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CAMbrY

O ne last check. Not at all unusual since this was my first time.

I stood in front of Warden Chirl’s office door, too hyped to sit on the hallway bench, my hands nervously playing with my black tie. I’d done everything I was supposed to do to prepare, going over my check list three times.

I'd showered and shaved, including shaving parts of my body that were very private.

I'd used the special soap ordered by the hygiene specialists here at the farm, specifically made for my assigned task.

I'd washed my hair and styled it the way my teacher had instructed with my dark bangs combed back and sprayed with gloss and little curls about my ears.

It made me look younger, they said, a statement that confused me since I had only just turned nineteen.

“The younger, the better,” they said. “Most Alphas like it that way.”

I'd never met an Alpha, only seen them at a distance in the yards as they entered the waiting room for the Mating Hall.

We weren't supposed to look. But all of us Omegas were curious and sneaked peaks often out the main room windows when the house dads weren't looking.

Hearing that they liked to cool their Burns in younger Omegas gave me a funny feeling inside, one of distrust.

My checklist included a dress code. Black pants. White shirt. Skinny black tie. Black shoes shined to mirrored perfection. Everything had to be pristine. Perfect.

My checklist also included lube preparation.

Omegas produced a natural slick. Usually.

But for our first times, we were told we might be too nervous to feel compatible with the Alpha we were chosen to serve.

It might take too long to make that first connection.

In special classes, we were taught how to do this with the insertion of a special syringe.

As I stood waiting see Warden Chirl, I could still feel the coldness of the lube inside me. My body had not yet warmed it. In fact, I had to quench the urge to expel it, another exercise we learned in those special classes.

The door to the office opened. The warden's face appeared, grizzled, old, but kind.

“Come in, Cambry.”

I went through the doorway and shut it behind me. Chirl motioned for me to sit in one of the chairs facing his desk. I kept my anal muscles tight against the lube coating my inner channel.

“Cambry, how are you feeling?” Chirl sat behind his desk, his sharp, dark eyes taking me in from my shoes to the crown of my head. “Everything looks in order. Perfection, of course, which I would expect from you. You have been exemplary as a student and resident here at Zilly's.”

“I'm feeling a little nervous, but okay.”

“That's normal. I like to check in with all the students here in person for their first time. It's important that you understand you are not being coerced or forced. This is an honor you have been trained for your whole life, but if you choose another path, that door can open for you.”

“I feel ready. Or at least, my body does.” My cheeks burned at my quite sudden confession. “My body has been ready for months.”

“And emotionally?” he asked.

“I'm excited. And I'm also apprehensive.”

“About what specifically?”

“I don't want to do anything wrong. I want to be good. I'm also afraid—" I paused.

“Of what?”

“That I might not like it. I want to like it. I want it to be good. I want to be the best Omega I can be.”

Chirl smiled. “That’s the perfect answer. You will be good. Relax and you will enjoy it as well. Alphas come here to go through the Burn with a receptive Omega. Understand, the Burn can make them aggressive, but the Omega body is designed to respond to that naturally.”

I nodded.

“As long as you follow your instincts, you will have no trouble.

You are the one who will cool your Alpha's burn.

In a way, you are the one in charge. If anything goes wrong, the panic button is right there over the headboard.

You are to use it if you want out at any time.

It's very important that we keep all of our Omegas safe here.”

“I understand that. I'm ready. I want to do this.”

“I know you do, but I insist on this one final meeting with all first-timers just to make sure.” Chirl pulled out a paper from a folder by his tablet. “This is the final consent form which I ask you to sign in my presence.”

I got up and walked over to the desk. Chirl handed me a heavy smooth pen. It felt right in my hand. I leaned over and signed my name by the X he had made on the paper.

“One more question before you sign.”

I looked up.

“Will Angell be a problem for you?”

My face instantly heated. My mouth went dry. “Wh-what?”

Chirl’s white eyebrows scrunched together. “You two are close.”

It was a statement, not a question. I blinked fast, not knowing what to say. I couldn’t deny it when he already knew.

Chirl cleared his throat. “Sometimes when one Omega is ready for the Mating Hall but another who is a close friend is not, it can create a rift.”

I shook my head. “Angell knows this is my duty. I want to do my duty.”

Chirl leaned forward, elbows on his desk. “Angell also knows he will never be ready. And that he may one day lose you to an Alpha bond.”

I blinked hard again, the heat rising behind my eyes. I lifted my chin until I was staring over Chirl’s head. I could still see Angell’s large brown eyes as he signed his words to me before he snuck back to his own bed at dawn. “You must do your duty as an Omega for both of us.”

“You are the only one in my heart,” I’d whispered back to him, hugging him hard to my chest.

Angell nodded. He was mute but not hearing impaired. He pulled back and signed, “I love you.”

“I don’t intend to accept any bonds,” I said to the warden.

“Because of Angell.” Chirl spoke softly.

I took a deep breath. We’d taken pains to hide our closeness. The fact that we’d secretly slept together for two years was hidden from others, including—we thought—from our house dads. Chirl was forcing me to admit to a possible huge infraction of Zilly’s main rules.

Omegas were forbidden to have sex with each other.

It did happen, but if caught the punishments could be severe, including being shipped off to another farm or, worse, to a psychiatric infirmary.

Rarely, Omegas could impregnate each other.

We were on birth control from the age of fourteen, but it could still happen.

Omega/Omega progeny created Sylphs, a type of human who was neither Alpha nor Omega and rarely lived beyond childhood.

If they did live, they entered a permanent Burn at about the age of fourteen and it drove them mad.

Possessing a very unique survival instinct, Sylph embryos clung to the anal uterus of their Omega parent in such a way that to perform abortions on them was deadly.

Angell and I were quite aware of this. We’d done everything together but intercourse. We were too smart for that.

At least, I thought we were smart. But if Chirl knew?—

“Angell is my friend. He would never keep me from my duty.”

“Even if you decline all offers of marriage, you two can never be together.”

I nodded. “I know. He knows.” My heart beat so hard I thought my chest might break open.

“You are both young. It may be more difficult to handle than you think.”

What did he know? Everything?

“We’re just friends.” I stuttered on that last word.

“Yes. Very close.”

I bent down and signed my name on the dotted line. I wanted to get this meeting over with. I knew what I was doing. Angell knew what I was doing. We were fine.

“There.” I set down the pen.

“Well, that's done.” He took the paper and put it back into the folder. He did not look at me. “Now a guide will lead you to the Mating Hall and your assigned Burn room.”

“Thank you.” I turned toward the door.

“Cambry.”

I glanced over my shoulder. “Yes?”

“Relax and enjoy yourself for the next two days.”

But how could I? Chirl knew our secret. What if Angell was taken away? What if punishment awaited us after I serviced the Alpha? I shook my head to clear my thoughts, my muscles stiffening. I couldn’t breathe.

As if reading my mind, Chirl said, “Cambry. Nothing will happen to Angell or you and we will speak no more of your close friendship. I know you will do well. You are a credit to this establishment. Your peers all seem to respect you. I want you to know that everyone is very proud of you. Your strength inspires them.”

“Thank you, Warden.”

I didn’t let out the huge breath I’d been holding until after I closed the door behind me.