3. Opal
Chapter three
Opal
I ’m calm and collected as the government car pulls up outside Pack Gold's house, and lo and behold… it’s the perfect family home.
White picket fences, lush green grass, and a wide porch swing.
The ideal house to raise a family. Children even play outside on the street.
There’s a school nearby too, and a large green park with a duck pond.
A strange place for Alphas to live. Normally, they like to live out in the sticks, surrounded by woods to match their wild natures, yet not these Alphas.
Maybe the Omega, Zayden, chose the house, and now I school my features as usual as Felicia gets out of the car.
No doubt she has noticed that it’s the perfect family home, too.
“Just look at that tree in the yard, Opal. Low-hanging branches. Perfect for a treehouse."
I glance at said tree.
It is.
A treehouse small children would love to play in; I'd even paint it bright yellow for them to enjoy in the summer.
I shake my head.
No, no children. It’s not in the cards for me.
I merely entered the city lines to infiltrate the government and to assassinate the governor—the warden's number one enemy.
There is no time to start families.
I cannot settle.
Still, one child in the street has similar red curls as mine, and I like to think that’s how my own daughter would look.
But such is life.
With a deep sigh, I put on my sunglasses as I get out of the car, and every child on the street stops and stares when they see my security detail.
I must look like some kind of celebrity, especially with the wide sunglasses and the summer dress.
But really, their little eyes are pinned on the giants who flank either side of me, dwarfing my five-foot-four frame as we head to the porch with the swing.
They even have wisteria growing in the garden.
Which one of them likes to garden, I wonder…
The children squeak and scamper off when the bodyguards get too close, yet one little blonde girl holds her own.
She even looks at one of my security guards directly in the eyes, hissing through her gap-toothed sneer. “What are you looking at?”
I raise an eyebrow.
Looks like we have a young Alpha on our hands.
“Maddie!”
I turn, spying what must be her mother standing outside a house across the street, and the little girl, Maddie, bounces her bright pink ball on the floor, aiming for the guard on my right.
He dodges the ball with ease, protecting me from the oh - so -dangerous projectile, then growls at the child.
But she only growls back.
Yep, definitely going to be Alpha.
It normally manifests later, usually teen years, but there are early warning signs in childhood.
“Madeline!”
Madeline. Why do all the female Alphas I've heard of have such pretty, delicate names?
Don’t even get me started on the old governor, Lily.
I smile, taking off my sunglasses, and the little girl calms in my presence once she sees that I'm not a threat or rather a thing that needs protection.
Maybe she could be my new bodyguard.
In her eyes, this is her street, hence why she protects her Beta friends from the big Alphas.
Her ‘pack’ so to speak.
I just wonder how she fares with the Alphas who live in my future home.
“You best go to your mom, Madeline. It’s okay. They may look scary, but they mean no harm.”
Maddie scowls at my security detail for a few moments longer, then nods, returning to her mother. The woman tugs her into the house quickly, gazing at us curiously before shutting the door, but I know she's just trying to protect the world from her daughter rather than the other way around.
It seems we really have drawn some attention.
It's mostly Betas in this cul-de-sac. I spy a few noisy neighbors watching us.
One woman cranes her neck over her white picket fence like a giraffe, and another peeks out her curtain.
Yep. The talk of the street.
Felicia is waiting eagerly by the door of the house, and lucky for her and me, there’s a stone footpath leading to the porch.
So now we don’t have to mess up our designer heels in the muddy grass.
Felicia gushes. “You ready to meet your new pack, Opal?”
I glance at Burt and Kurt on my left and right.
That’s not their names, but I just thought they looked like a Burt and Kurt. It’s just nice to put names to those menacing faces.
Burt and Kurt keep their gazes locked ahead, and I guess I am on my own.
“Yes, Felicia. I am.”
Truth be told, I’m nervous. But I've trained my whole life for this.
However, it’s been four years since I infiltrated the city lines and then entered the academy under the guise of an Omega who wanted a pack.
They’ll expect me to be soft and delicate, just like all the other pastel-colored Omegas at that institution.
Little do they know, I'm actually a secret killer beneath this lemon summer dress.
“Well. Here’s to the first day of the rest of your life,” she chirps.
I doubt that.
I will give it three weeks tops. Then, I can complete my mission and return to my master.
Ash fills my mouth, but I swallow it down when Felicia rings the doorbell.
It takes some time, but there are voices on the other side as they fumble with the door, and when it opens at last, I meet those bright blue eyes and that shining smile.
My pussy betrays me instantly when I get an eyeful of that Norse God. Blonde, well-kept beard, freckled nose, and sculpted cheekbones.
He's beautiful.
Thor himself.
His eyes narrow when they land on me, and there’s no missing the satisfied purr as he gets a good look at me, too.
“You must be Opal.”
I swallow again, trying to find my breath, and that's when I feel Felicia’s suggestive smirk the whole time I try to form words.
I’m stumped. For once, I have no practiced smile.
The way he says my name… Makes me almost feel as precious as the stone.
