“Well...” Lucy hesitated. “Not exactly.” She squirmed in her seat with all our eyes on her. “The government feels that it would be too risky for omegas to not have these controls in place. No matter where a potential pack meets, they would still have to go through the Omega Center, meet these criteria, and get approval before bonding.”
“This is not at all what we talked about,” Charlie said, rage flashing in her eyes.
“What happens if a pack bonds without approval?” Josie asked.
Lucy gave Henry a desperate look and he cleared his throat.
“Well, it could mean jail time for the whole pack.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Poppy shouted, standing up from her chair. “You’re joking.”
“I think the intention really is safety,” he said weakly. “They don’t want alphas forcing omegas into unwanted bonds.”
“Without approval, the government wouldn’t recognize the pack,” Lucy reiterated. “This means the omega ultimately wouldn’t have any legal status as a bonded pack member, leaving them without access to the pack’s finances, for example.”
“This is a fucking joke,” Josie said.
“And this fertility requirement?” Charlie said, pointing to the page in front of her. “So we’re just nothing if we can’t have babies?”
“This is all really important feedback,” Henry said. “And I think this legislation is just a starting point…”
“Yeah, right,” I muttered under my breath.
Henry turned towards me, and I realized he’d heard. I met his gaze. “I don’t believe they’ll actually change things in the future, especially since they ignored most of our previous feedback.”
He ran his hand through his hair so it stuck up even more in the front. “We’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
The rest of the conversation faded away as I tried to breathe through my physical and emotional pain. I should be grateful. My life had improved a hundred times over with the overthrow of the government. I just hadn’t realized how much I’d been holding on to the hope of finding my happily ever after.
The sound of scraping chairs broke me out of my dark, swirling thoughts. I blinked, realizing the meeting had finished up. The tension in the room had eased, so Lucy must have found some way to smooth things over.
“Are you alright?” Henry asked softly, leaning his body towards mine.
I nodded, but the lines between his brows told me he wasn’t fully convinced.
“We’ll drive you home, Westin.” Josie glanced between Henry and me. “We do have to leave pretty quickly. Ben and I have to pick up some bulk items for the bakery.”
“Bakery?” Henry asked.
“My alpha—Ben—and I run Vanilla Pie Bakery on Main Street. And Westin works there,” Josie said, a sparkle in her eyes.
I pushed myself out of my chair and was about to turn down the ride when I was hit with a wave of dizziness, causing the room to swim slightly.
“If you’re sure you have the time?” I asked Josie.
“Absolutely,” she said, giving me a wink before leaving me alone with Henry.
My friend lacked all subtlety.
I turned back to the handsome beta. “It was nice to meet you.”
“I hope I get to see you again.” Henry fidgeted with the buckle on his briefcase.
I bit my lip to hide my smile. If I wasn’t feeling so miserable, I might have enjoyed flirting with him.
I followed Josie and Theo out of the building, and Theo loaded my bike into the trunk of his SUV. I slipped into the back and rested my head against the window, the cool glass soothing on my face as we pulled away.
4
