Chapter Twelve

There was no waiting or wondering. I woke up the next day and my mates were full of melancholy as they turned the living room TV on. It wasn’t lost on me that they weren’t getting themselves ready for work today.

The first news channel was talking about my ‘attack’. Apparently, it was big news since more information had finally been released—specifically my name. My mates. My face from the photo taken for my OC residency card.

It was obviously me, a few years younger, which was truly freaky since that was the age my brain kept saying I was.

Someone changed the channel to another news station and this time a group of people were sitting on some uncomfortable looking couches, discussing how dangerous this beta revolution was. They were badmouthing the betas, calling them traitors and liars to their own cause since they’d ‘hurt’ an omega.

Another channel change, this one with a beta guest, explaining why he believed betas should get blocked out sections of civilization just for themselves. How alphas and omegas were too emotional and how the laws that affected everyone were unjust toward betas.

More flipping through the TV channels and it was like everyone was talking about me. Not specifically me, just using me in their argument like I was a prop to toss around, a weapon to wield in whatever cause they believed in.

“I have to do something. Say something.” It felt impossible to tear my gaze away from the screen. “They don’t understand what actually happened.”

“We know,” Seb said. “That’s what everyone was trying to work out yesterday. What to say. Who to reach out to. But, Hannah, it’s more than just the news.”

“What do you mean?”

It was Jackson who spoke up next, “Alphas are demanding betas be blocked from joining packs, claiming they don’t have the necessary protective gene and could harm their omegas. Betas are split, demanding packs should be a choice and wanting their own separate community away from the emotions of the other designations. There are protests, government meetings being called—it’s beyond you now.”

Even then, even with the spark of something in the air, no one seemed to be focusing on the real issue. Alphas and betas arguing with each other while omegas had no say. Still, we were being cast aside while change was unfolding before our eyes. We were the center of the issue and being danced around by a push and pull out of our reach.

“They’re using me,” I growled, pointing at the screen in case my mates weren’t aware. “If I told my side of the story, they’d be forced to stop.”

“No, you’d give them ammunition,” Han said. “I know you want to do good, Hannah, but your heart is too much in the right place.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you don’t see the potential they’ll have to twist your own words.”

Sebastian added, “You tell them you’re an omega who goes to protests, they’ll talk about how you broke a law—”

“An unjust law—”

“Not all alphas are like us,” Jackson said, speaking up. “They see an omega breaking the rules and they will tighten their own hold over their omegas.”

I was shaking my head, wanting to argue, but I couldn’t. My anger was welling up inside me, my hands curling into fists like I was figuratively holding onto something to keep myself from exploding.

Sebastian continued, “If you admit to breaking a law, to going out by yourself, you’ll be forced back to the compound, away from us, potentially forever.”

My heart broke just at the words. Not only because I didn’t want to be pulled from my mates, but because I didn’t want to abandon my own kind to the crazed rules of alphas.

“So, I can’t do anything?” Tears were falling down my cheeks and I wasn’t sure if they came from my anger at doing nothing or my fear of being pulled from my mates. “Omegas will never have rights and I might have made our entire society worse?”

“No,” Jackson snapped. “You didn’t do anything. You have the heart of a warrior, rebel. Do not let the fact that you’ve lost this battle make you give up the fight.”

“But there’s nothing I can do.”

It was Zeke who pulled me into a hug, wrapping his arms around me seconds before I broke out into tears. They came from the guilt, from the worry, from the anger of doing nothing.

When I finally managed to control my sobs, it was Zeke who spoke first, just barely whispering, although I knew the others could hear him. “Do you remember what Han and I told you yesterday? About how we had to come to terms with being two alphas together?”

“Yes.” The single word was all I could muster.

“It was our love for each other that taught us designations were biological, not social. We had to unlearn everything we were taught, everything we thought we knew. Sure, we had knots, but we didn’t have to use them. Yes, we’re protective and possessive, but not just toward an omega, toward each other.”

I sniffled, grateful when a hand offered me a tissue.

