8 Kit
With the fall breeze blowing, I placed my gloved hands in my pocket.
Wearing an expensive fur coat, it had become staple attire in public for them to know who graced their streets.
Wearing white pants that were high waisted, my top was a simple lace one that looked high class.
My fur coat just helped sell the look with the heels I clicked against the ground.
Below the sunglasses I wore, I watched everyone who passed me.
Anika stayed close to me, telling everyone that I had protection. With her build, they all feared what she would do to them if they came near an Omega under her Beta protection. She might’ve been born without a sexual lock or key, but she proved to everyone she belonged.
The city was filled to the brim with opposite ends of the spectrum.
Classic rich versus poor, but the poor still outnumbered those with gold lining their pockets.
The people in power liked to make people like me feel less than.
By making things too expensive, the lower class were controlled like cattle without even knowing it.
Our society already operated that way with how packs claimed Omegas to be nothing more than an ornament that could take a knot.
Being a little extra frigid today, I knew I had to collect myself before the lunch date I was about to have.
An old friend and I had lunch once a month to check in on each other.
Amanda Woods knew my life before my makeover of glamour and lure.
Her and Anika were also close friends, so it remained a nice treat for the three of us to sit down occasionally.
The two of us were just on edge from everything going on within our compound that we had to keep controlling.
The task grew harder because all the Alphas struggled to fall under someone else’s ruling, but that wasn’t my issue.
On top of their nonsense, the boys from my past kept trying to make me deal with those feelings.
All of that had to be hidden now because no one could know about my empire, or them surviving the fire that burned the twin’s childhood home.
Anika opened the door for me to enter the sandwich shop, dipping her chin to me in recognition of what we had to keep silent.
We found Mandy already at a table on her cell phone, but she waved us over with a big grin.
Taking our seats at the small, round table, we picked up the menu for her to finish her conversation.
She had been in politics for a long time, so these little lunch dates always gave us a glimpse of what we needed to be worried about in that direction without her catching on.
“No, that doesn’t fit my campaign. I don’t want their money backing me if they’re going to try targeting me with their vote,” she hissed into the phone.
Our ears immediately perked up, but we both acted distracted by the menu in front of us.
Something was changing with Mandy’s career, and I knew if she was talking about a campaign, it meant she planned to run for something.
My eyes sat under my shades, and I realized I couldn’t see the menu that well during my diverting.
Shaking my head, I knew I was positively tired from all the extra exhaustion in my life besides the insomnia that kept me up at night.
Anika paid close attention to me because she could see through the cracks no one else noticed. With my eyes, I told her I’d be fine.
Mandy got off the phone with a sigh that told me she felt burdened by too much lately. “Sorry about that. Work never ends when you’re in politics.”
“Did you mention some type of a campaign for yourself?” I asked her and gave her my full attention.
“Oh, you heard that.” Mandy knew we did, but she liked the theatrics sometimes for feeling important.
When she noticed she had both our attention, she clasped her hands together with an even bigger grin.
“You know how I’ve been talking that I wish our streets were cleaner, and that the people had a better system to actually meet their needs? ”
“Wasn’t that the whole point of you going into politics?” Anika responded with a question.
“Yes! And that very reason has finally driven me to run for office, so I’m running for mayor!
” she squealed like a teenage girl. Being her friends, we immediately received her with words of affirmation that promised she would do a good job.
Mandy proved to be someone for the people, so I knew she would keep that standard.
“That’s huge! And how is everything going for that? I don’t know exactly what goes into it, so I don’t know what to really ask about it,” I confessed to her.
“Well, you’ve never had to know about it because I always worked for the campaign of a person running for office. You only heard me bitch about being the errand girl, but now I’m the one who sends them on errands! It’s surreal to think I’ve gotten to this point, but we are thirty now.”
Her distinction of our age nearly suffocated me because I was an unclaimed Omega at the age of thirty.
Seven years I spent building my empire, but it only took one lunch to remind me of what it cost. Aging didn’t bother me in the sense of wearing wrinkles on my skin, but I hated feeling like I lost a portion of my life along the way.
“That should feel surreal,” I replied. “That’s a really big deal that you deserve to celebrate. There’s no one we could ever pick that would be more perfect than you for this.”
“Kit’s right, you really deserve this.” Anika moved her hand to the side, stroking Mandy’s arm.
“Thanks, guys. You were the first I wanted to share the news with, so that’s why I asked you to lunch today. Between trying to help clean up the city and gaining investors, I feel like I haven’t had a life anymore.”
“You’ve been really busy,” I soothed what bothered her because she felt like she’d been a bad friend. “You always know that if we need you, we’ll let you know. Until that day comes, we’re okay meeting on your schedule with what you have available.”
“You guys are the best!” Mandy slowly turned her head my way and rubbed the side of her neck as though she was hesitant to say something.
“Speaking of investors, I was wondering if you might talk to your Alpha and see if he’d be willing to donate to my campaign.
I know that’s probably really rude to ask. ”
Raising my hand, I cut her off from saying anymore. “Mandy, asking your friends to back you shouldn’t make you feel weird. When I go home tonight, I’ll ask him.”
“You have no idea how much that means to me.” Her eyes softened.
“If we can’t rely on each other, who else would we have?”
Happiness took over her expression right before she reached her hand to take mine on top of the table. “I also wanted to do lunch today because I saw Ryatt and Kayos’s home was attacked. I wanted to see how you were doing from that because we are friends.”
I wasn’t prepared for her to bring them up right now, so I felt my chest constrict from the rampant pain that kept existing in it lately.
