Chapter Eleven #3
Galen waved off the response. “Those are easy to fake. We’ve had people try to pass off betas as omegas before.
We don’t consider the first check official until I’m sure she’s an omega.
Normally, that’s part of test driving. I know it’s an omega when I knot them.
” He lifted an eyebrow as though waiting.
Not a fucking chance.
Daniel spoke up. “We’ve already made that clear. If we allowed you to do that, it would erode all the work we’ve done.”
“Fine,” Galen said with an exaggerated sigh. “Then there’s one other option.” He reached into his pocket and withdrew a vial of a clear liquid.
“What’s that? I am not about to have our product risked by ingesting something that we have no idea what it is,” Daniel said.
“This is a special drug. If an omega smells it, their scent changes slightly. She won’t need to drink it, just smell it.”
Fuck. Trent had heard of it—most people had. The drug was used to identify omegas, and had been used by a killer a while back who targeted omegas.
Worse? Enough of it could force an omega into a heat…
Still, Trent had no idea how to get out of it. If they didn’t prove she was an omega, the entire job was over.
“I understand it also forces them into a heat. That wouldn’t be ideal,” Kyle said.
“Too much can force a heat, but a quick whiff shouldn’t be a problem. This is non-negotiable, gentlemen. Either you prove she is what you say she is, or I walk away and you find your own way to sell her.”
Trent pressed his lips together, no other option coming to mind.
Thankfully, he didn’t need to answer. He wasn’t sure he could say yes. Daniel did that, rising to his feet. “Fine.”
Alison shifted, and Trent cursed the entire situation.
“She’ll need to really breathe it in. It’s an odd scent, so they tend to turn their heads away. Usually I’d hold them, but I know how touchy you are.” Galen said the words like a joke, as if they were finicky about a prized piece of décor in their house.
Trent was closest, so he helped Alison to her feet. She’d likely feel better that way, rather than on her knees. He took her headphones off but left the blindfold on. “You’re going to need to smell something. Do you understand me?”
She gulped, the sound loud. “What is it?”
He slid his fingers into her hair, gripping it tightly. “Nothing harmful. Will you behave?”
She licked her lips, and the nervous energy coursing through her said she didn’t care for the idea any more than he did. She tried to nod, but his grip kept her still. “Yes, sir.”
Sir. Not master. That meant she hadn’t safe worded.
What would I do if she did?
Again, he was reminded that she was far tougher than he was.
Galen came up and popped open the top on the vial. He brought it toward her, and thankfully didn’t try to touch her at all.
Trent inhaled a small bit of the scent coming from the vial—something that seemed off, chemically, but he wasn’t an omega.
Alison tried to turn her head, her nose wrinkled.
Trent tightened his grip in her hair, his other hand going to the front of her throat, to her collar. He didn’t touch her chin, but his hold was enough to keep her from turning away from the vial.
A thin whine left her, and it sounded far too real.
Trent’s heart pounded, his stomach rolling and forcing him to swallow to not throw up. His fingers, wrapped in her hair, trembled.
Still, he kept his face clear, swore to himself he wouldn’t fail, wouldn’t have the deaths of those omegas on his shoulders.
Galen closed the bottle after about thirty seconds, then put it in his pocket again.
He leaned in, still not touching, and inhaled.
His groan was low and lecherous, making it perfectly clear how he felt about whatever the vial had done to her scent. “Omega,” he growled out.
“As we said,” Daniel answered.
Which Trent was thankful for, because he doubted he could have spoken right then.
“You did. Alright. Expect another call for a meeting in about a week before the auction. We’ll make sure you still have her—sometimes the less-controlled scouts can lose an omega or two before the actual date. The day of the auction, you’ll get the exact time and location.”
Kyle and Daniel walked Galen out, giving Trent the chance to release Alison’s hair and pull in a shaky breath.
He couldn’t seem to feel his fingers. His feet felt heavy, clumsy. Nothing seemed right.
When the door shut, Alison pulled at her cuffs, hands struggling to undo them herself.
Trent unclipped them, and she tore the blindfold off.
She sniffed hard, then blew air from her nose as if she could dislodge the remaining scent of the drug.
Trent watched, stepping backward, his heart racing and his breath short. He couldn’t seem to pull in a full breath.
He turned his gaze to Daniel, who nodded, as if he understood and expected the reaction.
