Page 6 of Daisy

But watching them together makes something ache deep in my chest.This is what I've been missing my whole life. This easy back-and-forth, this genuine connection, this feeling of being seen and wanted for myself.

She's still herself despite everything this place tries to do to us.

I've seen Storm around the house for years, but we've never talked. Elite and beta-born omegas aren't encouraged to mix. Different futures, different purposes, Uncle always says. But watching her, watching how free she looks with Frankie, I feel something I haven't felt in months.

Envy.

She looks up and catches me staring.For a moment, I think about fleeing back to my room, but something in her expression stops me. Does she see me? The real me underneath all of this silk? How badly I wish to be her.

Storm's gray eyes lock on mine, and she lets out this sharp bark—like I'm some pathetic little lapdog.The sound cuts through me.

I gasp and stumble backward,shame burning my cheeks.

"Storm, that wasn't nice," I hear Frankie say gently,but I'm already turning and hurrying away, my heart hammering in my chest.

Of course she would do that. Storm has never hidden her disdain for the elite omegas, and I'm probably everything she despises about this place. Perfect, obedient, valuable property.

Back in my spotless room, I sit on my bed and wrap my arms around myself.Everything from tonight feels like a weight onmy chest.Uncle's grip on my shoulder, the alphas discussing my breeding potential, Storm's casual cruelty.

I look at my reflection in the vanity mirror. The girl staring back looks exactly like what Uncle wants, perfect, obedient, valuable. And maybe that's exactly what Storm sees when she looks at me. Not a person, but a symbol of everything she's fighting against.

But what I see scares me.

Because sometimes I feel something stirring underneath all this perfection. Something that doesn't want to smile and nod anymore.Something that wants to have choices, to matter for more than what Uncle needs.

But how do I become brave enough to show that girl to the world when even Storm, who fights against everything, sees me as the enemy?

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I just... said no. But I'm not brave enough for that.

Maybe someday I'll understand what I'm supposed to want from all this.

But first, I need to figure out how to stop feeling so invisible.

Maybe the first step isn't waiting for someone to save me.

Maybe the first step is saving myself.

I lie down on the bed, but sleep doesn't come easily. Instead, I find myself thinking about ice-blue eyes and quiet strength, about Storm's reckless grin and fierce honesty, about the feeling of wanting something for myself instead of just accepting what others decide I deserve.

And underneath it all, that trace of honey and clove that had made my omega instincts settle for the first time all night. That had made me feel, for just a moment, like maybe I wasn't completely alone.

Chapter 3

Dante

The streets are chaos.

I navigate the black sedan through another blockade, Veronica gripping her clipboard like a weapon in the passenger seat. Smoke rises from three different districts, and I can hear the distant sound of chanting, breaking glass, the occasional alpha roar that makes my teeth ache.

Two days since the Choosing Day disasters. Two days since everything went to hell.

"This is exactly what those little bitches wanted," Veronica spits, her voice tight with barely controlled rage. "Complete anarchy."

I don't respond, keeping my focus on the road as we pass a group of beta-born alphas marching down the main avenue. Their signs read "RIGGED SYSTEM" and "OMEGA CHOICE NOW" in bold, angry letters. Some carry pictures of Harley and Storm, not as criminals, but as heroes.

Fuck.The uprising had been brewing for months, but it exploded the moment Storm's name was called and she drew Jonathan Kingsley from the Choosing Day lottery two days ago. The head of the Omega House claiming a beta-born omega fromhis own system, broadcast live to millions. It was the spark that lit a fire that had been waiting to burn.

I still don't understand why Jonathan would have entered his pack's name in the first place.The city was already a powder keg.Beta-born alphas growing more restless by the day, protests starting to bubble up in the outer districts. Any experienced alpha should have seen that claiming an omega from his own facility would cause exactly this kind of chaos.