“Anya,” Ryker says, his voice soft but commanding. “Running away won’t change what you are. What we are.”
“And what exactly am I supposed to be?” I squeak. “Your brood mare? Your baby factory?”
“Our omega,” Alaric says simply. “Our mate.”
“We need pups,” Ryker adds, stepping toward me slowly, as if approaching a frightened animal. “And you look like the perfect mate. Strong, beautiful, fertile.”
The way he assesses me makes my skin burn—like I’m livestock being evaluated for breeding. And yet, beneath my indignation, there’s a part of me that preens under his approval, that wants to prove just how fertile I could be if given the chance.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
“I’m a person,” I say, backing away until I bump into the wall behind me. “Not some... some baby-making machine. I’m not a whore to be passed around between a pack of men who think they’re wolves.”
“We don’t think we are wolves,” Marcus growls from across the room. “Wearewolves.”
“Prove it,” I challenge, the words escaping before I can think better of them.
The men exchange glances, some kind of silent communication passing between them. Finally, Ryker turns back to me, his expression solemn.
“You’re not ready for that yet,” he says. “The shift would terrify you in your current state of mind.”
“Convenient,” I mutter, crossing my arms over my chest. “So, I’m just supposed to take your word for it? That you’re all werewolves and I’m some rare omega that’s meant to... what? Be your collective girlfriend? Bear your children? All because you say so?”
“Your body already knows the truth,” Lorenzo points out. “I can smell how wet you got from just Ryker’s touch. Imagine what would happen if we all touched you.”
My face burns with humiliation. The fact that they can smell my arousal makes me want to curl up and die. Worse, theimage his words conjure, of all of them touching me at once, sends another treacherous pulse of heat between my legs.
“This is insane,” I whisper, more to myself than to them. “I must be dreaming. Or hallucinating. Or having some kind of mental breakdown.”
“Will you be our omega and bear our pups?”
Five
ANYA
Ilaugh. This has to be some kind of elaborate prank.
Bear their pups? Be their omega?
These gorgeous, wealthy men are either completely delusional or playing the cruelest joke imaginable on the poor girl they just hired to clean their toilets.
“That’s…” I gasp between fits of laughter. “That’s really funny. Werewolves. Omega. Pups. You guys had me going there for a second.”
The silence that follows my words is deafening. None of them are laughing. Not even a smile. They’re all watching me with those intense predatory eyes, waiting for my hysterics to subside. My laughter dies in my throat as the reality sinks in.
They’re completely serious.
“You can’t actually believe this,” I say, my voice dropping to a whisper. “Werewolves aren’t real.”
“We are very real,” Ryker says, his dark eyes never leaving mine. “And so is what you are.”
“So let me get this straight,” I say, my voice trembling with anger. “You lured me here with promises of a job, only to tellme I’m actually some mythical creature designed to give birth to your babies?”
Lorenzo leans forward, his dark eyes gleaming. “We didn’t know what you were when Ryker brought you here. But now that we know, everything has changed.”
“Nothinghas changed,” I snap. “I came here for a job. Not to be passed around like a prostitute. I’m not your omega.”
I back further away, my eyes darting between the five men who watch me with varying expressions of confusion and disappointment, as if I’m the unreasonable one for not jumping at the chance to be their shared girlfriend.
