“ButDave,” she said, her voice hushed.
I nodded, biting my lip. “I don’t know what happened.”
My heart hurt as I thought of her and Dave’s budding romance and then his weird behavior leading up to his betrayal.
Poppy and Westin joined our group hug, and we were all blubbering messes when we pulled apart.
Emir, one of Poppy’s alphas, gave me a little wave from across the room, where he was clearing boxes off a faded pink velvet couch that looked like it’d seen better days.
“Come on, we can claim the couch,” Poppy said, pulling me over.
“Where are your other alphas?” I asked her.
“Whining that they couldn’t come,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Honestly, we’re supposed to be keeping this on the down low. It didn’t make sense for all five of them to come. Maximo has been working most closely with Amirah, so he has all the updates, and Emir is the most chill of all of them, so he got to come.”
Emir chuckled as he hoisted another box onto a teetering pile. “I thought you said it was because I was the prettiest to look at.”
“That, too,” Poppy responded with a grin.
Emirwasvery pretty—he had the massive size of a typical alpha, but he had long, sooty lashes and golden-brown skin. He laughed again as he sauntered towards the door to round up the rest of the group.
Clementine squeezed my hand and Poppy leaned into my other side. Even though everything was going to shit, I couldn’t help but feel a lightness at being with my friends again. The time we’d spent together in Luc’s gym felt sacred now, as if a part of us had known we would need to be prepared for this exact fight.
Ben whistled when he walked into the room. “Can’t believe you’ve been hiding this gorgeous space from us, Jewel.”
“Fuck off,” she grumbled.
My alphas stood behind the couch, and I tilted my head back to look at them.
Ben ran his fingers down my cheek. “You good?” he mouthed, and I nodded back.
Maximo started by updating us on the government’s position since Amirah went underground. It wasn’t good news. The opposition party had held out against Glen for years, but they’d been capitulating more in the past few months. Now, Alliance operatives in Sol had evidence that the Designation Government was working to influence Sol’s upcoming election.
I glanced back at Theo. His face was impassive as Maximo spoke as if none of this was new information. I faced forward again, pursing my lips. It was clear my alphas had been keeping a lot from me. Although I guess I couldn’t completely blame them… I’d been catatonic there for a while.
Cam’s hands rested on my shoulders and every once in a while, he would play with my hair in a move so natural I wasn’t sure he even knew he was doing it.
“Of course, their latest focus is omega subjugation with the True Nature Omega Pilot Program, which allows the government to force omegas to get a device like Josie’s,” Maximo said, eyes darting to me with a brief look of pity. “We’ve heard omegas are starting to get letters telling them they’ve been selected for the program.”
Dizziness and nausea made it hard for me to stay upright. I hadn’t realized there was a whole official program. The urge to claw at my arm was overwhelming. Ben reached down to grasp my hand as he leaned over, brushing a soft kiss on my cheek as if to tell me I was safe. I breathed in his scent, allowing it to cut through the multitude of scents swirling around the room.
“I got a letter,” Westin said, her voice so soft I could barely hear her.
“What?” Poppy said, her eyes wide.
I leaned forward to look at Westin, who was curled up in a blanket with a sad, defeated expression.
“It was addressed to my aunt’s alphas because they’re my guardians.” Her lip trembled, and tears gathered in my eyes. Westin always seemed so strong and stoic. Seeing her so vulnerable made me want to fight everyone who put that look on her face.
“My appointment is scheduled for two weeks from now,” she said, quickly wiping away a tear from her cheek.
“How can they do that?” Poppy asked, her eyes blazing.
“The law they passed said the pilot program was just for certain flagged omegas, right?” Clementine asked, looking around for confirmation.
Theo frowned. “The pilot program is for omegas who have been documented to have behavioral issues and those who are ineligible to bond with a pack.”
Westin looked down at her clenched hands. “Yeah.”