Trent fled, like a coward, leaving Alison to Kyle and Daniel.
They could take care of her, because if he didn’t get out of there, he’d either throw up or pass out.
Useless.
Alison couldn’t remove the wretched scent from her nose, from where it had crept into her sinuses. It burned into her, and no matter how much she rubbed at her nose, she couldn’t get rid of it.
“You okay?” Kyle caught her cheeks in his hands, forcing her face to his.
A face that was already so familiar and more calming than it should have been.
“Yeah,” she answered, rubbing again at her nose. “That drug just smells wrong. I can’t even explain why it does, but my brain just keeps telling me it’s wrong.”
“I know. It should go away in a few minutes.”
Alison let the warmth of Kyle’s palms sink into her, taking that bit of comfort from him.
Listening to them talk about her had been the worst. She’d known people saw omegas like that, but to have to stay still, to hear the vile words, to not be able to react, that had been a more difficult struggle than she’d expected.
She twisted, looking for Trent, only to find him gone.
“He left,” Daniel explained.
“Why?” That didn’t seem like Trent at all. He was difficult, closed off often, but he also was unfailingly protective. He blamed himself for things he didn’t need to. He wouldn’t have just walked away before he checked on her.
Hurt settled in her chest even as she told herself it was stupid to feel that way. He didn’t owe her anything, yet the fact he’d done that made her question everything about him.
“Don’t be like that,” Kyle told her.
“Like what?” Alison crossed her arms, going to her go to defensiveness.
Kyle’s gaze darted up the stairs toward Trent’s room. “He didn’t leave until he knew we were here to make sure you were fine.”
“Right.”
Daniel sighed, then shuffled his foot on the ground. “Trent is a bastard in a lot of ways, but he’s also got a few sore spots. I think the conversation with Galen dug into a few of them.”
Alison frowned. She’d never considered doing that might have been difficult for them. “Is he okay?”
“He will be. He’s tough. I think he just needed to go collect himself. We all honestly need that. For tonight, I’m going to let you make the choice on where you sleep. If you need a night to yourself, you can use your room, or you can pick one of ours if you’d rather,” Daniel said.
Alison bit at her bottom lip. Normally she’d have jumped at the chance for her own bed again, but then she recalled the tremble of Trent’s fingers in her hair and she knew the answer.
* * * *
Trent’s room was dark when Alison entered. She’d gotten out of the dress and into her pajamas, feeling more like herself as soon as she did.
A lingering remnant of the drug remained, a ghost scent she’d pick up from time to time, but otherwise? She’d bounced back.
The truth was that while she didn’t want to do that again, it wasn’t as bad as she’d imagined. Though, she did plan to kill Galen. No matter what happened, she wanted to gut him for everything she knew he’d done, everything he’d said, all the omegas he’d referenced as though they meant nothing.
Just thinking that helped her not focus on the meeting, to unload the weight of it.
Heaving made her pause. The uncomfortable sound of retching came from the bathroom, followed by a flushing toilet, then water from the sink. Brushing his teeth?
A moment later, the door opened, and Trent’s form was lit up from the bathroom. He froze as his gaze landed on her.
He didn’t speak for a long moment, though after a loud gulp, his hand still on the handle, he asked softly, “You okay?”
Alison nodded, unsure how to deal with this.
She was good at fighting, at taking care of problems, but helping people?
That wasn’t something she knew much about.
Yet, despite that, she needed to help. Something inside her wouldn’t let her walk away, wouldn’t let her forget about him.
“You left,” she explained, cringing as her words wounded almost like an admonishment.
“Yeah, sorry about that.” Trent left the bathroom light on and sat on his bed, his back to her. “I needed a bit of space. Figured you’d be fine with Daniel and Kyle.”
“I am fine,” she assured him.
He leaned forward, his elbows going to his knees and a violent shudder running through him. “You’re tougher than I am. Already knew that, but here’s the proof.”
Alison came over to stand before him. He didn’t look at her, didn’t move, just stayed in that position, looking as though a weight on his shoulders had crushed him.
She wasn’t sure how to help, but slid to her knees before him. It let him lift his gaze just a hair to find hers.
“What can I do?”
His lip curled into a sad smile, one that held no humor. “I didn’t care for talking about you like that, for playing that part.”
Alison slid her fingers around his calves “It wasn’t you—I know that. We all had a part to play.”