Chapter 1
ONE
Dr. Talbot chews his lip as he stares at me with watery eyes. “Please don’t make me do this.”
“You know the rules, Walter.”
His fingers tremble as he repeatedly runs them through his white hair, wincing with each glance at me. “I’ve more than repaid my loan.”
“That’s not for you to decide, now is it?” I purposefully keep my voice emotionless.
I hate this part of my job. I get no pleasure from shaking him down week after week. But I don’t have a choice.
We all have a part to play, and this is mine.
And woohoo, lucky me, I didn’t even have to audition.
“Let’s go, Walter. They’re waiting for us.” I walk swiftly from his office, knowing he’ll follow behind me if he knows what’s good for him. Sure enough, I hear his heavy loafers slap the tile behind me.
My heels click as I rush through the Clinic to my car. It’s a beater, and I hate driving people in it. Luckily, he’s trustworthy enough to follow behind me.
No one would be so stupid as to try to escape Kieran Cobb.
I turn into the lot behind Prism and shrug out of my lab coat. Bypassing the regular staff entrances, I wait for Walter by the unmarked door that can only be opened from the inside. I knock the familiar pattern on the door when he heaves his substantial form out of the luxury sedan he drives.
It swings open almost immediately.
Trey eyes me with an appraising look. “Crystal, baby, he’s going to be so happy you dressed up for him.”
“Oh, can it, Trey.” I push past him, Walter trailing behind me like a lost puppy, and turn left down the quiet hallway.
Trey’s footsteps sound in my ears. “You’re going to the interrogation rooms,” he calls over Walter’s head.
“No surprise there,” I mumble, opening the door to the stairs that head down two floors below the nightclub.
“How did a nice Omega like you get wrapped up in this, Crystal?” Dr. Talbot asks for what must be the thousandth time.
Like every time, I shrug. “You know how it is, Walter.”
The answer never satisfies him, but I don’t owe him my story. I have so few things left that are mine, and my story is one of them.
“Go back to your post, Trey.” The deep, raspy voice that fills the dimly lit hallway sends a shiver down my spine, just like it did the first time I heard it. The Beta man in front of me has the presence of an Alpha, making me want to duck my head every time I see him.
Puck Bellamy is devastatingly handsome, with a clever smirk permanently plastered on his face. His dark eyes glint in the low lighting, and his broad shoulders and thin hips make him look like an ancient God.
He’s just as gorgeous as he was the day we met four years ago.
“Boss is waiting for you, Walter. Left you a mess to clean up.” He doesn’t sound sorry at all about it.
“Is he alive?” The doctor says with resignation.
“For now. Hopefully, you can keep it that way, yeah?” Puck steps back, and Walter pushes past me, heading into the interrogation room.
Having completed my task, I turn to leave, but Puck grabs me by the arm. I try not to snap. It does me no good to piss off the second in command, but I can’t keep the venom out of my voice. “Don’t touch me, Puck.”
“Boss needs you on the floor tonight, Queenie,” he deadpans. “Or would you prefer I address you as Your Highness?” I’m probably imagining it, but there’s a little twinkle in his eyes with that nickname.
I snarl, yanking my arm away from him. “I hate when you all call me that.”
Puck rolls his eyes dramatically. “It’s your title, and you should feel grateful the boss has given you such a position of respect.”
Heading back up the stairs with the enforcer hot on my heels, I struggle to hold my tongue. “It’s a stupid joke, and you know it.” Customers of Prism know to request “The Queen” when they need to see me, which has led to numerous royalty nicknames. “Calling me Your Highness because I sell people drugs is unoriginal and immature, Puck.”
He barks a laugh that makes me shudder. “Speaking of, we’ve got a new batch of fizz for you tonight.”
“Great.” My sarcasm could and probably should get me in trouble, but I’ve learned over the past few years that Puck isn’t going to call me out on it. “I’ll go get it from Ricky when I’m dressed.”
In the dressing room, I peel off my pencil skirt and blouse, the costume I wear daily as I pretend to be a functioning member of society. A pair of sky-high heels and a new lingerie set wait for me in my locker, with a note pinned to the front.
Crystal,
This color will complement your complexion. Make sure you come to see me before you start your shift so I can confirm that my assumption was correct.
- Kieran
I bunch up the note and throw it in the trash.
Of course, Kieran picked out the skimpiest fucking clothes imaginable for me. In the four years I’ve worked for him, he’s made it clear I’m no closer to paying off my brother-in-law’s debt than when I first got here.
And if I try to skip out, he’s been very transparent about how many people love to adopt little girls.
I think I’ll die in the Conglomerate. I accepted that after the first six months, when I realized Kieran gave me special attention.
He’s never going to let me go.
The burgundy, strappy scraps of fabric he picked out for me are hard to squeeze into unassisted. The way it cages my breasts and twists across my hips is a bit confusing to figure out on my own, but once I do, I slip on the gold platform heels he left for me and make my way up two floors to Kieran’s skybox.
Kieran Cobb is Lunarcrest City’s phantom. Every bit of the underbelly has traces of his influence, yet he always manages to evade police detection. Sure, some of the smaller players he’s worked with over the years have been busted, but never him.
He’s squeaky clean on paper.
