Knot Their Soldier, Part One (Omegas Fight Dirty #1)

Prologue

Halley

I’m so excited I might throw up the blueberry muffin I ate for breakfast.

The mid-morning air is warming, causing my still sensitive skin to flare to into bright pink patches. My first heat as an Omega ended yesterday and I’m wrung out. My body aches from days spent writhing in delicious agony, and I yearn to crawl into my bed and sleep for days.

Unfortunately, there is no time. The government official is coming to take me to my Alpha.

I’m giddy with nerves. I have spent countless hours dreaming about my life as a coveted Omega and dedicating even more time to imagining the mysterious person who will be my life partner.

Alphas worthy of an Omega mate are always in a position of power. Perhaps they’ll be a brave military man or a doctor. Every possible outcome has run through my head. My Alpha might even be a famous politician. I won’t mind who they are, as long as they love me.

I feel the yearning for affection in my heart like a hole. A chasm which yawns wide within me, throbbing like an open wound.

This person will fill the void. I know it because it’s biology. An Alpha to my Omega.

Living in our small compound, I’m surrounded by family. Yet every day I feel more and more alone.

Our family homestead, tucked away in the hinterland, nestles between two rivers winding through the endless forestry.

My grandfathers, uncles, and male cousins work in the local lumber mill while the women keep everything running at home.

It’s a simple life, but I’ve never gone hungry or slept without a roof over my head.

It’s rare for an Omega to be born to a Beta family, and I guess it’s why I never completely fit in. I was different from the day I was born. Instead of my family’s standard black hair and hazel eyes, I have thick, soft waves of brown with eyes the most unusual shade of purple.

It was a telltale sign of my designation. A hint of what was to come.

As I hit puberty, my body developed curves, large breasts, rounded hips, and a plump ass. I’m short, petite, and soft. It’s undeniable. With a single glance, it’s clear I’m an Omega.

I was so excited, impatiently waiting to leave home and attend a preparatory boarding school for suspected Omegas. But that day never came.

My family saw an opportunity.

There is a hefty finders’ fee for reporting a fully presented Omega hiding among the Beta population. So instead of thriving among my own kind, I was reduced to a get-rich scheme.

My father kept me close to home. No school, no friends, and certainly no alerting the authorities to my presence. Leaving on my own wasn’t an option. Horror stories of Omegas being attacked and forcibly claimed by rogue Alphas haunt my dreams.

As I scrubbed the dried sweat and slick from my skin, still reeling from the violence of my first heat, the nasal voice of my father echoed down the hallway. His glee was barely concealed as he called the officials to notify them of my presentation.

He isn’t around much. He works as a foreman for the local logging company, and he’s gone most of the year. I’d like to think he’s here to see me, but I know better. He’s here to negotiate the terms of my mating.

I spend most of my time keeping the small homestead running and helping my extended family.

There are always crops to be sown, apples to be picked, animals to be fed, and meals to be prepped.

The only time I get for myself is when I take my father’s rifle and shoot empty cans off a rotting log.

It’s a lonely existence, but I’ve held tight to a well-known fact.

I’m valuable.

To my family and to my future Alpha.

My father is eager to see how powerful my Alpha is and what our family will gain from the union.

But after all is said and done, I’ll have my mate. I’ll finally be loved.

“Sit up straight, Halley.” My father’s eyes run up and down my form, and he sneers as he finds me lacking. I roll my shoulders back and straighten my spine.

A plume of dust heralds the arrival of the official, and a sleek silver car pulls up next to our run down weatherboard house.

A Beta woman in a crisply pressed pencil skirt and blouse steps out onto our dirt driveway, her sky-high heels teetering dangerously on the loose rocks. Her appearance is stark against the rustic countryside, like a shiny gem tossed into a bucket of coal. I can’t take my eyes off her.

She snaps her fingers at a smaller, frazzled looking Beta who scrambles forward to pass her a clipboard.

The elegant woman runs a manicured nail down a list on a clipboard before tapping abruptly. “Omega Halley Sparks?”

“Y-yes.” I clear my throat. “That’s me.”

I stand and clasp my hands in front of me, holding them tight to stop them shaking.

The woman looks down her thin nose, and I squirm under her scrutinizing gaze. Does she find me lacking like my father does?

