Chapter 5 #2
Confused, I pushed, desperate to understand why he was asking.
“You never know when your first heat will hit, dear, so we need to keep an eye on anything out of the ordinary.” His answer sounded practiced, despite the confident tone. “The last thing you want is to go through a heat with no Alphas.”
I nodded, because that was what he expected of me.
After that, the blood draws started.
Not too much at first. A vial here and there to supposedly test my hormone levels.
Until during the last visit, he filled an entire bag before I started swaying. My vision blurred around the edges, and the tips of my fingers started to tingle.
“Oh dear,” he murmured, sounding genuinely concerned. He helped me lie back, placing a warm blanket around my legs while he took out the needle and scribbled something on the bag.
“That’s my fault, isn’t it?” He tutted, handing me a bottle of juice and some crackers. “I should have known this would be too much, too soon.”
Pushing his glasses up his nose, he gave me a reassuring smile and a pat on the knee, then stepped out to speak with my father. I could barely hear them through the concrete wall, but what was very clear was the sharp edge in the Doctor’s tone.
“I told you. If you want to continue, then she must be healthy enough to handle it,” he snapped in a tone I’d never heard from him. “I will not be responsible for a decline in her health.”
I heard an indistinct reply, recognizing the cadence of my father’s arrogant, no-nonsense tone. They went back and forth for some time until the door swung open and Doctor Albertson hissed, “Do what you must, but that’s my line.”
When he faced me, he was once more all smiles and kind eyes, but I saw his face when the door flew open, and it’d been lined with a fury so palpable I could practically feel it in the air.
Neither of us discussed what happened. Whatever my father’s doing that Dr. Albertson disagrees with, the bottom line is, he works for my father. Asking him questions is dangerous.
In the car on the way home, my father leaned over the seat and placed his large hand over mine. It was cold and dry and felt unnatural.
“You know I bring you here because you’re special, don’t you, Idril? You’re a very special Omega. You always have been. It’s why we can’t take you to regular doctors, where they will poke and prod and publish things about you.”
It was the first time in recent memory he voluntarily offered comfort. It took everything in me not to cringe and pull my hand away.
“It’s for your protection, darling.” He meant to sound reassuring, but it sounded more like a threat. He had a gleam in his eyes. The one he got whenever he acquired something that gave him power.
That’s when it clicked. He wasn’t protecting me. He was possessing me.
What lingers from that trip isn’t the realization that I’m missing out on a normal life, nor the blood draw that set off all my internal alarms. It’s my father’s words, wrapped in condescension and dripping with self-importance.
“You’re a very special Omega. You always have been.”
I don’t feel special. I feel like a burden. Especially when every chance he gets, Father makes it clear I’ve failed him not once, but twice.
First, by being born a girl. Then again, by not designating as the Alpha he was desperate for.
It doesn’t matter that I had a higher chance of emerging as a unicorn than a female Alpha. It doesn’t matter that I have no control over any of it.
Every day, his declaration makes less and less sense. If I’m special, then why hide me away? Why force me to spend my days alone, begging for necessities like nesting materials and food? If I’m so special, then why do I always catch him looking at me with thinly veiled rage?
Then… there were those days in the basement…
I shake the memory away before it can stick, and reach for the one blanket I have left.
Pulling it over my body, I close my eyes, determined to get some sleep. I haven’t heard anyone leave yet, which means Alexander is still somewhere downstairs.
Again.
The thought sends chills skating down my back.
I hate that he’s in this house. The home my mother once filled with stories and soft smiles. Knowing he’s polluting what was once her space makes something inside of me spark and catch fire, feeding my anger.
I want him to leave. That man, or vampire, or whatever he is, has no right to be here. My father has no right to bring him here. He’s an Alpha, and he knows how important an Omega’s space is. It doesn’t matter that my mother is gone; this home is still hers.
It’s still mine.
My fingers flex, tightening around the fabric of my blanket. Fear morphs into rage. If I were brave, I’d march down there and tell him to leave. The fact that my father can even stand to be in the same room as someone so clearly—
I freeze, my attention diverted by the voices drifting through the air, funneled through the old air vent on the wall near the ceiling.
Years ago, when I still had hope that my father might love me, I used to press my ear against that vent and listen to his meetings and phone calls, pretending that one day he’d deem me important enough to be included in his talks.
Stupid dreams of a stupid little girl.
I rarely bother with it now that I’m older. He normally meets with clients in the city, or if they come here, they meet in his study. That vent leads directly to Father’s smoking room, and he rarely brings business associates there.
He’s using it tonight, though.
With Alexander.
Cautiously, I force my aching body to uncurl. Using the wall as leverage, I pull myself up slowly, methodically, until I’m close to the vent. I need to hear what they’re talking about. I need to understand what’s going on.
Closing my eyes, I strain to listen.
