1. Belle

Chapter one

Belle

T he ground feels cold on my back.

An air vent blows somewhere high above, wafting cool air on my sweaty skin, and I shiver, curling up into a ball to draw in more warmth.

I'm too afraid to open my eyes because I know that I will finally be alone, and that terrifies me more than anything in this world.

I've been alone for most of my life.

Well, until I met them. Pack Snow.

For a small moment in time, I experienced love and happiness. Even if there was heartbreak at times, I will forever cherish the memories we had.

In the end, I gave up all that happiness so that Rian and the pack could be safe.

Even Troy.

He may have been a miserable asshole, but he didn't deserve to see his mate taken away from him.

I know what it's like to be taken from your loved ones, and I'll be damned if that ever happens to Rian.

No matter what, he and the pack will stay together. Even if I have to give up my own freedom in the process.

Now only the Gods know what will become of me.

I did exactly as Francis asked.

The Beta male with the boring, papery scent moved me around like a pawn on a chess piece, and it appears I am a part of something much bigger than myself.

Francis was not working alone…

There are others just like him—others who molded innocent Omegas like me into brutal killing machines.

After all, I was not the only Omega at the Facility.

I wasn't the only one with a tattoo branded on her arm.

I was just number twenty-three.

Someone groans nearby, and my body seizes with terror.

My heart punches against my ribs, and I try to remain as still as possible.

The sound doesn't come again, and I relax my shoulders, letting my body sag into the cold, hard ground.

Not even a bed.

It's hot and cold. If that were possible…

There's a chill in the air, yet my body is covered in a film of sticky sweat.

I feel the sweat beading on my face, dripping down my right temple, but I still don't move.

It's too quiet. It's stifling.

It suffocates me, and I breathe through my nose, trying to remain calm as it finally dawns on me...

Unlike those other Omegas, I know what I am.

I understand more about this world because of Rian.

He gave me all those wonderful books, and I will be forever grateful for the knowledge he gave me.

And now my knowledge will be my greatest weapon.

If I continue to play dumb, just maybe I can get the best of my enemies.

I will fight back but quietly, slowly biding my time.

The moan comes again, longer and much more drawn-out this time, and I finally snap my eyes open.

I'm inside a cell.

The walls are cold steel and the ground is made of concrete, and there's a bolted door with a visor for looking inside.

I spy a slumped figure across the floor on the other side of the cell, shuffling away immediately, and I hope they aren't dangerous.

All I see is a mop of tangled blonde hair, and it's a woman.

No, an Omega…

And the realization hits me like a ton of bricks.

It can't be a coincidence.

Sweat trickles down my face and chest, and why is it so hot?

I'm panting for breath.

She doesn't make another noise for some time, and with a deep breath, I crawl forward to investigate.

There's no denying that she's an Omega now that I'm closer.

She smells like watermelon, a sweet, refreshing scent, and I take a moment to breathe her in.

One sniff tells me everything I need to know about her.

She's recently been in heat, and judging by the bitter aftertaste of her watermelon, she's in distress.

This little blonde Omega, one who is even smaller than myself, has been through some trying times, and that's when I spot the tattoo on her wrist.

Twenty-two.

Instinctively, I grab my own wrist, tracing the numbers two and three with my thumb.

My pulse pounds beneath as a stuttering breath escapes my dry mouth.

She is from the Facility…

Just like me.

And if she is number twenty-two, then she must have been in a cell close to mine.

However, when I push a soft blonde curl from her face, I don't recognize her.

There must have been hundreds of us back at the Facility, but I think I would remember her.

A face that beautiful would be hard to forget, and she reminds me of a baby doll that I once had as a child.

Her eyes fly open suddenly, and the world stops for a split second as I meet those wide baby blue eyes.

I have never seen eyes so soft…

Like a newborn's blanket.

She screams, shuffling to a corner of the cell, and the sound ricochets off the gray steel walls.

I retreat to my own corner, staring at her in horror.

"No! No!" she cries, covering her face as if a swarm of bats are about to swoop in and attack her.

But they're not bats.

They're demons.

Invisible demons.

Ones I know all too well.

My chest heaves as I can't stop staring at the crazed creature.

It's like she is possessed.

Her screams are deafening, making me flinch with each grating sound, and a whimper escapes my own mouth.

"I'm sorry!"

She doesn't hear me, though. She just continues to scream like a banshee.

An alarm goes off, and my heart flops hard in my chest.

"Stop!"

But the Omega doesn't stop, and wherever she has gone, she's not coming back.

Too lost in her own mind and struggles, and now I stare at the horror before me.

It's like gazing at my own possible fate.

Those monsters have already burrowed so deep into her mind; I bet she doesn't even remember who she was before the Facility.

The only name she will know now is the one branded on her wrist.

Footsteps echo down the hall outside, and soon a swarm of uniformed men storm into the cell.

The same men who hunted me down in the woods.

They still wear the armor and the face shields.

The armor is to protect them from us.

The dangerous Omegas.

I pretend to be asleep as they surround Twenty-two.

I don't see what happens as I face the wall, but her garbled cries soon die out, and once they have got the better of her, they drag her out of the cell, slamming the door in their wake.

Now all is quiet again.

Nothing happens for a while.

I can't help myself anymore.

The tears come, but I bite my fist, refusing to cry and make a sound.

Otherwise, they will come for me too.

It's utterly hopeless.

This is to be the rest of my life.

These four steel walls will be my new home, and I will never see Rian, Leo, Jeremy, or Troy ever again.

Still, I send a silent prayer, hoping that he will hear me.

I am alive…

Save me.