Page 140 of Wild Omega

“Not if I can avoid it,” I say.

We stroll down a concrete hallway with cells on both sides. These alphas behave more like Rose’s ferals. They growl, and a couple even roar at me. One paces madly in his few feet of floor space. My heart aches as I take in their pitiful state.

In some ways they’re kindred spirits, and it’s as if their animal senses are stronger too, because as I walk past, most of them grow still. Can they catch the omega scent buried under my neutralizers?

Chills run up my arms as we reach the end of the row. “These are all of the ones who came from the kennels?” A thought strikes me so hard it knocks the wind from my lungs. I wheeze for a moment. “What about the ones slated for euthanasia?”

Please, don’t let me be too late. Let me find him. Or maybe the one I’m looking for is down in that vault. I really don’t want to be locked below ground again.

“Oh, right, the guards moved a couple since we have a reduction scheduled for today. We can go watch, if you like. The poor guy needs to find some peace.”

Reduction. Such a throwaway word. All the death sanitized out of it.

“Yes.” I choke up and the word comes out cracked.

The tap of my faux-Bureau boots on the floor seems to count down like a timer as he leads me to another wing.

“This one on the schedule is completely out of control. He got loose in the exercise yard and nearly killed a couple of our regular prisoners. Broke his arm in the process and he hasn’t been right since. Been beating his head against the wall and everything. The psychs say he’ll never heal.”

I’ve heard that before. I pick up my pace.

I smell the alpha before I see him: a complex scent that combines the sweetness of maple syrup with tones of a specialty bread bakery. Barely, perhaps. But right now, it’s burning, thick with dark, angry smoke. Thick enough I feel like I should be seeing it in the air. My scent-blocking provisions all prove useless against this powerful aroma—but this one I want to breathe deeply.

The alpha thrashes, and his incessant growl vibrates right through the floor.

I stumble to a halt as the noise in the room locks into place with the pounding in my head, and then goes silent.

“Designation Zazu. Came from the Grom kennels in the last big fighting ring bust.” The warden leans one fist on his hip. “The brute knows nothing but killing.”

Zazu.

My breath catches. I found my alpha. Heat flushes through me, melting my heart into a gooey mess before burning a path through my core to my pussy. Shit, I’m about to leave a trail of slick through the whole building.

The alpha in the cell stiffens as we come into view. His head thrusts up, revealing a heavy, square jaw and a nose that might’ve been broken a few times. His eyes, blue or gray—it’s hard to see in the shadows—pierce right through me. He scans me with one swift look and then shivers, head to toe. His hands rise to the bars, revealing a dirty white cast on one arm.

Then he turns that piercing gaze on the warden and howls. It’s a bone-chilling sound full of aggression for the alpha who dares to walk beside the prisoner’s mate.

I close my eyes for a moment, letting the sound fill me. Feral, dominating. No holds barred. It’s an animalistic language, but I understand his meaning.Mine.

The burn of desire roars through my core and I gasp softly. Zazu throws himself against the bars, trying to break them.

“Yeah, maniac all right.” The warden scoffs. “Don’t worry, pal. You’ll be out of your misery real soon.” He chucks his head at me. “Let’s go—”

“I’ll take this one.” I only have one chance to save his life. To save my own life.

“Are you fucking crazy?” the officer hisses, and then winces. “All due respect, ma’am, just let him go in peace. You’ll never be able to tame him, and don’t you think he’s suffered enough?”

He has. More than any man should have to endure. That feral roar says it all.

I grit my teeth. “All the more reason to give him a chance.” I draw a shaky breath, pulling myself together. My alpha needs me. I rest my hand on the warden’s shoulder, ignoring how it sends my alpha into a frothing craze. “It’ll prove if the program really works or if it’s a waste of budget. And you’ll be touted as the wise visionary who sent him to us.”

His overgrown brows rise as he considers my words. He glances back at the howling alpha thrusting his chest against the bars. “Well, if you’re sure you want him.”

“I am.” More than anything.

The warden frowns. “But you’ll need to sign off on it. We already have the sleep juice here, so who’s going to pay for that?”

I squeeze his shoulder once then let go. The moment I release him, my alpha stops snarling and settles to a discontented rumble. He’s as wild and jealous as I am. Yeah, we’re going to get along just fine. “How about I make a personal donation to the Lodgings, since a purchase order would take too damn long?”

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