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“I’m taking pills for that,” I say. “They’ve all asked me about it, and they know I’m on them.”

“They’re not foolproof,” she reminds me. “It can fail, especially if you’re around more alpha pheromones."

Not if I can’t smell them.I don’t think my mother knows how badly my nasal passages have been affected by the institute’s “therapy sessions.” I hope they’ll bounce back, in fact, I know that my body heals better as an omega because of how well I’ve healed after all the abuse. However, I just don’t know.

“I guess I should put this away,” my mother sniffs, wrapping the belt around her fist again and letting me go. I scramble to get away from her, my back hitting the headboard. The welt there complains, but I don’t care. “You’re so dramatic. I barely touched you.”

I can tell that’s the narrative she convinces herself of, because she doesn’t appear repentant.

“You bring these things upon yourself,” she says. “You have three months to find a pack that will commit to you. I should get the other applicants to meet you, but I don’t want to upset the four packs currently courting you.”

“I can do it,” I rasp. “Three months. Silas said something about inviting me on an overnight trip out of town soon.”

It was a casual mention while we were skating, but I know that was his way of introducing the idea to me. At this point, my happiness be damned. I don’t need it. I just want to survive my mother.

“Did he?!” my mother says excitedly. “Oh that’s nice. Pack Mayor would be good for you. They’ll keep you in line as older men.”

Mmhmm. That’s exactly what I need. Tears trail down my face as my chest heaves, and I struggle to get a handle on my body’s insistence that I need to run. There’s nowhere for me to go, no doors to close, no place to hide.

“I’ll let the packs know that all of your plans have to becancelled due to your heat. It just started, you’ll muddle through on your own,” my mother says with a shrug.

For someone who believes I should whore around with the packs courting me, this feels counterintuitive. Except, it’s all a lie meant to cover up her abuse.

Staying silent, I watch as she turns to walk away. Seeing my phone, I reach out with a wince and slide it under the covers. I don’t want her to remember I have it. It feels important to me for some reason.

“Oh. One little thing,” my mother says. “Don’t tell anyone about this. I’ll be checking your phone tomorrow. I know Cassidy likes to text you even after you say goodbye for the night, and that Carter sends you inappropriate memes. I don’t think they’re funny, but to each their own. You forget your phone everywhere, making it easy to check your messages.”

Of course she checks my phone. I’m not surprised. She gives me a little smile and a wave goodnight before glancing at the window.

“That’s going to be annoying, isn’t it? The moon is shining right into your room,” she muses with a shrug. “Sweet dreams, dear.”

My heart is pounding, my ears ring from stress, and I close my eyes to lie enough to myself that I won’t spiral into a heart attack.

She’s gone. I’ll be free or sold off in three months and never have to see her again. Anything has to be better than here.

The last one is definitely a lie, because Weeping Willow is worse. The lectures Emilia would give through the speakers went into great details about the auction blocks bad little omegas would find themselves on.

It definitely can get worse.

Glancing at my bedspread where my phone is hidden underneath, I tell myself to ignore it. I should get ready for bed, not do any texting when I feel like I’m back inside of a nightmare.

The truth is, things felt better for the past month. My motherhad just been biding her time to show me the monster that lies underneath her skin.

My fingers tremble as I reach toward my phone, but my mother pops her head back into my room and I thread my fingers together instead.

“You should get ready for bed,” she says. “Since you’re going to be home all weekend, you should probably get used to the idea of me making your life hell. It’s been so nice to have you gone on your little dates. It’s really too bad it’s been all for nothing. Maybe I’ve kept you too secluded and innocent.”

My mother walks off and I swallow hard. My entire body is shaking, and I feel as if I’m being starved for air. All of that feels like a threat. My hand slides under the bedspread almost in a fog, and I gaze down at it.

There’s text messages sitting unanswered, and I open the app to stare at it. Everyone is careful about what they say, because as Silas noticed, there’s not a lock on my phone. I didn’t even think to put a code on it, since I’m aware that I don’t have any privacy.

Cassidy is the first person I see that messaged me and my fingers move without thinking.

Me:

911. I need out. Soon. I’m deleting this after you see it.

We both have read receipts on for our messages, so I watch until it says she’s read it and I delete it. Since it was done so quickly, it doesn't even show as a deleted message.