As the guard, named B. Sergei, neared, he inhaled deeply, his pupils dilated. “Damn, you smell so good,” he practically moaned, his hand on my elbow tightened, and he led me out of the little room.
His sniffs weren’t lost on me, and he kept peeking at me from the corner of his eyes, like he wanted to say something. He guided me past a few more cells, my chained ankles making a racket.
“How’d you do it?” His eyebrow winged up. “No,why’dyou do it?” There was only curiosity in his tone.
Slowly, I turned away, looking forward. Past the women with their arms hanging out between the cells as they watched me, ignoring the occasional jeering and whistle.
Sergei snickered, and his palm slid down to squeeze my waist. “We never have Omegas around here, so you’ll have your pick of guards,” he murmured close to my ear. “Might be good to get some perks from it.”
My shoulders stiffened on instinct, and I forced them to relax. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he meant.
I wasn’t sure what being in here entailed, but having access to a guard might be a good idea.
“I doubt I’ll be here long enough?—”
He scoffed. “As soon as the ORD finds out an Omega is in here, they’ll be all over you. It’ll stop the process, and you’ll be stuck for a while.” Doubtful, but he didn’t know I’d made an enemy of a family with a lot of fingers in pots. “Unless you’re granted bail, but I’m sure the price won’t be pretty.” He winced, keeping up the conversation with himself.
No way would I get out on bail after I’d hidden, but I preferred that because I had nowhere to go.
He shrugged. “Maybe you’ll be sentenced to a breeder program.”
It hit me like a freight train. I hadn’t thought of that possibility.
Fear crowded my throat. Everything involved in breeder programs was smoke and shadows. There was no concrete evidence of how they worked, but the rumors were enough to make me want nothing to do with it.
Locked in a cell, only to be brought out to fuck during a heat. After giving birth, it was rinse and repeat. You became a literal machine for birthing Alpha and Omega babies.
I couldn’t believe there were Omegas who volunteered for the program. I couldn’t be paid enough.
My ‘crime’ was severe, so I doubted I’d be sentenced to a breeder program. Fuck, no. Not afterwhoI was convicted of murdering.
Right?
Bourne Pack wouldn’t want me to talk, and that possibility existed if I were still alive. My stomach sank.
Sergei took a sharp left to stop in front of one of the cells bracketed by others. He pulled out a bunch of clinking keys and worked on opening the third. I kept my attention forward, trying not to look at anyone.
A whistle almost made me turn, but I held steady.
“What’s that smell?—
“Omega—
“What did you do, Omega?—
I ignored the catcalls from the other inmates. Sergei jerked his head to the side, urging me in. He plucked another key and unlocked the cuffs at my ankles, and then the ones on my wrists.
“Welcome home,” he jeered, sliding the bars closed and then slapping his palm against the bars.
Across from my cell, a woman poked her arms out of the cell bars.
“Give me a little visit, Officer Sergei,” she called out, a clear leer in her voice. Sergei laughed and strode over to that side, making it impossible to overhear. I took stock of my living space.
A single metal bunk bed sat against the right wall. To the left, about an arm’s distance away, was the metal toilet. Cold seeped from the walls, and an ammonia smell crowded my nose.
God, I’m going to vomit.
For the first time since I’d left, I doubted myself. Should I have just run toward the border and hoped for the best? Should I have stayed and sucked up this agony inside me?