“Welcome to our home, Official Gould.” My father stands with an extended hand like he’s meeting an old friend. My father is like this with everyone; charismatic and charming. Everyone except me.

The woman ascends the weathered wooden stairs and onto our front porch with a pinched expression.

She ignores my father’s hand and scowls at him in return.

I’ve arranged three chairs and a jug of ice-cold lemon fizz.

Earlier this morning, I meticulously cut thin slices of lemons from our lemon tree to add to the jug, desperate to prove my worth as a dutiful, capable Omega.

I’m desperate to leave this house and strike out into the world. I want to be a shiny gem.

I bite the inside of my cheek when Official Gould doesn’t accept my offer to pour her a glass.

“Alright then, let’s see what we have here.” Her tone is firm and emotionless. She runs her finger down a report on the clipboard. She makes a displeased sound at the back of her throat. “Another underaged Omega not reported by her caretakers.”

She pins my father with a cold glare, and I fight back a smirk of vindication. “Beta Sparks, you will receive a visit from our enforcers to begin an investigation.”

My father shrugs, unfazed by the threat. He’d weighed the risk and reward of reporting my designation years ago.

“Underwent first heat which lasted a week,” she mutters out loud as she reads from my file.

I quiver with excitement and lick my lips.

This is it.

This is the moment my future brightens and my life truly begins.

“No education to speak of.”

My smile falters, but I’m still buzzing with excitement.

No more endless farm chores without so much as a thank you. No more cleaning up after my unappreciative relatives.

I’ll finally be free of the otherness that brands me in this family. I won’t have my aunts gossiping about my developing Omega physique or my blossoming pheromone perfume.

Most importantly, I won’t spend another painful heat locked in the garden shed with my cousins standing guard outside with rifles.

“Beta lineage.” Her eyes snap up to my father assessingly. Whatever she finds makes her painted lips pull into a thin line.

“Ah yes, I can see bloodwork was taken yesterday. Let’s have a little looksie at the results.” She nods slowly as she reads the lines of numbers and medical jargon.

Her finger stops abruptly, and she taps the tip of her long nail with a sigh.

She swivels to pin the nervous Beta assistant with a withering glare. “You didn’t tell me about this.”

The Beta opens her mouth but is immediately interrupted. “No matter. We won’t let this one go to waste.”

Go to waste?

My smile disappears. What is happening?

The woman shoves the clipboard into the Beta assistant’s chest and looks at me.

“Omega Sparks. Your medical results have revealed a defect which makes you ineligible for the mateship program—”

A high-pitched ringing sound cuts through her voice and I can’t hear what else she says. Black spots dance in my eyes.

She said I’m defective.

And no… mate?

My mind is stuttering, trying to comprehend what she’s telling me.

That’s not possible.

Omegas are in demand. Rare. Cherished. Wanted. Loved.

Surely there’s been a mistake.

Silence stretches around us, the porch floorboards creaking underneath the imposing woman’s stilettos.

“Unfortunately, due to the danger of abduction from unmated Alphas, remaining here will not be possible. You will be leaving with me today and placed into our Companionship Program.”

What is the Companionship Program?

I can’t think. My breathing is coming too fast and my heart feels like it’s going to burst from my chest.

“Now wait a minute, you can’t just take her without a mate to go to,” my father protests, and I have a spark of hope that he’ll fight for me.

Official Gould wordlessly gestures to her assistant, who passes a document over to my father.

Underneath the heading ‘compensation package’ is a number circled in red.

My father’s eyebrows raise and his features brighten.

I swallow the lump in my throat and blink away the stinging in my eyes. I refuse to cry.

The figure is more than my father will make in his entire life.

He’s always seen me as an investment. Twenty-one years of food and shelter pales in comparison to the hefty sum I’ll fetch in this Companionship Program.

Shock has me in a chokehold I can’t break out of. Her words swim around and around in my mind. Skipping like a broken record.

Defect.

I’m defective.

“Halley?” My father’s voice snaps me out of the trance I’ve fallen into.

“Yes, Father?”

“Go collect your things.” His eyes bore into mine, and I know it’s an order. He’s not an Alpha, and it doesn’t compel me like I’ve read an Alpha Command would, but it works just the same. Twenty-one years of obedience have me leaping to do his bidding.

My bags are waiting in my small bedroom, carefully packed with hope and dreams.

Numbly, I pull them off my bed, drag them down the hall, and out the front door.