This whole thing is… odd. It’s a first. The Omega Garden has never done something like this, and I credited it to the fact that Alabaster Security had taken over the academies in the surrounding area, loosening the rules and changing things.
Redd and Lev would never complain. I wouldn’t, either. This was an opportunity for people like us, alphas and their packs who may not have been born to old bloodlines, to find an omega.
There are lots of ways to find omegas, not all of which were good and legal—yet that doesn’t stop anyone from continuing. Old-fashioned matches between families, auctions, heat houses, temporary packs…
I’m not going to lie, I thought about signing us up to a heat house a few times, when I felt like I was about to rut from lack of physical intimacy with an omega. As the pack leader, I’m the oldest at twenty-five.
That’s a long time for an alpha to go.
Redd is twenty-one, while Lev is the youngest of us at twenty. They don’t mind expelling, uh, let’s call it energy, with each other when they’re feeling the need to release some stress, but I don’t. I have no interest in something like that, but I don’t begrudge them for doing what they need to do.
Lev is practically bouncing up and down as we step forward—one step closer to getting inside—and his excitement is palpable. Redd, standing beside him, wears a scowl on his face, but that scowl is mainly due to the sheer number of alphas around us.
So many different alpha musks, all of which are stronger thanks to the anticipation.
Not just that, honestly. Most alphas around carry an air of desperation, too. Alphas are meant for omegas and vice versa; if an alpha spends his whole life without an omega, he’s much more likely to go feral and completely lose himself in a rut and a rage—and when that happens, you get locked up. You’re no longer safe for society. A rutting alpha is dangerous to everyone.
I’m not the oldest alpha here. It takes a kind of wicked restraint and self-control to never lose yourself to those instincts. I imagine said instincts are stronger in certain alphas than they are in others; it’s why über alphas exist. Being an über means you are a step above the rest. Bigger, stronger, more intimidating.
“Calm down,” I whisper to Lev, who finally stops bouncing with said excitement. “No omega’s gonna want to get close to you with how eager you are. Have to play it cool.” I don’t know how cool any of us will be once we’re in there and the omegas are in the room. Playing it cool might be an impossibility.
“I’ll leave playing it cool to you and Redd,” Lev says with a shrug. “I’m excited, and I don’t care who knows it. I never thought we’d step foot in the Omega Garden.”
“Tonight might be a disaster,” I say. “It might be the one and only time this place is opened to packs like ours.”
Alphas with no impressive last name. Alphas who don’t already have a huge house ready for their chosen omega to move into. A pack who, in reality, was only starting out in life. Not everyone is born to riches. Something like that is a daydream, pure fiction. The truth of the matter is, there are lots of alphas like us in the city, alphas renting apartments while trying to find whatever career would prove fruitful over a lifetime.
Being on your own, with no parental figure to guide you, isn’t easy. When you graduate from the academy, you’re on your own. I hear it’s a little different now, thanks to Alabaster Security and the changes they’ve made, but they never came knocking on my door to ask if we needed help, so—
Well, maybe that isn’t totally true. They were the ones who sent the invitation to this mixer.
“Stop being a downer,” Lev says with a huff. “Go into it with an optimistic mindset.”
Redd frowns at the alphas around us as we take a collective step forward, one step closer to getting in. He’s excited, too, but seeing all these alphas around us is weighing on him. “I wonder how many omegas there will be. No way there’s enough for every pack here.”
I nod along with his words. “Odds are, a lot of alphas will go home sad tonight.”
Of course, us alphas are supposed to mingle with the omegas, dance, talk to them, get to know them, and if we’re interested, we’re to submit a card that shows our interest. From what I understand, it’s similar to making an offer on the omega, only the New Omega Academy would oversee the courtships andmake sure everything progresses naturally, with everyone safe each step of the way.
“Not us, though,” Lev says with a grin. “I have a feeling, and by that I mean agoodfeeling.”
I want to believe in his optimism. I want to feel hopeful, but the realist in me is one depressed bastard who doesn’t really know what hope feels like anymore. Though it takes a lot out of me, I don’t say anything back to him. He’s happy, he’s excited, and he has every right to be.
I don’t know how long it takes us to make it to the front of the line, but when we do, our identification is checked against our invitation, and once everything clears, we’re escorted inside by a beta wearing all black.
Redd, Lev, and I are wearing suits. Rented suits, but they look nice enough, I think. Fancy. The kind of clothes an omega would expect to find alphas in while in a place like this.
We walk along a red carpet, following the beta, who takes us to a grand ballroom. He holds open the doors for us and nods his head, saying, “Enjoy the night, alphas.” We step inside, and the beta leaves to return to the line and his escorting duties.
A small stage is set up in the center of the ridiculously large room. A band is set up, but the music playing on the speakers is pre-recorded; I have to assume they’ll play live once everyone’s in. Crystal chandeliers hang from the tall ceilings, sparkling in the dim lighting. Tables are situated around the entirety of the room, with velvet red and pink tablecloths. The alphas already brought here are scattered amongst those tables, waiting.
We wander towards an empty table and join the rest of them in waiting for the others to get in. And then… then we wait for the omegas, the stars of the night, the ones we’re here to meet.
Safe to say, time crawls on, each minute dragging like an hour. Lev’s knee bounces the entire time, while Redd tries to get him to play tic-tac-toe on the velvet tablecloth to pass the time.Of course, Lev doesn’t really put much thought into it, so Redd beats him every time.
Slowly but surely, the tables fill up one by one, group by group, and only when all of the tables are full does an older woman stroll in. Her gray hair is pulled tight along her scalp in a high, smooth ponytail. She wears a dark gray pantsuit, highlighting her thin but imposing frame. She heads right to the small stage and takes the microphone to introduce herself.
“Good evening, alphas,” she says, “and betas. I know there are a few of you in here with your packs. I am Delilah, and I run the Omega Garden. Have been running the show for just over twenty-five years now. Together, with Alabaster Security, I’m also the new headmistress at New Omega Academy. Some of you recent alpha grads might be aware of the changes we’re implementing across the board. This mixer is the first of what I hope will be a tradition here at the Omega Garden.”
