Chapter Two – Mercedes
The dress I brought smells a little musty, but it fits. It’s a plain dark green, but it hugs my body and shows off my curves in a way I normally wouldn’t like. Advertising my omega stature isn’t something I enjoy, but at a time like this, it’s necessary.I changed behind the wall of dresses my boothmate brought with her, since I was too chicken to go find the changing rooms myself.
The dress ends at my knees, and I traded my boots for a pair of black flats. Compared to the other omegas here, I still look homeless. Ugh.
Why did I think this was a good idea? Why did I dare to have any hope for tonight? At this rate, I’d be better off running away, even though I don’t know where to go and I’m as good as penniless.
I’m too busy frowning at myself in the lit mirror to realize someone else had moved to stand behind me, another omega who wore a thoughtful frown on her face. Raeka, she must be, and she says, “Do you want some constructive criticism?”
I whirl around on her, immediately saying, “I’m sorry for hogging your mirror. There was nowhere else for me to go, so—”
She waves a hand through the air, seemingly not caring that I’m in her space. Her gray eyes are bright and done up in a beautiful smoky eyeshadow, her eyelashes thick and fluttery in a way that says, come hither, alpha . She wears a floor-length gown with jewels sewn into the neckline. Her blond hair is half up, half down in a messy but beautiful display.
“Constructive criticism. Yes or no?” she says.
“Uh… sure?”
She steps toward me and eyes me up and down. “Flats have to go. Also, that dress is the color of baby shit and it smells like it, too. You won’t get the attention of any alphas here if you go to the matching ceremony looking and smelling like this.”
This is constructive criticism to her? Damn. “It’s all I have,” I say, not really wanting to get into how poor I am in the face of this omega who clearly has some money, if the size of the diamonds on her ears mean anything.
She shakes her head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you walk out of here looking like that.” Before I have the chance to speak, she takes me by the wrist and pulls me to her on-the-go wardrobe. “Here. Pick something.”
All I can do is stare, wide-eyed, at the array of dresses hanging before me and stutter out a “What?”
“Pick something to wear,” the girl beside me says again, over-enunciating each word like I’m stupid. Which, okay, maybe I am, because I did hear her the first time and I totally didn’t understand what she’s getting at.
Or, you know, why she’s doing it.
My pride forces me to say, “I can’t.”
She folds her arms over her dress, cocking her head at me and raising a single brow. “You will. If you don’t pick something for yourself, I will. Is that what you want?”
“You’re very bossy.”
Right when I think I said too much, she cracks a wide grin, flashing me a set of perfect white teeth. “Thanks. I am a Whittenhall, after all. If I wasn’t bossy, I don’t think I’d live up to the name.”
My eyes nearly bug out of my head when she says her name. She’s not just a prissy, rich omega. Raeka is the prissy, rich omega. She’s a Whittenhall, one of the founding families—one of the few that can trace their lineage back generations to when this country looked a lot different.
Wealthy and powerful, her upbringing was the polar opposite of mine, and yet here we stand, side by side, both omegas looking for packs.
“You must recognize my family,” Raeka says as it dawns on my face. “Please don’t start fawning over me. I’ve had it up to here with all that shit.” She holds a hand level to her eyes. “So, again, I say, pick one.”
I swallow hard and return my gaze to the lineup of dresses. “I couldn’t. What if I get it dirty? I don’t—”
“Don’t worry about it. You can have whatever dress you pick. My family won’t miss it. Once you’re dressed, we can get to work on your hair and makeup. We don’t have much time, but I can work fast.”
“Why do you care so much that I look good? Aren’t I just competition?”
The way she looks at me after that tells me I’m silly for asking such a thing. “Omegas aren’t in competition with each other. Some might see it like that, but it’s the opposite. The alphas are in competition with each other for us . We’ve gotta stick together, us omegas. If we don’t, then we’re as good as alone.” Softer, she adds, “Only other omegas know what it’s like to be shoehorned into such a tiny box.”
I know how she feels. I hate the fact that someone can take a look at me, smell me, and know instantly what I am and what I’m capable of. Omegas are small, weaker physically, and supposed to be homemakers and great, nurturing mothers.
