Halley
“Stay. Mate your Omega. Fight for what’s right. Become the best versions of yourself.”
The General’s order bounces around in my skull, echoing and twisting the words.
I don't want it. At least, not likethis.
There is no bone in my body that wants to turn into some war machine, issuing Commands and bending others to my will.
Frack.
Not after Rheamont. Not after I almost lost myself to the Command’s corruption.
Anddouble frack.
I might be a naive romantic, but I don’t want to be mated simply because it’s for the greater good.
My dreams were never big. Still aren’t. I want to be more than a broken Omega, kept like a caged bird. I want my family of Omegas close and safe. I want a taste of adventure, a little nibble of what life has to offer.
Instead, I’ve been forced to take a huge bite and told to chew.
The General is telling me I'm the key to some new era. The only thing stopping the annihilation of our species.
A tear slips down my nose and falls to the stone floor. Another splatters beside it.
The impulse to run is strong.
Like I did when I stole my father’s truck and left my family farm all those years ago. And again when my feelings became too real, and I left the Pack.
Except it’s not an option this time.
I have nowhere else to go.
And the rut-damn conniving bastard still holds the information I desperately require. He knows where the Omegas are.
"Give us time to talk this over," Knox says to the General, but it sounds like he’s talking underwater.
General Stone nods. “Fine. I’ve set aside a dorm for your squad. I expect an answer ASAP.”
My thoughts are muddled, a swirling fog choking my emotions, leaving me adrift and disoriented.
When the others stand, I copy them, moving on autopilot.
I’m exhausted and aching from the hellish day I’ve had. How is it dawn already? Only a few hours ago I was on the front lines of the war, surrounded by death and violence. Certain I would die or be consumed by my sadistic Command.
The need for sleep is weighing me down. However, as my body turns to follow them out the door, I halt.
I can’t leave yet. I have unfinished business with the Alpha behind the desk, pulling the strings.
I roll my shoulders, summoning whatever meager confidence I can scrape up.
When Knox, Viper, Shade, and Blaze have walked through the door, I give it a shove. It slams after the squad with a resounding boom.
It’s just me and General Stone.
"I made good on our agreement, it's time to fulfill your end of the bargain." I trust my voice isn’t shaking as bad as my legs as I stride back towards the desk.
I'm not stupid. His consistent pattern of lying and manipulation will probably continue, but hope is all I have left, and I still hold a sliver of it close to my heart.
