Page 20 of No Escape

ChapterSix

Omen

My hands rub together as a cheery smile crosses my face. Word around the facility is that a few new omegas came in. Not that it means much to me.

As a beta, it doesn’t impact me in the least. I would like to get my partner back to full working condition at some point, though.

Valor isn’t as bad off as most of the alphas they stuck us in here with, but he has his moments. The haze slips in, and it’s a miracle if he even recognizes me.

That one percent of time when he’s completely rabid…that’s what scares me.

I love the big fucker like the other half of my tainted soul, and I worry a lot about when the day will come that I have to put him down to keep myself alive.

I’m not sure it would even be worth it.

I’ve killed a lot of people—most of which I don’t regret—but I’m not sure I could come back from taking out V. Meaning, I need to find him a naughty little omega to entice him enough that he willingly sinks his teeth in. Only, he never looks twice when we get new blood.

My delusions of getting the fuck out of this hellhole are still intact, so I skip my way down the hallway from the gym to the cafeteria.

My shirt is soaked in sweat from my workout, but stopping by my room just to change would waste time. No one pays much attention to my scent, anyway.

There are perks to being a beta. The most prominent being, I don’t have to worry about losing my mind simply because I never found an omega to bond.

Nature sure does fuck alphas when it comes to biology. Not that our profession helps matters. Actually, it probably speeds up the decay. That’s why this place is filled with people who do what we do.

Not that the facility is all that bad.

It’s not half as shitty as prison would be. Being put in here means someone has incentive for us to be rehabilitated. We’re fed decent food, allowed adequate exercise, and they even do supply drops twice a week. Hell, it’s a little like an all-expenses paid vacation, but that doesn’t mean I want to be trapped in here forever.

Coming around the corner, I lean against the coarse brick. It’s always pandemonium when newbies are introduced as all the inmates try to determine if the omegas aretheirscent match, but what’s currently going down is more intense than I’ve seen it.

Maggie and her group of defiant omegas block several of the alphas from getting any closer to the cafeteria line.

The cafeteria is one of three places alphas are allowed to unmask—the communal showers, their cell, or in the meal hall, since they clearly have to be able to eat.

They serve us three hot meals a day, and the refrigerators are stocked with cold options that can be grabbed at any time, but once the food is gone, they don’t refill the cold cases until we’re all locked into our cells overnight.

I’ve never seen the food completely empty, but again, that speaks to the fact that our employers want us back in top working condition. Starving us would be counterintuitive to their end goals.

My head tilts as I watch the newbies.

Their reactions are always the same. Well, I suppose there are a few variations of how the prey ends up behaving.

It’s a whole different experience when we get new inmates because it occasionally mixes up the pecking order.

One of the women cries so hysterically, her entire body shakes. While the other’s eyes are so huge that, combined with the way she takes a tentative step back, I’m sure she’s going to run. Running is not the right call to make in this situation, but omegas can’t fight their instincts any more than alphas can fight going feral.

There are snacks on a rolling cart next to the end of the buffet line, and if that little woman backs up any farther, she’s going to take the whole thing down with her.

She’s quite pretty. Then again, most female omegas are. She’s got a curvy frame that signals her designation, and she’s a bit pear-shaped. Her tits might not be huge, but they heave with each shallow breath she sucks in.

Okay, perhaps she’s more than justpretty.

She’s fucking stunning. Her golden brown hair tumbles over her shoulders as her gaze darts around.

Our eyes lock for half a second, and I lick my lips.

Christ.

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