Me? I don’t even think I like kids. Older omegas say that everything changes when it’s your pup, your own kid, but I have my doubts about that.
Raeka goes on, “Okay, I can see I’m going to have to hold your hand for this. What’s your favorite color… I’m sorry, I never got your name. And, shit, I never fully introduced myself, either. I’m Raeka.”
I swallow hard. “I’m Mercedes.” I can tell she’s seconds from asking me what my last name is, so I just get it over with and say, “Mercedes Solus.”
“Solus?” Her gray eyes twinkle. “From Solus Academy? Wow. Did they start letting their omegas come to these things?”
“Not exactly.”
She chuckles. “Troublemaker, huh? I knew I liked you.” She gives me her back as she steps between me and the dress rack, pulling the dresses apart to grab one. “Here. I think you’d look killer in red.” As she turns around, she hands me the red dress, and the gown sparkles in the light. It looks to be tight from the bust to the hips, where it suddenly flares out until it hits the floor. The bust is lined with rhinestones. It is strapless, which will allow the alphas to gaze longingly at my neck while they daydream about putting a bite there.
I’m slow in taking the dress from her, still feeling like it’s too much to accept. But I also know that Raeka is a feisty one, and a bossy one at that; if I deny her, I don’t doubt she’ll try to undress me herself just to get me into her fancy red gown.
So, might as well just accept it and get it over with.
“It’s beautiful. Uh, where are the changing rooms?” I glance all around, searching for somewhere I can change in private.
“You could just change here—” At that suggestion, I throw Raeka a harsh look, and thankfully she picks up what I’m putting down. “Or not. Come on. I’ll show you.”
She leads me through the bustling area, to where five doors line the wall, side by side, with hardly any room in between them. By now, all the other omegas are already dressed, so each door hangs open, the rooms inside empty.
I duck my head and walk past Raeka to get inside the first room, and I let out a sigh as I shut the door behind me. I change quickly, fumbling with the small zipper on the red dress a bit. The fabric feels too nice on my skin, too soft. I don’t let myself look at the mark on my side, keeping my back to the mirror in the room. The mirror hangs on the inner side of the door, which would allow me a good, long, full-length view of myself in the borrowed dress.
It really is strange how clothes can make you look so different. Clothes don’t just make the man—they make the woman, too.
I don’t linger too long in the dressing room. Grabbing my old dress, I bundle it up in a ball and step out, and I give Raeka a sheepish smile and say, “Might need some help with the zipper.” I give her my back—most of which is bare now, thanks to the dress, and without a word, she dutifully finishes zipping it up for me.
“Girl,” Raeka says as she steps away from me. “I was right. Red is definitely your color. Come on. We still have some time to do your hair and makeup.”
Once we’re back at her table, I stuff the old dress into my bag as Raeka goes to the dresses. She bends over and searches for something on the bottom of the rack. I’m about to ask what when she pulls something out—two things, actually. A pair of sleek black heels that are about three inches higher than anything I’ve ever walked in in my life.
“Uh,” I start.
“Don’t,” she warns, setting them near my feet and forcing me to exchange my flats for them. “You can’t wear a dress like this with shoes like that. Has to be heels.”
“I don’t know how to walk in heels.”
“You don’t… what do they teach you omegas at Solus Academy?”
“Not fashion, I can tell you that,” I say dryly.
“Just put them on. Get used to the feel of them on your feet. We’ll practice walking in them after I do your hair and makeup.”
I don’t really want to, but at this point, it’s clear this girl has taken me under her wing, so I kick off my old flats and slip my feet into her heels. And to my surprise, the heels fit perfectly, just as the dress does. Raeka and I are the exact same size—the typical omega size, as much as I hate to admit it.
It’s as Raeka rifles through a bag for some kind of heated tool to do something to my hair that I realize something: I don’t see a sponsor anywhere to be seen. Raeka is alone in this corner of the dressing area, with nobody standing nearby, watching over her.
“Where’s your sponsor?” I ask.
“Where’s yours?”
“I don’t have one.”
Raeka says with a shrug, “Neither do I.”
