We made our way to the communal shower area, where a bunch of guys were already in the middle of showering. I knew some of them weren’t a fan of the lack of privacy, but I personally didn’t mind it. There was something comforting to me about all of us being naked, bare and open with nothing to hide, like we were all on an even playing field.
The only time itdidbother me was when there was a fully clothed beta guard standing by the door, arms crossed and watching us suspiciously, like there was now.
“Tch. Doesn’t he have some beta tail to chase?” Shep muttered to me.
I grimaced. “Must be because Bjorn got out. They’ll increase security for a while to make sure none of us get any funny ideas.”
“Got out.” Shep repeated my words with a half-laugh. “He didn’tget out,Rourke, he got bought. He’s probably got a fancy new collar and a fancy new name.”
“I know. You know what I meant.”
We shut up as we passed the guard, not wanting him to overhear our conversation and take it the wrong way, then tossed our clothes aside and showered. The hot spray of the water was pleasant on my body. It momentarily made me forget the world. A kind of primal contentedness washed over me. In this moment, the only thing was me and the water.
When he was finished lathering himself, Shep handed me a leather pouch in the shape of a bottle. It was filled with viscous liquid that had become familiar to me. Today it was light purple. I squeezed some out and rubbed it over my body, making sure to get my most alpha-scented spots—armpits, dick, and ass.
The first time I’d seen the strange liquid, I didn’t have any clue what it was. Shep, who at that point had been here a little longer than I had, told me the truth. It was too expensive to keep the alpha market stocked with bars of soap, so they chose the next best thing—dog shampoo.
Apparently, the royals—and by extension, the upper ring who loved to emulate them—were dog lovers. Go fucking figure.
But they weren’t the roaming mongrels and all-purpose farm mutts that I knew. The rich upper-ringers only owned dogs whose pedigrees went further back than I knew my own family tree. Keeping their pampered pooches groomed was such a big industry up there that they had a huge supply of dog shampoo. Since they could only use so much of it, they sold the rest of it to the alpha market. Sometimes it was the same shit they used on the dogs and sometimes it was the lesser-quality stuff. I remembered poor Bjorn broke out in hives once and couldn’t shower for a week until they got a different product in.
Maybe it was a good thing some rich omega bought his contract. He’d definitely still get washed with dog shampoo but at least it would be shit he wasn’t allergic to.
Shep finished up before me and took one last indulgent stretch in the hot water before saying, “Welp, I’m all clean.” He grabbed an old towel from the nearby basket, rubbed himself off, then made for the door. “You better hurry up too so you can see mini Rourke. I can’t wait to see his—whoa!”
Shep slipped on a slick patch of water and shampoo. He lurched forward, unable to stop himself from slamming into the guy next to us, a big asshole named Packett. He shoved Shep off, throwing him to the floor.
“Watch where you’re fucking going,” Packett growled.
Shep was a nice guy but he didn’t take any shit. He got up, his lip curled in a snarl. “Oh, fuck off. It was an accident.”
Packett got in his face. “You wanna tell me to fuck off again?”
The atmosphere in the shower room instantly went from one to a hundred. The stress of our living situation combined with our alpha machismo often culminated in a need for release—and often that release came in the form of us turning on each other.
I shot into action, putting my hand firmly on Shep’s chest to hold him back. “Relax. It’s not worth it.”
I noticed the beta guard’s eyes on us now. Red flag number one. He had uncrossed his arms. Red flag number two. I needed to defuse the bomb before it went off.
Shep huffed, still glaring at Packett. “I know. This asshole isn’t worth my time.”
It was his final fuck-you, and he intended to leave after, but he didn’t make it out. Packett grabbed him by the arm and yanked him closer.
“Fuck did you say to me?” Packett demanded.
I saw the line of tension in his muscles, from his shoulder all the way down to his fist. I saw the fury in his eyes. My brain misfired. For a moment Packett was the bandit and Shep was Amos. I threw Shep back, out of the way. I took the hit. Packett’s fist collided with my cheek. I stood firm and took it.
“Rourke!” Shep cried. His face twisted into a pissed-off look as he called to the beta. “Can you do something about this guy?”
In the back of my mind I realized bitterly the beta wasn’t watching to see if a fight would break out. He waswaitingfor it. He wanted the brief moment of entertainment before he intervened. He was an even bigger asshole than Packett. Hell, all of them were. Betas, omegas. I couldn’t stand any of them except my little brother. Amos was the only good omega in the entire world.
The beta guard sauntered forward. He got Packett under control with a single glance and a clear of his throat. Packett was stupid but he wasn’t a fool. Even he wouldn’t resist a beta. The tension in the air dissolved just like that. Everything went back to normal.
Except none of this was fucking normal at all.
* * *
Amos was waitingin the visitor area. That was a generous way of putting it. It was basically a big cage to contain me and Amos was outside looking in. Indestructible bars separated us,for the safety of our omega guests, as they so succinctly put it. Since only betas were employed at the alpha market, being visited or screened for purchase was our only opportunity to interact with omegas. No one was going to take the chance of an alpha touching an omega. Period.
