Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE
Kara
Iwas committing a felony. There was no doubt about it. The headline was as clear as the dark highway in front of me: Former perfect omega steals dean of students’ car.
In my defense, Ella had left her keys on the counter in her apartment that she’d given me a spare key to. She was practically giving me permission, right? She’d even taught me to drive and taken me to get my driver’s license.
A driver’s license didn’t erase the three words no omega wants to read in their email: No Match Results.
It had been a month since those words knocked me off my feet, and I was in a weird transition period where I needed to decide if I wanted to find an omega-friendly job or start attending fall match events. Unfortunately, I’d added lose my ever-loving mind and steal someone’s car to that list.
Omega Match was a government-run matching program that paired newly graduated omegas with packs of alphas and was the current bane of my existence.
After months of meet and greets, we listed our choices in order of preference, and the system matched us similarly to how newly graduated doctors matched into residency programs.
Top omegas always matched with the best packs… except for me.
I’d done everything right since before I’d even emerged as an omega. Having a pack was all I’d hoped for and wanted. What had been the point of all the late nights studying, practicing my skills, and worrying about how I presented myself in public and around alphas?
I was twenty-two, freshly graduated from the most prestigious omega academy on the west coast, winner of four Omega of the Year awards, yet I was pack-less.
And now, I was a car thief.
My fucks had gone right out the window like my match results. The matching was done and now I’d have to wait until the fall when the packs weren’t as plentiful or as desirable. I tried not to dwell on what could have been.
The farther I got away from the omega compound, the more relaxed I became. The omega compound might have been a highly secure apartment complex for unmatched omegas, but it was no contender for a determined omega.
With a tall, spiked fence and beta security guards always on watch, I’d still managed to drive out without issue. Between the shift change, the baseball cap I wore over my curly hair, and the cover of darkness, it had been easy to leave. Too easy.
How many other omegas had snuck in and out without our babysitters knowing? I’d lived there a month and hadn’t heard a peep in the common areas we shared. But I wasn’t surprised; omegas didn’t trust one another, and they wouldn’t want a goody-two-shoes such as me to rat them out.
Who’s the goody-two-shoes now?
The only one I ever hung out with was Ella Monroe, who had been my dean at Elite Omega Academy. We’d become quick friends when I had moved in across the hall from her. I think she knew I needed someone, especially after my twin sister moved a thousand miles away with her pack.
I looked in the rearview mirror to make sure the police and Omega Protective Services weren’t chasing me. It was only a matter of time before OPS found out I was missing, but by the time they did, I would be long gone.
The speaker in the car dinged, and I jumped. “Take the next exit to I-5 South,” Siri’s monotone voice directed me.
I smiled, checked my mirrors, and left my disappointment behind.
Driving a thousand miles in two days was beyond crazy, especially when my driving experience was limited. I was newly licensed, and Ella had let me drive between the academy and the compound several times as practice, but that hadn’t prepared me for the highway or everything that went with it.
I was extra cautious, checking my mirrors twice before changing lanes, staying in the slow-lane, and taking a lot of breaks. That didn’t change the fact that this was by far the stupidest thing I’d ever done.
Leaving Washington had been easy, and Oregon had been a breeze since they filled up my car with gas for me, but once I hit California, I was a little intimidated. Thank the knot gods for the internet, otherwise I would have been one of those people that spilled gas all over the place.
I’d stopped at night at cheap motels, not wanting to risk giving my ID to anyone.
I was on heat suppressants and scent blockers to minimize the risk of attracting unwanted alpha attention, but there were evil people in the world, and if the wrong person knew I was an omega, I might have found myself in a bad situation.
As an extra precaution, I’d picked up some cheap perfume at a gas station to spray the car and myself with.
After two long days, I made it to Kayla’s house in one piece and parked five houses down. If OPS or the police came looking for me, I didn’t want them to see the car right out front or in the driveway.
Kayla had been texting me all day, so I knew she was home.
Her pack was on a week-long business trip to New York City, and she’d stayed behind to work on her plans for a quilting business.
I didn’t know why she hadn’t gone with them since they were bonded now, but then again, she was stubborn as a mule.
I turned off the car and grabbed my purse from the passenger seat.
