As always, her body shook and went pliant, her gaze sliding downward as her omega instinct kicked in and the compulsion to submit overrode everything else.
She hated it. Herself most of all.
She’d wished all her life to rip the biological imperative to obey from her cells and get rid of the omega taint, but it could not be done.
The alpha, beta, omega dynamic was as inescapable as her fate.
Alphas dominated while betas served, and omegas submitted.
Each role was an innate compulsion programmed into the genes of every inhabitant in their galaxy. The interplay did not require affection, caring, respect, or consent. Like breathing, it simply was. Its essence primal. Irresistible. Immutable.
No matter how hard she tried to resist.
“You have caused me enough fucking problems, omega.” Her father slammed her head into the wall once more.
She fought to stay silent. Noise only triggered further aggression in Alphas. Already, his men snapped and snarled at his back, their frenzy for violence growing.
“The contract with the Verish family is null and void. You will no longer be given the honor of prime omega to their family.”
Shock slammed through her. Panic, too. Her family had been working toward that alliance since her birth.
The Verish crime family might be insect-like in appearance, with pinchers protruding from their lower gums, but they were well connected within the Brotherhood. As the official vessel of the Verish Alpha offspring, she would have been given the protection of the Alpha’s family name and the promise of food and shelter for the duration of her life, even after her childbearing years ended. The two other main positions available to an omega—indentured omega and unclaimed omega whore—offered no such guarantees.
But even more importantly for her own plans, she’d intended her new position to get her out from under Olan’s thumb and make it easier to escape Anarcheim with her sister and mother, resettling in a non-Alphaverse galaxy where they’d never be found.
She had no desire to trade one form of servitude for another and while the eldest Verish son might not be as horrific as her father, he was still an Alpha—and that meant he saw her as nothing more than an omega plaything to be bent to his will.
She wanted to give her little sister, Kaiya, as well as her mother and herself a different life than the powerless, voiceless ones they’d endured thus far.
But her goal appeared more out of reach than ever.
“What happened to void the contract?” A terrifying thought occurred. “Did they discover you were lying about my gift?”
Olan’s eyes went wide. His hand closed around her throat and squeezed. “Say that again and I’ll kill you myself and risk the Brotherhood’s wrath.”
She nodded as much as his grip would allow.
His hold slackened and air flooded back into her lungs.
“As far as you’re concerned, your gift works. Always has. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, Alpha.” She repeated the words he’d beat into her. “I am a lucky, rare omega who still has her visions.”
In truth, she’d only experienced the power of her gift once fifteen years ago, but like a phantom limb, the pain of the loss still ached every rotation of the suns’ twenty-nine-hour cycle.
She pushed it from her mind. Her gift was gone, its loss one more thing she had to accept.
“Good.” Olan’s hold loosened further, an owner pleased with his pet. “What else?”
“Unlike most omegas who lose their gifts around the time of adolescence, I continue to be able to access mine and see past events.”
“Exactly right.” It was a bold untruth maintained through manufactured testimonies from terrified witnesses who’d saved their own skin by claiming she could recount events she’d never witnessed.
As a result of those lies, she’d become a sought-after prime omega and Olan’s reputation and influence had grown, his wealth expanding, his criminal businesses prospering.
He didn’t care that she’d be the one to suffer when her new Alpha commanded her to use her gift, and she was unable to deliver.
Her father had instructed her to take responsibility for the failure and suggest that her new surroundings and her new Alpha were at fault. It hadn’t concerned Olan that she’d be beaten, or worse. He expected her to bear the consequences of his lies, and she’d been prepared to do so.
Because she knew the cost otherwise.
“Remember your sister and your mother are counting on you for their continued safety.” It was as if Olan read her thoughts. “I know you won’t want to disappoint them, or me.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
“When your gift fails while in the bastard’s care, that’s on him—and you. Correct?”
Bastard’s care? She tried to make sense of Olan’s words. Was he saying she was going to be given to someone else instead? When the eldest Verish son had come to assess her potential as his prime omega, she’d been unnerved by the way he’d looked at her, as if he intended to devour her. Literally. Maybe—just maybe—whatever was happening now would be a better fate. Maybe escape would be easier?
But she knew better than to probe given Olan’s current mood, so she told him what he wanted to hear instead, “Yes, Alpha.”
“Right answer.” Spinning her away from the wall, her father hustled her down the hall again, his soldiers falling in line right behind. “You will obey as always.”
“Yes, Alpha.” Another lie, but direct confrontation would get her no closer to escape.
He moved faster. “I have some gambling debts I can’t currently pay.”
Her throat went dry.
“You will be given as payment instead.”
Payment. As if she were an omega whore. It was a far fall from prime omega status. Not that she wanted that anyway, she reminded herself.
He gave her no time to respond. “I have also been accused of crimes against the Brotherhood.”
She stumbled on her feet. This was an even bigger blow.
There was no greater sin than to betray the Brotherhood. Worse, punishment for such a misdeed did not end with the guilty party but extended to his closest family.
“Is it true?”
“No.” His grip grew so tight she feared he’d break her bone. It would not be the first time. “And if you are asked, you will, of course, affirm your Alpha’s innocence.”
Dahlia swayed, bile rising in the back of her throat. “Who is your accuser?” But in her heart, she already knew.
Olan snarled, ignoring her questions in favor of a rant she’d heard before. “This damn feud. He’s like a wolverbear with a bone. First, he attacks my businesses. Then my personal assets. Then, he moves on to threats on my life. It’s enough.” Her father’s roar echoed through the hall. “He will regret taking me on when his name is blacked out of the Brotherhood as if it never was. This must come to an end. There will be a trial. Evidence will be presented. I will be allowed to counter. Then, the Brotherhood will decide in my favor. It will all work out.”
But Dahlia wasn’t so confident.
She knew her father had done terrible things. She also knew he was a liar.
Her stomach seized. This could not be happening.
All she had done her whole life was to try and protect her sister and mother. She’d endured the beatings, the punishment, and the humiliations to keep the two people she cared for as safe as possible from Olan Lundin.