I perched on the edge of the couch in Pack Turro’s living room, every muscle in my body screaming with tension. My eyelids were heavy after a series of haunting nightmares forced me awake—visions of my alphas bleeding out in front of me while I was helpless to do anything.
I jumped as Terrance entered the room with a casserole dish. He shot me a gentle smile, but his eyes were lined with concern. Everyone was up early this morning, and the sideboard was loaded with a breakfast buffet as if we were preparing for the worst movie marathon in the world. At least the weather understood my dark mood—it was a dreary, rainy morning.
Today was day one of the trial.
My alphas were just a few miles away and I couldn’t get to them. An agonized scream built in my chest, but I held it in, not making a sound. The fact that they were alive was my life raft. I held on to it tightly, the only thing tethering me to life in the midst of the storm.
Breathe in.
They’re alive.
Breathe out.
They’re coming back to me.
Breathe in.
I’ll take down everyone who harmed us.
I was starting to understand why Angie had talked to me about omegas becoming feral. A single-minded viciousness was building in me. It felt unfamiliar and yet so right at the same time.
“Can I sit next to you?” Lilah’s soft voice startled me out of my thoughts. She looked pale and was wrapped in a massive sweatshirt that smelled like her alphas. I brought my hand up to my chest to try to soothe the ache of jealousy there. I wished I had something that smelled like my alphas, but it wasn’t safe to return to our house.
“Of course,” I responded, scooting over to make more room.
She sat down, leaning her head on my shoulder.
“This is going to be the fucking worst,” she said.
I snorted at her blunt honesty, so similar to Ben’s. She leaned into me, taking my hand in hers and giving it a squeeze. Her touch loosened something in my chest and I could breathe a little easier.
Noah walked over to us, carrying a plate of food that he set down on the coffee table in front of Lilah.
“You sure you want to watch this?” he asked his omega softly.
“I have to,” Lilah responded. Noah nodded, as if expecting that answer before squeezing in next to her.
“I really believe this isn’t the end of the story,” she said, turning towards me. “They’re coming back to you, to us.”
I took a shuddering breath, willing her words to be true.
Gerald sat down on my other side, handing me a plate of food that I took without interest. “Sam’s working with Amirah’s pack on the omega rescue mission, but he’ll be in soon.”
“We need to come up with a good name for the mission,” Lilah said. “We can’t just keep calling it the omega facility rescue extravaganza.”
“Don’t think anyone’s called it that, darling,” Orion said with a smile as he sat beside us. The rest of Lilah’s pack was trickling in and getting food from the buffet.
“But still,” she insisted. “Operation something.”
“Operation Omega Rescue,” Grayson said gruffly, sitting in a chair that didn’t look nearly large enough to hold his massive frame.
Lilah rolled her eyes. “That’s so obvious,” she huffed.
Grayson’s lips twitched. “Let’s hear your ideas then, kitten.”
“How about Operation FTA: Fuck These Assholes,” she said, a gleam in her eyes.
Noah snorted, pulling his omega in close and nuzzling the side of her face.
“It has a ring to it,” Gerald said dryly.
The tiniest smile tugged at my lips as I recalled mine and Genevieve’s code. I relaxed into the couch cushions, balancing my plate in my lap.
“Yo, Matteo,” Orion called to his packmate, who had just entered the room. “If I told you this mission was called Operation FTA, what would you think that means?”
Matteo’s damp hair fell into his face and Lilah reached up to brush it back as he kissed her on the cheek.
“Let’s see…” he said, thrumming his fingers on the back of the couch. “Free the Alliance?”
“Oh my god, brilliant,” Lilah said, beaming up at him. Matteo smiled, practically glowing from the praise. “Those of us in the know will know it stands for Fuck These Assholes…” Matteo choked, covering his mouth so he didn’t spit out the sip of coffee he’d just taken. “But everyone else will think it stands for Free the Alliance.”
I grinned. “You’re so much like Ben. We’ve talked about opening a bakery together, and he suggested we combine our initials and call it BJ.”
Lilah laughed, relaxing against Noah. “Classic,” she said. “But that’s amazing! Do you bake?”
“A bit, but not like Ben does. He thinks I could help with marketing and stuff,” I said, mumbling that last part and feeling more than a little inadequate.
“That’s incredible! You know, now that you mention it, I remember Ben being interested in baking and cooking growing up, but of course, our fathers would have thrown a fit if he had ever done something so domestic and demeaning.” Lilah rolled her eyes, but I caught the tense set of her shoulders as she talked about her upbringing. Matteo must have sensed it, too, because he leaned over the back of the couch to whisper something in her ear, causing her to relax and melt into him.
“Anyway, we’ll have to come back to visit when you open the bakery,” she said.
“If you need any help with marketing or a business plan, I’m sure Raph would be happy to help,” Noah said, leaning forward to meet my gaze.
I had half expected everyone to ridicule my idea and tell me I had no place helping open a business, but none of them seemed phased. A warmth settled in my chest. What if we could free the province and be like Sol? Would people eventually start believing omegas were capable?
“That’s a great idea. He owns like a dozen businesses,” Lilah said. Then she frowned as she looked around. “Where is Raph?”
“Meeting with Amirah,” Grayson said. “I just came out here for food, but I should get back to them. You going to be okay, kitten?” he asked, nodding at the TV. It was almost 9 o’clock and I felt myself shrinking into the couch.
