Chapter 43
43
Hazel
Knowing Thane’s pack was interested in Logan changed my perspective on everything about the younger Pack Anders. The more we all chatted—tensions all but dust in the wind since the truth came out—the more I wanted Logan to find his place with this pack.
If anyone deserved a happily ever after, it was Logan Hayes.
I loved watching Thane and Rhett rediscover their brotherly bond, falling into an easy banter and talking about ridiculous childhood antics. Jensen and Jude were fast friends. Even Crew and Kyland seemed to be getting along. Kellan was my only hold out, watching the other pack with a wariness that told me he wasn’t sold on them being part of Team Good Guys.
When Kyland straightened, his eyes narrowing at someone across the room, I turned to follow his gaze.
A young woman, probably my age, was surrounded by a pack of men who had to be in their sixties. The woman stood off to the side with her head bowed, her hands cradling her swollen belly.
“Ophelia Williams,” Kyland supplied in a hushed tone. “Married into Pack Williams a year ago. No family to speak of, grew up in foster care. Presented as an omega when she was twenty.”
I spun to look at him. “Beta born?”
Kyland gave a slow nod.
I started to push out of my seat, but Crew grabbed my wrist. “You can’t, Haze.”
Sighing, I glanced back and saw Ophelia hesitantly touch the back of one of her alphas. He whirled around and she flinched back, her lips moving in a request I couldn’t hear.
Seeming annoyed, her alpha waved her off and I watched her thread her way through the room, jolting whenever someone brushed by her until she disappeared into the bathroom.
With a sharp inhale, I turned to Crew. “Bathroom.”
His blue eyes were shadowed with worry. “Little one?—”
“I have to pee sometime, Crew,” I pointed out, and it wasn’t a lie. All the water was catching up with my bladder.
Kellan stood. “I’ll take her. Wait for her.”
“See? Kellan’s going to play bodyguard,” I said with a grin.
Crew closed his eyes and shook his head. “Fine. But Jude goes, too.”
“On it,” Jude agreed, getting up and offering me a hand.
Sliding my arm inside Jude’s, I let him lead the way to the bathroom while Kellan stalked behind us like a bodyguard. When a man tripped and almost fell into me, Kell shoved him back with a snarl that sent the man skittering away.
“Five minutes,” Jude warned me before I went into the bathroom.
I arched my brows. “Ten.”
“Hazel—”
“It’s going to take me five minutes of maneuvering to make sure I don’t dunk my dress in the toilet,” I replied, exasperated.
Kellan stood shoulder to shoulder with Jude. “Fine. Ten. A second longer and we’re coming in.”
I patted his chest. “Didn’t know golden showers were your kink, big guy.”
Kellan leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Pretty sure anything you do is a kink for me, sugar.” Then he licked my earlobe before nuzzling the scent gland on my neck.
A shiver ripped down my spine, and I was thankful for slick absorbent tampons as I ducked into the bathroom.
The ladies’ room looked like a fancy one out of a movie with a sitting area with plush ivory couches and a gleaming coffee table. The wall of sinks were done in the same wood as the coffee table. The marble floors and gold sconces made the space glow.
There was also a floor length mirror with gilded swirls framing it, and the stalls for the bathroom were toward the back.
An older woman in a black gown finished drying her hands with one of the linen towels before dropping it into a hamper. She gave me a tight smile and brushed by me to leave.
The doors of the stalls went from floor to ceiling, and unlike most public restrooms, there wasn’t a gap in the stalls to see if any were occupied or not. But the silence in the space had me thinking that Ophelia and I were the only ones in here.
I hurried into a stall and did my business, and while it didn’t take a whole five minutes to wrangle my gown into submission, it did take a few extra minutes. Even still, I flushed my toilet at the same time as Ophelia.
We both exited our stalls and went to the hand washing station. I kept glancing at her, but she kept her head lowered. The towels were closest to me, so I grabbed one and offered another to Ophelia. “Here you go.”
She stared at me with wide eyes that were a startling shade of violet. Her dark hair was swept into an elegant chignon, and the burnt orange colored gown showed off a substantial amount of cleavage. Paired with the high slits on either side and the mostly open back, I was pretty sure she was showing more skin than was covered.
And, judging by the way she constantly pulled at places on the dress, this outfit wasn’t her choice.
I’d be willing to bet the bruise on her left shoulder wasn’t her choice either. Sure, she’d tried using makeup to conceal it, but that mottled shade of blue and black would be hard to hide when someone was as close as I was.
“Ouch,” I remarked as I tossed my towel in the hamper. “That looks like it hurt.”
