Chapter 2
Kasey
A handler tapped the wall beside me, a sharp thunk that meant to stand straighter. I shifted just enough to fix my posture, heels together, and hands flat at my sides. The line of Omegas didn’t move, didn’t breathe too loudly.
We all knew better.
The handler, another faceless, nameless man that I wouldn’t be around long enough to learn a name from, stepped in front of me without warning.
He gripped my shoulders and pushed them back, adjusting me like I was something that needed aligning. His fingers were firm, moving me an inch here, a fraction there.
“Chin up,” he said, his voice quiet but it echoed through the room. He nudged my jaw anyways, tilting it to the angle he wanted.
I’d had my picture taken a handful of times over the years I’d been here, but never like this. Never lined up against a wall. Never with our posture corrected until we all looked identical.
Before, the photos were quick and careless — a snap for a file, nothing more. Just a way to keep track of us.
Slowly, the line inched forward, one Omega at a time. Some were positioned carefully, told to stand a certain way or turn their heads just so. Others had their photos taken quickly — a single shot of their face, another of their fully clothed bodies — and were moved aside without a word.
The line crept forward until the Omega beside me stepped away, leaving an empty space that meant it was my turn. My pulse thudded in my ears, but I kept my face blank, my posture perfect.
A handler tapped the wall behind me. “Step forward.” I obeyed instantly.
The gym felt like its walls were caving in, caging me into a space I didn’t want to be in.
The camera sat on its tripod like an eye waiting to blink. It was black, imposing, and held things that I would never understand.
But the man that stood behind it froze the blood in my veins.
I knew without it needing to be pointed out that the camera man was an Alpha. Someone important. Someone who had power that I’d never get to have.
I gulped, forcing my eyes to keep straight, to keep where the handler told me to place them.
A handler with a clipboard approached. He didn’t speak at first, just circled me once, slow and assessing, like he was checking for any flaws.
“Omega Kasey. Four feet are seven. Last checked clocked in at one hundred pounds even.” The handler read over the clipboard, his eyes flickering to me for a moment before he stepped backwards.
“Kasey?”
It took effort to not look at the cameraman as he repeated my name. It was spoken softly, almost wishfully. It wasn’t the way anyone spoke it here.
“Is that with a C or a K?
“Does it matter?” The handler asked, not exactly unkindly.
“I have to know who to look for with the pictures are posted, don’t I?” The cameraman fiddled with his camera, adjusting it for a moment before clicking a button. The bright flash caused me to jerk back and bright spots to dance before my vision.
“K. One of a kind of Omega. Sweet and obedient. Likes a bit of pain.”
A bit of pain? I hated pain, yet that’s all I got here. Lasting pain that was more than skin deep.
I heard the soft shuffle of shoes before I saw anything. The cameraman moved to stand in front of me, causing the air the shift in that way that told me he was looking too closely at my flaws.
“Hey,” he said softly.
My heart lurched. No one here said, "Hey,” not like that here. I was always an Omega, Boy, or some other random name that wasn’t my own. Yet, I always responded somehow. Either mentally or physically. I was obeying when I called.
I kept my gaze glued to the floor, as there were no orders to do anything.
He stepped closer, his shoes coming into view. “Kasey, right?” His voice was softer than before, almost warm. “You’ve grown.”
A cold ripple went through me.
Grown?
How would he know?
I swallowed hard, keeping my face blank. But he didn’t stop. For all I knew, he could easily be the one that brought me to this place, leaving me begging and pleading for Mama to come get me.
“You don’t remember me, do you?” He asked, voice dipping lower, like he was trying not to be overheard.
My pulse hammered. Questions weren’t allowed. Not from us. Not to us.
I shifted my weight before I could stop myself. It was only a tiny, instinctive movement, but I regretted it immediately.
“Hey, it’s okay.” He took half a step closer. “I’m not trying to scare you.” His eyes flickered over my face again, searching for something. Recognition maybe. “I’m Ev- “he started, then stopped himself, jaw tightening. “Never mind. Just…hold still for a second.”
I froze. Not because he told me to, but because that’s what I was trying to do already.
His gaze lingered on me once more, too soft, and it made my skin prickle with a different type of fear.
Being invisible here was safer. Being seen felt dangerous. And this man saw me.
He leaned in just a little, voice low. “Kase.”
No. Just…no.
There had been one person, so long ago, that called me that. And this man looking at me, in my space, wasn’t that man.
Tears gathered in my eyes, and I quickly blinked them away.
“Is there a problem?” The handler asked, voice clipped and cold.
I was never once thankful for a handler interfering, but this one time I was.
The cameraman straightened too fast, the warmth in his tone vanishing as if it had never been there. “No problem. Just confirming details.”
The handler stepped closer, boots stopping inches from my line of sight. “Details don’t require conversation.”
My stomach twisted.
The cameraman hesitated before forcing a professional tone back into place. “Right. Of course.”
But the handler wasn’t convinced. His gaze flickered between us, lingering on me long enough that my lungs felt too tight. Then, he turned his attention fully on the cameraman.
“Keep your focus on the task. Not the Omega. If you want to talk to him later, wait until his profile is up on the website. Alpha Lockswell will have it posted in a timely manner.”
The words hit like a slap I wasn’t allowed to react to.
The cameraman’s jaw tightened. “Understood, Beta John.”
The handler didn’t move away right away. He stayed there, watching, making sure the message landed. Only when he was satisfied did he step back and wave at the Alpha to finish up.
The cameraman exhaled slowly. And even though he didn’t look at me again, I could feel something simmering under his skin.