We parked in front of Jewel’s shop and Ben held the car door open for me. He wrapped his arm around my waist and squeezed me to his side. I gave him a tight smile. The ride over had been tense, with Theo checking multiple times if I was okay. I knew he didn’t mean it, but he was making me question the confidence I’d felt just hours before.
The shop was dark with the shades drawn, but Jewel had given us the code to get in. My breath caught as I crossed the threshold. The last time I’d been here, I’d been anxious about finding a dress that would fit me for the cocktail party. That felt like a lifetime ago.
Jewel, Luc, and Maximo, one of Poppy’s alphas, were in the front room of the shop looking at some paperwork laid out on the counter.
“Josie!” Luc exclaimed, a big smile spreading across his face as he walked over and pulled me into the world’s most awkward side hug.
He let go and we stared at each other. Luc had always been reserved and grumpy. This exuberance was hilariously out of character.
“That was weird,” Luc said.
“Yeah, let’s not do that again,” I responded with a grin. “It’s good to see you.”
“Good to see you,” Luc said, rubbing the back of his neck.
Theo wrapped his arms around me from behind, pulling me flush to his body as he scowled at Luc. I rolled my eyes, elbowing him in the stomach.
“Tone down the alpha nonsense,” I hissed. I was frustrated with him. He kept flipping from being super sweet to being stressed and overbearing, and I wasn’t sure how to handle it.
Theo huffed but loosened his grip on me.
“Did Charlie come with you?” I asked Luc.
“No, she wanted to, but she’s had some health issues, and it just seemed too risky. But she’s been working with Amirah and I’m sure she and Ben will coordinate security and hacking stuff. I don’t really understand any of it,” he said with a shrug.
“Wait, Charlie is your omega?” Ben asked Luc, coming to stand next to us. “How did I not put this together?”
“Wait, the Charlie you’ve been working with is Luc’s Charlie?” I looked between Luc and Ben.
Luc grinned. “I didn’t realize you hadn’t put it together.”
“Wait, that’s so cool! A hacker omega,” I said, looking up at Ben. He squeezed my hand.
“Josie, your friends are in the back,” Jewel said, barely glancing up from whatever she was looking at.
My lips twitched at her abruptness.
“Emir is back there, too,” Maximo said. “Trying to excavate a path so we have room to meet.”
Jewel snorted. “The back room is fine the way it is.”
Maximo just shot me a look that told me not to believe her.
“I’ll meet you back there?” I asked my alphas. Ben and Cam nodded, but Theo took my hand and pulled me aside.
He opened his mouth to speak and then hesitated. “I just… shit. I’m sorry. I’m messing everything up.”
I furrowed my brow in confusion. He cupped the side of my face, running his thumb across my lower lip.
“I know I’m not handling things well, but I want you to know that I trust you,” he murmured. “And I’m so proud of you.”
I melted a bit, my body flooding with warmth at his words.
“Thanks,” I whispered. “I love you.” I didn’t like this awkward distance between us and knew we needed to have a longer conversation about what was going on with him.
“Love you, too,” he said, placing a soft kiss on my lips. “Meet you in there.”
I felt lighter as I walked into the back room. I squinted as my eyes adjusted to the dim light, and then I did a double take. The room was filled with floor-to-ceiling boxes, piles of clothes, and every other item you could imagine. It was absolute chaos.
Clementine’s head popped up from behind one of the boxes.
“Josie!” she shouted, scrambling over the piles to get to me. She threw herself at me and promptly burst into tears.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I’m sorry,” she sobbed.
I hugged her tightly. “I know, it’s okay,” I murmured, squeezing her tight.
I didn’t blame Clementine—she’d been in the dark like the rest of us.
“But Dave,” she said, her voice hushed.
I nodded, biting my lip. “I don’t know what happened.”
My heart hurt as I thought of her and Dave’s budding romance and then his weird behavior leading up to his betrayal.
Poppy and Westin joined our group hug, and we were all blubbering messes when we pulled apart.
Emir, one of Poppy’s alphas, gave me a little wave from across the room, where he was clearing boxes off a faded pink velvet couch that looked like it’d seen better days.
“Come on, we can claim the couch,” Poppy said, pulling me over.
“Where are your other alphas?” I asked her.
“Whining that they couldn’t come,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Honestly, we’re supposed to be keeping this on the down low. It didn’t make sense for all five of them to come. Maximo has been working most closely with Amirah, so he has all the updates, and Emir is the most chill of all of them, so he got to come.”
Emir chuckled as he hoisted another box onto a teetering pile. “I thought you said it was because I was the prettiest to look at.”
“That, too,” Poppy responded with a grin.
Emir was very pretty—he had the massive size of a typical alpha, but he had long, sooty lashes and golden-brown skin. He laughed again as he sauntered towards the door to round up the rest of the group.