“Yeah, but… I’m a nobody. You’re a Whittenhall. Your family let you come here, alone?”
“You’re not a nobody.” She plugs in the hair curler she found in her bag, and as it heats up, she grabs a hairbrush to untangle my unruly locks. “You’re just… unknown, but between you and me, I think you’re going to make a name for yourself here. And as for me, my family didn’t want to let me come alone. They tried up until a few hours ago to get the family butler to play bodyguard, but I told them I would only do this if I could present myself tonight.”
“And your family let you?”
“I’m the middle child. My parents already have alpha sons who furthered the family line, and they have another omega in my sister. I’ve always been a bit of a handful. I think they just want me to find a pack and settle down, so they’re letting me do my own thing. But enough about me. Tell me about you.”
There really isn’t anything interesting about me, but I find myself wanting to open up to this stranger. I’ve never really had friends, besides Leia, and Leia was more of an acquaintance who shared a roof than anything else. Being at Solus, under Jay’s and his spies’ watchful eyes, I was always pretty limited. “What do you want to know?”
“How old are you?”
“Almost twenty-one.”
“Me, too! How close are you?”
I shift in my seat. “About a month out.”
“I have two months, so a little extra time if I don’t find a pack I like tonight. You, though… you’re S-O-L if you don’t match with one. If you end up high and dry tonight, what are you going to do for your first heat? I hear the first one is hard—and that it’s doubly hard if you don’t have a pack of alpha knots.”
I shouldn’t be so shocked at how blasé Raeka is about all of this; as omegas, our heats are just another bodily function nature forces on us. Days of pain and agony await if you’re not stuck full of an alpha’s knot.
Seriously, only a knot can make omegas in heat feel sane. I’ve seen pictures, and to this day it still doesn’t make sense to me. Like, I know our bodies are made to take knots every which way, but damn.
The only thing I end up saying to Raeka is, “I’ll find a pack tonight.” I do my best not to let my desperation seep into my voice; it’s now or never. Truly, I shouldn’t have waited so long to come to one of these things, but I knew if I came to a matching ceremony and failed to find a pack, Jay would somehow find out, and he’d station his goons outside Solus to make sure I never sneak off again.
Literally, tonight is my only chance. I have one shot at this. As much as I would like to find that fairytale pack connection, I’m a realist. Not every omega is lucky enough to find their happiness in a forever pack. I’ll be content with a pack that has the means to protect me from Jay while I work on leaving this city and putting states between us.
And then I want to leave and never look back.
“If that’s what you want,” Raeka says, pulling me out of my thoughts, “I hope you find a pack, too.”
As she does my hair and makeup, she asks me other questions about myself—and in the same spirit, she gracefully dodges any questions I lobby at her. It becomes clear she doesn’t want to talk about herself or what she’s looking for in a pack, which is fine. I like her just fine, but we just met. We aren’t best friends or anything. We might be omegas, but that’s it. She and I could not be more different.
I meant it when I said I wasn’t interesting; I have nothing cool to lend to the conversation, but I do my best to answer what I can. It’s when she asks if I’ve ever had a boyfriend before that my tongue suddenly feels clumsy in my mouth.
Have I ever had a boyfriend? I guess it depends on who you ask. I’d say no, but I know quite a few others who’d say I am already taken.
So, in the end, I just tell her, “No.” It’s easier that way, and thankfully she lets it go after that.
Raeka works fast. Being from a founding family, she must have a lot of time to herself to perfect the art of hair-styling and makeup. When she finishes and I catch my own gaze in the lit mirror three feet in front of me, I suck in a hard breath.
I don’t look like myself.
I look… pretty.
I mean, I don’t think I’m hideous or anything. Just plain. But Raeka gave my long, unruly brown hair some wave to it, making it look voluminous instead of ratty, and my amber eyes are done up in an artful, slightly-smoky eyeshadow. My eyelashes are thicker and more prominent than they’ve ever been, and my lips are covered in a matte red lipstick to match my dress.
Holy crap. I really do look good.
It must say on my face, because Raeka giggles. “It’s like you’ve never seen your reflection before.” She stands behind me, slightly off to the side, watching as I study myself in the mirror with a smirk on her face.
