Page 139 of Wild Omega

“We’re here.”

I jolt into alertness. “Right.”

Alpha Lodgings looms ahead, big stone walls capped with rolls of vicious barbed wire. Tall towers on the corners survey the grounds inside, reminding me this is a place for dangerous alphas. Rose’s ferals protected her, but who knows if the same will be true for me.

As Lionel slows the truck and rolls to a stop in front of the huge, barbed-wired-capped gates, a security guard packing a real weapon steps out of the gatehouse and jumps up onto the side of the cab. “State your business.”

“Supervisory Special Agent Red Jones, from the Laversham branch.” I flash him my badge. “I’m here about the overflow problem with the ferals.”

He checks my badge but thankfully doesn’t take it. “I didn’t hear about any scheduled visits.”

I groan. “Don’t tell me he didn’t put the damn paperwork through, and I flew all the way up here for nothing? These fighting alphas are clogging the system everywhere, you know? Laversham, Darinian. We’re stretched so thin, and I bet it’s even worse for you here where the ring was busted.” I click my tongue in annoyance.

“You got that right,” he grumbles. “Those wild fuckers are causing trouble everywhere.”

I tuck the badge away since he hasn’t asked for it. “Well, we’ve got an opening in our rehab program, so I’m here to look for a candidate.”

He nods thoughtfully. “I’m sure the warden won’t mind the interruption, then. Let me call and see.”

“Sure, take your time.” For good effect, I mutter just loud enough for him to hear, “I’ve only got a twenty-four-hour drive ahead.”

I sit on my hands to hide my crossed fingers while he makes the call, and a thrilling shock of electricity zips through me when he comes back with good news. Looks like they really are trying to offload problem alphas. Guards give the truck a thorough once-over, which includes using a mirror on a long handle to look underneath, before waving us through.

“I heard about that on the news,” Lionel remarks as he cranks the big engine into gear to roll forward. “Fancy the fuckers doing all that right below our feet.” He tuts as he manhandles the big steering wheel.

“Yeah, the depravity of greedy men,” I say. If only he knew the truth. I dig into my leather document wallet and pull out a sheet of anti-nausea medication, and swallow down a couple of omega hormone blockers for good measure. Dipping my nose into the Omega Center’s book of horror, plus running into trouble in busy places, taught me not to walk into any crowd without being prepared, let alone a building full of alphas.

And this will be a hundred times worse, because from what Rose said, these fellows don’t learn even the basics of scent control, which most alphas pick up during high school when their designation first presents.

For the full package, I turn on the scent-neutralizing band around my wrist, which releases tiny puffs of misted air up my arm every thirty seconds. Puking my guts out in the Alpha Lodgings hallways will really mess up my cover story. Today, I’m Red Hawk again, going undercover.

I duck my face away from the cameras as we enter the building, although with so much security it’s unavoidable. This could end real badly. Stench aside, I can’t say I like being closed in on all four sides in a compound full of alphas, either. Sex-starved men like those in here would tear an omega to pieces.

The burly alpha warden accepts my story, well embellished with details about a trial program modeled on the success of Agent Colt Nesters and his work in rehabilitation, but he does take a closer look at my badge. My heart leaps into my mouth as he runs his thumb across the back where I shaved off theprop use only, filled it with glue, and repainted it.

“Seen a few hard cases,” I offer with a shrug. “I believe you’re in the same position.” Alpha Spy movies taught me most people have a difficult time focusing and talking at the same time.

He snorts. “Seems like our job continually get harder. And I keep losing men to medical leave thanks to those violent animals. I’ll have a mutiny on my hands soon enough.”

I shrug, clamping down on a heady rush of emotion. “Well, maybe I can help a little today.”

The warden grunts and pushes away from his desk. “Come on, then. Anything to reduce the crowding in here.”

My knees feel like they’ll give out, but I keep my back ramrod straight as I follow him into the prison proper. The controlled doors and bars everywhere give me the heebie-jeebies.

“There a problem?” the warden asks when I twitch after one of the doors slides shut, locking us in with the combined scents of hundreds of alphas. Even with all my precautions, it’s overwhelming.

“Bit of indigestion,” I reply, tapping my fist to my sternum and waiting for a puff of neutral air from my chunky bracelet.Indigestionis putting the mess of my nerves lightly. But right now, I’m Red Hawk, and I’m undercover, which means I can achieve anything.

He cocks his head. “Are you looking for something specific?”

“We have a complex set of requirements, but if we can start with least settled ones, that should work well. Anyone who’s making a lot of noise.” After all, the mystery alpha in my head’s growling up a storm.

“All right.”

If I thought the scent match book was bad, this is a hundred times worse, to the point of paralyzing my entire nervous system. We pass hallway after hallway of inmates in cells, all alphas with strong musk. It’s like walking in a vat of vomit.

The warden thumps his fist against a series of numbers painted on the wall. “This is the wing for the unhinged. We have one more vault underground for the serial killers, but I doubt you want to go down there.”

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