Clementine squeezed my hand and Poppy leaned into my other side. Even though everything was going to shit, I couldn’t help but feel a lightness at being with my friends again. The time we’d spent together in Luc’s gym felt sacred now, as if a part of us had known we would need to be prepared for this exact fight.
Ben whistled when he walked into the room. “Can’t believe you’ve been hiding this gorgeous space from us, Jewel.”
“Fuck off,” she grumbled.
My alphas stood behind the couch, and I tilted my head back to look at them.
Ben ran his fingers down my cheek. “You good?” he mouthed, and I nodded back.
Maximo started by updating us on the government’s position since Amirah went underground. It wasn’t good news. The opposition party had held out against Glen for years, but they’d been capitulating more in the past few months. Now, Alliance operatives in Sol had evidence that the Designation Government was working to influence Sol’s upcoming election.
I glanced back at Theo. His face was impassive as Maximo spoke as if none of this was new information. I faced forward again, pursing my lips. It was clear my alphas had been keeping a lot from me. Although I guess I couldn’t completely blame them… I’d been catatonic there for a while.
Cam’s hands rested on my shoulders and every once in a while, he would play with my hair in a move so natural I wasn’t sure he even knew he was doing it.
“Of course, their latest focus is omega subjugation with the True Nature Omega Pilot Program, which allows the government to force omegas to get a device like Josie’s,” Maximo said, eyes darting to me with a brief look of pity. “We’ve heard omegas are starting to get letters telling them they’ve been selected for the program.”
Dizziness and nausea made it hard for me to stay upright. I hadn’t realized there was a whole official program. The urge to claw at my arm was overwhelming. Ben reached down to grasp my hand as he leaned over, brushing a soft kiss on my cheek as if to tell me I was safe. I breathed in his scent, allowing it to cut through the multitude of scents swirling around the room.
“I got a letter,” Westin said, her voice so soft I could barely hear her.
“What?” Poppy said, her eyes wide.
I leaned forward to look at Westin, who was curled up in a blanket with a sad, defeated expression.
“It was addressed to my aunt’s alphas because they’re my guardians.” Her lip trembled, and tears gathered in my eyes. Westin always seemed so strong and stoic. Seeing her so vulnerable made me want to fight everyone who put that look on her face.
“My appointment is scheduled for two weeks from now,” she said, quickly wiping away a tear from her cheek.
“How can they do that?” Poppy asked, her eyes blazing.
“The law they passed said the pilot program was just for certain flagged omegas, right?” Clementine asked, looking around for confirmation.
Theo frowned. “The pilot program is for omegas who have been documented to have behavioral issues and those who are ineligible to bond with a pack.”
Westin looked down at her clenched hands. “Yeah.”
Westin had always been private. I’d never asked her why she didn’t have a pack, and she hadn’t volunteered the information. I reached across Poppy to take Westin’s hand. Her skin was ice cold against mine.
“You don’t have to tell us anything if you don’t want to. No matter what, we won’t let this happen to you,” I said.
Westin gave me a tremulous smile. “Not much to tell. Within the first couple of months at the DA, they judged me to be ineligible for pack life. I have some… medical issues they said would keep a pack from wanting to bond with me. They barred me from ever joining a pack and said I needed alpha guardians who could keep me in line. My aunt took me in and her alphas are my guardians. I guess I should be grateful. It got me out of having to stay at the DA any longer.”
She shrugged as if it was no big deal, but I knew what it was like to carry the burden of being told there was something wrong with you.
“Are your aunt and your pack with the Alliance? Are they helping you?” I asked.
“I think they’re just tired of having me around. They said I should go to the appointment.”
Cam growled, making the four of us on the couch jump.
“We’ll make sure you’re protected,” he said fiercely, threading his fingers through my hair as if he needed to anchor himself.
Emir frowned as he sent a text. “I’m setting up a safe house for you,” he said, glancing up at Westin. “Can you leave tomorrow? I don’t trust the government to wait until whatever appointment time they’ve given you.”
Westin nodded, chewing her lip. “Thank you,” she said, sniffling away a few more tears.
“Us girls have to stick together,” Poppy said, her voice wavering. Her alphas leaned in her direction as if fighting the urge to comfort her, but they stayed in their seats as she wrapped her arms around Westin and pulled her in close.
A restlessness filled my chest.
“I don’t understand how people don’t get it,” I said. “Are alphas just evil? The DA has been torturing omegas for years and no one cares.”
My friends all exchanged a look I didn’t know how to decipher.
“What?” I asked.
“I totally get where you’re coming from,” Clementine said slowly. “But the DA has made some changes and doesn’t treat all their students badly anymore.”
“You’re defending them?” I asked, turning to face her.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying.” She looked around as if trying to find support.
