Chapter 16 #2
But the second I push through the door, my heart flips. The air is alive with alpha. Thick, humid, heavy in my throat. My breathing stutters, chest fluttering like I’ve run a mile. Eyes wide, I scan the space, body taut, every nerve screaming predator, predator, predator.
The hall is a feast of chaos, with oil lamps smudging soot on the walls, smoke from some half-burning herb mixing with the stink of sweat, cooked meat, and leather.
Omegas thread through mismatched couches and rickety tables while shadows of alphas watch from above like carrion birds, leaning over balcony rails. Their eyes glint in the firelight.
Focus.
Who here can get me out?
Who is my opening?
Then I see her—an omega across the way, face sharpened with misery I recognize.
Memory slams me with Rebecca being treated at the Enclave a few years ago for a broken arm after she escaped an alpha.
I move toward her, threading through the long shadows from the bonfire, the smell of smoke warm and inviting through the crisp air.
There are so many eyes on me, especially from above.
This gives me the purpose I need at the moment.
A reminder of my life before this.
The omega notices me and stiffens, her face locking down like a gate slamming shut.
“Rebecca?” I ask, eyeing the log she sits on, joining her when she doesn’t protest.
Her eyes widen like we shouldn’t be meeting. “Who, uh… who are you?”
I place a hand on my chest. “Diana. I was at the Enclave when you were there. I didn’t get to treat you, but I saw you.”
Her head tilts, suspicion flashing. “Why did you remember me, then?”
“I remember all omegas.” I gesture to myself, giving a tight smile.
She glances around, shoulders tightening. “So, you got taken?”
“Seems like it… Are you like me here?” I ask, not mentioning that she reeks of an alpha. Clearly, she’s with someone.
The light of the flames moves across her face as she looks down. “I’m already mated.” Her pale eyes flash up at me. “Why didn’t you start out here? With the others? What happened?”
“I just woke up here this morning,” I say, leaving the part about Judge out. “What normally happens?
She sighs like she doesn’t want to talk, and yet inhales deeply before saying, “Dominion is very strict in their process with omegas. You get here, get examined, and then are placed among the mated alphas and omegas. Sometimes the unmated alphas are allowed out, like right now.” She looks around, keeping an eye on the space.
“And you mingle. They see how you do. If you’re a problem, then you become a scrap. Which is what you are now.”
“That’s a shitty name,” I say, eyes slightly narrowing.
“By the time you’re a scrap, I don’t think you care about what the others think of you.” She frowns, the expression looking like she wears it often. “Who brought you here?”
My chest tightens. “I don’t know the name. I wasn’t exactly willing.”
Her unnaturally pale eyes sweep me again, appraising, as if that makes her like me more. “You’re pretty. You won’t last long as a scrap.”
As the light flashes over her more, I realize her eyes are the same color as Judge’s. She’s an echo, too? Maybe Dominion collects them… “Well, maybe I’m better off as a scrap. Don’t want to be taken like that.”
I need to quit talking. What if I do want an alpha?
I doubt my Prince Charming is here, but what if an alpha is my way out?
Judge left me defenseless, and if Rebecca tells her alpha that I don’t want out of being a scrap, I might as well shoot myself in the foot.
Rumors would spread… What if her alpha’s not a good man, and that’s why she’s sad?
“So, um, this might be random, but I noticed your eye color is the same as Judge’s.” I know I’m not very coy with these questions, but I also can’t waste time here. Can she give me any information to use against him? “That means you’re an echo, right?”
“Yeah. We’re not like the beasts in the wastes. As long as you don’t grow up in the blight, you don’t get consumed by it. We’re essentially just extra fancy versions of humans. Some heightened senses, and some, like me, can see auras.” Her gaze scans over me. “And you are a mess.”
I cross my arms extra tight, like it covers up a naked part of me I didn’t know was exposed.
This is not only shocking but just bizarre.
I thought maybe it might make them less susceptible to disease, or stronger bones…
but my aura? I try to think back to home, remembering that we banned echos, so that’s why I never really saw them.
But the Enclave? Did Maggie just keep me away from them?
Were they treated elsewhere? I never questioned if I wasn’t allowed in some rooms or wings, because it usually meant an alpha.
My stomach cinches tight, realizing how much I’ve blindly trusted people and never considered that they were hiding bigger things from me.
Can Judge see my aura, too? What can he do? Ugh, I don’t want to get to know him.
