Chapter 56
Chapter Fifty-Six
Harlow
“Well, sex ed is to be expected, of course,” Elder Cole nods.
“They hand magazines like this out?" the woman asks. “I’m Milena, by the way,” she tells me, quickly introducing herself.
“Yes, Milena, and much worse,” I tell her.
“At thirteen?” she asks again to clarify.
“As I said, that is to be expected,” Cole says motioning to the magazine. She holds it up to him. It is an Omega with an Alpha Pack of five men.
“This? Really, Cole? At thirteen?” she snaps at him before tossing it up to the other Alphas.
“Want to see fourteen?” I ask her, reaching back into my bag as she turns toward me. I slam a huge rubber dildo, complete with knot, onto the table, and it suctions to it.
“You are out of line, Omega!” Cole yells at me.
“Mrs. Keller,” Thane growls in warning. “She is my mate, and you will address her as such.” The Council Elder grits his teeth, glaring at me, but I speak before he has a chance.
“So, this is out of line in a room full of adults, but it’s okay in a classroom full of children?”
Cole clicks his tongue, refusing to look at the dildo, as if it repulses him. Milena grabs it, shaking it in his face. “This! This is disgusting!” she growls at him. He slaps her hand away and she drops it back to the table.
“This is what your daughter will be taught at fourteen: how to get an Alpha off using her mouth and hands. Wanna give it a go, Elder Cole? You could do a demonstration. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it because I loved those classes.
Taught me so much. And they should really help your daughter with council politics.
I’m sure these skills will be valuable in council chambers, right?
” I ask him, which makes him gape at me in horror.
He looks at the other council members, who seem just as appalled.
“No, this is outrageous—”
“Have you ever been inside an Omega Sanctuary?” I ask him, and he shakes his head.
“So, while you were learning literacy and numeracy, I was learning how to take a knot, how to get on my damn knees for an Alpha. I was also taught to be quiet, compliant, and submissive to prevent my Alpha from killing me. That’s the same thing your daughter will be taught.
Now picture your little girl on her knees before you. Is that the future you want for her?”
Elder Cole steps toward me, shaking his finger in my face. “You disgusting little—”
One second he’s scolding me, and the next he’s gone. A loud bang echoes through the room as Thane slams him onto the desk. The sound makes me flinch, and Milena shrieks. Rhen grabs at Thane’s shoulders seconds later.
“Remember whose mate you’re speaking with, Cole!
” Thane snarls, his grip on the man’s throat tightening.
Cole’s eyes water, and his face turns purple.
Thane’s entire body trembles with his rage.
The other council members stand as if they are about to intervene.
One look from Rhen, however, makes them retake their seats.
“Thane,” I whisper, gripping his arm. He turns his gaze from Cole, who is clawing at his hand. Thane’s eyes flicker, his canines retracting as he growls.
“Remember who put you on this council, Cole,” Thane snarls at him. He then grabs the dildo and slams it on Cole’s balding head, suctioning it to his skin. I have to press my lips together to stop my smile. Milena snickers as Thane lets him up. “Now answer her,” Thane growls.
Elder Cole coughs, fingers prodding at his throat.
As he does, the rubber dick wobbles on his head, which only makes the situation all the more hilarious.
Elder Cole straightens, peels the dildo off his head, and sets it on the table.
I’ll give him one thing; he is good at keeping his composure while embarrassed.
“What was the question, Mrs. Keller?” he asks, straightening his tie as if nothing happened. Glancing at Thane, he nods for me to continue.
“I asked if those skills will help your daughter with council politics?” I repeat.
He presses his lips in a line and shakes his head.
“Those are the only so-called skills she will learn in an Omega Sanctuary. She’ll be taught to obey and take whatever her Alpha gives her, even if she doesn’t want it.
Her body won’t be hers. It will belong to her Alpha, even if he hurts her.
And she can’t run, because that’s a crime. Yet in staying, she may risk her life.”
Elder Cole stares at the dildo on the table, and he sucks in a breath. I look at the other council members, who are watching intently.
“And what if she is forced into rotation?
That is the standard sentencing, set by this council, for countless ‘crimes' an Omega might commit,” I say, and Elder Cole swallows. We all know what a punishment that is. “She will become an Alpha’s plaything, shipped from one Alpha to the next until there is nothing left of her. Is that the life you want for her? Are these the laws you want to uphold?” I ask him.
“They are paid for such services, Mrs. Keller, and some—”
“Some choose it, yes, but the vast majority of Omegas in rotation are sent there by this council! For minor crimes, like failing to pay fees or running from their duties,” Thane cuts in. I have no idea about the numbers, but it's clear this is something Thane has researched.
“Overrule me, Cole. Any of you,” Thane says, addressing the entire council, “and when it's your daughters’ turn in the sanctuary, we’ll see how you feel when I order rotation for her.”
“Are you threatening us, Mr. Keller?” Tatum asks.
“If it was good enough for my Omega, it's good enough for your daughters,” Thane tells them. “You’ll sit by and watch them be sold off to the highest bidder. That’s what they’re born for, right?
” Thane asks as the council members glance at each other.
“I have seen firsthand what they teach girls in those places. From the age of eight!” he says, tossing a stack of photos on the table.
I recognize the rooms because they’re from the sanctuary I grew up in.
“These photos were taken while I hunted Corbin. They are from his brother’s sanctuary. These classrooms are for elementary school girls!” Thane states. Milena picks them up, looking through them before handing them to the other council members to look at.
“Eight years old! You call yourselves Alphas, but you allow this? Alphas are supposed to protect their packs, their Omegas, not send them off to be raped and abused by other Alphas. That is basically the point of these places. They are nothing more than glorified pedophile rings, and we allow it! Turn a blind eye to it! There’s no oversight.
They are hidden away from the public, so wealthy Alphas can have their pick of virgins when they go to auction. ”
Milena nods her head in agreement.
“We failed them!” Thane suddenly screams. His fist comes down hard on the table, making everyone jump. “Just like you will fail your daughters if we don’t make this city a haven for Omegas. Give them a choice, educate them, but not with this shit,” Thane says, picking up the dildo and dropping it.
“Your Omega is from a sanctuary, Mr. Keller, purchased from an auction,” Cole retorts.
“And I have to look at her every goddamn day, knowing my fathers failed to stand beside my mother. That the very council my family founded subjected her to that!” Thane snaps, his hands fisting at his sides. “We did this. We can fix it.”
“This city is small compared to the rest of the state, Mr. Keller. These laws won’t pass in the state, let alone the whole country,” another man speaks up.
“You’re right, at least not anytime soon, but it’s a fucking start.
How many Omegas are reported missing every year?
How many run? We don’t even know the actual numbers anymore because most flee with their children.
What if they had somewhere safe to run to?
Alpha bloodlines are dying because we force Omegas to run and hide.
We show them that we won’t protect them, and you expect them to hand themselves over? ”
“Our bloodlines wouldn’t be so decimated if Omegas didn’t fear us!
They don’t need us, we need them. It's about time we start showing them how important they are, how valued, instead of beating them into submission and expecting them to stick around or not kill themselves. Do any of you know the stats on Omega deaths from last year?” Thane asks.
They all shake their heads. Thane growls, turning to walk back to grab a document from his briefcase before dropping it on the table in front of Milena and Cole.
“Last year, twelve percent of Omega deaths were from suicide. Sixty-eight percent were at the hands of an Alpha. Don’t you see a problem with that? I wonder what statistic your daughters will fall under. Because their futures don’t look too bright, no matter which way you look at it.”