The trial had been three fucking days of torture.
My nerves were stretched so thin I jumped at every slight noise and movement. I spent the nights wandering around the house with a big blanket wrapped around me, looking like a ghostly woman from the 1800s. I couldn’t spend another night in bed, waiting for my nightmares to find me.
Everyone was walking on eggshells around me. They kept throwing me furtive glances when they thought I wasn’t looking and speaking in hushed voices, as if I were mere seconds away from losing it.
Maybe I was.
Yesterday, Angie had quietly pulled me away from the trial with an offer to sedate me. Fear gripped me at her suggestion as I was reminded of all those hours I spent unconscious with Glen and Dr. Bishop, never knowing exactly what they had done. My omega acted on instinct and growled, causing one of her alphas to leap between us. I’d been mortified, my face on fire as I apologized profusely. Angie had taken it all in stride, rolling her eyes at her alpha before affectionately shoving him aside.
I knew she was trying to help, but I didn’t need to be sedated. I just needed my alphas. It felt like no one understood the depth of what I was going through. I had started resenting the other omegas in the Alliance who were all with their packs. Why was I the one who had to be separated from my alphas? Why did Glen have to set his sights on me all those years ago?
I sat at the kitchen counter and gripped my coffee cup hard, the heat stinging my palms as the first few pink rays of morning light streaked across the sky. I needed to get my shit together and pull myself out of this pity spiral. I wasn’t the only person they had harmed; at least I had been lucky enough to find my pack. My alphas needed me, and I needed to stay strong for them.
Watching the trial had been torture. The worst moment had been when Richard—fucking Richard, my useless pack father who had terrorized me with his temper growing up—had gotten on the stand to testify in my place. He had been moved to tears when talking about how my pack’s poor treatment of me had made me even frailer than I’d already been. Sam had half-heartedly restrained me to keep me from throwing a vase and shattering the TV.
The lawyers had delivered closing remarks yesterday afternoon, and now we waited for the all-alpha jury to finish deliberating. We expected them to have quick deliberations with how rigged the trial had been.
I stared out the window, my eyes unfocused as the sky grew brighter. I only returned to reality when the chair next to mine scraped against the floor and Lilah sat down, putting her head down on the counter with a groan. Grayson rubbed her back tenderly.
“Did you not sleep again?” he asked me, a hint of reproach in his voice.
I just shrugged.
He looked like he was about to say something when Lilah grasped his hand.
“Just leave it. I wouldn’t sleep if we were separated,” she said.
I looked away as he leaned in to kiss her cheek softly.
“I’ll make some breakfast,” he said, heading to the pantry.
Grayson’s massive frame and gruff exterior had scared me at first, but he had surprised me with how nurturing he was. Turns out, he was a big teddy bear, just like Cam. For the briefest second, a vision of our two packs hanging out together, relaxed and laughing, flitted through my mind. My longing for that future was so intense I had to close my eyes and take a breath.
“I don’t know if I want them to return quickly with a verdict or drag it out. Waiting fucking sucks, but I also don’t want it to be real, you know?” Lilah’s voice was muffled from where her face still rested on her arms.
“I know,” I said, putting my head on the counter so we were staring at each other.
“I’m so glad you’re my sister,” she whispered. “Maybe your pack can move to Sol after this is all over. I need a friend.”
“Are you lonely, kitten?” Grayson asked, turning from the stove to look at his omega. Now it was Lilah’s turn to shrug.
“There aren’t any other omegas in my lab and… I don’t know. It’s been hard to make friends who understand how I grew up.”
I reached out my hand and she took it in a tight grip.
“I know what it’s like to be lonely,” I whispered.
A lump formed in my throat. Maybe it would be better to leave. I had so many bad memories here, and moving would mean I would be closer to Lilah and Sam. But there was a part of me that wanted to stay and see Luna province become a better place.
Grayson set down a large plate of pancakes.
“Both of you need to eat,” he said gruffly, running his hand through Lilah’s hair as though he couldn’t stop himself.
Lilah and I exchanged a smile. Protective alphas.
The smell of food lured more people into the kitchen. Everyone looked a little worse for the wear after days of stress from both the trial and from putting everything in place to deal the final blow to the government. I berated myself for being so checked out I hadn’t been paying attention to the plan. I needed to ask questions and be more involved.
I stared listlessly at the pancakes in front of me. It was almost nine o’clock. How long would we have to wait for the jury?
“We need some music,” Sam said with a clap. “Feels like a fucking funeral in here.”
