We filed into the hidden library Donovan had shown me at the cocktail party. Today, there was a massive wooden table in the middle with maps and documents scattered on it.
I sat down next to Lilah, and Gerald took the seat next to mine. For a moment, I was overwhelmed by the scents in the room—there were so many omegas and alphas together, and no one was using de-scenter. I pressed my face into my sweatshirt, trying to ground myself.
Sam came and stood behind my chair, and being surrounded by his and Gerald’s familiar scents helped.
Amirah’s alphas stood in a line around her at the head of the table. They introduced themselves—Gabriel, Adam, Jacob, and Elias—and I guessed they were all in their fifties, like Amirah. I tried to get a read on their pack dynamics, but they were all so serious it was hard to get a sense of how they acted together. The news constantly mocked them and called them weak for allowing Amirah to be the Assistant Director at the DC all these years, but the alphas in front of me exuded power.
“Welcome, everyone,” Amirah said, and a hush fell across the room. “The purpose of this meeting is to continue building our plan to end this tyrannical Designation Government once and for all. Thanks to Josie and Genevieve, we have the intel we’ve been waiting for. As we suspected, the government has been blackmailing dissenting senators and other officials by kidnapping their omegas. We believe Jericho Porter is heading this scheme.”
I shifted in my seat, suddenly worried I would be judged for Jericho’s actions. But no one looked at me with judgment. Sam rested a firm hand on my shoulder, and Gerald took my hand in his with a comforting squeeze.
“This map shows four omega facilities, all at least an hour outside town in remote areas. Based on the conversation Josie overheard, this fourth facility is new,” she said, pointing at a spot on the map to the south of town.
Amirah’s alpha, Elias, stepped forward. “We’ve been able to discreetly talk to most of those senators and have their written agreement that if we can get their omegas to safety, they’ll move swiftly to indict the governor, along with Jericho, Richard, Marshall, and a whole host of other party leaders who have supported Glen and Jericho these past years.”
“I can’t fucking believe those senators,” Lilah muttered. I raised my eyebrow and Grayson tugged her close to his side, clearly sensing her distress.
She continued, her voice louder now and indignant. “They didn’t fight back. They just went along with what Jericho and Glen said so they could protect their own omegas while all the omegas in the province suffered in the meantime.”
I felt the same way. Those alphas were cowards. They could have found a way to fight back a long time ago and prevented so much suffering.
All the alphas in the room shifted uncomfortably.
“Alphas will do pretty much anything to protect their bonded,” Grayson said, cupping the back of Lilah’s neck.
“You better never sacrifice the lives of hundreds of omegas just for mine,” she said fiercely. Grayson nodded, but I could tell if it ever came down to it, he wouldn’t be able to keep that promise.
Amirah cleared her throat, getting us back on track. “We need to keep the element of surprise by freeing all the omegas at once. This poses a logistical challenge because we need enough teams in place at the four facilities simultaneously, and we can only use teams we can trust completely. If any part of this plan gets out, it will be over.”
Gabriel stepped forward. “Our current teams are Grayson, Matteo, and Raph from Pack Wild, who will be joined by three other alphas at the eastern facility,” he said, gesturing at Lilah’s pack. “Two members of Pack Jang will join us at the northern facility, and Pack Roan will handle the southern facility.”
“Is that Poppy’s pack?” I asked. The surname sounded familiar.
“It is,” Amirah confirmed.
Donovan blushed, and Jackson smirked at him.
“What?” I asked, my curiosity piqued as I looked between them.
“Nothing,” Donovan blurted out. Nico chuckled, pulling his omega close.
“We had the pleasure of meeting Poppy a couple of weeks ago,” Jackson said, his voice shaking with laughter. “I believe her exact words to Donovan were, ‘Wow, you’re such a daddy. I wonder what it would be like to have sex with another omega.’”
I snorted, imagining Poppy’s alphas’ exasperated and loving expressions.
“Oh my god,” Lilah said, turning towards me. “Is this that friend of yours? Because I have to meet her.”
Grayson grunted, tightening his hold on her shoulder.
“Yeah, she is. She’s the best.”
“She’s a character,” Terrance said, grinning. “Reminds me of Donovan when he was that age.”
“I was never that bad,” Donovan protested.
“Oh? So you didn’t drunkenly proposition a female alpha in that college dive bar?” Jackson said.
“What was the pickup line? Something about comparing knots with a female alpha’s lock?” Terrance asked.
“I think I found the key to your lock,” Jackson burst out, tears rolling down his face. “But the kicker was, he pulled out his house key as a prop.”
Lilah and I looked at each other and burst out laughing.
Donovan covered his face. “I was nineteen, okay?”
Jackson walked over to Donovan, who shoved him away. “Don’t be like that, baby,” Jackson said quietly. “It was fucking adorable.”
“Alright,” Amirah said, her tone all business. “Let’s get back to it, shall we?” But I thought I saw the briefest flash of a smile on her face.
“We have three alphas assigned to the western facility, but the documents suggest it might be the largest facility, so we’re looking for more to round out the team.”
