Page 4 of Defiant Beta

For now.

It’s getting late, and I’m exhausted, though not because classes are hard. It’s draining to go from class to class where the teachers spend every minute molding you into a more submissive version for wealthy alphas to scoop you up at the end-of-year ball.

The ball is weeks away, and I’m no closer to convincing the omegas to flee their gilded cage before a spoiled alpha makes their lives a misery.

“My sister, Juniper, mated with a pack,” River says, crossing her legs.

If she weren’t so nice, I’d tell her that now isn’t the time. I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to wreak untold devastation on Haven Academy, and I am failing at my task.

Since I arrived, River has taken me under her wing, so I stop ‘accidentally’ getting lost. She’s shown me around multiple times and has been kind and sweet. A bonus is that she hasn’t once attempted to snoop through my trunk at the end of my bed.

“Is she happy?” I ask River, lifting my eyes from the map.

She blinks at me as if surprised by my question. “The teachers told my parents that June was lucky to have Pack Wells choose her. There were lots of girls during her graduation, but they all wanted her.”

That doesn’t actually answer my question.

“But is shehappy?” I repeat.

When River looks down at her lap, I can guess the answer. Juniper, like any other omega here, had no choice.

I’d planned to wait until everyone was asleep before creating more chaos, but how can I sit here and do nothing when I could be doing something?

I stand up and walk over to my trunk, leaving River on my bed while the other girls read their books, do their nails, or partner up to practice the footwork for our dance lessons.

It’s almost nine o’clock. After dinner in the dining hall, we had free time to relax in the sauna or pool at the wellness center, or read in the library before returning to our rooms.

Each day, I feel like a hamster on a wheel. I'm getting fitter with workouts, dance lessons, and salads, but still feel trapped.

“How do the teachers decide what omega goes with what alpha?” I ask River, wanting to distract her before she can ask me where I’m going.

“They have meetings with prospective alphas who tell them what they’re looking for in an omega. And a perfumer comes to work out our colors,” River explains.

I stop riffling through the contents of my trunk. “Perfumer?”

“Yeah. So our dress for the end-of-year ball matches our pheromones,” Kimber explains.

“What?” I scrunch up my face as I try to envision someone sniffing me, then deciding… blue. Her dress must be blue.

I shake my head. What a stupid idea.

“It’s so we look our best for the alphas at the ball,” Kimber emphasizes.

I need to be gone before that perfumer's visit. One sniff and they would know the scent I practically bathe in came from a bottle. “Oh?”

“That’s next week, right?” Cheyenne asks before I can disappear into the bathroom for my nightly spritz of perfume.

The towel-wrapped bottle slips from my hands and thumps to the ground, narrowly missing my toe. But that crack? Not a good sign.

I snatch up another peach-colored towel and double-wrap my precious bundle as the cherry and praline scent permeates the room.

Shit. That was my last big bottle. I have a small one left, and it needs to last.

River dissolves into sneezes, rubbing her nose. “Delilah, are you okay?” She peers up at me, concerned.

A suddenly overpowering smell from an omega usually means one thing: heat.

Her temperature rises, and she gives off a heavily sweet and erotic perfume that drives an alpha wild. An omega in heat and an alpha will go at each other anytime, anyplace, in a jam-packed room even. The urge to fuck is just that strong.

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