Two Months Later – Mercedes
I stand off to the side, in the small courtyard in the center of what used to be Solus Academy. The sign outside says it still, but it won’t for long. My guys stand near me, crowding around me but giving me enough space that I don’t feel claustrophobic. They aren’t the only ones from Alabaster Security here; once things settled down after my first true heat, the guys and their father worked on expanding Alabaster Security in sectors that have previously gone overlooked.
In short: Daniel Alabaster bought Solus Academy, kicked out the old management, and installed some of his own men and women, people he trusted, ones Darius vouched for.Kellogg Academy will be next.
I’m not the one standing front and center in the courtyard, though. Delilah, the woman who runs the Omega Garden, is. She wears a bright, genuine smile as she greets the omegas watching her with wide, nervous eyes, her hair pulled back in a high bun. She wears a fitted dress that falls down to her knees and heels that were never meant to walk on uneven gravel, but she manages to make it look effortless.
There aren’t many omegas left. A lot were sold off before the Alabaster money went through. There are maybe fifteen or so girls left of varying ages, but I know in time the number will only grow. Warren and Nic spend most of their days searching for the omegas who were sold off, to make sure they aren’t in a bad place. Darius oversees a brand-new branch of Alabaster Security, one meant to provide strictly for omegas in need, even if they themselves can’t pay for it.
“I know it’s been a whirlwind recently for you girls,” Delilah says. “And it’s not likely to stop soon. As you’ve already heard, Solus Academy is no more.” As the omegas all look at each other, the concern plain on their faces, she goes on, “You might not know me, but I run the Omega Garden downtown. From here on out, anytime one of you comes of age, you will be able to sign up for the matching ceremony, if that’s what you want. If you decide against it, I and some lovely agents from Alabaster Security, will work with you to find you a place beyond these walls. This is Solus Academy no longer. I will be your new headmaster here at N.O.A. Welcome to New Omega Academy.”
Delilah glances to me. “Someone who’s going to be helping out a lot around here, you might recognize.” She holds out a hand, gesturing for me to join her in the spotlight, so to speak. I begrudgingly do so, and she sets a hand on my shoulder. “Mercedes here was like you not too long ago. She snuck out to join one of my matching ceremonies, and there she found herself a pack. I want you all to know that, while your lives may not have been easy up until now, we’re going to do everything in our power to make sure you each land wherever you want—a pack, a place you can call your own, whatever you want. If we work together, there are no limits.”
Her speech lasts a while longer; the woman can talk, that’s for sure. At the end of it, everybody gets a glass of sparkling water to celebrate, since the girls here are too young to drink. A few of them make their way over to me and hug me.
It’s nice, but awkward, since I pretty much stuck to myself when I lived under this roof.
After one particularly long hug from a girl who just got transferred here—a poor girl of thirteen, someone who must’ve presented as an omega after I left this place, since I don’t recognize her—Darius and the guys watch her run off and rejoin the other omegas sitting beneath the lone tree in the courtyard.
“Looks like they’re happy with the new management,” Nic remarks.
“Any change would’ve been good compared to what was here,” Warren says. “That old headmaster was a piece of shit.”The old headmaster, and every single faculty member here, receptionist included. All have been let go.
With a nod, Darius says, “It’s not going to be easy, but we’re going to make sure these girls have the lives they should.”
Listening to them say all this makes me smile. I know they wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t for me, but I helped them open their eyes, helped them see the reality that many omegas face. If an omega doesn’t have a family to take care of her, she’s pretty much shit out of luck. The whole system is rigged against her, and that’s just wrong.
They’re listening. They’re learning. And, most of all, they’re willing to help change things.
God, I love them so much.
Delilah strolls over to us, a wide smile on her face. “You know, if you would’ve told me the night I first met you that we’d be here, I would’ve laughed, but here we are.”
“Here we are,” I say.
