Page 87 of Wild Omega

Well, bye-bye freedom. We had a good thing going. My leg jumps with nerves as I sit in the OCB office, toying with the rim of my paper cup. The adrenaline from the fight with Rickon’s ex slowly leaches from my body, leaving me cold and antsy as the OCB officers buzz about on the other side of the door.

I wince and rub at my temple, a dull ache running up my forearm and shoulder, all the way into the back of my head. No surprise I’ve got muscle strain from stabbing a full-grown quarterback like a rotisserie chicken, but the real problem is all three voices in my head returned in full force once the car took me a block away from Rickon.

No one would believe me, right?

Scent matching is real. Bonds are real. But being able to sense my alphas’ presences like a hum in my head can’t possibly be real. So the world says. My throbbing brain begs to differ.

The door swings open, making me jump, and Samantha walks in, accompanied by the OCB agent who drove me to the Bureau office.

I quirk my brows. “Fancy running into you here.” I promptly turn away and look out the window again like I don’t give a shit.

She sighs softly. “Hello, Red. I was worried about you.”

“Sure, sure,” I scoff under my breath. Maybe it’s a tad passive-aggressive, but I feel like I’m entitled to a mood swing right about now.

The nurse leans one hand on the table, scanning me. “Are you okay? Any injuries? Did you bond with anyone?”

I snort. Like I had time for that. But now she mentions it, I should’ve taken care of that right away with Rickon. “Yes, no, and would that get me out of here faster?”

“I’ll take that as a no for bonding.” Samantha drags a chair out noisily, sagging into it with relief. “I should congratulate you on being the first omega to leave the Center undetected in five years.”

I grin. That’s not a bad cred to have. “Do I get a medal? Be nice if it’s got a bit of value so I can pawn it on my next run.”

Samantha rests her hand on mine, and I twitch. “We weren’t keeping you hostage, Red, but we do need to make sure it’s safe for you to leave and that you’ve got somewhere to go.”

I roll my eyes around until I meet her gaze. “I saw the shrink report.”

Samantha winces, but her cutesy act isn’t fooling me.

I curl my lips back in a snarl. “According to yourever-so-helpfulcrew, I’m unfit to be out in society, so you weren’t letting me out anyway. Well, here’s the fucking headlines: I did just great for five whole days.” Even found two scent match alphas and a job. Well, I hope I got the job. I cross my fingers under the table.

She gets a sad look on her face that makes me want to throw up. I don’t need her pity. “And did you happen to go into heat during that time?”

Fucking low blow. I switch away to look back out the window where the setting sun plays golden light tricks on the city. “Not due yet. You’ve seen me now. Tick me off as A-okay and let me get back to my life so I can find out.” I jerk my thumb at the scene outside the window where everybody else gets to go about their business without busy bodies butting in saying what they can and can’t do.

Samantha sits in silence, fingers locked together and thumbs crossing back and forth over each other.

I grit my teeth. “If this is about what I said about your family, and your eye, during my heat, I really am sorry. But I found my alphas—well, one alpha, and I got a job and everything. You can wash your hands of me, and I’ll be just fine.”

She’s still silent and panic claws up my throat in a way it never did even when I faced off against Rickon’s ex. At least I had a weapon then. In here, I’m as defenseless as a mouse, at their mercy and losing a war I don’t know the rules for.

“I’ll even come in for weekly counseling or something,” I add as the tension in the room reaches snapping point. “Just let me go.” I loathe the whine in my tone, but it’s there. This is a desperate matter; I want to go home to my alpha. I don’t even know if he’s okay. All I can see is those purpling finger-shaped bruises circling his throat.

Samantha sighs heavily. “I’m sorry, Red, but we have these protocols for good reason. Your alpha can apply at the Center like everyone else so we can vet his history and make sure a new home’s going to be safe for you long-term.”

Rules, red tape, safety. It’s all bullshit to tie me down and trap me in a room with the shrink so she can poke through my bruised mind. I clench my hands into fists and Samantha stiffens.

She looks pale as she speaks again. “A few years back, I worked with an omega who’d been used as a rut partner at an underground joint. Worst part is she was bonded, and it was her alphas who whored her out.”

My throat closes up and I look away.

The nurse leans on her elbows. “When we rescued her, she was sweet and compliant. Lisa was her name. She asked us to reach out to a friend she’d known when she was younger, and she was adamant he’d be good to her. There was a family reconciliation in place, so we released her prematurely.”

Samantha’s voice falls, and she clears her throat. “Ten days later, she was dead.”

I cross my chest in silent respect for the unfortunate omega, bracing against the explanation I know is coming.

“Lisa’s new alpha ‘forgot’—” She twiddles her fingers in the air to quote the word. “—to help her through her heat and she died of heat fever alone in her nest.”

---