Stop. There’s no reason I will. I’m being shown off, so clearly other alphas are in my future.
“Not sure if it’s good seeing you in these circumstances,” I say with a cracked voice, forcing myself to move on from this. I should probably get up and isolate, or focus on an alpha. “But good to see you. And that you’re better,” I awkwardly add.
Whatever approval was there slides away. “Take care of yourself,” Rebecca mutters, voice low and mean. “Or you’ll end up like me.”
I pause, looking her back over. “Like you?”
“Mated and hating it—” Rebecca’s eyes go wide, looking over my shoulder. Kitty storms toward us, boots smacking hard against the grass, her face pinched with fury.
“Diana, what are you doing here?” she demands, her face silhouetted by the fire behind her. She looks at Rebecca. “And stop sulking. You and Jack just have things to work through. You’re only making it worse for yourself, you know.”
Rebecca rolls her eyes, and Kitty grabs my arm and pulls me away. “You are not supposed to be here.”
“Why?” I try to yank my arm away, but she won’t let go. “I was left as a scrap. Taking that from me, too?”
She blinks rapidly, but keeps tugging at me until we’re back inside, the crisp, smoky air replaced with the quiet stillness of indoors. Kitty exhales like a parent who has come home to a mess, looking around like she’s not sure what’s the best place to start.
The back of her leather vest reads, “Skinner’s Property,” with the same insignia melted into it. I’ve heard of that, and how deep within the gangs, the spouses of the ranking members get called property.
Do I have to do that, too?
The door opens, and Ravina steps through with a few armed betas following her. “Tatiana, what are you doing?”
Who the hell is that? My eyes widen when Kitty seems to respond to the name. Oh… that’s her real name.
“What are you doing, Ravina?” she asks, motioning with her hand for everyone to leave. “Go back out there, boys. Give us privacy.”
One nods. “Can do, Kitty. We’ll be watching from the window. She,” he says, motioning to me with his head, “can’t leave without Ravina’s orders, and then she needs one of us—”
“I fucking know. Go.”
Once the door shuts, Ravina looks at Kitty with a smile, but her eyes are wide like she’s owed an apology. “Why, exactly, are you taking my omega?”
Gross. My body leans away from her, my lips curling up as I look her over.
“Didn’t Judge mention not to take her to any of these?”
I cross my arms and pivot my weight to one foot to make space between Kitty and me as well, my lips parting as my tongue roams the inside of my cheek. What did that twat say? I can’t even go to these? As a scrap?
“Ah, actually. He did, but I am the overseer of omegas.” She looks at me as if to indicate something. “As you know, it’s a part of the deal.”
Now my eyebrows raise, looking at Kitty because I’m definitely interested in knowing how this works.
“Judge—” Kitty begins.
“Judge,” Ravina interrupts, “gave Diana to me because he said she wouldn’t belong among the gilded.
Is there something I am not aware of? He said to keep her away from the gatherings, but I have assessed that she would make an excellent omega match.
I do have my orders to match as many as possible.
If he’s upset with that, he can bring it to me. ”
Oh, so what’s this? Someone above Judge?
Kitty looks at me and then back out there, not responding for a while before sucking her lips to her teeth. “Alright, but I stay with her. You can deal with Judge when he makes it clear that Diana is not to be a part of any of these.”
“And why is that?” Ravina asks with that same sickening smile, blinking rapidly.
“It’s matters that are private to Judge,” Kitty says, almost smiling like she would love to see Ravina get in trouble. “He’ll clear it up, don’t worry. But I will stay with her.”
Great. That fucker is determined to ruin my life. “Can we just go back out there?” I ask, desperate to get my ass back out there to try and catch someone’s attention. At this rate, I’ll be locked in a dungeon.
“Yes, great idea,” Ravina says, smiling warmly at me. Kitty opens the door and guides me back out into the cold. I immediately look at her, ignoring the stares of others. “What was all that about?”
She throws me a glare, the lines around her mouth looking deeper than the other day. “I can’t share that with you.”
I look at Kitty, who still has the thick eyeliner around her dark eyes.
It looks like it needs retouching. The minute detail humanizes her to me, crossing my mind that maybe it’s worth pleading to her humanity…
“Kitty, please,” I say, looking her in the eyes.
“I don’t want to be traded. Or given away. Or locked away.”
Her eyes turn sad. “Honey, that’s not happening to you. Bayou’s Maw might do that, but not Dominion. We’re tough as nails here, but happy omegas make for a happy pack.”