When the guys acted like they weren’t sure who to put at the head of N.O.A., I immediately thought of the woman who gave me her business card and told me if my new pack doesn’t work out, to call her and she’ll help me. Though she comes from a richer blood than me, she seemed to genuinely care, which was more than I could say for most. So, naturally, she was one of the first people we called, and it turns out she’s been looking to train a replacement at the Omega Garden for a while now. She’s getting older, wants to do something less demanding.
Yeah, yeah. I know. I don’t think running N.O.A. will be less demanding, but maybe she’s just ready for a change in her life. I don’t think she has a pack of her own.
Her phone buzzes, and she reaches into her dress’s pocket—I know, a dress with pockets? Amazing—and sees who it is. “Oh, someone is here to see you, actually.”
I blink. “Me? What? Who’s here?”
“Come on. She’s at the front. Let’s go get her.” Delilah leads the way, and I toss a confused glance to each of my guys, none of which know what’s going on, so all I receive in return are shrugs.
I follow Delilah through the old, smelly halls of the academy—the whole thing will be gutted and redone, made shiny and new soon enough thanks to Alabaster money—to the front door of the academy, where new security measures are, stopping anyone from just strolling inside. We’re going to hire a new receptionist too, who’ll take over the desk just inside the building.
And when we step outside, who do we see but the omega who gave me a makeover on the night of the choosing ceremony.
Raeka Whittenhall.
Her blond hair is a bit longer than it was when we first met, and she wears baggy jeans that make her five-foot frame look like a grandma—but, somehow, she’s still gorgeous in the way most omegas are. It’s in our genetics.
She instantly grins when she sees me. “Mercedes! I feel like I want to hug you, but I’m honestly not a hugger, so.” She shrugs and tries to play it cool. “How are you?” Behind her, on the curb, a sleek black car sits, idling. My guess is her family driver or something.
Delilah harrumphs and says, “Maybe we should have this talk inside.”
We end up in the old headmaster’s office, and Raeka frowns as she studies the cramped room. “This is nasty. It smells so rank. No wonder you ran away,” she says dryly—and she says this about the best-looking room in the whole place. She’d think the rest of the academy is hell.
The three guys funnel into the room behind me, and Delilah shuts the door, giving us some privacy.
Raeka brings her gray eyes to my alphas. “So, these are them, huh? They’re not bad to look at.” Her easy comment on my alphas’ looks make me prickly a bit, but I shove that feeling down and ignore it.
“Darius, Nic, and Warren Alabaster,” I say, introducing them, and they all nod their heads at her in greeting. “Why are you here?”
She glances at Delilah. “I’ve been in contact with Delilah. She told me about this academy and what you guys plan on doing with it—and I want in.”
“You want in?” Warren echoes, confused.
“Yeah. I’m a Whittenhall, dumbass. I have lots of money I can contribute. Get the girls new clothes or something. Hire a chef. Whatever. I want to help.” Raeka looks at me, then at the marks in plain view on my neck, and that’s when I realize she doesn’t have any marks. Her scent is still fully her own.
Wait a moment. She hasn’t found a pack yet? But she should’ve already had her first heat, if I remember correctly. At the Omega Garden, she said she was two months’ out. That has come and gone in the time since we last saw each other.
“You haven’t found a pack,” I say, unable to hide the shock and awe from my voice. Mad respect for this girl.
“No, and it wasn’t for a lack of offers.” She frowns as she sits on the corner of the old headmaster’s desk. “I was hoping my family would see that I could make it through a heat on my own and let me move out, but they’ve decided to take matters into their own hands and talk with potential packs themselves. Sooner or later, it won’t matter if I keep saying no. They’ll set me up with a pack and I won’t have much of a say.”
Raeka glances at Delilah again. “Which is why, when I heard about who you ended up with and what you’re doing here, I decided I wanted to help… and ask a favor. A favor I’m willing to pay for, so I guess it’s less of a favor and more of me begging you to let me become a client.”
