I think of my mother, and I shake my head. “There are bad things about being special, too.”
“Those things wouldn’t matter if I had a big, strong Alpha mate.”
Clearly, she’s daydreaming.
I shake my head.
She doesn’t even notice.
“I keep thinking maybe one of the new Alphas or packs will just see me and decide I’m the one for them,” she admits. “I’m sick of college Betas and all their fuckboy games. I gave up on dating in the real world last year. If Lana ever decides Betawomen can come to these socials as guests, you bet your ass I’ll be swapping shifts and throwing a new party dress on my credit card.”
“Even if Alphas are mostly creeps?” I ask.
She smiles. “That’s true, but if you get one who isn’t, it’s like hitting the boyfriend lottery.”
She goes on about dating and men while I start to wash the plates and trays.
I don’t have much to contribute, so I let her ramble on.
“You’ve been kind of quiet,” she admits once we’re done and I’m draining the water. “I guess you didn’t have much of a social life before … Well, before all the bad stuff happened to you. I can help if you need to know about dating apps or whatever. I’m pretty much an expert at this point.”
“That’s okay,” I tell her, wondering how much to reveal about my past. “I … I never had a normal life. I was … My mom was the one who was sold to that Alpha. I was born there in that house, and the housekeeper looked after me. I worked in a kitchen my whole life, basically, so I never had much of a social life, and I don’t know about dating. It’s not something I’m thinking about right now, if I’m being honest.”
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry. That sounds awful,” she murmurs. “I totally understand. All the more Alphas for me, I guess.”
I can’t help but laugh. This girl really has a one-tracked mind.
She joins in, and we crack up for a few seconds, drawing a suspicious glance from the chef.
When the dishes are done with, I pull the plug and let the water drain.
Katie dries off the last dish and puts it away in the cupboard.
I wash my hands and dry them, and then I walk with Katie to the other side of the kitchen, where the chef looks up from a list he’s making.
“You are finished with the dishes?”
“All done!” Katie sings. “See you tomorrow.”
He nods. “Goodnight, girls.”
We leave the kitchen, and once we get to the second-floor landing, I find out Katie stays on the floor above mine.
“Room number 305,” she says. “If you ever need to call me, you can ask to be put through to my room. The phone system used to let us call each other without going through reception, but they changed that because of the whole thing with Warren Corvina.”
“Warren Who?”
“Right. You’ve been off-grid for a long time so you’ve never heard of him. Well, he’s the guy who brainwashed a bunch of Omegas. Since there are a lot of Omegas in the academy and he had access to this place for a long time, there have been rumours that some of the Omegas here could have instructions that they’ll carry out if someone triggers them. It sounds a bit over the top to me, but I guess it’s possible. Either way we got new phone system protocols not too long after Lana took over.”
“That’s kind of scary. Is he in prison, or …”
“Oh, yeah. He’s locked up, but there’s a good chance he trained other psychologists with his methods, so there’s still a chance someone could make a call and something bad could happen. I guess he could make a call from prison, even. Oh man. I wish I wouldn’t think of these things. I’m way too good at creeping myself out.” She shudders.
“I’m sure it’s not likely. Lana’s probably just being careful.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Lana. She thinks of everything! Anyway, I’m up on the third floor, so sweet dreams and all that. Will you be working tomorrow?”
“Uh, I’m supposed to start properly on Monday. I think I was just pulled on tonight because someone was sick, so I don’t think so.”
