Page 13 of No Escape

The man who brought me to the room still blocks the doorway, watching like he’s prepared to tackle me at a moment’s notice.

“Once an alpha goes rabid, there’s only one thing that brings them back.” The woman—a doctor, apparently—comes to my side, but I refuse to look at her.

Why is she even telling me this?

Those men said I was a match for several of the inmates, and it finally clicks.

My hands fall to the table to push myself up, but something jabs into my neck. Warmth floods the area around the injection site as the man strides over.

My entire body gets heavy, and he lays me back against the table that’s propped up at an angle. My eyes meet his, and he looks almost remorseful, but I don’t care if he feels guilty.

He should.

In school, we learned all about the ugly history of omega trafficking. A few hundred years ago, omegas had almost no say over their lives or who they ended up with.

There weren’t even laws against kidnapping omegas until something ridiculously late, like 1923 or 1925. Basically, an alpha could steal an omega and just wait it out until they went into heat.

Once the fog sets in, omegas beg mindlessly for knots and bites, but it’s an impulse of our designation and not actual consent. Society eventually caught up to the realization that everyone should have autonomy, and the laws changed.

The injection site burns, but the rest of me feels warm and floaty. Even my anxiety has toned down several notches, which isnotnormal.

“That should help you stay calm while we go over everything we need to discuss,” the woman says. “Do you understand?”

“Yes.” I hear myself respond, even though I didn’t tell my brain to speak.

“Good.” She hums. “You have a birth control implant; when was that placed?”

“Less than a year ago. It was time to swap out my first implant, and they did it during my yearly checkup.”

“Have you ever been pregnant? Include any miscarriages or abortions.” She turns back to me with a clipboard in her hand.

“No. Never.”

“When was your last heat?”

Ireallydo not like where this line of questioning is going.

In fact, I hate everything since I woke up in this place. No matter how hard I fight to keep from responding, I still hear myself answer.

“I was seventeen when my first heat started. The doctors stopped it. I’ve been on suppressants since.” Tears sting my eyes.

This is none of their business. And it feels a lot like my body is betraying me because I have no way of refusing to answer her intrusive questions.

“That would be what I was seeing in your lab work. We don’t run across that often.” She hums and taps her pen against the clipboard. “It’s no matter. I’m going to begin to flush them from your system. It’s about a twelve-hour process.”

My entire body goes rigid, and I shake my head. “No! I can’t go through that kind of pain again.”

She has the audacity to pat my leg placatingly. “You won’t have to. We have plenty of alphas who will be more than happy to meet your physical needs.”

There’s no way this is real life.

I’m trapped in the worst nightmare my brain has ever conjured, but there has to be some way to wake up.

ChapterFour

Saylor

Istartle awake with no idea where I am. The same man from earlier gives my shoulder a firm shake, and everything rushes back like a tidal wave.

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