Chapter One
Halley
Eleven Years Later
The distinct scent of sweaty Alpha floats on the gentle breeze across Barkrood Military Base. I tilt my face up to catch the lingering rays of afternoon sunshine, admiring the wispy clouds streaking across the blue sky. After a hard day of work in the warehouse, this is my favorite place to relax.
Reclining in my sun-bleached deck chair, I cross legs at the ankles, wrap my fingers around a cool glass of fruity iced tea, and sip from the rainbow twirly straw.
“Get back in line, maggot!” a deep, booming voice echoes from the training fields, bouncing off the stark gray concrete buildings and the high perimeter walls.
“Ooh, ‘maggot’ is a good one. Add it to the list,” I say, and tap Alibeth Flick on the shoulder, gesturing at the spiral-bound notebook beside her. We call her Flicker and it suits her twitchy personality perfectly.
The young Omega sits up from sunbathing on her beach towel and hastily scrawls ‘maggot’ at the bottom of our growing list of insults the drill instructors shout at the new recruits.
Living in The Omega Division of the military doesn’t allow for much entertainment, so we have to make our own. The ‘Grand List of Deplorable Name Calling’ is the latest game we’re playing. Last week it was ranking the finest ass in the Beta ranks… Beta Canto won by a firm-cheeked mile.
“My favorite is still cockwomble,” says my best friend Dazz sitting across from me, binoculars pressed to his eyes and a silly grin stretched across his face as he watches the Alpha training session. “That drill instructor was a rut-damned poet.”
Ember scoffs from her deckchair, tipping her sunglasses down her aquiline nose to look at Dazz over the lenses. “I bet you would’ve loved him to call you his little cockwomble.”
“He could call me whatever he liked. Did you see how jacked he was?” He develops a far off look and sighs dramatically.
“No. I didn’t. You hogged the binoculars the whole time he was in view,” Ember intones.
It wasn’t Dazz that hogged the binoculars, but me. That particular Alpha’s voice commanded my undivided attention.
Omegas are sexual beings. We’re almost always horny, but that Alpha made me ruin my best pair of underwear effortlessly. He continues to star in my wank sessions.
He’s the walking definition of a Prime Alpha.
His distant figure, pacing in front of the intimidated recruits, convinced me that the universe had put extra effort into creating a blueprint of the pinnacle of masculinity.
He’s like a sculpture carved from every Omega’s rawest, most primitive desires.
Even through scratched magnified lenses, I can tell his body is a canvas of strength and power.
His shoulders are broad like he could carry the weight of the world, and his chest ripples with muscles that hint at years of combat experience.
I can’t help but imagine my fingers tracing the lines of his defined abs, feeling the warmth radiating from his skin.
And those arms. Oh, those arms. The day he rolled up his sleeves, I swear I nearly choked on my drool. When he flexed, I could see the sinewy cords beneath his tanned skin, and I imagine how safe I’d feel if he held me close.
It’s the fantasizing of a lonely, unmated Omega. It feels safe to dream about him because he’s entirely unattainable. So, whenever he makes an appearance, I fight Dazz for the binoculars like a wildcat. Though, we haven’t seen him in months.
“Speaking of hogging the binoculars,” Flicker says in her sweet melodious voice, before lunging at Dazz to wrestling them from his hands. Her innocent appearance is deceptive. She’s like a feral kitten – cute, tiny, and vicious.
Flicker presses the binoculars to her eyes, and a silly grin stretches across her face. “I love it when they all squat in unison. They’re all so handsome!” Her squeal of excitement sounds like an air raid, her high-pitched voice causing the residents of the K9 Division next door to howl in alarm.
Dazz grins wickedly. “It’s a buffet of booty. Up, down. Up, down. Squeeze those cheeks, boys.”
Ember scoffs from her deckchair. “You’re all a bunch of perverts.”
Flicker’s enthusiasm wavers, and she passes the binoculars back to Dazz.
Dazz scowls at Ember. “Don’t listen to her, Flicker. There’s nothing wrong with appreciating the magnificent glory of the Alpha physique. There’s a lot to be appreciated,” he says before unceremoniously shoving the binoculars into my hands.
Our dormitory is on the opposite side of the base, in the heart of The Omega Division’s compound. Unlike Alphas, who train extensively to lead our military forces in the defense of Fathim’s borders, we have no purpose.
The Omega Division only exists because a politician made good on an election promise to provide sanctuary for vulnerable Omegas.
Sure, we ‘earn our keep’ through free labor, but mostly we’re a talking point wheeled out when election time rolls around.
They point at us and say, “Look at those poor Omegas. Aren’t we doing a swell job keeping them safe? ”
I’ve been here for eleven years. Eleven long years living on a boring military base with no prospects for the future, clocking in to work in one of the bases’ many warehouses.
I shouldn’t complain; at least here I’m protected and provided for. I have friends, hobbies, a job, and I’ve made my dorm into a comfortable nest.
But can you blame a girl for wanting to ogle some forbidden muscle every once in a while?
Can you blame me for dreaming of more?
Just last year, Dazz and I uncovered that at the right time of day, in this exact spot on the rooftop of our dormitory, we can see Alphas exercising in the drill yard.
The angle is small, and the sun’s glare is bright, but for us, it’s a glimpse into what could have been.
A slice of forbidden fruit to liven up our monotonous lifestyle.
It took a few months, but we stole, bartered, and borrowed enough items to create the world’s worst beach resort: deckchairs held together with duct tape, and a beach umbrella half eaten by moths.
I scrunch my toes in the musty old beach towel laid out on the hot, flat roof, and grin. This place brings me supreme pleasure.