“It came as a shock,” I admitted. “I can’t say it didn’t make me think about them when I saw their home burning on the news, but I haven’t seen them in seven years. ”
“You haven’t seen them this whole time?” Mandy pried.
I knew the leaders of the mafia’s inner circle falling became huge news to everyone, but something didn’t sit right with how she asked it.
Mandy and I had been having lunches once a month for the last six years, so it only left one year unaccounted for while I was captured and healing after escaping.
“I’m the last person those boys would go to for help, if that’s what you’re asking.” Laying it all out, she saw that I caught on.
Her hands immediately went up as a white flag because she didn’t want to come off like she was. “I’m so sorry! That was so insensitive of me, but I can’t lie to you and say their name hasn’t come across my desk quite a few times. With them gone, it’ll help the city.”
“Do you think they’re actually dead?” Anika asked. We knew how to play this game because it wasn’t our first rodeo pretending to be on the outside while we were the ones running the inside.
Mandy swept the room and checked if anyone sat near us before opening her mouth.
She was a bit of a gossip queen, and apparently that wouldn’t change if she became mayor.
“You guys didn’t hear this from me, but they found a lot of bodies at their mansion.
Some of them were burned too far past being able to get DNA from. ”
Knowing I had to play the part, a horrified expression took over my face as I gasped.
Mandy hissed and shushed me to make sure no one around us could pay attention.
She knew me as the pleasant girl the guys once did, so I had to keep up that fa?ade in order to maintain my empire under her nose.
I wanted to stop lying to Mandy about what I did, but I also knew I had a compound full of people who needed my protection.
Some paid a high price for that protection, so I couldn’t let it end now.
Guilt bled out of me a long time ago. The past crept up on us sometimes when we least expected it, but I learned to choke that down like tequila.
After ordering some food, we all ate our simple sandwiches and soups in peace.
My eyes kept drifting to the window right across from me where we could see the sidewalk outside as cars quickly traveled down the road.
So many of the people looked miserable and skittish as though they knew the city was the worst place they could be.
Sensing something, my nerves spiked like someone was watching me in return.
Anika noticed the change in my slouch because I straightened my spine.
Mandy excused herself to the bathroom for a minute, so Anika kicked my leg below the table once our friend was out of earshot. “I feel like someone is watching me.”
“Nervous from the guys being back or a threat?” she asked.
“I’m not sure, but the hairs along my neck are up. We’ll have to drive around in loops when we leave, just in case.” My senses heightened, piquing to pay attention.
“We can handle a tail.” Her eyes saw Mandy coming back from behind me, so she took another bite of her sandwich like we hadn’t been talking. Our friend sat back down and dug right into her food, knowing nothing of what we noticed.
Mandy was an Alpha, so she felt fine wherever she went, but I could see she envied my companionship.
As a woman, she was too masculine in power to feel sexually desired like me.
Even a Beta was chosen over a female Alpha because men didn’t like to be rivaled by a woman, so it drove me to hoping her success happened faster in both politics and a pack.
There was a quiet rift between us as we ate. It wasn’t anything bad, but something felt off within me. It felt like if I walked out on the street right now, something bad would happen. Around my food, I tried to scent if anything might be dangerous.
I made sure to buy for the three of us as we wrapped up our lunch date,. Mandy always pretended she hated that I bought our lunch, but I knew she was always grateful for it. She also never tried putting her card down before me when the bill came.
“Hey, Kit?” Mandy paused as she slipped her hands into her gloves. Her blonde hair twisted back into a French twist, creating an elegant style for what she tried to get people to see.
“Yeah?”
“Will you let me know if those boys do try contacting you? I know they mean a lot to you, but they’ve done some pretty terrible things.”
I knew in her new authoritarian position that she wanted to throw them into prison and toss away the key, so I gave her a pretty smile to placate her. “You’ll probably see them before me. It’s not like any of us hang out in those tunnels anymore.”
She’s snorted and laughed, remembering all the parties we had in the secret tunnels below their home.
We were typical teens who were drunk off our asses, and we went through our early adulthood the same way.
While she went to college and began her political career and the guys packed for their elite training, I was bussing tables at the same place my mother worked at.
College wasn’t for trailer girls like me.
And now, I had the same boys in my present who once promised a better life when sitting in the same booth to come see me at work.
Leaving lunch, the feeling of being watched never dithered.
I put my shades on before letting my gaze take in our surroundings.
Sadly, there was always something shady going on in Knotty City, and today would be no exception as the local thugs did their dirty deeds in broad daylight.
Anika stepped up beside me as we neared our older car to not have unwanted attention for break ins.
“I’m feeling it now. Someone has their eye on us, or your paranoia is rubbing off on me. ”
“Check the car for a tracker,” I murmured to her, keeping my gaze ahead like it was no big deal.
She walked to the bumper first, spotting it too easily. Lifting it for me to see, I could tell it less than impressed her. “Right on the bumper? Is this fool that dumb?”
“Or that smart,” I hummed, tapping my chin. “There’s a second one hidden better.”
Anika’s eyes went wide, understanding we weren’t up against an amateur. “Let’s find out.”
Doing a thorough search, she got underneath the car, and found exactly what I thought she would.
Holding up the blinking box, she showed me my theory was correct.
Smiling, I took it from her before throwing both away.
“Let’s lose this bitch and get home. I do believe we have a dinner to host for our guests to finally meet. ”
“Finally,” she muttered because she’d been the one dealing with complaints for six months from the first pack we saved. “You’d think they’d be more grateful they didn’t end up six feet under.”