She froze, startled like a deer in headlights. “I’m clumsy.”
“I get it,” I agreed with a small smile. I tried switching tactics. “When are you due?”
Her eyes dropped to her belly and she ran a hand over the swell. “Two months.”
“Do you know if it’s a boy or girl?”
Her lips thinned. “A girl.”
I leaned a hip against the sink. “Do you think she’ll be an omega? Or a beta like you were at first?”
Ophelia froze. “Excuse me?”
“I guess I should’ve said, like us ,” I clarified.
Those unearthly eyes snapped to mine. “Us? You… You’re?—”
“I was born a beta to beta parents. I presented as an omega when I turned eighteen.”
Her mouth gaped for a full three seconds. Then she immediately went into defensive mode. “I don’t know what you’re alluding to, but I have to go.”
“Ophelia, please, wait,” I begged. “Do you know that there are others like us?”
She stared at me like I’d grown a second head. “I’m well aware, which is how I know you aren’t one of us. I never saw you at the center or the check-ups or?—”
My heart hammered in my chest. “Wait. What ?”
She snapped her mouth closed.
“My name is Hazel Jones. Well, Hazel Dutton. I’m part of Pack Dutton now, but when I presented, I was being held captive by a domestic terrorist group called the Alpha Protection Alliance. I was saved by Pack Dutton,” I explained.
She covered her mouth with one hand. “You’re that omega? I saw you on the news once.”
I nodded. “Yeah.” I licked my lips. “What center? What check-ups?”
Ophelia closed her eyes and took a breath. “A place where other women like us were held.”
“Where?”
“Virginia. Near—” She cut off as a commotion outside the bathroom became undeniably loud. Ophelia went pale and whispered, “Oh, no.”
“What’s wrong?” I demanded as she started to shake.
“I’ve been in here too long. I need to go.” She grabbed the hem of her dress and started to push by me at the same time someone slammed a fist on the bathroom door and shouted, “Ophelia!”
All the blood leached from Ophelia’s face, her skin going a grayish pallor. She was trembling like a leaf in a hurricane as she opened the door.
One of the men I’d seen her near in the ballroom pushed inside, backing her against a wall. “Where the hell have you been?”
Ophelia dropped her eyes, shoulders curling in on herself as she shut down right in front of me. The most heartbreaking part was the way she wrapped her arms around her stomach, already protecting her child.
“It was my fault,” I blurted out.
The man turned to sneer at me, but that was all he managed before Kellan and Jude were pushing into the space and putting themselves between me and the man.
I really wanted them between him and Ophelia.
The man’s gaze flicked to Kellan, then Jude. “She belong to you?”
“She’s our omega,” Kellan confirmed.
“Might want to keep her leash a bit tighter,” the man said with a scoff. He grabbed Ophelia’s wrist and yanked her forward. “Come on, omega. Time for the presentation.”
Ophelia shot me a terrified look, and then she was gone.
I tried to shove through my men. “We need to go after them.”
“Haze, we can’t,” Jude murmured.
Tears pricked my eyes. “I think they hurt her. She’s so scared?—”
“We know, sugar,” Kellan said as he pulled me into a hug. “We can’t do anything right now. We need to take our seats for the omega presentation.”
I took deep, watery breaths and blinked back my tears. “Okay.”
Jude exited the bathroom first, then Kellan and I. Most of the guests were sitting at tables, but I only had eyes for my table. It was all I could do not to run for it when Crew and Rhett came into view.
Crew stood when he spotted me, alarm on his face that transformed into anger when I all but threw myself into his arms.
“What the fuck happened?” he barked at Jude and Kellan.
“Long story,” Kellan muttered as someone stepped up to the podium at the landing of the stairs. “We’ll talk about it later.”
“Are you okay, little one?” Crew asked softly, sitting down with me on his lap.
“I don’t know how to answer that,” I admitted.
His eyes narrowed. “Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Did someone threaten you?”
“No.”
He relaxed a fraction. “Okay. We’ll figure it out when we’re back in our room.”
“‘Kay,” I mumbled, turning my face to see the stage.
“Welcome to the annual Omega Gala,” a man in a slightly too tight tux said in a booming voice.
Scattered applause went through the room, and I noticed that the room seemed to be divided into packs with omegas and packs without omegas. Those without were seated closer to the front. The women who had been partitioned off behind the stanchions now stood along the steps like this was a beauty pageant.
Then again, maybe it was.
