“You can go right in,” Jessika says with a nod, her hand moving through the air to nudge me forward.
“Oh. Of course, sorry,” I murmur, opening the door. Something about it makes the hair on my arms stand, and it’s not because of the air conditioning blowing on my tanned skin.
Taking a deep breath, I remind myself that I have a gun in my handbag, a knife in the back pocket of my pants, and that my belt always has a coil of wire to work in a pinch as a garrote.
Abbott and our pack has its admirers as well as its enemies, and he reminds me regularly of potential danger. However, we haven’t pissed anyone off in a while. Our jobs have been out of town, our current businesses are doing well, and we’ve never owed anyone money.
Still, something feels off.
Walking inside anyway, I know that Abbott is probably already tracking me since it’s been a couple of hours since I left the house. He’s simply not patient enough to wait much longer than this for me to figure out my shit.
I love him so much, but my alpha is a fucking psychopath.
“Go ahead and find pillows and blankets to lay in,” a matronly woman says as I walk into the room. “We’ll bring the omegas inside in just a moment.”
There are five other alphas here, and two smaller rooms with darkened windows along the far wall. This is reminiscent of some of the classroom set ups that are becoming more popular for breakout sessions I recently read about in an article. However, this isn’t a school, so what are those rooms for?
“Thank you,” I say. “Out of curiosity, what’s with those rooms?”
“They’re private spaces for alphas who want a more intimate experience,” she exclaims. “It’s why we offer the group hug service as our baseline.”
I’m very confused.Nodding, because what the fuck else am I supposed to do, I find myself a spot near an emergency exit. If things get too hot, I’ll kill everyone in the room and leave.
It’s been too quiet lately. Maybe I need some excitement in my life.
The blankets are clean and soft, but I still push them to the side so I’m sitting on the carpet. I’m getting very sketched out, and feel as if I may need a black light for the blankets.
Taking a deep breath, I pay attention to where everyone is in the room, and pull my long blonde hair up into a messy bun to keep it out of my face. I’m on edge, and I doubt that I’ll be able to enjoy this now that I’m ninety-eight percent sure the omegas aren’t here of their own will.
The two percent doubt I’m holding onto goes up in flames as I watch a side door open. The door appears to be part of the far wall, which feels odd. There’s no handle on this side to open it.
Fuck, is this some kind of weird cuddle trafficking circle I’m currently complicit in?
I feel really nauseous and my stomach flip flops uncomfortably. Goddamnit. This is what I get for keeping things from my pack, isn’t it?
Sliding my hand into my open bag, I turn my phone back on. My heart rate threatens to increase, but I force myself to continue to breathe normally. The alphas around me could be very attuned to changes in scent and attitude, and I can’t risk that.
I have a lawyer friend who can tell immediately when things are off, while I can figure out when people are lying to me fairly easily. I’m not sure why it took me this long to figure out something was wrong, but that might have more to do with my intense need to get my fix.
It’s my fault I didn’t notice sooner, and now I have to change that.
My fingers brush against the cool metal of my gun, which helps to soothe me better than anything else. I can pull back control whenever I want, I just have to wait for my chance.
Large men walk into the room with curled up bodies against their chests, and my brow raises as they lay them on the ground.There aren’t any blankets where they’re placed, and the omegas look sluggish as they sit up.
“Come here, gorgeous,” an alpha beside me coos to the omega nearest to him. She has long, tangled black hair and she blinks sleepily at him before she begins to crawl to him.
The other alphas in the room do the same, until there are two white-blonde omegas left in the middle of the room. The male curls protectively around the female, and it makes me wonder if they’re related to each other in some ways.
“I won’t hurt you,” I murmur, pulling my purse behind me so it won’t be in the way.
The male appears wary, but the glazed look in his eyes clues me in right away that something’s not right. My eyes move to the other omegas in the room, and I realize that they’re all fucking drugged.
Fuck me, I guess people are going to die today.
“Is there a problem?” the woman from earlier asks, picking up on my murderous vibes. The males that I now realize are guards are gone, and I need them to stay that way.
“No problem,” I say sunnily, shrugging. “There’s always a warming up period with this.”