I wasn’t looking forward to the trek uphill with my large suitcase, and I looked into the backseat at the two Squishmallows I’d brought with me.
“You, my friends, will have to wait. Mama only has two arms.” I changed my voice to a higher pitch, pretending one of them was talking.
“What happened to no man or Squishmallow left behind?”
The sound of a vehicle caught my attention, and I turned forward.
A shiny black SUV with fully tinted windows turned right in front of me into the driveway leading to a gate.
I’d parked about a car length back from where the curb dipped for the driveway.
Ella’s car was nice, but it wasn’t Hollywood Hills nice.
The SUV idled, waiting for the gate to open. The idea that someone famous was inside excited me, and I squinted, trying to make out any figures inside. Was it even legal to have windows that dark?
The passenger door swung open and a man in dark blue jeans and a tight gray shirt got out, his phone grasped tightly in his hand. His strong jawline was covered in stubble and his short black hair was faded expertly on the sides.
Holy fucking hell, I couldn’t breathe. My heart lodged in my throat and my vision went blurry for a second before zeroing in on none other than Alvaro Estrada of N’Pact, the most popular boyband in the world.
Not only could the four-man band sing, but they could move like they were pulled right off the Magic Alpha stage.
It was unfortunate they didn’t strip down to their underwear like the Magic Alpha dancers did.
N’Pact were all alphas, and this made them not only highly appealing to omegas, but betas as well. Even though betas couldn’t bond with alphas, that didn’t stop them from imagining they could.
A weird, possessive growl bubbled in my throat. I didn’t like the idea of betas throwing themselves at alphas. It was hard enough finding a good pack to be a part of without beta women and men encroaching on what was ours.
Breathe, Kara.
Alvaro was on the phone, his other hand pulling at his hair. His frown was intense and the lift in his shoulders made him look like he was ready to explode. The SUV had already pulled forward, leaving Alvaro to pace up and down the driveway.
My heart fluttered as he ran the hand that had been yanking at his hair down his face before pinching the bridge of his nose. He looked so tense and upset that I wanted to offer to massage his shoulders.
Bad idea.
I didn’t know why I was so surprised to see one of the band members in the flesh; Kayla had told me they lived down the street. They had even helped her out before, but I never imagined I’d spot one.
My hands shook as I fumbled around in my purse for my phone so I could take a picture of him.
Maybe I could get one with him? No. That was a bad idea.
He was in an intense conversation and was an alpha.
They all were. Even if they were famous, I couldn’t risk being around unbonded alphas.
If something went awry, I’d be in even deeper shit with OPS and so would they.
I was acting like a knottybopper, but I didn’t care. This was a once-in-a-lifetime encounter.
My fingers brushed across the edge of my phone in the pit of my purse, and I pulled it out, throwing the bag back into the passenger seat. I looked back up just as Alvaro kicked at a bush before he walked quickly up the driveway and disappeared.
It was for the best. If he caught me snapping a picture of him, he might come kick the car, or worse, call the police.
With a sigh, I grabbed my purse and begrudgingly got out.
I sniffed the air, hoping to catch his scent, but all I could smell was the cheap gas station perfume I’d spritzed all over myself.
I grabbed my suitcase and overnight bag from the trunk, locked up, and trekked up the hill. Despite only being five houses away, the properties were wide, so it was quite the walk after lying on the couch binge-watching television shows for the past month.
I was heaving by the time I finally made it to my sister’s gate, and I pressed the call button on the intercom.
It rang once before a man picked up. “Kayla? What the heck are you doing outside the property? I knew we should have brought you with us.” Of course Beck had to be the one to answer.
He was fiercely protective of my sister and would rip anyone to shreds for even looking at her the wrong way.
“Hi, Beck! I’m here to see Kayla.” I smiled up at the camera and took off the baseball hat I was wearing. “It’s a surprise.” I was met with silence. “Hello?”
“Do you have permission to be here?” What he really meant was did OPS let me come to a major city with no escort.
“Are you going to let me in or not? I think there’s a pack of alphas hunting for omegas headed this way.”
“You’re just like your sister.” He growled something under his breath. “I’ll unlock the front door for you. If Kayla isn’t inside, she’s out by the pool.”
The gate opened, and I entered, sagging with relief as it closed behind me.
I’d made it. Consequences be damned.