Page 13

Chapter 13

Ava

The drive feels like it takes forever, but that might just be because I spend the entire time wanting to throw up.

Neither agent speaks to me. I can’t tell if it’s because they don’t care, or because they can sense that I’m not going to want to talk to them.

My stomach is in knots by the time we arrive. The ORD offices are located in a sleek, modern building, all chrome and clean lines. When I get inside, everything is bright and spacious, well-organized. There’s this overwhelming sense of efficiency, from both the space and the people.

The two agents lead me through the offices to a small room, where they leave me alone. I kind of expected an interrogation room like at a police station, but instead, it has a sleek white couch to match the walls, and a kitchenette.

I wouldn’t call it homey, but it’s better than I thought it would be.

After a few moments alone, the door opens again. It’s not the agents.

This time it’s an older woman, middle-aged, her auburn hair getting a few streaks of gray in it. Her face is still fresh, though, and she carries herself well. She’s probably just graying a bit early, or is letting it go gray when most people would start dyeing it.

Then I see the folder in her hands, and I snap back to the reality of my situation. She’s flipping through it as she comes to sit down. She glances up at me, surprised I’m still standing. “Please, Ava—may I call you Ava?”

I nod.

“Ava, feel free to sit down.”

I fold my arms and stay standing.

The woman doesn’t seem perturbed. “I’m Cary. I’ve just been looking over your file here. We had to conduct interviews with your coworkers, speak to your neighbors, make sure that we weren’t making a mistake. We like to be thorough.”

The idea of these strangers going through my life and investigating everything about me has my throat closing up in panic.

“You wouldn’t believe the tricks some people try,” Cary murmurs, as if to herself. “Reporting people thinking they’ll just get them in trouble and bring them in here, no questions asked. As if we won’t make sure first that the person isn’t a Beta or Alpha, or that they aren’t already registered and bonded. Ridiculous.”

She closes the file and smiles up at me. “I was very impressed by how long you’ve been under our radar. You’re quite a determined girl. I can understand. It’s a scary process. I saw in your file that your parents were both Betas, so they probably didn’t prepare you very well for what the process is actually like.”

I still don’t say anything. I don’t want to give this woman anything if I can help it. Besides, she’s already got all the information she needs, clearly. What’s the point in me talking to her?

Cary sets the file aside. “I know that you’re scared.” She pats the seat beside her. “Please, come sit down and let me hold your hand. It’ll help you feel calmer.”

I hate that her motherly tone works on me. Tears spring into my eyes and I sit down. Cary takes my hand and squeezes it gently. It’s not as good as if Dante or one of the other men took my hand but it’s still reassuring.

“There we go. Omegas need lots of physical touch. I should know.” Cary laughs lightly. “I am one.”

“And you’re working for these people,” I mutter before I can stop myself.

Cary squeezes my hand again, not at all put out. “I know. You’re scared and confused. But having Omegas on our teams here is very important to us. Who knows better how to take care of Omegas than other Omegas?”

She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a little packet of tissues, handing them to me. “We think of our Omegas as clients. We want to provide our clients, just as any business does, with the best possible experience. We want to take care of them. That’s why we offer support and information, and give Omegas a place to stay if they need it until they find an Alpha or pack to bond with. Does that make sense?”

I wipe at my eyes and blow my nose. “I suppose,” I say reluctantly.

“Now, you’ve been on suppressants for a long time, I’m guessing?”

I nod. “Years.”

“Yes. That means your heat will be coming on soon. We’re still figuring out what the effects of long-term suppressants are, but we do know that when you’re off them, heats can be very miserable if you don’t have an Alpha pack, or even just one Alpha, to take care of you.” Cary smiles. “I know it might seem scary, but this is for your benefit, so that your needs can be met.”

“And I can be owned , you mean,” I shoot back. “So you can use my biology against me to have some Alpha control me.”

“See, I thought that too, when I was young. I was younger than you are, I was only nineteen, but I was furious. I hated my parents for giving me to ORD.” Cary shakes her head at the memory. “But then I was with people who understood me for the first time in my life. They ran tests to make sure they knew everything about me that would be important for my health and long-term care. And they worked tirelessly with me to find me the right Alpha pack.”