“This year we have an exceptional selection of omegas looking for their packs,” the man continued. “As a reminder, eligible packs were given a packet of information including scent cards. Before leaving, you may cast your bid for a meeting with the omegas you are interested in.”
A few of the men hooted in appreciation. Some whistled.
Both reactions made my skin crawl.
Sensing my unease, Crew’s hand burrowed under the thin straps on the back of my gown so he could stroke my spine.
When I’d sat down, Rhett had switched seats so he was beside me, and I leaned over to ask, “Why is Thane’s pack sitting here instead of with the others?”
Rhett grimaced. “Because these omegas aren’t considered pedigreed enough for the President’s son.”
“Gross,” I muttered.
Settling back, I watched as each woman was presented like a cow at an auction block. Their interests and accomplishments — such as languages spoken, instruments played, or body measurements—were listed for all the attendees. Even anticipated heat cycles were provided.
I breathed a sigh of relief when the last omega was presented, but that quickly turned to suspicion when President Anders came down the stairs with his pack, sans their omega.
“Thank you, Frank,” the President said, clapping the other man on the shoulder. “And thank you to this year’s stunning crop of omegas. I’m sure you’ll all find your pack soon enough.”
Frank herded the omegas back up the stairs, and then it was just the older Anders pack.
The President was obvious as a well known figure, but the other two men were less familiar.
Rhett leaned forward. “Do you know what this is about?”
Kyland shook his head. “I had no idea he was speaking tonight, let alone trotting out the whole pack.”
“On a night like tonight, where we celebrate the gift of omegas, we also remember the virus that took so many from us,” President Anders began, his silky smooth voice lowered with reverence. “As a society, we have struggled with the absence of omegas. As packs, we have felt their presence missing from our lives like a physical hole punched into our souls.”
Everyone in the room was nodding along, hanging on his eloquent words.
President Anders smiled, the flash of bright white teeth against his tanned skin looking like a living ad for a dentist. “After years of being crippled without the calming presence of omegas, I am elated to announce that the dark times are behind us.”
I straightened on Crew’s lap and felt his muscles tense under me. In fact, everyone at our table was a mix of alarm, confusion, and apprehension.
But it was Kyland who looked the sickest, his skin taking on a grayish hue. “No. Not now.”
“I would love to invite my cousin and packmate, Dr. Julian Anders, to come forward and explain about the revolutionary discovery we have made. Julian?” The President turned and hugged his cousin, and then a leaner, older version of the President stepped into the spotlight.
“Thank you, Jefferson. Or, I suppose I should say, thank you, President Anders.” Julian winked at Jefferson.
The President chuckled and waved him off with an indulgent smile before turning to their other packmate—Preston—and whispering something that had them both smiling.
“Gentlemen and ladies,” Julian began, “since the dawn of Variant O, my family and those at Infinity Solutions have been looking for just that. A solution. And now, after years of testing, of trials, of billions of dollars invested, we have an answer to all our prayers.” Turning, he waved a hand at the second floor.
A line of women slowly trailed in, each looking more uncertain than the next as they formed a line on the stairs, all dressed in the exact same white gowns.
Almost like they were brides awaiting their grooms.
My stomach twisted.
Or waiting for their packs .
“I would like to introduce you to the incredible women who have given their lives to helping not only Infinity Solutions, but the entire world.” Dragging the microphone back, he held out a hand to the women.
“Each of these women were born to beta parents,” he announced.
The room tilted, and I worried I’d be sick.
“But thanks to a discovery made by the Infinity team, we learned each of these women inherited a biological trait that made them a candidate for what we’ve called Transition O.” Julian smiled widely. “After a month of clinically supervised infusions, each of these women have presented as an omega.”
There was a hush over the crowd, and then conversation exploded.
President Anders came back to the microphone and held up a hand. “We know it’s a lot to absorb, but it’s true. Infinity Solutions has come up with a way to help a beta transition into an omega. We took these willingly consenting young women?—”
I choked on air.
“Motherfuckers,” Kellan hissed.
“—and within a year of the initial dose of Transition O, each woman became what she was destined to be—an omega ready to welcome her pack.”
Julian came forward once more. “We know you have questions, and we will be releasing a statement with the media tomorrow. Additionally, in the coming weeks, Infinity Solutions will release a paper with a skeletal framework for how we’ve made this incredible discovery.”
Jefferson was practically vibrating with excitement. “Welcome to the dawn of a new world for packs everywhere.”
The roaring cheers and applause as nearly everyone in the room stood made my ears ring. It drowned out every sound except when Kyland spun and looked at me, then Crew, before saying one word.
“Run.”