“That was the catalyst for us, but also for our pack. Seb and Jackson weren’t romantically involved with us, yet they had to learn the same lessons as we did. What’s happening to the world outside these walls is the same thing. You’re the catalyst, but everyone else has to learn how this change affects them.”

“What if it’s worse?” That was my fear. That I would be the cause of stricter omega rulings.

“We’re not done fighting,” Jackson said. I lifted my head from Zeke’s chest so I could meet my first alpha’s gaze. “We might never be done. But we won’t stop until we’re happy with the progress.”

I nodded, silently agreeing. “What do we do now?”

“We stay under the radar as much as possible. There’s nothing to do until someone else makes a move.”

****

Breakfast had a morose vibe. I was handed around to all my mates, sitting on their laps as we ate in what I thought was an attempt to comfort me. None of them seemed to be in a rush to get into work today, and I didn’t know if this was going to become a common morning routine.

At least I’d managed to get my emotions under control. I was going to try to listen to my alphas’ advice and not feel guilty. Mostly because I didn’t want to cry and be sad anymore. Also, because I could recognize the truth in their words.

It didn’t matter that it was me that got hurt. It didn’t matter how or by whom. I was just being used.

And that pissed me off. I held onto that anger with all my might, using it to help me straighten my back, to lift my chin, to stop feeling defeated.

We had just finished breakfast, and I mean, just finished to the point that no one had gotten up yet when the doorbell went off.

The alphas broke out in a mix of exasperated sighs and frustrated growls. I was currently on Han’s lap, so I did my best to press my face against his throat, nuzzling his annoyance out of him. I held my tongue on asking who they all thought it was because my instincts warned against worsening the mood.

“I’ll get it,” Jackson said, sounding like he absolutely did not want to get it. He did move the long way around the room to leave, kissing me goodbye on my head.

“Okay, princess, show time,” Seb said. “Remember, your caring alphas don’t let you watch the news and we, of course, limit your screen time so you don’t become anxious.”

I snorted, making Han chuckle under me.

Zeke got a gleam in his eye, a look that told me he was suddenly up to something as he pulled me from Han’s lap so I was awkwardly straddling him. His body took up the entire chair which meant my knees had nowhere to go, nowhere to hold myself up.

I felt him becoming harder as he wrapped his arms around me. One curling around my back, keeping me tightly pressed against his body. The other moving to my head, letting his fingers run over the short prickly hair.

When he lifted his hips, pressing his length against me, my breath caught in my throat. My emotions had been so close to the surface that the leap from frustrated to aroused was a short one.

I leaned my lips closer for a kiss. Not a hard one. Just a grazing of mouths, a moment of shared breath.

Another hand trailed down my back, the scent of pumpkin naturally mixing with Zeke’s berries. Their scents complemented each other weirdly. They didn’t blend so I was inhaling both pumpkin and berries simultaneously. It was more like their scents twirled around each other, always touching side by side so I would get a whiff of one, then the other. Both delicious, both mine.

“Representative from the OC is here. Same one from the hospital—Eve.” Jackson’s words had me freezing. I’d momentarily forgotten why Zeke was trying to distract me.

Leaning back, I glared at my mate. Thanks to him, I had to talk to the rep with the hint of arousal in my perfume. As a beta, she might not recognize the scent. I would definitely be on edge though since I could smell my mates’ arousal.

“Trust me, Hannah,” Zeke whispered, before kissing me one last time, then lifting me up off his lap.

My hips seemed to protest, and I took a moment to stretch them out before following after Jackson. I was trying to inhale clean air, but it seemed like my mates’ arousal scent was clinging to my clothes.

Eve was sitting in the formal space. She looked uncomfortable as she sat on the edge of the hard couch. Her skirt was long enough that it covered her knees, yet her hands fiddled with the length. Despite her exposed calves, her top was much more appropriate for the winter weather with a long sleeve shirt under a vest. A short scarf, that I knew had a fancy name I couldn’t remember, was around her neck as the only spot of bright color in her outfit.

I remembered her from the hospital, although she was missing the chemically sweet smell from last time.

“Hannah,” she greeted, standing as I neared, a huge smile breaking out over her face as she took me in. “You look great.”