I scowled, not in the mood for him to make light of our situation.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he said with a smirk. “I bet I have something you want to listen to. What about… the new Lil O album?”
“What?” Lilah and I yelled at the same time.
“Who’s that?” Nico asked, sitting beside me with a plate piled high with food.
“Only the coolest omega musician ever,” Lilah said, her eyes wide.
“She does concerts in Sol,” I added. “Like, live concerts! And she’s an omega!”
Matteo groaned, pressing his face into Lilah’s hair. “Is this the really vulgar one?”
Lilah elbowed him in the ribs. “She is an artist. You just can’t appreciate her genius.”
Noah snorted. “Genius is one word for it.” He came behind Lilah’s chair and wrapped his arms around her, which she promptly shoved off.
“No insulting Lil O,” she sniffed. Noah grinned, putting his arms back around her. She didn’t shove him off this time.
The sound of a thumping bass echoed through the kitchen as Sam connected to a Bluetooth speaker. I gasped with excitement at the opening lines of the song.
“She just makes me feel like I can do anything,” Lilah said, bouncing in her chair.
Sam stood behind me and leaned his chin on my shoulder. “Did I do good?”
“Yes, fine,” I said teasingly. “Good job.”
The mood in the kitchen shifted with the music, even if many of the alphas were grumbling about it. I tapped my fingers along to the beat and even ate some bites of pancake. I caught Grayson breathing a sigh of relief as I ate, quickly averting his eyes when he saw me watching him.
I grinned as I looked around the kitchen at this group of people who were all starting to feel like family.
Then my good mood vanished as Donovan came running into the kitchen.
“The jury’s in. It’s time.”
My breath caught as ice flooded my veins.
Sam shut off the music and tugged my arm. “Come on,” he said gently.
We all crowded into the living room. I leaned forward from my perch on the couch as if getting closer to the TV screen would bring me closer to my alphas.
Time seemed to move in slow motion. One of the alphas on the jury handed a card to the bailiff. He gave it to the judge.
We all knew what the verdict would be, had known it from the very start of this trial, but I couldn’t help but hold my breath as the judge placed the card down in front of him.
Then he read out the verdict for each felony count.
Guilty.
Guilty.
Guilty.
There was a rushing in my ears as if all the sounds around me had been muted, and I dug my fingernails into my palms.
Sam’s hands folded over mine, urging me to unclench my fists.
“Shh, it’s going to be okay,” he murmured.
I realized I was making a high-pitched whining noise and cut off the sound.
“We knew this would happen,” Sam said, staying infuriatingly calm as he kneeled before me.
Knowing it wasn’t the same as experiencing it, and right now, it felt like someone had punched their fist into my chest and ripped out my heart.
“Now they can hurt them,” I whispered, closing my eyes.
The only thing keeping my alphas safe was the public nature of this trial, but now the government could do anything they wanted.
“Glen’s going to punish them because I escaped,” I whimpered, my breaths coming faster again.
Sam drew me into his arms without saying anything, which told me I was right.
Raph, the member of Lilah’s pack I knew the least since he’d been locked away working on Alliance plans, ran into the room and scooped up his omega. Lilah had tears streaming down her face, and I guessed he had felt her distress through their bond.
Gerald squeezed in next to me, lending me his steady presence.
Amirah cleared her throat and I pulled away from Sam, curling up in a ball on the couch.
“Their sentencing is scheduled for tomorrow morning, but we’re confident they’ll be sentenced to the Facility,” she said calmly.
“What’s the Facility?” I croaked, even though part of me didn’t want to know.
“Jericho’s new pet project,” Amirah responded with a grimace.
“They passed the legislation last night,” Donovan said, his tone bitter. Jackson cupped the back of his neck and pulled him in close in a move so tender it made my heart hurt.
“Tell me,” I demanded, unable to stand the suspense.
Donovan hesitated. “It’s a breeding facility,” he choked out. “Alphas and omegas who break the law can be sentenced to serve time in the facility where they’ll be forced to… breed. They’re likely to have alpha or omega children, and those children will go into government care, where they can be monitored, tagged, and then eventually matched with an appropriate family.”
The room spun as the horror of it all overwhelmed me. My stomach lurched and I sprinted for the bathroom, making it just in time to vomit into the toilet.
Sam was there immediately, holding my hair and stroking my back. “You’re okay,” he murmured. “It’s going to be okay.”
“No, it’s not,” I bit out, slumping against the wall. “None of this is okay. Everyone needs to stop saying that.”