While adjusting the dial on top of the binoculars, I direct my focus towards a tall, broad-shouldered Alpha that resembles a sculpture made of stone.
I can’t make out any facial features, yet I can see how his muscles gleam with sweat.
I admire the way he moves with a predatory prowl, commanding the other Alphas with firm orders.
I quickly tear my gaze away from him. Sure, he’s attractive, but he doesn’t measure up to my missing Prime Alpha. He doesn’t give me the fluttery feeling deep in my belly.
My Prime Alpha plays such a regular role in my sexual fantasies that I feel almost guilty for looking at other Alphas. It’s so stupid and such an Omega thing to get attached to someone I’ll never even meet.
Still, I often wonder if he’s okay.
Dazz’s eyebrows shoot up. “See something you like, Sparky?”
It’s not a creative nickname, seeing as my name is Halley Sparks.
“No need to be shy, Halley,” Ember says with a flippant wave of her manicured hand. “It’s not like you’re going to actually meet him.”
I place the binoculars on the picnic blanket beside me. Flicker lunges to catch them and eagerly takes another turn to stare at the unsuspecting Alphas. I wonder if they know they’re being watched. Alphas have scarily precise senses, heightened to be the pinnacle of human ability.
Or, I guess, inhuman ability.
The technical term the scientists use for the genetic mutation behind our designations is ‘demi-human.’ It doesn’t matter to me that we’re different from humans, but apparently it’s worth waging a fifty-year war over. The humans want us and our mutated gene pool gone.
Fathim’s Military is all that stands between us and their hate.
Dazz dismisses the haughty Omega with a scrunch of his nose. “Ignore her. She’s always snarky right before her heat.”
We sit in silence while Dazz and Flicker take turns watching the Alphas work out. The drill instructors’ shouts continue and we add ‘shit-brick’ and ‘weapons-grade fuckup’ to the insult list.
The sun hovers on the horizon, threatening to disappear and end our mini-vacation.
Resting his elbow on the arm of his chair, Dazz cradles his head in his palm, his bronze curls glinting brightly.
“Do you ever wonder what you’d be doing if you lived in the real world?” he asks abruptly.
“No. Not at all,” Ember snaps, aggressively stabbing at the melting ice in her lemonade with her twirly straw.
I raise an eyebrow. “Why not?”
She puffs out a breath.
“Because it’s dangerous out there for Omegas like us. All the world sees is vulnerable and helpless and easy prey.” She looks pointedly at each of us and articulates her words clearly. “Which. We. Are.”
I scuff my flip-flop on the asphalt roof and roll a pebble under my foot.
Dazz grunts and frowns. “Thanks for the reminder. I love being reminded of how weak I am.”
Dazz is anything but weak. The male Omega spends an inappropriate amount of time at the gym building his muscles, and he gets more than enough cardio between the sheets with the Beta soldiers.
I narrow my eyes at Ember, but don’t say anything. Like Dazz said, she gets like this before every heat.
Heats are a sore subject for us in The Omega Division, a painful reminder that we’re unwanted and defective.
Spending a heat alone with only toys or the occasional willing Beta to satisfy our clawing biological needs isn’t exactly a pleasant experience.
Flicker prefers to be sedated for the entire event.
A shrill sound echoes across the base as the drill instructor blows his whistle. We all groan. Training is over and so is our vacation.
Time to return to reality.
Flicker shoves the binoculars into Dazz’s chest, slurps down the last of her lemonade, and bends to roll up her towel. We watch as the distant figures disappear into the cluster of buildings in the Alpha part of the base. Omegas are strictly forbidden from going anywhere near that side of the base.
“Go on then, answer the question, you lot. What kind of life do you think you’d have if you weren’t… you know, here?” Dazz presses, snapping his folding chair closed.
I stare off at the empty yard and frown. I can’t picture a life outside of The Omega Division. It’s been so long since I experienced the outside world. Even before I arrived, I didn’t have freedom.
“I’d be normal. Happy. Safe,” Flicker breathes. “I’d have an Alpha who loved me.”
Dazz snorts, throwing his hands into the air as if he’s addressing the universe.
“Screw having only one. I want a whole damn Pack! I’m not afraid to admit I want to be the center of their attention.
Imagine it, ladies. The scents, the passion, the pleasure…
” He grins and winks at me. “I’d have a great big bed, and we’d all curl up together and sleep all day and bang all night. ”
Ember clicks her tongue. “Trust you to want what doesn’t exist anymore. Packs are extinct. Alphas don’t share Omegas.”
“We’re dreaming here, Em. Dream with me! If we’re satisfying my every whim, I’ll add a female Alpha to the mix.”
Female Alphas are almost as rare as male Omegas.
He looks over at me, his eyes wide and expectant.
“I think I’d like to travel, ya know? See the world.”
I don’t say my actual dream out loud. I keep it tucked tightly in my heart. It’s too tender to let it out into the cruel world.
I dream of my Prime Alpha taking me far away from this military base.
Of him loving me despite my flaws and failings.
Of my broken, jagged parts slotting into the cracks of his, and supporting each other through the trials life provides.
“Yeah, well, you can’t leave. You’d end up dead, or worse, in the Companionship Program,” Ember snaps, fear quivering beneath her false bravado.
I press my lips together and stand up, busying myself with packing up our little oasis – the click of the deckchairs folding closed, signaling the return to reality.
It hurts to hear the words said aloud, but she’s right. If I leave the safety of The Omega Division, I won’t last a week before I’m snatched by the government or rogue Alphas. Omegas are treasured in our society… but not if they’re broken like I am.
Alphas can’t be trusted.
I wrap my towel around my shoulders to ward off the cooling evening air.
I sigh heavily.
“Yeah, I know. It’s just a dream.”