The conversation turned to cyber security and how to hack into each facility’s systems. Amirah got Charlie on the phone to talk through the details. Most of what they were saying was over my head, so I grabbed a large stack of omega charts, looking for two specific names as I flipped through them.
I wasn’t sure what to feel about Dave. He could have warned me about what Glen had planned with the device, could have given my alphas and me time to escape. I wouldn’t have this device in me, might never have been captured by Glen and separated from my alphas. I flipped through the files with a bit more aggression as I grew angry all over again. Letting Genevieve and me escape didn’t make up for what he did, but his sisters didn’t deserve to suffer.
I kept going until I found a Margaret Davis. I inhaled sharply as I saw that she was only sixteen years old. The next chart was for Jennifer Davis, age twenty. Their files showed they were both being held at the Eastern Facility. At seeing how young they were, a pang went through my heart. I wasn’t ready to let go of the anger I felt at Dave’s betrayal, even though I understood it more now. He’d fallen prey to the Designation Government’s messaging—that was on him. But what lengths wouldn’t I go to in order to save the people I loved?
I turned towards Lilah as something dawned on me. “Are there only alphas on these teams?” I asked quietly.
“Sounds like it,” she said, looking disgruntled. “Which is a stupid plan, if you ask me. I already told Grayson I wanted to be on the team.” Grayson looked deeply displeased, as did Matteo and Raph, who were leaning against the wall behind us.
Sending a group of alphas into the facility to evacuate the omegas seemed like a recipe for disaster. I remembered how panicked I had been when Jackson had entered my bedroom a few days ago, and he was a beta.
“What were you saying?” Sam asked, leaning forward. I looked up, realizing the room had gone silent, and everyone was looking at Lilah and me.
“Oh…” My cheeks burned and I felt like I had just gotten in trouble in class.
Lilah jumped in, saving me. “Josie and I were wondering why there are only alphas on these teams.”
“They’re the most equipped to handle a mission like this,” Elias said.
Noah coughed to cover his laugh and Matteo groaned, already knowing how his omega would feel about that response.
“Of course,” Lilah said, eyes flashing. “Us poor, weak omegas and betas need big, strong alphas to save us.”
Elias frowned, but I jumped in before he could say anything.
“The omegas at the facilities aren’t going to trust alphas, especially when they come in, guns blazing. There should be omegas on the teams to help gain their trust.”
“I wouldn’t trust a group of alphas I didn’t know, especially if I’d been held in a facility like that,” Lilah said.
Matteo moved to stand behind his omega, leaning over the back of the chair to put his arms around her, as if shielding her from the threat of the facilities.
“You don’t think they’ll believe the alphas are there to save them?” Terrance asked, brow furrowed.
“You can’t think straight when you’ve experienced trauma like that,” I said, glancing at Jackson apologetically. He just winked at me. “The evacuation has to happen quickly, right? And each facility has dozens of omegas. Even a delay of a few minutes could be detrimental. Glen likes to play games with his prey, so who knows what they’ve already gone through.” My voice had dropped to a whisper, and Lilah snuggled close to my side.
“Fuckers,” Donovan snarled.
Amirah’s alphas looked like they would argue, but she put her hand on Elias’s arm. “You have a point, Josie. Let me discuss this with the teams and see what we come up with.”
Lilah turned towards Grayson. “See, told you I should come with you.”
Grayson’s jaw tightened and I got nervous about how he would react.
Noah clasped Grayson’s shoulder. “Let’s talk about this in private, yeah?”
“But—” Lilah started.
“Lilah, baby, have mercy on your alphas. They’re very delicate,” Noah said, his eyes twinkling.
“Fuck off,” Grayson growled before tugging Lilah onto his lap, holding her close.
Amirah sighed, looking as exhausted as I felt. Her alpha, Adam, who had been quiet through the meeting, ran his hand down her arm in one of the few displays of affection I’d seen from the pack. I wondered if Amirah preferred less touch or if she’d learned to go without public displays of affection because of her position at the Designation Center. I wondered how much of her omega she’d had to suppress to stay alive in such a hostile environment.
“Let’s get some food and regroup later this evening,” Nico suggested gently.
Jackson clapped. “Excellent idea. Donovan is going to make his famous pumpkin chili, so come hungry.”
I slumped in my seat as everyone started getting up. The emotional and physical toll of the past week was hitting me hard.
“Why don’t you take a nap?” Gerald suggested gently. “We’ll make sure to wake you for dinner.”
I nodded, using the table to pull myself up. As I headed upstairs, I knew I wouldn’t sleep. In the quiet, all I could think about was my alphas, sitting alone in jail, waiting for their trial to start. For the millionth time, I wish I had bonded them before we went to the DC. At least then, I could send them all my love and care through the bond. Now all I felt inside myself was cold silence.
I curled up in a tiny ball in my bed, hating how large it was. I needed my alphas to fill it. I closed my eyes and imagined them here. They would curl their bodies around me, pressing their bare skin against mine so I could drown in their scents. I could almost feel Theo trailing his fingers across the palm of my hand, Ben grabbing my butt, and Cam pressing a kiss to my forehead. A tear trickled down my cheek as I burrowed deeper under the blankets.
