Page 2 of Omega Scarred

"What do you have against drinking?" Rafe asks, and I narrow my eyes at him.

"I don't like being drunk," I say.

"That's a shame," Rafe says, winking.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I snap, immediately wishing I hadn't. I don't know how Olivia does it, dancing so close to the edge of danger--being sassy to an alpha.

"Not all alphas are bad," Rafe says, his voice low and smooth. "Maybe you just haven't met the right one."

I shove my stool away from him, suddenly desperate to get away. "I'm not interested," I say, hunching my shoulders.

"Neither am I," Rafe says, his voice teasing. Something in his tone says that I shouldn't believe him--and I resist the part of me that's happy about that. "I'm here to talk to you about what you know."

I stiffen. I'm not sure if I want to talk to Rafe about this--if I want to be involved in the Enclave at all. "I've already told you everything I know."

"This is a little more specific," he says. "Your father--he's the Minister of Information for the ACB, right?"

I bite my lip, dreading what he's going to ask me. Last time the Enclave looped in one of my friends on their plans like this, her dad ended up dead.

And my dad...? Yes, he's a bad guy.

But I don't think I could be responsible for his death.

"Yeah," I say. "He's their top propagandist."

Rafe grins. "So he knows all their plans. All their secrets. Right?"

"Yeah," I say slowly. "He knows just about everything."

Rafe pats my shoulder. "You could help us get in to ask him some questions, couldn't you?"

I roll my eyes and take a sip of my sparkling water. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Rafe turns on a dime, his golden-brown eyes flashing. That's how he is; black and white, life or death, sweet then sour.

"He's a snake, kitten," Rafe says. "A snake who deserves to die."

"He's my dad," I say quietly.

I have to admit a part of me wants to see him punished, to see him rot in an unmarked grave for the shit he's put me through. I know that the things he's done are terrible--he's killed for the ACB, he's murdered people, he's lied to save his own ass...and he's dedicated his life to persecuting people like me.

But I can't do that.

I'm not that girl.

"Look, kitten," Rafe says. "The ACB is ramping up their propaganda efforts. They're scaring more and more people, which means normal, everyday folks are more willing to turn our operatives in. If we had access to the propaganda database, some way of seeing exactly what they're saying about us and how to rebuke them..."

"You sound like you have a good idea for this," I say, narrowing my eyes at him and wondering if he's the one who's going to die to protect innocent people from the ACB.

"I do," he says, and that grin slips back on his face--the same one that has women fucking him in the mess hall of the Raft, the same one that's making my panties wet. I've seen him with other omegas when things get raunchy on the Raft, and I have to admit...

...I like what I've seen.

"But it's not going to happen if I don't get in there," Rafe says. "If I don't have the Minister of Information's daughter on my side."

"I'm not on your side," I say. "I don't want to be on anyone's side except the side of staying alive. I want to disappear. I want to go somewhere nobody will ever find me."

Rafe cocks an eyebrow.

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