She nodded again. They brought scent-matched Omegas back inside a different way so that we wouldn’t cross paths with other Omegas they were trying to trick. This whole operation couldn’t be legal.
I didn’t ask any more questions. I already knew too much. There was some truth to the old ‘ignorance is bliss’ saying.
One of the women finally tapped a badge against the security reader. The entrance whooshed open, cool air kissing against me. I felt sick now. The anxiety had built up like stomach acid, bubbling up and eating my insides. There was zero reason for them to have delayed opening the door. It was psychological torment.
Beta Love number two was waiting for us, his face pinching with distaste when he saw me and Josie.
"Ah, yes. They told me you were coming back in today," he muttered, snapping on latex gloves with more force than necessary. "And the cat too."
"Josie and I are a package deal now. It's in the paperwork." I knew I sounded snarky, but I couldn’t help it. This guy was acting like he was the only one annoyed at my being here.Did he sign away his entire future without realizing it? Nope, he was just the asshole who helped this company prey on Omegas in bad situations.
His jaw clenched. "Yes, I'm aware. Doctor Swann made quite clear that we're to accommodate your... attachment." The way he said it madeit sound like I had requested to bring along a flesh-eating bacterium rather than a cat.
“Great, so glad we’re on the same page,” I said bitterly. He’d rubbed me the wrong way the first time around. This time he had the bedside manner of a crotchety goblin.
“Sit down,” Beta Love grumbled.
The women didn’t even give me time to react. They marched me over, parted ways, and then one of them took me by the shoulders, turned me around, and pushed me down onto the high, wide chair. Beta Love was already prepped, sitting near with the rolling table beside him.
"Right arm," he ordered, gesturing for me to make it accessible. He flapped down the right table arm, before turning to snag supplies.
I shifted Josie, struggling a bit since I was sitting awkwardly on the robe and it had pulled taut. Even the right sleeve was uncomfortably tight. After a few seconds of awkward movement, one of the white-suited females strode closer, grabbed the back top of the robe, and then yanked upward quickly. I jumped, startled. It had the intended effect, loosening the robe around me, but it also sent a ripping sound rocketing through the room. I cringed, really hoping that when I stood up, that my entire backside wouldn’t be exposed. I’d double knotted the robe in front to prevent slippage. Last time, I’d been subjected to a physical after the bloodwork. I didn’t want to be naked and exposed again. But the knotted tie wouldn’t do much good if the robe was torn to shreds.
“Thank you,” Beta Love offered, without looking at the woman.
Beta Love rolled the short sleeve up to my shoulder, then wrapped a rubber band around my upper arm. He pulled it so tightly that I winced before glaring at him. The jerk seemed to enjoy my reaction though, so I swallowed down the hurt and decided not to show him a single ounce of emotion, no matter what he did next.
I wouldn’t give him the damn satisfaction.
The horrid lab tech swabbed a cold alcohol wipe over my inner forearm, then made quick work of snagging a butterfly needle with cannula from his organized supplies. He wasn’t gentle again—and I couldn’t help cringing ever-so-slightly despite my resolve—but at least he removed the tourniquetonce the blood flash turned productive. Filling each vial only took seconds. Watching the deep, crimson fluid flooding into each transparent tube felt like the draining away of my old life. I found myself pretending this was some sort of transition. Purging the old, heading towards something new. Even if what I was heading towards was… totally foreign, strange, and mysterious.
Josie was settled against my side. When I’d nearly had the robe ripped off my person, she’d been shaken from her post-decontamination stupor. I focused on her gentle purring and how absolutely beautiful she looked now that she was clean again.
“There.” Beta Love snapped the needle out, making me jump. Carelessly, he slapped a gauze pad over the prick and then wrapped stretchy bandage over that and around my arm. “Beta Tan, I should have the new results uploaded to her product profile within the next hour.” He was inverting and straightening tubes, exposing them to the anticoagulant at the bottom of each. “Doctor Swann finished reviewing the genetic panels from her previous blood samples as well, confirming adequate results.”
“Genetic panels?” I asked quickly. That wasn’t mentioned last time.
“It’s part of The Eros Institute promise,” Beta Love glanced at me only for a second, as if answering me was an inconvenience. “It gives the client peace of mind that our product has the potential to produce healthy pups.”
“Pups?” My voice cracked. The last thing on my mind right now was becoming a parent. I hadn’t even met the client, and I was already a certified, checked-over breeding machine.
“Surely you didn’t think scent-matching and gaining a mate was… it?” Now Beta Love did look at me, his expression completely disgusted at my stupidity.
“Right,” I mumbled. “Obviously.” It was obvious, but that didn’t mean I’d ever considered the possibility.
I stroked Josie, mostly to comfort myself, my brain stuck on that terrifying little word—pups.Here she is, folks. Straight from the street. Certified free of defects. Ready to knot and catch.
“Yes, obviously,” Beta Love pressed, his obvious annoyance with mereaching a fever pitch. “Why is it that Omegas like you can scent-match with the very best clients? It must be purely chemical, because it certainly isn’t intellectual.”
“Who the hell pissed in your cereal?” I snapped back. “You were kind of a jerk last time, but you’re taking it to a new level now.” Josie stirred as my voice got louder, uncurling from my side and moving to stand on my thighs. She did a full body shake, as if sloughing off any remaining trauma.
"I wonder why that is?" he replied, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Maybe because you’ve got a stick up your ass that keeps you from being a decent human being?" I suggested.
"Or perhaps it was because Dr. Swann felt the need to personally reprimand both my brother and me due to you and your damn cat!" He nearly shouted, standing up and pushing the tray of supplies and tubes towards the vented workstation. The supplies rattled and jumped, a cacophony of sharp metallic notes slicing through the air.
“It’s not like I was trying to get you guys in trouble,” I countered, voice pitching wildly. “I couldn’t let anyone take Josie. Not then, and not now.”
