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Hammond laughs again. "They can try. But first, they'd have to find you. And this facility doesn't exist on any map."

He walks to a nearby table and picks up a syringe filled with amber liquid.

"What is that?" I ask, unable to keep the fear from my voice.

"Just a little something to help trigger your heat cycle," he says casually. "We need to run some tests, and you'll be more... cooperative when your biology takes over."

"No!" I struggle violently against my restraints. "Don't you dare!"

"I've never actually witnessed an Omega in heat with an Alpha," Hammond continues as if I hadn't spoken. "I'm told it's quite a spectacle. Primal. Intense." He taps the syringe, checking for air bubbles. "I've selected a few promising candidates from my enhanced Alpha program. We'll see which one your body responds to most strongly."

"You sick fuck," I snarl, twisting so hard the chair rocks slightly. "I'll kill you myself if you touch me."

"I won't be touching you, Dr. Baldwin," he corrects. "I'll merely be observing. For science, of course."

"Science?" I laugh bitterly. "This isn't science. This is torture. This is rape."

"Such dramatic language. You Omegas are designed for this. Your body will crave it once the heat takes hold."

"My body isn't separate from my mind," I argue. "Forcing me into heat and throwing me to your lab-grown Alphas is rape, no matter how you justify it."

"Your moral objections are noted," Hammond says dryly. "And ignored."

He approaches with the syringe, and I thrash wildly, tipping the chair onto two legs before it slams back down.

"You'll hurt yourself if you keep that up," he warns.

"Better than letting you hurt me," I snap.

"I have no desire to hurt you, Dr. Baldwin. You're far too valuable." He sighs. "But you are making this more difficult than it needs to be."

He presses a button on a device in his pocket, and a moment later, two men in enter the room.

"Hold her still," Hammond orders.

One grabs my shoulders from behind while the other holds my arm extended, exposing the crook of my elbow.

"No!" I scream, struggling against their grip. "Stop!"

Hammond approaches with the syringe. "This will all be easier if you accept your role in what's coming, Dr. Baldwin. Fighting only prolongs the inevitable."

"Fuck you," I spit, tears of rage and fear blurring my vision. "I'll never accept this."

"You will," he says with absolute certainty. "Your Omega nature will give you no choice."

The needle pierces my skin, and I feel the burn of the liquid entering my veins. Almost immediately, warmth begins to spread up my arm.

"What have you done to me?" I gasp as the heat intensifies, spreading through my chest and down my spine.

"Just accelerated what was already in your nature," Hammond says, stepping back to observe. "The heat would have come naturally in time. I simply... expedited the process."

The warmth is rapidly becoming uncomfortable, my skin flushing and sweat breaks out across my forehead. My breathing quickens as the first pulse of arousal hits me, stronger than anything I've experienced before.

"No," I whimper, squeezing my eyes shut against the sensation. "Please, no."

"Fascinating," Hammond murmurs. "The reaction is even faster than I anticipated." He turns to his men. "Prepare the observation room. And bring in Subject Alpha-7 first. He should show the most promising response to her pheromone."

"You can't do this," I plead, my voice breaking as another wave of heat washes over me. My thighs clench together involuntarily, seeking friction that isn't there. "Please."