“Since this is your debut ball, you’ll be the star of the show. There will be other eligible omegas there. A few alpha packs will show up that haven’t been approved to try and court the other omegas there, but for the majority of the night, you’ll be interacting with the packs that’ve been pre-approved.”

“And—and how many packs is that?”

“Ten.”

My head spins at the thought. Ten packs. Ten alpha packs. There may be a couple betas thrown in here or there, but for the most part, I’m going to be choking on dozens of alpha scents for the entire evening.

“Are you alright?” Susan rests a gentle hand on my shoulder.

“Yeah,” I say, taking a deep breath. I can do this. It’ll be a long night, especially if I’m expected to spend time with each of the packs, but everything will be okay.

There will be security at the event. Nothing will happen to me.

And I get to see the guys.

My fingers drift down the chiffon skirts of the dress in front of me. The guys get to see me. I get to prove to them that I’m worthy of being their omega.

“Thank you for your help, Susan. I’m going to start getting ready now.”

The next two hours fly by, and before I know it, I’m staring at myself in the mirror as the makeup artist puts the final touches of highlighter on my collarbones.

The dress fits perfectly. The lace sleeves have crystals that flow beautifully down into the bodice. They shimmer in the light as I move. The square neckline calls attention to my collar bones, which the makeup artist, a tall beta woman says are to die for. My hair is expertly curled and shines in the light because of the products in it.

“Give us a little spin,” Susan says, her smile warm.

I do as she says, the skirts flowing around my legs in a way that makes me look and feel like a princess.

“How do you feel?” She asks me.

“I—I feel good. Pretty.” I barely recognize the girl I see in the mirror staring back at me. My cheeks are pink from the blush and more full than they’ve been my entire life, now that I’m actually eating healthy food.

The omega center may suck in certain ways, like how they’re forcing me to meet a bunch of alpha packs, but they definitely do have a lot of services I never could’ve dreamed about.

I have meal kits delivered right to my door full of all the food I need to start gaining weight and recover from the lack of food I had back with my parents.

My eyes look so bright, especially with the dark and shimmery eye shadow expertly placed on my eyelids.

“You should feel pretty, girl. You’re absolutely stunning. You’re going to blow all those alphas away,” The makeup artist says, packing up the last of her stuff.

There’s a knock at the door and Susan goes to open it. I turn, swallowing hard when I see it’s the director at the door.

He gives me a nod of approval. “You clean up nicely.”

“Oh, thank you.”

“Since you don’t have an escort, I’ll be the one debuting you. We’ll make your grand entrance and I’ll walk you over to your table.”

“Oh,” I say, fisting my hands in front of me. For some reason, having an alpha, any alpha, see me like this makes me feel awkward.

The only alphas I want to see me like this are my pack.

“Do you know how tonight is going to go?” The Director asks, purposely softening his voice because he probably noticed how I’m feeling.

“I know there are ten packs.”

“Each pack will get twenty minutes with you where they can give you gifts and speak with you.”

“Will—will they touch me?”