With a shake of my head, I say, “I don’t understand. You want to donate to N.O.A., but you also need help? What do you need?” Really, I don’t know what she could want from us here that she couldn’t get for herself out there, coming from one of the founding families.
But then I remember what I wanted when I felt like I was backed up against the wall: freedom, and I know exactly where she’s coming from.
“I want a bodyguard. Someone I can trust. Someone that’s not under my parents’ thumbs, who won’t get the urge to join me when I lock myself away during my heats. I need someone who takes his job very seriously, and preferably someone who will scare away any offers that might come my way.” Raeka looks at my alphas. “Is that something your company could help me with?”
Darius is the one who responds, “We have a lot of men who’re adept at personal security. I’m sure I could set up a few interviews, if you’d like to meet a few options, and you can decide.”
She makes a disgusted sound. “I don’t want to do any of that. Just send me someone you’d trust with your life. Or her life,” she points at me. “I want the alpha you’d trust her with.” She hops off the edge of the desk and comes closer to me. “You got a phone now? I want to stay in touch, especially if we’re going to be working together at this shitty academy.”
Delilah is the one who chuckles and says, “I never said we would give you a job, Raeka. Donations, of course, but a job—”
“We can talk about my position later. For now, I’m hungry. Want to grab lunch?” That question she asks me, and she waits for a reply, her frown morphing into a smile.
Raeka has spunk. I knew it the very first time we met that she and I would get along. This could be the start of something new for me, something I never really had before since I closed myself off to the world: a friendship.
The old me would’ve turned her away. The old me would’ve said she didn’t want or need any friends. But the new me? The new me hooks her arm through Raeka’s and says, “Lunch would be great.” And then the new me glances at her three alphas and cocks a brow. “You three coming?”
The expressions they give me tell me one thing: like hell would they ever let me go to lunch with another omega—and an unclaimed omega at that—by myself. The typical sexy alpha look, in other words, the one that whispers mine just from the way they slightly squint their eyes.
“Don’t you all worry about me,” Delilah says. “I’ll be here, going through this mess of an office to see what’s important. The rest? Trash. Go have fun, you two.”
Raeka and I lead my alphas out of the office, and soon we’re stepping out into the daylight.
“I’ll grab the car,” Nic says, going to do just that. Before he goes, he gives me a soft peck on the cheek.
“Awe,” Raeka comments, sliding her arm out of mine and opening the back door of the idling car before us. “How sickeningly adorable. Glad things turned out for you, though. Ride with me. Let’s make your alphas squirm a bit.” She gives me a wink and then gestures for me to get in.
I look at Warren and Darius. The former acts like he wants to crawl in that backseat with us, while Darius is giving me a knowing look in return.
Warren says, “Well, if she’s going in there, so am I—” And he moves around Raeka and I to get in. He’s stopped by a firm hand from Darius.
“No. We’ll follow them there,” Darius says. He grabs me by the hand, pulls me away from the car and slams my front against his as his tall figure bends over. “See you at the restaurant, mate.” And then he kisses me so hard I see stars.
Warren mutters something under his breath as Nic pulls their car around behind Raeka’s, but his sour mood disappears when he nuzzles against my neck and murmurs, “We’ll be right behind you, Red.” An uncharacteristically soft kiss is placed on the marks on my neck before he lets me go.
I can’t help it; I grin like a madwoman as I watch Darius and Warren join Nic in the car, totally aware Raeka stares at me all the while. Finally, when I’m ready to duck inside her car, she mutters, “That is seriously so gross. Reason twelve hundred and seventy-two why I don’t want a pack.” She gets inside behind me, and soon enough we’re on the road after she tells her driver to take us to her favorite lunch spot.
“Twelve hundred and seventy-two, huh? What are the other twelve hundred and seventy-one reasons?” I ask her, and as she begins to tell me her other reasons for not wanting a pack, I sit back and listen.
She might be from a rich family, one of the founding families of our society, well-known across the country, but in the end, she’s still an omega.
And every omega should have a choice.