stared at him with kindness.
"You don't have to speak of it if you don't want to." She spoke softly, and Andrew shook his head.
"No. It's…okay. I just…I don't like to think of myself as a violent person for violence sake. I can be violent, I know this. I am a strong person, I like to work out, and I'm still adjusting to the boost in strength that I got from becoming an alpha. I've turned from a basic predator into a real one." Andrew pulled at his top lip, showing off his fangs in a thoughtless act. The reporter stared at him.
"Were you able to remain sane?" She asked and Andrew let out a low laugh. She sounded impressed, but Andrew wasn't so sure.
"I don't think I was sane, no. I think I'm just stubborn." Andrew countered her question and she stared at him a little confused. "I was in rut, but I was…I wanted to go home. So, I did whatever I could to achieve that. I seduced her, then choked her out." Andrew said the words quickly. He waited for her, a fellow omega, to condemn him. He only expected Maxwell, and now Richard to agree with his actions.
The reporter let out a loud, harsh sound.
"Good." She said, and Andrew blinked.
"Good?" He repeated, slower than her quick response. She was staring at him, her gaze narrowed.
"Dr. Knox, were you expecting me to have any other kind of response? If I may be crass, but fuck that woman. I have never heard a story as haunting as the one you are telling me. Nor as horrifying. I, honestly, am going to be thinking about this for weeks after this interview. It's why I am asking so many questions. This is haunting. I am astounded by your strength in being able to tell us this without sobbing." Andrew felt his mouth open, but he couldn't say anything in response.
"I-It's not-" She shook her head and Andrew shut up. She sighed.
"Dr. Knox, this is…you had every right to kill her, you know that, right? I am assuming you didn't, since I think someone as kind as you would have far more guilt if that was the case." Andrew gulped. She had called him out, and Andrew didn't know what to say.
It was at that moment that Luis came back with a helper, carrying a few trays with them. Like Andrew had assumed, she had gotten one of everything, but made sure to get Andrew another London fog since that was what he had gotten the first time.
She handed it over, her gaze suspicious as she scanned the group.
"Did they-" She started, puffing up and Andrew shook his head.
"I agreed to speak, Luis. It's fine. They were curious, and I asked them to move away from the cameras and stuff because I knew you would get suspicious." Andrew said. Luis seemed a little surprised to hear that, before she nodded and stepped down from her protective pedestal.
"Okay. Good. As long as you are okay." She took a drink after everyone else had selected one and went back to her spot against the wall. Andrew could feel her gaze on him, and could tell that the others could as well. The reporter continued, not phased by the intense gaze of Luis Beckett.
"So you were able to escape. Do you remember anything after that?" She asked carefully and Andrew shook his head.
"No. Not at all. All I can remember thinking is that I needed to get to Max, I needed to get home, and then when I woke up, I was in our-his backyard and he was there." Andrew said plainly. She nodded, but clearly the words impacted her. She remained silent for a moment before she gathered herself enough that she was able to speak.
"So you have no idea where you were held?" She asked. Andrew shook his head, playing with the little charm on the top of his coffee cup. It was a little heart, shoved into the top of the drink where he would drink out of. Clearly a little charm to make sure it didn't spill in transport. A cute detail. Andrew wondered absently, who came up with that idea? Kim? Jenny? Someone else?
"No. I don't know how long I walked, where I came from, none of it. I was naked and relatively beaten up when I arrived in the backyard." Andrew said, before he got excited. "But, through all this, I got to reunite with one of my friends from university. So that's exciting." Andrew was trying to be hopeful, but the reporter just stared at him in silence. Andrew turned to look at the rest of the crew and felt his heart drop.
They were crying. Why were they crying?
"I-I'm sorry. I really didn't want to upset anyone. Should we stop?" Andrew asked and the reporter put her drink to the side. She balanced it on the small table with the hydrangeas on it, then bent and pressed her hands against her face as she stared at the ground. Andrew wondered what to say, but the reporter was only in that state for a moment.
When she sat up, she rolled her shoulders and met Andrew's panicked gaze head on.
"Dr. Knox, I appreciate that I've gotten to question you and learn more about you. As a reporter, this is a great experience for me. If I can be candid, I am aware that you are very different from others of your station. You admitted that you are fairly new to money, and the limelight. I can tell that, which is probably why Mrs. Beckett is here consistently so I am not taking advantage of that ignorance." Luis nodded from where she was sitting. "When it comes to other reporters, I can understand where her trepidation is coming from. Some reporters out there are…not as considerate. I, however, pride myself on not being that way." She turned to smile at Luis, before turning back to Andrew.
"I didn't think you were going to take advantage of me." Andrew told her, and she gave a tight smile.
"Thank you for saying so, but it's not uncommon for some reporters to do that. I understand where this hesitation comes from. It's healthy in this field. With that being said, the story you have just told us? Dr. Knox, you either didn't know you had money or didn't have the money when that happened. You knew someone who was rich, but I don't think you are the kind of person who would have taken advantage of that." Andrew flushed. That was right. "So, your ex took advantage of a man who had no money, who she had just gotten fired, correction, put on an indefinite probation period where no one would come to look for you. This is methodical, and clearly points to this not being her first time doing something like this. Or the people who had hired her having done this before." Andrew swallowed.
Listening to her say it, not just people who cared about him, really put it into perspective. It sunk in how serious it had been. What had happened to him, what the others had done to him, and, in the reporter's opinion, other people. That was clearly what she was implying, and Andrew could feel how his hands began to shake.
He put the London fog on the table as well, before locking his fingers together in his lap as he came to that realisation.
"You think that there were others before me." Andrew didn't ask it, he stated it. She nodded.
"I'm…not fully certain, since this is my first time hearing this, but all of the little details are…suspicious." Andrew couldn't deny her words after she had put everything together. It was suspicious.
He'd pushed this all away so that he wouldn't have to deal with it. That was obvious to him now that they were talking about it. He felt uncomfortable. Awkward. Like he was poking a part of him that he didn't want to deal with.
Andrew was familiar with that feeling. He'd had it before, he still had it when it came to some aspects of his Mom's death.
Andrew closed his eyes, letting out a shaky breath.
"Ah fuck." He said softly. "Did I do the wrong thing by not saying anything right away?" Andrew asked quietly and the sound of a chair scraping across the floor had Andrew opening his eyes and Luis stormed towards him. She reached over and wrapped her arms around him tightly. She buried his face into her shoulder, squeezing him.
"Absolutely not." She affirmed. "Don't you dare even begin to think that way. In what world is this your fault? Your only fault, Andrew, is loving someone, and trusting them even for a second. You did nothing wrong, and you continue to do nothing wrong in regards to this situation. Don't even dare consider that as an option. I know Max would say the same thing." She was right.
Not only would Maxwell say the same thing, he'd be pissed at him for even considering it. However, that didn't mean that Andrew could just turn his brain off.
"But what if they had time to hurt someone else?" Andrew asked quietly and Luis squeezed him more.
"You can't blame yourself for that. You can't. If you do that, you're only going to spiral." Luis told him. Andrew's glasses were a little askew from the hug that Luis was giving him, but he was able to tell that the reporter was nodding as well.
"I agree. The reality is that they will want to recreate what they did with you, Dr. Knox, but they are probably terrified about what you can do to them. Especially now. They will scramble to hide, that's what they do." The reporter was trying to comfort Andrew, but Andrew just wasn't sure.
Now that he'd had the thought, he felt a pit fall into his stomach. Andrew could feel his chest tightening, and it became a little harder to breathe. Oh no. Oh no no no.