“Thank you.” I wasn’t really sure how to respond to that compliment, especially since she looked and sounded so surprised.

“I was hoping I could speak with you alone, if you feel comfortable here. If not, I can book us a reservation in one of the OC’s designated public rooms for omegas.”

I wondered if they gave the betas lessons on this type of manipulation. Turning around, I looked at my mates who were all hovering just a few feet behind me like they’d anticipated this.

“We can stay here,” I told her.

“Before we go, would you like anything to drink or eat?” Sebastian asked the rep.

“I’m fine, unless you haven’t had breakfast yet, Hannah?”

“I’m good,” I agreed.

All of my mates came up and kissed me, Jackson on the top of my head, Seb on my forehead, Han and Zeke on either cheek.

Neither of us spoke while they left, or for a minute afterward. The rep seemed nervous again, her scent betraying the calm exterior she was failing to put forward. There was something I was missing, I could feel it like a phantom limb that I couldn’t use.

“How are you, Hannah?” she finally asked. “Any luck with getting your memories back?”

“No. My mates and I have decided to move forward. Create new memories, you know?”

“That’s wonderful to hear. And your doctors’ appointments? Everything is going well with your physical recovery?”

I turned my head so she could see the scar. Hair was refusing to grow in the immediate area inside the shaved heart, and the mark was still slightly pink, but it was mostly completely healed. “No problems. I’m all healthy.”

“That’s wonderful to hear. How was your heat? According to our records, yours came on earlier than usual. Was it stronger than it should be? Anything different at all?”

“Uh, no. Just a normal heat.”

It was about then that I finally realized why Eve seemed different this time. She wasn’t writing everything I said down. She wasn’t even writing anything down.

“And adjusting to living with your mates?” she asked, flicking her gaze down the hall they left. “How has that been?”

“Normal, I guess. It hasn’t really felt like any adjusting is needed. We’re just … being mates together.”

“What does normal look like to you? Will you walk me through a typical day?”

I felt like I was being interviewed except I wasn’t allowed to decline answering or just get up and leave. Considering I wasn’t allowed to admit I was taking college courses, I lied, talking a lot about my ‘art project’ I was working on.

“That sounds so exciting. Definitely something to keep you busy.” Her attention was directly on me, her gaze meeting mine as she asked, “Can I see it? Your progress?”

My tongue felt heavy, an instantaneous reminder that my lie would take effort. “Everything’s up in my nest until I’ve finished.”

It wasn’t an invitation. The opposite, actually. For all the limitations that omegas had, this wasn’t one of them. Our nests were private. Even to our mates, and especially to those not part of our pack.

Nests were considered ‘essential’ for an omega. Not only for providing us with the necessary space, for our emotional and mental health too. At least according to the OC guidelines.

“I see,” Eve said. “You’re spending all your time in your nest then?”

Was this a trick question? Yes and I was spending time in the nest because I was scared of my mates? No and I wasn’t in my nest so it was somehow inadequate? My head was starting to ache with the amount of tension that was filling my body. Working to keep my scent from becoming too strong, I tried to find the verbal middle line.

“In my nest, with my mate who works from home, in the kitchen. I float all around wherever I want to be.”

“Have you been outside since your attack?”

“Outside?”

“Gone shopping? Out to eat? Visited a friend, even? Picked out something new for your home?”

“I mean—no. I’m more of a homebody, I guess.”

She nodded, and for the first time, I felt like she didn’t believe me. Sure, I’d spent a lot of time at home recently, but I’d been dealing with a lot. Memory loss and my mates and my hair and … none of that even included all the stress my mates had been dealing with over the same things.

“That’s good. I think it’s important that you stay home for the foreseeable future.”

“What does that mean?”

“Your pack has been flagged for the potential abuse or neglect of their omega.”

I was on my feet before I thought better of it. “That’s not fair.”

“Unfortunately, the OC has flagged multiple accounts of you being left alone by your alphas. And with the connection of your photo and your name publicly, you’re no longer an unnamed omega.”

“Hold on a fucking second,” a new voice said. I turned to see all of my mates looking furious.

Eve’s typically low scent beta perfume bloomed with fear. She tried to step back but the couch was in her way.

