Page 1 of Defiant Beta

Chapter 1

Della

No one is noticingthe smoke.

I cough.

Still nothing.

"Uh..." I shift my gaze to the science building and raise my voice. "Is thatsmoke?"

Ms. Huffman, the wellness instructor, peers over her shoulder, does a double take, and sprints toward the building where smoke billows from an open window, yelling, "No one go anywhere!"

“Do you think it was a science experiment gone wrong?” River asks from across the net.

I recall my pre-breakfast arson attack on the science building, which ended with me laughing so hard I tripped over my own feet.

Narrowing my eyes, I stroke my chin. “Maybe someone stored something they shouldn’t have.”

It should not have been so much fun to empty chemicals in a metal trash can and sprint from the room before I could blow myself up in the process.

In our world, alphas are the heroes.

They are also the villains, but in the movies and TV shows, it’s a big, strong alpha doing the rescuing. Betas like me are the best friend or the waitress, always in the background but never the star.

Breakfast was quiet. Delicious, with smoked salmon and fresh dill on mini brioche toasts, but too damn quiet.

The science building had been even quieter when I peeked over at it on the way to the wellness center to change into my short, white tennis dress, which was surprisingly cute with a pleated skirt and a dropped waist.

“So, what’s Ms. Huffman’s story?” I ask.

Between wreaking destruction while making it look like an accident, I’ve been getting my measure on all the teachers so I know which ones to avoid.

Ms. Huffman is a beta, like most of the staff at the academy.

I hadn’t expected any alpha in an omega-only academy given whenever you put an alpha and an omega together for too long, biology soon has them wanting to fuck each other's brains out.

Mrs. Stratton, the strawberry-blonde secretary who showed me around the campus, told me it’s a form of exposure therapy.

Omegas are a slave to scents—alpha scents, in particular.

Several girls at the school are extremely sensitive since the only alphas they interacted with are their parents. The alpha teaching staff helps them become accustomed to all those delicious alpha pheromones, so they don’t embarrass themselves in public once they graduate.

“I heard that her husband left her for a waitress, and one night, she got so drunk that she accidentally set herself on fire with a cigarette she didn’t put out properly. That’s the reason her face is all plastic.” Cheyenne flips her flawless French dark braid over her shoulder. “All that plastic surgery has made her a real fire hazard. She’s brave rushing into that building.”

“Cheyenne! Those are rumors. Quit being such a bitch,” Brenna hisses.

I only catch a true glimpse of the omega behind the flawless hair, stylish clothes, and submissive demeanor between classes.

Their only freedom is here. Most came from their parents' gated mansion, where they had to ask permission for everything. After they graduate, they will go to whatever alpha this school picks out for them.

No one should have a life that hemmed in.

“Okay, so maybesomeof it is rumors. Doesn’t change the fact she disappears for her—” She finger quotes, “—'spa retreats’ and comes back missing her wrinkles.”

“How old is she?” I frown.

“Fifty,” another girl calls out from farther down the court.

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