Sitting there, I don’t look like a no-name omega from Solus Academy. I look like I belong here, like I was always meant to be here.
“I…” Slow to turn away from the mirror, I meet Raeka’s stare. “Thank you so much for helping me.” My pride doesn’t want to admit it, but I can’t look at the results and not thank this girl. Her helping hands might just lead to me matching with a pack tonight.
She waves me off. “Don’t worry about it. Us omegas have to stick together, right?”
Before I get a chance to say anything in response, a loud clap echoes in the space, and every omega in attendance tonight snaps their heads to attention. The older woman who is in charge of all of this tonight, stands in the center of the dressing area, all eyes on her.
“It’s time!” she says loudly, glancing at each omega, lingering on every girl for only a few seconds before moving to the next. “I will bring each of you to your tables and once you are all situated, I will bring the alphas in. Remember: tonight is not a make-or-break night. If you don’t match with a pack, don’t feel pressured to accept any offers. Even if you’re about to turn twenty-one, there are other resources out there. Heat houses, temporary packs, that sort of thing. If you don’t match with a pack tonight and your birthday is coming up, see me once the night is over and I’ll guide you through the next steps.”
Heat houses are definitely a last resort for some omegas. Basically, from what I understand, you get thrown into a room in an unfamiliar house, where any visiting alpha can come and relieve you of your pain-filled heat.
And temporary packs? Very similar, except the omega is either brought to the pack’s home for their heat or the alphas come to the omega’s home.
Neither are popular. Neither an omega wants.
“Now, remember to have fun and be yourselves tonight,” she goes on. “Don’t pressure yourself, and don’t lose yourself in any alpha pheromones. As unmatched omegas, eighty percent of alphas are destined to smell good to you. Keep your heads level and have a good time. Sponsors—” The woman now addresses the various omega sponsors in the room: family members, family friends, other people whose mission tonight it is to oversee their chosen omega and her decisions. “—you are to be seen and not heard. Tonight is about the omegas. You will have ample time to discuss everything with your omega after.”
She ends her little speech by saying, “I will bring you out into the ballroom one-by-one, so please, be patient.”
I finally get to my feet, watching as the woman takes the first omega and her sponsor and leads them to the ballroom through a double-wide door. I wobble on my feet a bit, which snaps Raeka’s attention back to me.
“Oh, shit. Right, you need to practice walking in those.” She demonstrates a sultry swagger as she walks a circle around me in her tall heels, obviously having practiced this countless times. Or maybe she grew up in heels, so walking in them was easy. “It’s really not as difficult as you think it is. Once you get going, it becomes kind of instinctual, but to make it look good, you gotta have confidence.”
Confidence. I wish I could say I had loads, but the only thing I am truly confident in is the fact that I don’t want to bond with Jay. I’m not a fortune-teller, I can’t see the future, but even I know if Jay sinks his teeth into my neck during my first heat, it’ll be like an invisible chain, and I’ll never be free.
As the woman continues to funnel omegas and their sponsors into the ballroom, Raeka gives me pointers as I practice strutting in the heels. By the time it’s Raeka’s turn to be brought into the ballroom, I’m semi-confident in my walking skills.
Hey, if I don’t faceplant in front of dozens of alphas tonight, I’ll consider it a win.
“Come, Ms. Whittenhall,” the woman says, gesturing with her head for Raeka to follow her.
I give Raeka a smile and say, “Good luck tonight.”
She returns my grin and says, “You, too.” The way she says it, coupled with how she glances over her shoulder at me as the woman takes her away, makes me think she suspects tonight is a little different for me.
I’m not looking for a forever pack. Girls like me don’t get fairytale endings. As long as the alphas’ scents don’t repulse me and I don’t get abusive, creepy vibes from them, I’ll take any pack as long as it means I’ll be out of Jay’s grasp.
One thing at a time. Once I’m tucked away, behind a wall of alphas, I won’t have to worry about Jay or his threats. I’ll be able to think more clearly and work on getting the hell out of here.
Whatever pack I match with tonight is temporary.