My beta.I shove the thoughts aside, reminding myself Olly isn’t mine. He isn’t anyone else’s either, I don’t think. He doesn’t smell like a bonded beta, not that I have a lot of experience with those. But I know a bonded beta usually bears the mark of an alpha like an omega does, and from what I could see of Olly’s neck, it looked pretty clear to me. Though I supposed I could have missed something when I…
I kissed him.
Without his consent, but…
He kissed me back. That has to mean something, right?
I shove all thoughts of the beta doctor aside as Diego brings my hand to his lips and gently kisses the back of my hand before taking his leave.
I watch with bated breath as he stops, he and Gage sharing some sort of whispered conversation that makes me feel anxious and suspicious.
It’s not that I expect them to tell me everything, but…
I feel a strange sort of anger that they are discussing something so hushed.
Probably what to do withme.
I’m no fool. I know they likely work for Orion. For Sneed.
Which is all the more reason I know I should keep my distance. I should not let any of them in.
They are the enemy. Their arrival after my breakout is telling enough. I don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know the two are connected.
A deep growl escapes me at the thought of whatever they are planning.
Is that why Diego fucked me? To get his fill before they return me to those terrible alphas? Or perhaps, kill me?
My omega whines, telling me Gage would never let such a thing happen, and Diego wouldn’t hurt me. She’s still reeling off the chemicals from our rut, most likely, and isn’t thinking straight.
No, I can’t trust that they won’t do exactly that—send me back to Orion with my proverbial omega tail between my legs, used up all the same.
The thought makes me feel queasy.
Gage approaches my cage. Because that’s what it is—a cage. I’ve only traded one prison for another.
Though as I look down at my sweatpants and the socks Diego had given me, the word feels wrong.
But I’m kept behind bars, still. No matter how many pairs of socks and sweatpants they bring me, nothing will change that I’m locked up in here, in this cage, with nothing but a bed, a table, and a cold floor.
Gage stands in front of the door, making no move to open it. His gaze settles on me for a moment, and neither of us speaks. My omega is practically chomping at the bit when I get a whiff of burnt wood and cherries. He smells like Emmett. I wrinkle my nose because the scent makes my mouth water. The hint of peppers lingers there, too, which makes me blush. Diego’s words from earlier reverberate in my brain.
They are omegaless.Because they don’t have an omega to breed, they lay with another, which should disgust me. The thought of an alpha knottinganother alpha is…
Well, I’ve never heard of such a thing, but the thought of Gage knotting Emmett or even Diego makes a whimper escape my throat.
Along with a strange part of me that feels some sense of possessiveness over the idea.
Those knots belong to me.
I blink, forcing my gaze away from Gage if only because I don’t know how to process that thought.
“Auryn,” Gage says, pulling my attention once more.
“Gage.” I say his name carefully. “What do you want?”
He smirks at me as he slowly punches in the code into the cell, and the door opens.
Immediately I tense, worried he’s going to wedge his way in here and erase Diego’s scent, his markings from our tryst.
