Page 17 of Party Girl: How a Naughty Omega Finds Love
The officer pushes my shoulder to get me walking, so I don’t have time to think over why I continue to let the people who are supposed to love me treat me like shit.
“Don’t push me,” I say, leveling him with a look.
His upper lip curls, but he simply grunts.
Great. I can stand up for myself with strangers, but not my friends and family. That’s not completely true. I finally fought for myself yesterday with Mom. After years of enduring her torture, I finally grew a spine. At least I did something.
We stop at a glass-covered window, and the officer tells the attendant my name. She gets up to retrieve my lone key from a plastic bin and pushes it through the little cut out section. Of course they confiscated the fake ID, so I grab the key to my apartment and hold it tight. I didn’t bring my phone last night, but it’s not like I have anyone to call. Not anyone that would care anyway.
The attendant buzzes us through the secure door.
“Go on then,” the officer says.
I sigh and walk into the office area of the police station. Several men and women in uniform are busy behind worn desks. A familiar man rises from his desk and his gray eyes flick over me, as though checking to make sure I’m in one piece.
Why would he care?
His attention puts me on high alert. In my experience, it’s better to stay under the radar. I quickly realize there’s no escaping his notice. He grabs something from his desk and tucks it into his belt before walking over.
“Morning,” he says, eyes still on me.
“Hey, Hayden.” The other officer didn’t even realize Hayden was greeting me. “You have this one under control?”
“I’ll take it from here, Roger.” Hayden glances at my arms, frowning. “Are the cuffs really necessary?”
“Protocol. Besides, she seems compliant now, but I bet she’s a fighter.” The guy snickers.
Hayden ignores him. “Ready?”
“Do I have a choice?”
He grimaces. “No.”
“Didn’t think so,” I say. “Let’s get this over with.” The sooner Camila yells at me, the sooner I can be done with her. I don’t know exactly what will become of me now that I’ve screwed my chances of being matched, but the ideas that come to mind aren’t exactly fun.
There’s the Omega Auctions, a place where troublesome omegas go to be sold off to the highest bidder, or there’s being shunned. Since I’m from a low pack, and literally the lowest of the low, I worry the latter is my fate.
“Whitney?” Hayden’s voice draws my gaze to him. His eyes are lined with concern. “Did you hear me? I said the car is this way.”
“You’re not going to push me around like this guy?” I look at the empty space behind me. The other officer left.
“I’m not going to do that, and I’ll have some words with Roger when I get back.”
“Chivalry isn’t dead,” I whisper so softly I don’t expect him to hear it.
Hayden laughs under his breath. “Not entirely. Come on.” He walks away.
I either stand here like a stubborn brat or I woman up. It takes four quick steps to catch up with him. He side-eyes me, gaze piercing into me like he knows all of my secrets and he knows what I’m thinking. It’s unsettling. Must be a cop thing. He holds the door open for me when we get to it.
“See, chivalry.” He gives me a small smile before quickly growing serious when he sees two officers walking toward us from the parking lot. “Car’s this way.” He grabs my shoulder and guides me out of the doorway.
I suck in a sharp breath at the contact, hating that it’s almost the exact spot my mother grabbed me yesterday. Hayden shoots me a concerned look and removes his hand, settling for walking next to me.
“Damn, an omega, huh? She’s a looker, Hayden. Think she’ll want a date?”
I furrow my brow. What the fuck?
I’m used to men being like this. They all get out of sorts when they catch a whiff of my pheromones. Since I’m stressed, they’re probably a little stronger than usual. My scent attracts males of all types, but I was born to mate with alphas. That doesn’t mean betas and deltas are respectful. If anything, they’re the worst ones. Always desperate to try and find an omega they can knock up. They may not have knots, but their sperm swim the same direction as alpha sperm.