“And did they?” I ask, my curiosity getting the better of me.

“They did. It took a long time. I’m a very stubborn woman.” She laughs lightly. “I rejected so many Alphas and packs! I think my representatives were tearing their hair out toward the end. But they kept working with me until I finally found Jeff and Andy.”

She pulls out her phone. “Would you like to see some pictures?”

I don’t want to be rude, so I nod. “Um, sure.”

Cary opens her phone and pulls up some photos of herself and two men about the same age. The two men are on a fishing trip, holding up large trout and smiling. There’s another picture of the three of them sitting around a campfire together, roasting marshmallows.

“One reason I was so stubborn,” Cary admits softly, “is that I’m infertile. We run tests for that so Omegas can know right away how fertile they are. I was scared no Alpha would want an Omega who couldn’t give him children.”

She swipes through, showing me some more photos, these ones of Jeff, Andy, and Cary with various children.

“But Jeff and Andy are foster parents and work with the local hospital to take in kids from bad homes. They were already doing it before they met me, and they were so happy to welcome me in. Once I was there, we looked into adopting.”

“You have five?” I ask.

“Yes. Some of them are off to college by now.” Cary beams down at her children, clearly full of pride. “It never mattered to my mates whether the children were adopted or biological, just that I would love them as well as they did, and so it worked out.”

She puts her phone away. “We’re going to work with you every step of the way to make sure that you are with Alphas who will truly love all of you and take care of your needs, whatever those needs might be, Ava.”

It sounds tempting. Like I might actually be able to find someone who won’t make me give up my life, or try to control me. I wipe at my eyes again as fresh tears fall.

“But what… what if my body takes over?” I whisper.

Cary tilts her head. “What do you mean?”

“The Alphas who helped to hide me. They’re good people. But they smell… no Alphas have smelled like this to me before. They smell so good . I can pick up their scents like I never have before. All I want to do when I’m around them is…”

I cut myself off and bite down hard on my bottom lip. I don’t want to say it out loud, it feels so embarrassing.

Cary pats my knee. “I know what you mean. Part of it could be that you’re off your suppressants. Everything’s going to feel a little intense for you for a bit. But it’s perfectly normal for Alphas to smell good to you, especially since you’re unmated.”

She gestures to my body. “Right now, no matter how fertile you might actually be, your body is screaming that this is the prime time for you to mate. Not all Alphas will smell amazing to you. Some might even smell bad. But your body is tuned to Alphas. Desiring an Alpha and being turned on by their scents is perfectly normal.”

“So how does this whole…” I wave my hand in the air. “Process, work?”

“Well, first, we run various tests. We want to determine your status and fertility. Then we’ll add your information to the ORD database.”

“So you can keep track of me.”

“Not for the reasons you think. Eligible Alphas like to search the database so they can find Omegas that might be a good match for them. But it also allows us to check up on Omegas if we suspect they’re being mistreated, or to quickly dismiss a case if someone’s claiming an Omega is unmated when they’re actually already bonded.”

“And then what? Once you’ve gotten all this information.”

“We present you in a public showcase, along with other Omegas. There the Alpha packs will get to meet you in person, and see if they want to put in a bid for you.”

A shiver runs down my spine. Cary must notice, because she smiles again reassuringly. “Don’t worry. You get to reject any Alpha bid you don’t want. And if you do accept an Alpha or Alpha pack and we begin the courting process, we’ll be checking in with you to make sure that you’re truly comfortable.”

She squeezes my hand again. “You can back out at any time during the courting. I promise .”

I swallow hard. Maybe I should be more suspicious, but when Cary says that, I believe her. She sounds so earnest and genuine. And she seems happy in those photos with her family.

“Okay,” I say quietly. It’s not like I have much of a choice now. But knowing that this worked out for one Omega gives me hope that maybe, this will work out for me too.”

“I’m glad.” Cary stands up. “Now, let’s take you to get your tests out of the way. Shall we?”

I accept her hand to help me stand up, and then I follow her into the unknown.