I’m not sure how the Conglomerate came to be, but the rumors say he built it from the ground up on his own. He’s very protective of it, considering it a reflection of himself, and he lets very few people into his inner circle.
I’m not sure if it’s paranoia or smart business.
I knock on the metal door and wait for the tell-tale boom of his voice. “Come in, Queenie.”
I shudder at the nickname. It’s like they think that if they call me royalty, I’ll believe I’m being treated as such. And sure, compared to many of the others, I am.
I have to put up with his special treatment to keep my cushy job in the nightclub. Otherwise, he may send me down to sell my body in the dens.
The day he asks me to get on my back for some of these slimy men is the day I finally slit my wrists.
It’s not like I haven’t considered it before.
Kieran is perched on the side of his desk, the sleeves of his white button-down shirt rolled up. He twirls a glass of amber liquor between his fingers. “I see you got my gift.”
“It’s nice, thank you.”
He turns to face me, squinting his dark eyes. Kieran is a handsome Alpha. There is no denying that. In his fifties, with salt and pepper hair and a sleek swimmer’s build, he undoubtedly turns the heads of women he passes on the street.
But they don’t know that below that beautiful surface is a monster.
“Cheer up, Crystal. It’s going to be a great evening. I have a good feeling about tonight.”
I shift uncomfortably from foot to foot, trying not to buckle under the heat of his gaze. “I’m just tired. It was a long day at work.”
“Ah, yes, I appreciate you keeping the good doctor in line. How fortuitous for us that you had the credentials to be hired as his assistant.” He takes a long sip of his drink before clanking the glass on the desk. “I know you think this situation is unfair, but you do not realize how privileged you are. I protect you in a world that threatens to break down Omegas and keep them shackled to a pack. I got you a job that you wanted and trained for. You are paid generously. All I ask in return is your loyalty.”
The emphasis on the last word makes my heart start to pound erratically. Does he think me foolish enough to think I can outrun him? To think I can free myself from his shackles?
In my wildest dreams, I slit his throat and dance on his fucking grave, but I know now that the only way out is a body bag.
I didn’t realize it four years ago when I gave myself to the Conglomerate, but I know now that he will never let me go. Kieran will always find a way to say I still owe him a debt.
“You have my loyalty, Kieran. You know that.”
“Show me, then.” He stands up, eyes predatory. “Let me see my mark.”
“My heat finished five days ago,” I whisper, wrapping my hands around my waist. “It’s gone.”
His long legs eat up the distance between us, and he spins me around, an arm banding tightly around my waist. One hand sweeps my hair from the back of my neck and trails across my nape.
“So I see. Well, that won’t do, will it?”
A sharp, brutal pain overtakes my whole body.
Bonding is supposed to be pleasurable. Beautiful.
That’s what the Academy said.
But they didn’t teach about blighted bonds there. Why scare the pretty Omega princesses with tales of Alphas who don’t care about your consent?
It’s easier to pretend that bonding is a wonderful, sacred thing.
A bite outside of heat that is not reciprocated creates a bond that is a shadow of what it should be. There is no emotional connection between the Alpha and Omega, nor are there any permanent ties between them. If it’s not reinforced during the next heat, it fades.
I don’t want to risk the bite sticking around, so I no longer take my heat suppressants. That means, every three months, Kieran Cobb sinks his teeth into the back of my neck, right below my hairline, to mark me as his.
To claim flesh that was never meant to be his.
A pained whimper escapes me, and he chuckles around his grip on my nape. His hot tongue laves against it, and I fight the urge to cringe at the unwelcome sensation.
“There,” he whispers against my broken skin. “That should do it. I do so hate that it fades so quickly.”
I don’t respond.
I can’t.
My throat is tight.
I don’t give a fuck that it’s temporary. Right now, it feels like forever.
“You should be thanking me for protecting you, Crystal. You’re very well taken care of here. No one will bother you with my bite on your neck.” The weight of his presence lifts from my back as he walks back to his desk. My muscles are still frozen, and the back of my neck throbs.
I feel helpless.
“You’re ungrateful, you know that? I could do this during your heat, but I am gracious enough to offer you my protection through my bite and let it be one that fades. You’ll still be able to find your pack once you work off your debt.” He smooths down the front of his black shirt before steepling his hands on his desk.
“Go on, then. Thank me.”
Bile rises in my throat, and my fists clench at my side. I breathe slowly through my nose, begging my voice not to betray me.
“Thank you, Kieran.”
He smiles so broadly it’s almost blinding. “You’re welcome, Queenie. I like the purple in your hair. It’s exotic.”
I grit my teeth and bare them in a smile. “Thank you.”
And with that unpleasantness done, he’s back to business.
“I’m sure Puck mentioned that a new batch of fizz came in. This one is more potent than the last, so double the price.” When I balk, he waves his hand dismissively. “Shush now, you know they will pay anything you ask of them. Just flash them that million-dollar smile, alright?”
I nod, counting to twenty in my head, and then back down to one to ignore the crawling sensation under my skin from his touch. “I understand. I’ll get it all sold.”
“Excellent, thank you.” He breaks eye contact in a clear dismissal, and I scramble towards the door. But before I can exit, he calls out, “And Queenie?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Make sure you come to me next time as soon as the bite fades. I don’t want you going more than a day without my claim. Are we clear?”
“Crystal, sir.”