Thatgot her attention.
“What do you know about it?”
“More than we can share right now. But it seems like we’re after the same people.”
She pressed her lips together as she worked that bit of information into what she already knew. “So you were there doing recon?” She groaned a moment later. “That dark-haired omega, she was your plant, wasn’t she?”
Alison should have felt bad for thinking unkindly, but she’d seen that omega a mile off. The woman had been entirely uncomfortable and stuck out. She’d assumed the woman had been playing some ‘sexy strangers’ game, or perhaps had gone there on a first date. Realizing she was bait for the scouts made it even sadder, though.
“She shouldn’t be anywhere near undercover work. I spotted her the second she walked in.”
“Do you think you could do better?”
“Ididdo better, and if you three hadn’t tried to play hero, I’d be exactly where I wanted to be.”
“At the hands of scouts?” Kyle asked, his tone dry.
“On my way to getting the information for the auction. Only scouts and buyers are given it. So if I’m with a scout, I get into the auction.”
The simultaneous looks of something between annoyance and horror were nearly comical. It seemed none of the alphas were thrilled with her perfectly laid-out strategy.
Well, it would have been perfect if they hadn’t gotten involved.
“Getting yourself in the hands of people who sell omegas like cattle maybe wasn’t your best plan,” Trent said. “Or hell, maybe it was, and you just have really shitty decision making. Do you have any idea what those people do to the woman they catch?”
Alison’s mind drifted back to a long time before, to when she’d been more personally acquainted with exactly what slavery looked like.No. I won’t let that grab me.She refused to sink back there, to remember it all. Instead, she squared her shoulders and met Trent’sgaze. “Yes, I knowexactlywhat happens to women in that position.”
Trent pulled back, as though the knowledge sat in her expression and he didn’t much care for it.
Before it could morph into pity, before he could ask—because she damn well wouldn’t tell them anything—she continued, “However, unlike you, I’ve actually done my research. Every scout team has an area and a specialty. That bar is handled by a few people who always bring wild omegas. Their buyers want omegas who can be broken. That means they don’t hurt, rape or otherwise mistreat theirproducts, or else it dims some of that fight.”
And there it is. Surprise.
I hate being underestimated.
It had always been true, that because of her pretty face and youthful looks, people thought her dumb. They never realized how clever she was until she outwitted them.
“How exactly did you get all that information?”
“The FBI isn’t the only one with sources, and mine are just a lot better.”
Daniel shook his head. “It was still a dangerous game to play.”
“Well, we’re running out of time. The auction is in eight weeks, and if I’m not there—” She cut herself off before she said the rest.
The hell?She normally excelled at being tight-lipped, yet, somehow, she was ready to spill her secrets to these three. What caused that? She’d been attracted to plenty of people before, so she couldn’t believe it was just that she’d gotten off to fantasies about them. Could it be that she didn’t deal with alphas like this—not even one, letalone three—and that created the pull? Whatever it was, she didn’t care for it.
“What happens if you’re not there?” Kyle pushed.
“Nothing that’s anyconcern of yours. Are we done?”
“Not yet. We have a proposition for you.”
Alison let out a short, harsh laugh. “Yeah, buddy, you’re barking up the wrong tree. I am not an omega you want to proposition.”
Daniel stepped in. “Not like that. The other scouts saw us grab you. Our plant was obviously useless. Now that we’ve been noticed, we can’t keep hoping to find scouts to track. It leaves us with one more option.”
Alison’s stomach sank as she realized exactly where thisoptionwas going. It felt like a car crash, when everything slowed down, when she could see the other car heading for her but couldn’t do a thing to stop it.
