Lilah and I looked at each other and burst out laughing.
Donovan covered his face. “I was nineteen, okay?”
Jackson walked over to Donovan, who shoved him away. “Don’t be like that, baby,” Jackson said quietly. “It was fucking adorable.”
“Alright,” Amirah said, her tone all business. “Let’s get back to it, shall we?” But I thought I saw the briefest flash of a smile on her face.
“We have three alphas assigned to the western facility, but the documents suggest it might be the largest facility, so we’re looking for more to round out the team.”
The conversation turned to cyber security and how to hack into each facility’s systems. Amirah got Charlie on the phone to talk through the details. Most of what they were saying was over my head, so I grabbed a large stack of omega charts, looking for two specific names as I flipped through them.
I wasn’t sure what to feel about Dave. He could have warned me about what Glen had planned with the device, could have given my alphas and me time to escape. I wouldn’t have this device in me, might never have been captured by Glen and separated from my alphas. I flipped through the files with a bit more aggression as I grew angry all over again. Letting Genevieve and me escape didn’t make up for what he did, but his sisters didn’t deserve to suffer.
I kept going until I found a Margaret Davis. I inhaled sharply as I saw that she was only sixteen years old. The next chart was for Jennifer Davis, age twenty. Their files showed they were both being held at the Eastern Facility. At seeing how young they were, a pang went through my heart. I wasn’t ready to let go of the anger I felt at Dave’s betrayal, even though I understood it more now. He’d fallen prey to the Designation Government’s messaging—that was on him. But what lengths wouldn’t I go to in order to save the people I loved?
I turned towards Lilah as something dawned on me. “Are there only alphas on these teams?” I asked quietly.
“Sounds like it,” she said, looking disgruntled. “Which is a stupid plan, if you ask me. I already told Grayson I wanted to be on the team.” Grayson looked deeply displeased, as did Matteo and Raph, who were leaning against the wall behind us.
Sending a group of alphas into the facility to evacuate the omegas seemed like a recipe for disaster. I remembered how panicked I had been when Jackson had entered my bedroom a few days ago, and he was a beta.
“What were you saying?” Sam asked, leaning forward. I looked up, realizing the room had gone silent, and everyone was looking at Lilah and me.
“Oh…” My cheeks burned and I felt like I had just gotten in trouble in class.
Lilah jumped in, saving me. “Josie and I were wondering why there are only alphas on these teams.”
“They’re the most equipped to handle a mission like this,” Elias said.
Noah coughed to cover his laugh and Matteo groaned, already knowing how his omega would feel about that response.
“Of course,” Lilah said, eyes flashing. “Us poor, weak omegas and betas need big, strong alphas to save us.”
Elias frowned, but I jumped in before he could say anything.
“The omegas at the facilities aren’t going to trust alphas, especially when they come in, guns blazing. There should be omegas on the teams to help gain their trust.”
“I wouldn’t trust a group of alphas I didn’t know, especially if I’d been held in a facility like that,” Lilah said.
Matteo moved to stand behind his omega, leaning over the back of the chair to put his arms around her, as if shielding her from the threat of the facilities.
“You don’t think they’ll believe the alphas are there to save them?” Terrance asked, brow furrowed.
“You can’t think straight when you’ve experienced trauma like that,” I said, glancing at Jackson apologetically. He just winked at me. “The evacuation has to happen quickly, right? And each facility has dozens of omegas. Even a delay of a few minutes could be detrimental. Glen likes to play games with his prey, so who knows what they’ve already gone through.” My voice had dropped to a whisper, and Lilah snuggled close to my side.
“Fuckers,” Donovan snarled.
Amirah’s alphas looked like they would argue, but she put her hand on Elias’s arm. “You have a point, Josie. Let me discuss this with the teams and see what we come up with.”
Lilah turned towards Grayson. “See, told you I should come with you.”
Grayson’s jaw tightened and I got nervous about how he would react.
Noah clasped Grayson’s shoulder. “Let’s talk about this in private, yeah?”
“But—” Lilah started.
“Lilah, baby, have mercy on your alphas. They’re very delicate,” Noah said, his eyes twinkling.