To my shock, Poppy spoke up. “Even I didn’t have the same DA experience you did. Don’t get me wrong, it fucking sucked. I didn’t want to be there and we still had to comply with all their rules and attend stupid classes. It definitely affected my self-esteem and how I thought of myself as an omega.”
“That’s because you left before things got bad,” I said.
“I was at the DA after you,” Westin said. “And I had the same experience as Poppy. All the classes are geared towards omegas obeying their alphas and all that crap, but I wasn’t treated like you were. They got rid of the crueler punishments really quickly once some alphas complained.”
My heart pounded as my reality shifted around me.
“If most omegas had the same experience you had at the DA, people would know about it,” Poppy said. “Most alphas are protective, and I think it’d be upsetting for them if they found out their omega had been treated like that. At least… I hope so.”
“I think you’re giving alphas too much credit,” I snapped. I wrapped my arms around my middle, feeling alone and isolated in my experience at the hands of Glen and the rest of the DA.
“Maybe,” Poppy responded simply. “But people would at least know about it. I think they’ve kept the program small and secret. Glen has been working behind the scenes to expand it—obviously, these new bills are working towards that goal. I think they’ll do it all at once so that people can’t fight back.”
I opened my mouth, but no words came out.
Poppy continued. “One of the main things that happens at the DA is the pack interviews. When I was there, omegas were required to do six interviews a month, which is how I found my guys. I don’t know anyone besides you who was there for the full two years because the goal is to get them matched with alphas. There aren’t enough omegas as it is—people would start complaining if all the eligible omegas were kept apart from society for two years.”
I felt like I was breathing through a straw, and the room spun around me. How was I just piecing all of this together now? I’d spent almost the entirety of my two years in isolation. I had just assumed others had experienced the same as me.
“But why me? Why did they choose me? What did I do wrong?”
Cam’s arms encircled me from behind and he rested his chin on my head. “It’s not your fault. Wasn’t anything you did.”
Jewel met my gaze with something like tenderness, but I looked away, fighting the urge to run and hide.
“We think they targeted vulnerable omegas, those without families or people who would ask questions about them, along with some omegas, like you, whose parents were part of Glen’s inner circle. Your fathers worked with Glen since before the Designation Government took over,” Jewel said.
My skin felt tight and I was fighting against my tears. I didn’t want to break down in front of everyone, didn’t want to be seen as weak.
Cam kept his arms around me, supporting me. “I’ve got you,” he murmured in my ear. He knew I was on the verge of falling apart, could sense it, and he was still here, still with me, not letting me go.
“Was I the only one, then?” I asked.
“No,” Clementine said quickly. “We know at least three other omegas who went through the same… program you did, for lack of better words.”
“Torture,” Theo spit out. Clementine looked taken aback by the vehemence in his tone. “That’s the word you’re looking for,” he said.
I reached back to touch him. He captured my hand and held it firmly in his.
Westin shifted on the couch. “Obviously, what Josie went through at the DA was horrific, and this new program is pure evil. But isn’t it enough that we’ve had these oppressive, anti-omega laws for five years? No driving, no jobs, our only value to society is breeding. Isn’t that bad enough for people to get it?”
“The government has done a great job convincing alphas that those laws are what’s best for omegas,” Maximo said gently. “Alphas are built to protect omegas, and it’s not hard to convince them that keeping omegas separated from society is safer for them.”
Poppy scowled at her alpha.
“I know that’s not true, darling,” Maximo said, holding up his hands. “But it’s an easier sell, especially to alphas who really just want an excuse to be controlling bastards. This device is part of a government-sanctioned pilot program, and I have no fucking clue how they’ll convince the legislature to expand it to be mandatory. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Glen and Jericho must have something on the other senators to leverage over them,” Theo said.
“Amirah told me that one of the legislators who had always supported omega rights, Senator Cole, suddenly changed sides and voted for the pilot program. When asked why he changed his mind, he gave some vague, bullshit answer. Amirah is convinced Glen blackmailed him somehow and that he’s probably done the same to a ton of the senators. We just don’t know what he’s holding over them,” Clementine said.
“What could be extreme enough to make them change sides?” Poppy asked.
“Threatening their families,” Jewel said bitterly. Her scent grew stronger with anger, the unnatural metallic edge filling my nose until I felt like I was going to sneeze. All the omegas in the room stiffened automatically at her scent. Jewel grimaced.
“Sorry,” she said, standing as if to leave the room.
“Don’t go,” I said quickly. “It’s fine.”
She met my gaze and hesitated before giving me a terse nod.
“I wonder…” Theo’s brow scrunched. “There was that senator that accused Jericho of kidnapping his omega.” His thumb made soothing circles on the palm of my hand before he added, “What if they’re stealing omegas?”
Silence hung in the room like a tangible thing.
If they were taking omegas, they were more powerful than I thought.
