“In the old days,”he wrote,“a set of my age with a withered womb might be put to death in a gas chamber. I was not. I went to the kitchens. It was still a prison; I could still hear the screams of my brothers in the breeding rooms, some of fear and pain and terror, some of ecstasy when the heats were strong, but the kitchen work was a relief. I was no longer forced to grow big with a child I’d never know growing inside me. I could finally relax and enjoy some of my days. My only family were the brother omegas I lived with. My purpose had to be something personal inside me where nothing could else could reach to disturb or hurt me. I had reality. I had a heart and a soul. I let myself feel those things like a child once again.”
I let myself become immersed in research, burying my emotion as I learned. But it was difficult. The more hidden stuff I ended up reading was twisted and dark and all too real. By thetime I looked up, hours had passed. It was late into the night, the TV softly talking to itself.
I hadn’t yet gotten to the set omega rights group sites. That was all fine and good, but I wasn’t researching to discover that. It was what was right in front of my nose that I was dealing with. The things I could have a cause and effect on. The one person I’d met who I couldn’t stop thinking about.
This was all about anger and grief and how I’d taken action upon those things.
And Cassius. It was about him, too.
I had no healthy formula in my mind on how to approach it all. I had a lot to think about.
10
Cassius
“Didn’t you tell the alpha—” Jonah, the foreman and owner of the ranch, checked his pad screen, then looked up. “Malin, is it? —to give you a star rating?”
“It was my first time off-ranch,” I replied.
“And? Klonis gave you all the rules. After you do whatever is asked, you remind them to give you a star rating. Right?”
“This was different. He tipped to have me leave the party with him. Klonis okayed it.”
“Are you not hearing me, set?”
“The alpha seemed to be all right with me.” I puffed out my chest but inside I did not feel strong. Not at all.
He tapped the frame of his pad hard with his forefinger. “You didn’t follow the rules. Klonis says you tried to attack him. And it doesn’t matter what the alpha might’ve said to you. His response on our site is what matters most.”
Something in my chest started to quiver. “I don’t think he knew that.”
“And why would that be?” Jonah asked.
“Because he doesn’t like set omegas so he’s never rented one before.”
“Wrong!” He shouted in my face. “He didn’t know because you didn’t remind him.”
“I didn’t know….”
“Klonis read the rules to all of you.”
I ducked my head because he looked like he wanted to hit me, and mumbled. “I didn’t remember.”
“Well, now remember this. If he made you pregnant outside a heat and he doesn’t claim it, the child will be adopted.”
They all thought I’d been rented to be fucked. I didn’t deter their thinking. Plus, it was rare to conceive outside of a heat. Almost unheard of.
“I know.”
He threw his head back, hands dropping to his sides. “Follow me.”
The hallway took us to a section of metal doors. I’d been here before. I knew what it was. Jonah stepped in front of me and key-coded the door open.
“Get inside.”
It was a bare white room with a thin mat on a ledge extending from the wall, a white toilet and sink in one corner. That was it, nothing else.
Jonah didn’t tell me how long I’d be here. He didn’t say another word. As I turned, the metal door slammed in my face.