Sam quietly filled a glass with water and handed it to me. I took a small sip, not meeting his gaze. I knew he was trying to comfort me, but it felt like no one understood the gravity and urgency of the situation. These were my alphas. Mine.
“It’s going to be okay because your alphas won’t be there for long. We’re taking these fuckers down in a matter of days,” Sam responded.
“That’s not good enough,” I snapped, and Sam flinched. My omega instinct clawed at my chest, urging me to go to my alphas with an intensity that was impossible to ignore. If our positions were reversed, my alphas would never let me stay in a facility like that for even a second.
I stood and rinsed off my face, catching my reflection in the bathroom mirror. My eyes were wild, and thoughts hammered through my mind in a vicious beat so primal it felt like they weren’t my own but from a place deep inside where my basest desires lurked: Find them. Save them. Bite them.
“One day is too long,” I said, meeting Sam’s gaze in the mirror.
I couldn’t let them go to that facility.
I had to do something.
Insecurity tightened my chest. What could you possibly do? You’re weak. Pathetic. Useless.
I gripped the edges of the vanity and closed my eyes.
No. That wasn’t me. That had never been me. The realization flooded me with warmth, loosening my chest and allowing me to breathe again. For so long, I’d believed the worst about myself, but when I looked back, I realized my life had been marked by my resilience. I’d survived horror after horror. I had been brave and strong before ever meeting my alphas—they had just helped me see those parts of myself.
“I’m going to rescue them,” I said, opening my eyes.
Sam took a deep breath, his face unreadable until his lips quirked into a smile.
“There she is,” he said. “The fierce omega who doesn’t take any shit, drives like a maniac, and is the bravest person I know.”
Yes, here she was.
My omega and I were fully united. We would not let our alphas suffer for a single moment longer.
I swept my messy hair away from my face and strode back out to the living room.
Amirah turned to face me, her expression soft and sympathetic. “I know this is a lot to handle, Josie. The moment we take Glen and the government down, we will get your alphas out.”
“No,” I said, my voice loud to my ears. “We are going to get them out now.”
Amirah raised her brows, clearly not expecting this from meek, broken little Josie who cried all day long.
“We can’t jeopardize our mission just so you can be reunited with your alphas,” she said, her voice losing some of its softness. “If you were caught, it would ruin everything. We have to stick to the plan.”
“If the plan is to let them stay in prison where they’re going to be beaten until they’re transferred to some rape facility, that is not going to happen. My pack deserves more. They’ve been working with the Alliance for years. You wouldn’t have this intel to take down the government if it weren’t for me.” I was shaking, but Sam and Gerald stood beside me, lending me their support and strength.
“Besides,” I continued, “You need another team so we can break into the omega facilities at the same time. My alphas are security experts with military experience. If we get them out now, they can lead one of the rescue missions.”
With that, I knew I had her. Amirah turned towards Gabriel, who raised an eyebrow. They seemed to have a silent conversation before she turned back to me. Her mouth twisted and I was sure she was going to frown. Instead, she gave me a small smirk.
“Nice to see this side of you,” she said. “Fine, if you can figure out a way to safely and discreetly break them out, we can provide a safe house near the western omega facility and you’ll be part of the team to infiltrate the facility three days from now. But I can’t emphasize enough–this has to be flawless. There’s too much at risk as it is. But as one omega to another, I–” she paused, her facade of cool confidence cracking for just a moment as she looked to her alphas with devotion, “—I feel I owe you for not doing more before you were captured. The knowledge that you were taken on my watch will haunt me for quite some time, and for that, I’m sorry, Josie.” She turned on her heels and left the room, her alphas following behind her.
The adrenaline pumping through my veins crashed, leaving me trembling. I blushed as I looked around the room, now realizing what a scene I’d made. But there were no stares of judgment. Donovan beamed at me and his alphas were smiling as well. Lilah gave a little whoop and leapt to her feet.
“Operation FTA is in action!” she shouted, throwing her arms around me. “This time, it stands for Free the Alphas, by the way.”
I grinned, wiping tears from my eyes, and then I squeaked as Grayson swept Lilah and me into a big hug.
“Alright, little sister,” he said. “Let’s figure out how you’re going to rescue your alphas.”
“Fighting for young love,” Jackson said, arm around Donovan. “This is so exciting.”
“Let’s fucking do this!” Sam exclaimed, pulling Gerald into our group hug.
The press of alphas around me should have been overwhelming, but it was a comfort. My friends, my brothers, my sister, my family. Now we just had to get my alphas and make it all complete.
