But as soon as I saw Amos, I forgot about the bars, the cage, the inhumane situation, all of it. Happiness spread over me, making me forget it all. The only regret I had was that I couldn’t hug him.
“Amos,” I called.
My younger brother’s face lit up when he saw me. Shep didn’t call him mini Rourke for nothing. Every time I saw him, he seemed to resemble me a little bit more. Being an omega, his face had a softer quality about it, and he had big brown doe eyes and fluffy brown hair, but I could see it. I wondered if I would be as pretty as him if I’d been born an omega, too.
Amos gasped and ran up to the bars. He was way past the safety line on the floor. He didn’t care.
“Sir,” one of the beta guards began hesitantly. Though she technically had authority over him here, Amos was an omega. In practice, she couldn’t order him around. She was shit out of luck this time.
Amos turned to her and flashed a sympathetic smile. “Could you please give my brother and I a moment alone? Thank you.”
I tried very hard to stifle a smug grin. He was getting better at using his privilege to boss people around with passive-aggressive kindness. It worked. The beta guard nodded, uncomfortably, and left the room to stand on the other side of the window. It wasn’t complete privacy, but it would do.
Amos had tears in his eyes. “Oh, I missed you so much, K—”
I cut him off, my eyes darting to the window. Even with the glass between us, the beta could still hear. One of the most important rules here was that an alpha’s given name was a strict no-no. It was the first thing stripped away upon arrival to make way for the fancy new name our owners would bestow upon us.
“Not here, remember?” I muttered.
Amos nodded sadly. “Ah, right. I meant Rourke.” He said it strangely. Itwasstrange. It was his last name, too. He perked up and took a small tin out of his jacket. “Look, I brought cookies!”
I chuckled. “You’re really pushing your luck, y’know that? If you weren’t an omega, the guard would have your ass.”
Amos snickered the way one did when telling a dirty joke. “It’s because I’m an omega that hecan’thave my ass.”
He sneakily slipped the tin past the bars. I quickly pocketed it.
“Thanks, Amos,” I said with a smile. “You don’t need to take time out of your schedule to see me, you know.”
He puffed up angrily. “What? Yes, I do! You’re my brother.” A flicker of sadness shone in his eyes. “I would never leave you behind after what you did for me.”
“How’s school coming?” I asked, trying to veer away from that subject.
“It’s good. I’m learning a lot. The dorms are nice, too. Better than our old house.”
I nodded, pleased. That was exactly what I wanted to hear. If my contract got Amos off the streets and into a warm building where he received an education for a better future, I’d sell myself to the market again in a heartbeat.
“The math’s hard, though,” Amos went on, “but I’m getting better at it. I have some friends tutoring me.”
My heart swelled. He had friends, too. He wasn’t alone.
“I’m glad,” I said.
Amos’s gaze fell. “I really miss you. I wish you could come live in the dorm, too.”
I smiled. “I know.”
A commotion from the entrance hall drew our attention. My eyes widened when I saw a couple of knights pass of an alpha to the betas.
“Bjorn?” I said, shocked.
What the hell was he doing here? An omega had just recently purchased his contract. He should have never come back. There was a dull, numb expression on Bjorn’s face. He looked awful.
The beta guard came back inside. “If your business is finished, you should get a move on, sir,” he said politely to Amos. Even Amos knew he shouldn’t push his luck any further by hanging around.
“All right,” Amos said. He gave me one last sad smile. “Bye, Rourke.”
“Goodbye, Amos.”