“—Why you’re concerned with the timeline,” My father’s voice is slightly muffled, but easy enough to understand. “You’ve waited this long.”
“I have, but that was only because you were still waiting to see results. Now, things seem to be working to a degree, I don’t see why I should have to wait.”
Alexander’s words are patient, but I sense an underlying threat in his tone—something I have far too much practice recognizing.
“In order to continue to see results, I’ll need to keep her a bit longer,” my father replies, sounding like he’s not in the mood to negotiate.
Results of what? What are they talking about?
“I don’t see why, when you have—”
“I have no desire to put all my eggs in one basket,” my father snaps, cutting him off. “Once I’ve finished stockpiling, I’ll decide what to do with the girl.”
Alexander hums in consideration. It’s quiet, neither man speaking for so long, and I start to wonder if they left.
“I’ve procured a serum you might find beneficial if you require more funds.” Alexander’s voice makes me jump like a startled rabbit.
I hear the faint sound of liquid being poured into a glass and then, “Well, don’t keep me in suspense.”
“It brings on an Omega’s heat outside of her cycle. You’ve said your daughter is pure, and an Omega’s first heat—specifically a medically induced heat—would be something many Alphas would pay good money to participate in.”
My blood runs cold. My vision narrows as my heart stutters.
They’re talking about me. About sending me into an artificial heat and… what? Selling me to random Alphas?
My hands fly to my mouth to smother the Omega whine I can’t choke back.
Fates, this can’t be real. He won’t actually do that, will he?
My pulse pounds in my ears.
No. No, no, no. This can’t be happening!
“—made something like that.” My father’s voice, tinged with wry amusement, forces my attention back to their conversation. I lean in closer, blinking back black dots swimming in my vision.
“Most don’t,” Alexander sounds smug. “It will bypass the suppressants completely. I’ve seen it in action. It’s rather… titillating. If you’re into that kind of thing.”
I hold my breath anxiously, waiting for my father’s answer. Praying to all the gods, he’ll find just one shred of decency in his heart to shut Alexander down.
“I’ll keep it in mind. As I said, as of now, I’m still considering what I want to do with her.”
I shake my head furiously, trying to deny what I’ve heard despite knowing I can’t. Tears spring to my eyes, and I back away from the vent.
I can’t— I can’t listen to them anymore.
Oh gods, oh gods… why? Why would my father do something like this to me? Why would he even entertain it? Why does he hate me so much?
Like an injured animal, I curl under my one remaining blanket and pull it over my head. I want to curl up as tight as possible, but the pain in my ribs prevents me from moving any further.
This feels like a dream. Or.. a nightmare. Everything seems hazy and distant, like I’m disconnected from reality. I lay there for what must be hours, staring at the seams of my blanket and trying to make sense of my life.
He didn’t agree, Idril. He said he was still thinking. He could forget about it. He could—he could—
I whine. A piercing, keening sound full of fear and desperation. Only the presence of the cat’s large body pushed against my back stops me from doing something insane— like taking my chances on escape by jumping from the balcony.
He purrs steadily, and while it’s not an Alpha’s purr, the vibrations are just enough to soothe the sharpest edges off my panic.
It doesn’t stop the tears from flowing, though. I choke on a sob. I don’t even care anymore if the guards can hear me.
I can’t let something like that happen to me. I just simply can not.
What are the alternatives, though? I tried to escape, and I failed. Spectacularly. Even if I make it out of the house now, my body is too weak, and I’m in too much pain. I probably wont even make it off the grounds.
I spend hours lost in my thoughts, examining and discarding plan after plan, growing more and more frustrated.
My options are so limited. There are two exits from my room—my balcony and my door, but my father installed a lock on the outside of my door after my escape attempt.
He locked me in, and now he’s having drinks with a monster who suggests selling my heat like he’d suggest the purchase a timeshare in Cabo.
Slowly, my sorrow begins to morph into something hotter. More violent.
Anger.
My whole life, I’ve followed the rules. Tried to be the best daughter possible.
At first, I did hoped my submission would buy my father’s care.
Once it became clear his love for me didn’t exist, I doubled down.
Not because I thought he might eventually love me, but because being perfect was the only way to keep his anger at bay.
My mother taught me long ago that to stay safe I had to be soft, quiet, and submissive.
Don’t argue back, don’t give an opinion, don’t fight.
If you do, the punishment will only hurt worse.
I learned those lessons. Maybe not right away, but eventually the pain became too much to handle, and the hope that my father cared for me—even a little bit—whittled to nothing.
Now I’m facing a future that might be even worse than the decade I’ve spent trapped here. I don’t know how much longer I have, but I know I only have one option.
I have to get out of here.
That ember in my chest seems to catch. It burns hotter, sending warmth through my veins. My determination solidifies into something tangible.
I’m going to figure out how to escape…
Or I’m going to die trying.