Chapter 1 Tessa #3
“Miss Fortune. You are being deliberately obtuse.” The mask of apathy was slipping. I wondered who was behind the scenes watching us. Who would the Beta disappoint if he failed to force submission?
Miss Fortune.
I still couldn’t fathom why I’d listed my real name on the form before the scent donation. I’d been so dazed, so hungry, that I’d just written the truth without thinking. God, even back then... even when I’d kissed the guy of my literal dreams, I’d withheld my real name.
I hated hearing my name. I used to love it.
My biological father would always say ‘Fortune favors the bold, baby girl’.
I took his surname, just like the others in our pack.
He was a gigantic, yet gentle Alpha. He adored my mother, who was the perfect, submissive Omega.
They built such a life together. Now they were gone.
My Alpha ‘uncles’ were gone, along with their Omega wives and kids.
My older brothers too. I never got to meet my little half-sister.
She was still a pup in the womb when tragedy struck.
I had exactly zero family left, except for Josie.
Fortune favors the bold.
Ha, I thought derisively. Miss Fortune. This Beta had it right; my dad always had it wrong.
If only dad had known... if only he’d had some sort of future sight.
.. he’d have kept those much-loved, often-repeated words to himself.
If he had, then they wouldn’t be scarred into my brain, always reminding me that I’m the world’s biggest fuck-up.
Ditching my family for a concert. I should have been on that plane. I should have died too.
“Look,” I spoke slowly, clinging for dear life to my own sweet mask, “I really can’t go without her.
So, it’s up to you guys. If I have to break the contract, I will.
I’ll figure out the fine. I’m sure...” My brain scrambled.
What would be intense enough to make them waver?
“I’m sure that I can make some money on the streets.
An unbound virgin Omega? I mean, there’s money there.
And I’m sure your client will easily find a new match. ”
I fluttered my lashes, acid trying to creep up my throat at the thought of prostituting myself to cover the fine.
Josie yawned, little mouth stretching in the sweet way a newborn pup’s does.
My chest felt warm at the sight. I’d sleep with every person who’d pay me, if it meant not losing her.
My body was just a commodity. Even here, sitting in this room, I was selling myself. Just in a different way.
Still, scraping up ten thousand dollars was no small feat.
How many people would I have to service to get there?
Oral for one price. Sex without kissing for another.
The whole package could run at least two hundred if I found somewhere to wash and could dumpster dive a decent outfit.
I knew more than a few Omegas and Betas who survived that way.
Hell, the agency probably sought out Omegas just like me exactly for that reason. We were willing to subject ourselves to painful needles to make a little money and get a meal. Paying thousands for a fine might as well be millions, either would effectively trap us.
“I... you can’t... why would you... that’s a terrible thing to consider.” He stammered on his words before finally pushing a string of them out in horror.
“You and the agency are the ones forcing me into that corner,” I pointed out.
“I didn’t even know what that paper said.
I shouldn’t have signed it without reading properly, but I did.
So, I understand there are consequences.
If I’d ever imagined it would somehow lead to losing the only family I have left, I’d never have walked through the doors to this stupid building in the first place.
” The cutesy disguise was gone; the tears were coming now whether I wanted them to or not.
They slipped down my cheeks in hot, steaming streaks and fell in fat droplets onto Josie’s fur.
They didn’t seem to bother her. She was as steady and soothing as ever.
The phone on the Beta’s desk rang shrilly seconds later, causing him to startle and jump towards it, nearly lying across the desk to pick up the receiver. He shoved it against his face.
All I could hear was murmuring through the line.
“Yes. I understand.” The Beta said in a rushed tone.
More murmuring.
“I can’t believe this client, of all clients, would agree to this.”
The voice on the other end grew louder, and the Beta’s face paled.
“I’m sorry. Of course. I’ll start the official preparations.”
With a shaking hand, the Beta placed the receiver back in its cradle. He stood up slowly, doing a graceless push-up from the desk, and smoothing out the wrinkles in his jacket.
He cleared his throat. “It seems that the client has been contacted, and they have agreed to your request.”
I should have been happy. God, I was happy.
Yet, that emotion was swallowed up by relief and new waves of grief—I couldn't save my family, but I’d saved Josie.
Yeah, maybe we’d been kicked out of the shelter as soon as we’d finally gotten a bed, but that was the past. I couldn’t change it.
This time, I’d made sure I secured Josie’s spot. That was all that now mattered.
The tears came heavier, the aching pain in my chest exploded, and I dissolved into sobs which filled the room so swiftly that I thought the walls would crack against the pressure.
The only question in my mind, the only words that I could manage to think above the noise of my own emotional storm was:
How the fuck did I end up in this situation?