Page 4 of The Alpha's Fake Mate

But I knew he lied. I was ruined if I couldn’t make myself go back to the mating hall.

“I don’t see that being possible now.” I kept my voice low and flat. “I won’t go back to the mating hall. But I don’t want to spend my life serving Omegas, either.”

“That’s why I want you to see the therapist.”

“Whatever.”

Chirl let my snarky comment pass. “You need time to heal and I’m giving it to you. Time off from your classes, your chores and your mating hall duties. If, in three months, you find you cannot go back to the hall duty, we’ll reassess then.”

He was being as fair as he could be to me, but there really was no justice. Not for the crime against me. Not for me.

The fury inside me boiled. The edges of my vision went red. I would never go back to the hall duties. I knew that. But I kept my mouth shut.

Chirl came out from behind his desk and put his palm against my shoulder as he handed me a card. “Your appointment is with Sen. Three o’clock every day for a week at first. Then every other day.”

Sen. I’d only glimpsed him around the farm but I’d never had to see him in any official capacity. There were over a thousand of us here including the under eighteens, but they mostly stayed in the children’s wing. It was like living in a small town, I guess. Faces became familiar over a lifetime, but we didn’t all know each other.

Sen had been around since I could remember. He was like a counselor for us, along with a few others on staff. I’d never needed his service. His reputation was okay but beyond that I knew nothing about him. And I wasn’t keen on learning.

Omegas could not become real doctors, but Omegas could take classes online and get certified in lesser degrees. Sen was one. A psychologist. If we Omegas ever needed an M.D. for any reason, we had to see Alphas for that.

Chirl pressed my shoulder. “You will make sure you make the appointment.”

I nodded once, staring at my lap.

“Good.”

I glanced up quickly, tightening the muscles around my eyes. “Are we done?”

“For now.” Chirl stepped back as I rose.

Half-way to the door, his voice followed me. “I’m sorry this happened to you, Holland. You’re not the first. You won’t be the last.”

“It is what it is,” I muttered.

“Come to me if you need anything.”

I need to not be here in the first place.But I didn’t say that thought aloud.

I didn’t turn back. I didn’t thank him. I kept going until the door slammed at my back and I stood, sweating and pissed, in the empty corridor.

Maybe he saw my behavior as rude. I didn’t care.

I only wanted to be far away from my Omega status, this place, the world. I was as trapped in my life as any animal pacing the length of its cage. There was no way out for me.

Chapter Two

Orion

“Sign here, and here. And here.” The attorney pointed to the yellow highlighted lines.

The pen in my hand was thick and smooth, black with a gold tip and cap. I swirled my Os. I took my time with the curls of my signature.

Just a few more precious seconds of bought time seemed like nothing, but to me every delay meant one more day, one more minute without having to think. To be responsible.

But today everything changed. The minutes rushed by too fast, like lights on the highway, the traffic surging, everything in a hurry.

I had just gotten my degree in microbiology, which did nothing for me unless I wanted to go to med school, or do research.