“Yes. I… I am, Alpha.”
The Alpha’s light green eyes flash, and then he throws the door open wider, stepping outside to reach his arm around me.
My bodyguards step back.
He’s my Alpha. So, technically, it’s his job now to protect me.
Yet they still keep close. Just in case.
Just in case this isn’t a perfect match in the end after all. These Alphas are under a lot of scrutiny right now, especially during the first few weeks of an assigned match.
The government wants to ensure that we hit it off. That all my needs are, indeed, being met.
However, I can tell from the light dancing in Felicia's eyes that she's very satisfied. One look inside the house, and she's smitten, and maybe she should move in with the pack.
I don’t see why not.
Why can’t ordinary Betas join a pack?
Soldiers did at the very beginning during the preliminary phase for the Beta Trials—a government initiative for Betas to enter an Alpha-Omega pack.
But ever since Beta Governor, Lavender, passed away, the Beta Trials have been put on hold.
The Beta governor's seat is still empty on the council.
And the Betas are still revolting.
The revolts have quietened down since Gryphon employed more soldiers on the streets, but there are still small uprisings here and there.
There are also known Alpha insurgents on the rise, but they have spread themselves far and wide.
There is war within and without, and it seems Gryphon has enemies on all sides, from fellow Alphas to the common Beta.
What’s sad is that the warden hadn’t even planned any of it.
The wars within the city lines came to fruition all on their own.
He created political unrest, accidentally, of course, and now he is going to attack the government when it is most weakened.
The Rogues were merely viruses sent to slowly kill a larger organism, gradually weakening its defenses.
A perfect strategy, if you ask me.
One where I don’t bank on coming out alive.
I will die on this mission.
“There will be no need for all that Alpha bullshit, Omega. You can call me Magnus.”
Oh, so this is Magnus?
I still have Levi, Reed, and the Omega, Zayden, to meet.
Burt and Kurt take up positions by the door as Felicia inspects the interior of the house, ticking off boxes with her little clickity pen, and it seems Magnus prepared in advance.
This place is spotless. The perfect home for an Omega.
When we go up to see my nest, my knees almost buckle as I resist the urge to get under the blankets.
It's everything that an Omega could ever dream of.
Magnus has a wide grin when he spies my expression. “So, what do you think, Opal?”
A small Omega purr escapes me, and I have to cover my mouth.
How embarrassing.
Felicia grins. “Oh, she likes it very much, Mr. Gold.”
Magnus winks at her. “Call me Magnus.”
Felicia melts, and I bite back a smile. She’s married, of course, but that doesn’t stop her from blushing at my new Alpha.
A shame he doesn’t prefer to be called Mr. Gold. Mangus literally looks as if he was dipped in the stuff, and maybe he was touched by King Midas himself.
A Norse God dipped in gold.
“Well, it’s time to search the other rooms,” Felicia chirps, and again, she finds no faults.
However, she does fail to look at the attic. Not that I care to point it out.
It's just an attic.
There can't be anything too nefarious up there.
It's no surprise this place is Omega-friendly. These Alphas have had an Omega for four years. They already know how to please and cater to one.
And I applaud Zayden’s tastes. This place is beautiful, and I love the color scheme—white and gold.
No lemon or pastels to be found.
Finally, the three of us gather in the living room again. Felicia glances about. “The others not here?”
Magnus sighs. “Our Omega, Zayden, is training today. He should be home soon.”
Felicia nods, making a note of his absence, and I hope it doesn’t go against them.
I heard Zayden joined Oliver’s new special operations squad.
So, he will be busy all the time now.
“Not to worry, Mr. Gold.”
“Please, call me Magnus,” he winks again, and I spy her scribbling out the note on Zayden's absence.
Magnus really knows how to charm a woman.
“I’m sure they will be here soon,” she replies.
Just then, the door opens, and I meet the eyes of a square-jawed Alpha with eyes the color of wisteria.
I’ve never seen such an eye color.
They’re piercing and focused solely on me.
“Mr. Gold,” Felicia peeps. “So glad you could make it home.”
“It’s just Levi,” he corrects, unable to take his eyes off me.
Damn, he’s handsome, too. Square jawline, cropped black hair, and a prominent cleft on the chin.
Yeah, I'm going to go camping inside that dimple.
“You must be Opal.”
Again, the way Levi whispers my name. It makes my Omega shudder and melt into a pool of putty at my feet.
Felicia looks past Levi’s broad shoulder when another male steps inside the house. “And you must be Zayden!”
Finally, my eyes lock with the brown-eyed male. He has soft, tawny skin, a pert nose, and full, kissable lips, and I’m not sure what comes over me next.
His rich scent of hazelnut reaches my nose, momentarily blinding me for the sweetest of seconds. Then the ground dissolves beneath me as I swallow a lump in my throat.
My palms sweat, and my heart beats faster, and then my throat closes as I struggle to breathe.
Well, shit.
It looks like I found my scent match.
And just when I thought this would be an easy mission.
Fate really is a fickle bitch.