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“How dare you bark at me!” Robert howls, disgust all over his face. “That’s the problem with alphas. You think you can do whatever you want. You always have to squash us betas beneath your feet. How fucking dare you?! ”

Atlas looks calm, but I know there’s an inferno boiling inside. Stacia, however, is shaking, her body in obvious distress. I get as close to her and Uriah as I can, scent marking her shoulder with a soft caress.

Ciro steps away from us and stands proud beside Atlas. He huffs a huge sigh. “Sir, you obviously have a lot of hatred for alphas and omegas. Honestly, it sounds exhausting and I feel bad for you.”

“Feel bad for me ?!” Robert sputters in his shock. I would normally laugh at his expense, but I’m full of so much anger that I can’t muster any amusement over this. The entire situation is too fucked up.

“Loretta, call them. We’re putting an end to this right fucking now .” His wife starts to follow his order again, but then another voice speaks up.

“Hold on a second,” Sam says, not with a bark but the tone is commanding enough for the two betas to stop and turn. They tilt their heads at him like they hadn’t seen him standing there the entire time.

“Who are you?” Loretta looks him up and down, probably trying to figure out how expensive his suit is.

“That doesn’t matter. What does matter is that what you’re planning is a crime.”

Robert scoffs. “She is our daughter , she is supposed to do what we say. That is how this works.”

Sam almost looks smug when he replies. “Have you guys ever heard of Reynolds vs. Quincy? It’s a very famous lawsuit.”

Their blank faces look both confused and annoyed.

“It’s also quite old, so let me refresh your memory.

Quincy sued her parents for their entire estate after being forcibly bonded to alphas of their choosing.

The Supreme Court ruled in her favor, and then went on to implement several new laws that protect omegas’ rights, especially from their parents. ” He pauses. “So, yes, it is a crime.”

“Look.” Stacia’s father points a finger, his features less annoyed and more pissed off. “Stacia has already agreed to meet this pack. Weeks ago. We are not forcing anything on her.”

“That’s a crock of shit!” Ciro bellows.

Atlas flexes his hand, willing his alpha to calm. “Literally everything you just discussed was about going against her will. We are all witnesses.”

“Stacia,” her mother says and our omega’s eyes meet hers. “Please. Come with us so we can sort this thing out. This is important.”

Her gaze stays on her mother’s face as several emotions seem to flow through her at once. Her scent has dulled, leaving behind a somber dose of lavender and vanilla, the hints barely noticeable.

“No,” she finally says, her words seeping with exhaustion. “Never. I literally never want to see you guys again.”

Their demeanors change yet again. They have gone through every manipulation tactic in their arsenal and are now left empty handed.

“You’ll never have to, Stacia.” Sam walks closer, and pulls out his phone. He presses a button and a voice from minutes ago speaks out of it.

“I told you before, I will bring you home forcibly if need be.”

Both of their faces pale. Loretta looks to her husband, her eyes wide.

They’ve been bested. I can’t believe it. I look over at our frat brother, our friend . He really went to bat for us.

I’m also a little bit embarrassed. Why didn’t we think of that?

Atlas tries to hide his breath of relief. He looks to them, holding their scared gazes. “I think it’s time for you to leave. You don’t have to worry about Stacia anymore. We’ll take care of her.”

They look between all of us, noticing the togetherness between us, and then accept their defeat. They go back to their fancy car with their tails between their legs, and the visual is rewarding.

But not as rewarding as knowing our omega is safe .

She lets out a whimper as they drive away, like all the strength she mustered for the interaction depletes. I pull her into my chest as the others crowd around. We all supply as much comfort as we can, alternating between hugs and touches. Atlas pulls her lips to his before scent marking her cheek.

We all collectively take a breath, finding our emotional baseline and letting the anxiety ebb away, before turning to our friend.

Our brother .

Atlas has a look of regret on his face, but Sam just waves it away.

“You all know I’m studying law, but what I haven’t told you is that I’m specifically studying designation rights.

” He gives a casual shrug, like he didn’t just help us out of the biggest bind ever.

“What I said about the Supreme Court was true, they have been a lot better with administering rights for omegas, but there are still a lot of loopholes. The recording was the only way to cover all bases. There’s, unfortunately, too many parents and guardians who think they’re allowed to dictate what their omega child does. It’s despicable.”

“Sam.” Stacia speaks up then, her voice blurry. “ Thank you . I don’t know how I could ever repay you for that.”

He gives her a small smile.

“You make my friends happier than they’ve ever been,” he states simply. “You are as much my friend now as they are. And nobody messes with my friends.”

She nods, still somber from the stress, but the look of gratitude stays. Atlas takes her hand, interlaces their fingers. “Let’s decompress, my love. We can focus on moving after.”

She looks up at him, the admiration apparent. Her eyes are half-lidded, like she’s focusing really hard on staying present with us.

“Yes, Alpha,” she murmurs, before we all make our way inside, finally leaving the dust to settle on the lawn.