The device itched under my skin, and nausea rolled in my stomach at the thought of how extreme that would be. And yet… it made sense.
“Well, that’s what we need to do,” Poppy said, eyes blazing. “Figure out if omegas are being taken and how to get them back so we can get the senators to stand up to Glen.”
Her words hung in the air.
“Alright, I like it,” Emir said, rubbing his hands together. “What’s our first step?”
“If they are taking omegas, there has to be some sort of paper trail—who they are, where they’re being kept,” Ben said. “Charlie and I can try to obtain communications—emails, electronic files, text—that might give us an answer.”
“Do we think the omegas would be kept at the Academy?” Maximo asked.
“That doesn’t seem likely,” Clementine said. “There are too many people in and out, and I feel like that’s where the senators would look first.”
“Maybe there are real estate records that could give us an idea of where they might be,” Theo suggested. “We also need a way to find out who is missing.”
“I can work with Amirah on that,” Clementine said. “She has a lot of connections inside the senate.”
The conversation turned logistical as everyone offered their ideas on the next steps to uncover Glen’s and Jericho’s actions. But my mind still reeled with the news of how much Glen had targeted me… and me alone. It made sense now that I thought about it—of course, not everyone had experienced the same thing I had. I’d never met another person with a device. But it made me feel even more isolated.
“Hey.” Cam’s lips met the shell of my ear. “Come here, sweetheart,” he murmured.
I looked up and realized he was kneeling in front of me. He gently pulled me into his arms. I felt hot with embarrassment—this meeting had been my idea and now I had nothing to contribute—but his arms were strong and steady around me, and I couldn’t find it in myself to disentangle myself.
I rested my head against his chest, his cinnamon scent swirling around me. Each beat of his heart in my ear reminded me I wasn’t alone, really. The others didn’t have my same experience, but they were all here with me now. My friends had responded to my text, and my alphas had followed along with my plan, even though it scared them.
Jewel met my gaze over Cam’s shoulder and gave me a nod. I didn’t know what she’d gone through as a female alpha, but she certainly knew what it was like to be singled out. I smiled at her. We might not know the path forward, but we would face it together.
I walked out of the boutique’s bathroom, still disoriented after the meeting. Jewel appeared in front of me in the hallway, startling me out of my mental spiral. She pulled me aside, her eyes flicking to where my alphas were talking with Maximo, Emir, and Luc.
“Angie and Amirah wanted me to pass along a message to you,” she said, her voice low.
I raised my brows. She was acting shifty.
“Angie said you know about the serum the team in Sol is developing to nullify the effects of the device without removing it.”
I nodded.
“Good. The first batch is ready, and they need an omega to test it on.” She arched her eyebrow and something like hope cut through my fog.
“They really think this will work?” I asked.
“Yes, and even after the device is removed, it should protect you from ever fully having to submit to an alpha’s bark.”
My stomach filled with butterflies as I imagined the possibility. I would never be completely helpless just because of my designation.
“I’ll do it, if that’s what you’re asking,” I blurted out.
A slow smile spread across Jewel’s face.
“I told them you’d say that. You’ll need to get your alphas on board.”
“Why wouldn’t they be?” I asked, scrunching my nose. “They don’t want me to be subservient to them. They’re not like that.”
“Oh, I know that. But the injection is apparently excruciatingly painful, and the serum hasn’t been tested on anyone except one of the omegas who created it.”
I blinked at her, my resolve wavering for a split second. My omega was a complete baby when it came to pain, and what if the serum had some dangerous side effects? Even with my hesitation, I knew there was no way I would turn down this opportunity. I would do anything to not feel helpless.
“Alphas can be so overprotective,” Jewel continued, rolling her eyes.
I bit my lip to keep from smiling. I was positive that when Jewel found her pack, she would eat her words.
“I’ll convince them,” I said, glancing over at my alphas. As if he could sense my eyes on him, Ben looked over at me. I couldn’t stop myself from blushing under his intense gaze.
Fuck, he was hot.
Ben made his way over to us, and Jewel cleared her throat. “I’ll be in touch,” she said before turning on her heels and walking away.
“What was that about?” Ben asked.
“Nothing,” I said, leaning into him and letting his scent settle me.
I wanted to tell him what Jewel said, but maybe it was better to wait until it was a sure thing. I didn’t want to get my hopes up too much that it would work out. Life had taught me it was better to prepare for disappointment.
“I’m going to place an order at Seb’s restaurant for dinner,” he said, nuzzling my neck and scent-marking me.
“Take out?” I asked. I’d hit my limit of being around others.
“Yeah,” he said, lightly massaging my neck.
“You need to order multiple cotton candy martinis this time because I am not sharing with Cam.”
Ben laughed, pulling me close to his side as we walked towards the front of the shop.
