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She cackles as I force a smile. I hate sea creatures.

They haven’t done a damn thing to me yet, and I hate them.

Father didn’t want to waste money on a private plane and a yacht to transfer us, but because of my phobia, traveling by boat was out of the question.

And Faith just so happens to have an intense fear of heights.

So flying in our private jet for more than a few hours wasn’t happening without drugging Faith within an inch of her life.

And apparently, we’ll be forced to attend some party once we land to introduce ourselves.

I shake my head and snort. We’re two peas in a neurotic pod.

“It will be nice though,” she whispers, suddenly serious, her gaze misty and distant as she cups her eyes and stares at the brilliantly blue sky behind her.

“What will?” I ask softly.

“To be around girls like us. Perhaps a few omega males, as well. It will be nice to be around people who will understand,” she says, with a wistful expression as she leans on the railing, the picturesque views sailing by in a flash.

“Please fasten your seat belts,” one of the pilots calls overhead, and I jerk from a sudden spate of turbulence, the lights flickering off as one flight attendant walks crisply to her seat, heels clicking.

I do what I’m told, begrudgingly, and focus back on Faith, who looks slightly afraid. Or maybe disgusted? It’s hard to tell. She locks eyes on something or someone in front of her, off camera, and a loud bang later, she turns her face back to me.

“Faith?” I ask, and her big brown eyes go wide again, which reminds me so much of my own eyes and those of our mother.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I wish we didn’t have to bring these psycho’s along, is all,” she murmurs, and I know now she’s referring to the other elite bodyguards on the not-so-private yacht cruising to Foxcroft.

Father didn’t want to pay for two modes of transportation, despite being one of the wealthiest men on the planet.

And ever the bastard, especially towards his beta daughter, he decided to use one of his superyachts as a luxury tax-write off.

After all, it’s charity work to ferry other super wealthy omega women sentenced to the island as well.

A win-win for him. I can’t stand the fact that she’s forced to be around so many strangers, but it was either that or an emergency landing on the open ocean when she inevitably fainted from the stress of being in the air.

“Back to what you were saying—” she cuts me off.

“It’ll be good, Grace. I can feel it in my spirit. They’ll be like us,” she whispers as I shake my head, “I mean, even if we’re not on the same boat, we’re on the same boat, you know? Maybe they’ll feel the same.”

Always an optimist, I lament silently.

“Look, Faith, don’t get your hopes up. Maybe the betas will be kind, but the only thing worse than an alpha is an omega.

The social hierarchy will be worse, not better than before, at least for me.

I’m a heatless omega from a heartless family.

If we can’t figure out how to make our trust funds stretch, or a way off that island, soon we’ll be penniless too.

A beta and a useless omega don’t have a shot at a happy life,” I try to level set with her, but Faith shakes her head no vehemently.

“But one day you’ll find your pack. I know that for sure, Grace! I have faith that you will. And every year there’s an annual–”

“Open air zoo for us to find a mate. Yes, yes. I believe that as much as I believe in the tooth fairy. Who the hell would take the time to travel somewhere that remote for us? No one worthwhile to bond with,” I say, attempting to reason with her.

I don’t want to attend another matchmaking event for the rest of my life.

When we were younger, we were presented as young as ten to potential partners, the young alpha heirs to industries and other royalty alike.

Faith only had to endure one, and the details are hazy at best I imagine as she bored her teenaged match to tears rambling on about unicorns and if he preferred dolls or figurines.

There were only one or two business moguls wealthy enough and interested enough to even offer their sons to a beta princess, and then our life fell apart so that was that.

As for me? I had to endure three, each presentation–as they were called–more excruciating than the next.

And worse of all was my thirteenth, when only a day after meeting the boy of my dreams, sharing my first kiss that carried the scent of lavender and eucalyptus, we heard the news of our mother’s untimely demise by the hands of a gruesome killer.

Mother’s love. My first crush. My first heartbreak.

I recline in my seat and ride out another brush with turbulence, wondering how I can go back to those simpler days.

Back when Faith also used to listen to me without question.

No need to depress myself thinking about the impossible, like going back in time. I know well enough that any alpha worthy to bond with wouldn’t be desperate enough to show up on Foxcroft’s doors. Faith’s trying to make me entertain a delusion. And I’m not having any of it.

