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The thought of making a stink about it made me tired. I’d already endured one hell of accusations and ridicule. Was I really sure that was what happened? Maybe my stepfather didn’t mean to make me feel that way. And so on.

I’m an omega, I thought bitterly.I’m always up for sex, right?

“Thanks.” I patted his leg. “But I got this. I’m going to go over the portal the company uses and find the reason why my projects get corrupted. Mr. Arnold doesn’t touch me or even really leer at me. He’s just an ass.”

Ben grumbled. “I can go in there and go alpha on his ass if you want me to. I also have a really great lawyer on speed dial if you ever need it.”

I sighed and changed the topic. I spent the rest of the afternoon with Ben and Rian, enjoying being around them.

That night, Ember looked ready to murder Mr. Arnold on my behalf but I stopped her. I just wanted to enjoy being with everyone.

No point in making trouble. I just wanted to keep a low profile at work, as much as the computer issues would let me.

Chapter 50

West

Afew days later, I trudged into the office, Ember behind me. We drove in together, and she stopped to talk to a coworker in the hallway. I went ahead, wanting to get my day over with before it even started. I entered the main office floor paused.

The atmosphere was off. Hushed chatter came with rapid-fire typing. I frowned, slowing down as I headed to my desk. A few coworkers look up at me, with pity if I didn’t know better.

My stomach churned, and I felt like I was back in high school again, walking into class with yet another black eye. I ignored them. I was reading too much into things.

Alice, a nice beta woman who occasionally showed me pictures of her Maine Coon cats, patted me on the shoulder as she passed by. “I’m so sorry. We’re working on getting it down.”

“What?” I frowned, glancing around the office again. Dread coiled in my stomach. Something was wrong, and my skin crawled at the sensation of having so many people looking at me.

My instant reaction was to run and hide in my nest.

Alice gestured at the computer screen. All of them, if the identical white screens on the desktops were to be believed. “Wecan’t get it off. Someone hacked the system. It’s been up for an hour.”

Greg walked over to me, a frown pulling his chipmunk cheeks into a weird grimace. “I’m so sorry. We’re working as hard as we can, but whoever did it was good.”

I took a step toward the closest computer, squinting to read the small print.

With a wave of nausea, I realized what was plastered all over every computer at work.

My juvenile record. I stared at my mug shot, looking at fourteen-year-old me, and it was like looking into a fun-house mirror. I had a black eye and a split lip, and I stared out at the world with a mixture of rage and resignation.

I hadn’t even told my pack what had happened yet. But my sordid past was plastered all over every computer in small black-and-white print.

The lines detailed evidence of sexual assault and history of abuse. I read the report like I hadn’t been there, having those things done to me.

In smaller type at the bottom was another line, this one saying I was charged for assault with a deadly weapon. I’d snapped and went after my stepfather with a knife.

I hadn’t been convicted. The evidence supported what I told the police.

As if looking down a long tunnel, I realized my assault record was on every computer. All of my coworkers knew about it, without the context. Not that the context mattered.

I went after that asshole with a knife because I was tired of him touching me. They said I snapped, that anyone would have, but I knew exactly what I was doing. I was clear-headed when I picked up the knife out of the butcher’s block and hid it under my mattress, waited for him to come after me.

This place full of strangers knew every detail. Another wave of nausea, coupled with violation, washed over me. I didn’t give anyone permission to know these secrets about my life, and yet somehow it was out there.

“What the fuck?” Ember’s sharp voice knocked me out of my daze.

She was glaring at the computer monitors with such vehemence it was like she could take away those images through sheer force of will.

Greg started muttering the same platitudes he had given me, but Ember shook her head. “Where’s Mr. Arnold? This is illegal. Those records are sealed.”