“Only if you come give me a kiss,” she said.
Grayson obliged his omega’s request with a smile before leaving.
“Should I turn the sound on?” Gerald asked, picking up the remote. A reporter on the screen stood in front of the downtown courthouse.
I nodded and set the food on the table in front of me. My stomach was too twisted up to eat.
“Hundreds are packed outside the courthouse today for the much-anticipated trial of Pack Ashwood. Cameron, Theodore, and Benjamin Ashwood have been a pack for fifteen years. They are charged with three felony counts, including treason, conspiring against the government, and violating alpha standards set out by the Designation Laws. Their actions resulted in the removal of their omega, Josephine Porter, just last week. Ms. Porter is the daughter of Senate majority leader Jericho Porter and business owner Richard Porter.”
The camera panned over to show a group of protestors with signs that said “Free Pack Ashwood” and “Omega Rights Now.”
“As you can see,” the reporter continued, “Protestors have gathered outside the courthouse here. Governor Jacoby called in the national guard last night to maintain law and order. These radicals support Pack Ashwood and believe society would be better off without our natural designations. They want to dismantle our entire system and let chaos reign.”
“Good fucking grief,” Orion said with disgust, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees.
“Well, he’s not totally wrong,” Matteo muttered, squeezing Lilah’s shoulder from his spot behind the couch. “Wouldn’t mind some chaos reigning.”
The camera switched to a view inside the courtroom. Every seat was filled with spectators, and a crush of reporters lined the back. I felt a wave of nausea at the idea of these people viewing the court case as a source of entertainment.
The rest of the room details blurred in my vision as I repeatedly scanned the screen for any sign of Cam, Ben, and Theo.
The camera zoomed in on the side door. My breath stopped as it opened and my alphas entered the courtroom. I whined at the wall of guards surrounding them, blocking them from view. The guards led them to three separate tables towards the front of the courtroom, probably so they couldn’t talk to each other. My heart hurt at the thought of them being separated. This whole time I had imagined them imprisoned together, but of course, they kept them apart.
The guards finally stepped back, revealing my three alphas. I choked on a sob, pressing my lips together to stop any noise from coming out. Cam’s face was the worst—bruised and beaten. His wrists were wrapped in gauze under his handcuffs. Theo leaned awkwardly against his table, making me suspect they had injured his ribs. Ben seemed physically unharmed, but his expression scared the shit out of me—there was no lightness, no happiness there. Instead, he wore a flat, dead expression.
“No,” I whimpered. Lilah’s grip on my hand was so tight it hurt.
“It’s okay,” Gerald murmured, pressing my face to his shoulder. “They’re strong.”
But his words fell flat. There was a ringing in my ears and I couldn’t hear anything being said. The judge’s lips moved, but I only cared about my alphas. It was torture to see them like this, but I couldn’t, wouldn’t, look away. After days believing they were dead, any glimpse of them was worth whatever emotional agony it might cause me.
A thread of guilt wormed its way through me. I was here, safe and surrounded by friends while they were in prison because of me. Because of Glen’s obsession and my fathers’ need to control me. My fault. I would trade spots with them in an instant if I could. Even now, I could imagine their furious reactions to the idea.
Sam sat on the floor between Gerald’s legs, jolting me back to reality. He reached up to take my hand, the warmth of his touch grounding me.
“Wait, I missed it,” I said, my panic rising. “What’s happening now?” I berated myself for checking out. I owed it to my alphas to be focused right now.
“That’s their defense attorney,” Gerald said quietly. “He’s about to make the opening statement.”
A lean alpha in a light gray suit and perfectly coiffed hair made his way up to the podium. I held my breath, ready to hear a defense of my alphas.
“Pack Ashwood are law-abiding citizens. This trial will show that the accusations against them have no merit. Pack Ashwood are respectable business owners who went through proper channels to interview an omega through the Designation Center.” His voice was monotone and droning, as if he were reading from an appliance manual and not making a defense of the three most important people in the world.
He sat back down.
Rage propelled me to my feet. “What the fuck? What kind of statement is that?”
Sam reached up and unfurled my hand to give it a squeeze, but Terrance was the one who spoke up.
“We tried to arrange a defense attorney for them, but the government would only allow a court-appointed attorney. I’m sure this defense attorney is in the government’s pockets, so don’t be surprised when he continues to be useless,” he said apologetically.
“But that’s so unfair,” I whined, looking around the room, indignant at how calm everyone was. “Why aren’t you all more upset about this?”
“We are, Josie,” Sam said, standing up and pulling me into his embrace. “We’ve had over a week to mentally prepare for this—you’ve only had a couple days. Nothing about this trial is going to be fair. You need to be ready for the almost certain reality that your alphas will be convicted and sentenced. But we will get them out and back to you, promise. Alright?”
No, nothing about this was alright, but I wasn’t about to throw a tantrum in front of everyone. I forced myself to sit down, suppressing the growl trying to rumble through my chest.
Lilah moved in closer and put her arm around me. The bitter scent of her anger was so strong it coated the back of my throat and that, more than anything, helped get me through the rest of the trial. With every false accusation and fake testimony, I stoked my rage. The government would soon find out what happened when they pissed off an omega.