“But–” I don’t let her finish. I’ve had enough of her sales pitch.

I sigh and wave my free hand after placing my flute on the table in front of me, “Save the brochure speech for Madame Blu, please!”

“Fine, Mistress Wilder, I’ll mind my manners and wait for further instruction,” she says mockingly.

We burst out laughing all of a sudden, the tension dissipating as quickly as it had built.

I don’t have time to try and argue with a brick wall.

The last thing I want to do is drive a wedge between my sister and me.

We’re in this together. We’re all we have, now that Mother is gone.

We have to support each other. And more than anything, more than ever before, I have to protect my little sister.

“What’s so funny, girls?” a rugged, masculine voice asks off camera. And it pulls a small smile from me, as Faith looks up at the man like he brought her the sun and the moon.

Hoku is a beta, and so is my sister. But she’s an ex-princess and he’s a bodyguard. Absolutely forbidden, and scandalous. Until now. I wouldn’t be surprised if she finally popped her precious cherry and I became an auntie by next year.

I swallow back the age old bitterness, pissed at myself for once again acting like such a bitch.

For all the shit I’ve been through being born an omega, being a beta woman is inarguably worse.

And yet, I do envy my sister in some small, wretched part of my soul.

To be able to hide from the spotlight and be ignored would have been a welcome relief some days, compared to being under his domineering gaze and…

I shake the thought off, finding solace that my father’s tendrils won’t reach us in the hallowed halls of Foxcroft. If what I suspect is true, he may lose everything soon. Maybe by the new year, we can celebrate a new Wilder while toasting the death of that bastard. A girl can dream.

“So, neither of you is going to tell me what’s so funny?

” Hoku teases, leaning down and in, so he’s in front of the camera.

He pushes his long, black hair out of his amber brown face, a dimple puckering his sculpted cheek.

Faith’s bodyguard checks the time on his watch.

I roll my eyes. He acts like he’s three hundred and not thirty-something.

Hoku’s slightly crooked nose—which had healed incorrectly from an injury—tips up as he lifts his chin.

“It’s a secret between sisters,” Faith says, laughing softly.

“I see?” Hoku replies, standing to his full height, and whatever expression he’s wearing causes Faith to bliss out like an omega in heat.

Her laughter reminds me of twinkling starlight, and I almost choke on the sweetness of the scene unfolding before my screen—Hoku’s so relaxed, and from what I can see of it, smiling softly.

Hoku’s nothing like the hard-edged, no-nonsense, distant killing machine that’s followed us across two oceans, three continents, and counting.

Hoku’s love shines through his gaze, much more freely now since he’s away from Father. I smile at that. Though everyone thinks he’s being banished, he sees it as continuing his mission of guarding his mate as her guardian angel.

As if betas can have mates. However, in my opinion, the love between betas is more genuine and authentic.

There are no pheromones to consider in the equation, making it difficult to determine whether their feelings are biologically determined.

Lust and love are simple for them, as it is for alphas and omegas.

But the dedication to stay together without mating marks or bonds? That’s a proper mated pair to me.

I don’t know if I would’ve ever had kids myself, but I’m more than ready to be a rich child-free auntie.

Even if our political dynasty falls apart, our trust funds, inherited from our mother’s dowry, will remain intact—a sense of security for my sister and me.

If anything, Father’s downfall will mean my sister and I can finally be free.

We just have to spend it wisely, and I need to push Hoku to confess so we can stop paying his fee.

Though I have a sneaking suspicion that he’s no longer being paid to follow us here, nor will he expect us to pick up a future bill.

With a shake of his head, Hoku moves off camera completely, mumbling, “I’ll make you tell me the truth later. You better not be laughing at me.”

“What’s with that guy?” Faith asks wearily as she pins a loose ebony curl back into place in her perfect curly updo, snapping her out of her trance.

“When has he ever… joked around? Maybe Father poisoned our drinks before we boarded the boat. You might want to stop drinking. I am. I feel soooo sleepy. Ah, Grace?”

I snap back to listening intently, lifting an eyebrow.

“What’s that expression?” she asks wearily.