“We aren’t going to hurt you,” Jackson growled, his words not matching his tone at all. He sat down, pulling me on top of him.

Sebastian spoke up next, “If the OC had proof of Hannah being out alone, then they’d have pulled her from this pack.”

Eve nodded slowly. “True. But if the proof also showed that she was out, alone, at protests, they might just let her be. Especially if she continues to say nothing in the wake of what’s going on right now.”

“Is that your official advice?”

Before Eve could respond to Seb’s question, I said, “Hypothetically speaking, it doesn’t make sense that the OC would just let an omega break laws. Especially ones that went against what they worked to achieve.”

“Do you know how many laws have been made since you perfumed as an omega?” Eve asked. “How many of those laws were designation based, specifically speaking, in regard to omegas? What exactly have you achieved?”

I glared at Eve even though her tone wasn’t nearly as harsh as her blunt words. “And if I wasn’t willing to sit still looking pretty?”

“Hannah,” Seb warned.

“You’d find yourself back at the OC, pulled away from your mates. Most likely charges of neglect would be put forth. All of this would be in addition to the social court you’d be put through.”

The alpha pheromones in the room were so strong that even Eve was getting affected. My own instincts were demanding that I start comforting my mates, which was impossible considering they were spread out.

“I think, maybe, I should go,” Eve said. Her hands were back to touching her skirt, her palms sliding against the fabric like she was trying to stop them from sweating.

My alphas confirmed their agreement, and I could scent the change in Eve’s mood almost immediately. Her perfume was full of sadness that I couldn’t understand. Why would we be anything but upset at her thinly veiled threats. She worked for the organization that was attempting to intimidate me from speaking out against them.

It made me wonder… “Eve, are you here on official OC business?”

I watched as her eyes turned red just moments before she broke down and started crying. None of my mates were fast enough to catch me as I got off Jackson’s lap and made my way around to the bawling beta. I pulled her close so that she was leaning against my shoulder and tried my best to keep my perfume calming.

“No, I’m not. I was fired.” She was talking through the tears, pressing her face harder against me, but I managed to make out the words.

When I looked up at my mates, I saw the same confused looks on their face that I felt inside. If Eve wasn’t here as a warning from the OC, that meant she was here trying to protect me. Protect us.

I let her cry it out, although I knew my mates were starting to get anxious for more information. Jackson, especially, was glaring at her, no doubt annoyed that he let her in the house under false pretenses.

Eventually, she managed to pull back her tears from bawling to sniffles. Zeke came from the bar and handed her a cloth to wipe her tears and snot.

“Sorry about that,” Eve said, pulling away so that she wasn’t leaning against me anymore, our hips were still side-by-side. “I really thought I was going to be able to wait until later to let it out.”

“Eve, will you explain what’s happening?” I asked. “We’re all really confused.”

Her gaze flashed up to my mates’, and she withered slightly under four alphas’ direct attention. “I guess it all started once I left the hospital after checking on you. When I went back to work, I created a profile for you, something to help us track you in case you started to repeatedly show up in the hospital with ‘injuries’.”

“You thought we were abusing her?” Zeke asked. Just like Jackson, he seemed angry at Eve.

Eve looked up, biting her bottom lip as she shrugged her shoulders, whispering so quietly, “I don’t know. It’s my job to help protect omegas. I figured it was safer to create the profile and if she never got hurt again, no harm. But if she did, she wouldn’t have to wait even longer to get a safety warrant pulling her out of the home.”

Both Sebastian and Han were the only calm ones, the latter saying, “She was just trying to protect Hannah. Nothing wrong with that.”

Seb agreed, asking, “What happened next?”

“Well,” Eve started, “this part gets a little technical.”

“Just do your best,” Han said.

“So, before I’d even made a profile for Hannah, there was already one made. It just didn’t include her name or anything, it was a profile missing key information. And when I created hers, adding in that new information, it was technically everything missing from the original profile, and the two were somehow merged.”

Han nodded like this all made sense to him.

“At the time, I had no idea about the circumstances of your injury except what you told me. Then I went home and saw the news.”

“How did that lead to you getting fired?”

“Well, I might have gone back to the compound, logging in to the server, and meaning to update your profile. That’s when I’d learned about the merging profiles and the protests you’d been involved in before and, yeah, I figured you were out protesting and something went wrong so I deleted the account.”

“When was this?”

“Days after I visited you in the hospital. That’s why I have no idea how the news got access to your name, Hannah.”

“How high is your access, Eve?” Han asked, leaning forward even more like he didn’t want to miss her answer.

“There are no levels. Once you’re employed you get access to the whole database. It’s a high honor that takes years of training.”

“Someone still had to have access.”

“My guess would be that someone leaked it on purpose,” Seb said.

Eve immediately shook her head. “No way. The compound is all about protecting omegas, this broke so many protocols. What I did was already unheard of. But deliberately hurting an omega?”

“The only other option would be that your main server was hacked. But if that was true, I highly doubt the only information they took would be Hannah’s name.”

“Maybe. Or maybe the consequences of whatever else they took haven’t appeared yet.”

“Possibly.” The way Seb agreed with that single word made me believe that he didn’t actually think it was possible.

At least both Jackson and Zeke had calmed down slightly. I imagined that they were picking up the same vibe from Eve that I was—a beta raised and trained to see omegas as better than them. It was … sad really. No designation was better or worse, they were just different, required unique ways through life.

Unfortunately, Eve was a product of being raised a beta, taught all her life how wonderful and amazing it was to be an omega, and that she might even get a spark of that joy, that remarkable life, if she dedicated hers to helping them.

The difference between Eve and the OC? She actually believed that her designation was meant to help omegas. To protect us because we’re so weak, so consumed by emotions, so reliant on alphas who might overstep their boundaries. She wanted to help, to care for others. She’s fucking kind and the OC took advantage of that.

“Someone had enough skill to figure out who deleted the profile,” Han pointed out.

Eve really started to fiddle then. Interlocking her fingers, readjusting her legs so one was on top than the other, scrunching her nose and shaking her head like she couldn’t even understand herself. “Well…”

“Eve? Tell us please,” Seb said. “This is all about the safety of Hannah which we need to take very seriously. That means knowing everything.”

Eve nodded, flexing her hands over her thighs to stop fidgeting. “I was called into a meeting this morning. They started by asking about the omegas under my care, specifically the newer ones. I tried to play it off normal, showing them my notes and everything, but then they started asking why I’d deleted the account. I lied, said I didn’t. They argued that I either did it on purpose, or failed to originally create one, since the profile for Hannah didn’t exist. Either way, it was a fire-able offense.”

I did my best to comfort Eve, but since I wasn’t her omega, my perfume didn’t do much for her.

“You know, I started volunteering there when I was thirteen. In the laundry room at first, then I made my way to a part-time assistant position. I’d been with the OC for years before I even tried for a representative position.”

“Why’d you do it then?” Jackson asked. “Why risk your job by deleting Hannah’s profile? You couldn’t have been sure that your assumption about Hannah was right.”

“I think, for now, I’d prefer not to answer that. It’s personal.” None of my mates argued despite clearly wanting to. “There’s nothing more I can think of, so I should be getting home. I need to find a new job.”

It was painful watching Eve get up, making her way to the door. She was awkward and obviously upset.

“Wait.” I ran into the living room, looking around for my phone. I couldn’t remember the last place I’d had it. When Zeke came into the living room wondering what I was looking for, I told him, “my phone. I can never find the damn thing.”

“Where’s the last place you remember having it?”

The look I gave Zeke was equal parts asking him if he thought I was an idiot and telling him he was one.

“Right, sorry. Well, you spent all yesterday in the nest, but the day before Koda came over—”

“The dining room.” I did my best impersonation of a sprint considering my socks on the floor were potentially life-threatening devices. My phone was on the table, and I grabbed it before heading back to Eve who was standing self-consciously by the door still. “Here. Put your number in it so we can keep in touch.”

Eve’s eyes went wide like she was in shock. That look remained on her face even as she accepted the phone and added her number.

Then she left, and I turned back to all of my mates asking, “Now what?”