Page 3 of Pack Fever

He just hangs there, staring with his empty gaze.

Lightning flashes again, and in that split second, as the thunder rolls and rain lashes at us through the shattered windows, I’m completely alone.

As people are suddenly rushing over to us, I can’t stop screaming, not caring who hears.

He can’t be gone… He can’t…

Chapter

One

DANICA

5 Years Later

Islip out from the front door of the apartment building, and my feet rush over the front lawn just as that persistent melody that’s been my shadow for the past couple of months plays in my mind. A tune I can’t stop hearing, which has a heartbeat of its own, yet it feels like it’s missing something…

The stars above have stories to tell, but none as bright as us…

I’ve been stuck on the next verse, but it’ll come to me. It has to, or I’ll go insane…

Glancing left and right, the midnight moonlight throws a silvery hue over the silent suburban street while my heart hammers in my chest at being caught. Mom and my younger sister, Ruby, are asleep in their rooms upstairs in our cramped government-supplied public housing.

Do I feel guilty for breaking the rules by sneaking out at night?

Hell, no!

Does it irritate me that even at twenty-one years old, I’m given no freedom?

Fuck, yes!

Omegas in the making, like me—those expected to go into heat any time over the next few years—will be appointed an Alpha pack for life. In the meantime, we’re governed by rules that are to be enforced by our parents.

Omegas shall not go outdoors unescorted.

They shall not interact with men not approved as Alphas for them.

They shall attend Nexus Omega-approved schools only.

We’re controlled, treated like precious jewels. I’m going to go out of my mind if I stay in the house a second longer.

The benefit of not showing any signs of going into heat yet means no hot flushes, no wild desires. I’m not exactly excited about my heat to come, but it should still be a few years away, so I try not to give it too much thought. Or I’ll panic.

Before we come into heat, we’re no different from any other female Beta. So, if anyone asks tonight, I’ll just flash my fake Beta ID.

Alphas hold power in society, and the majority of them are male. Betas, who are the most common, make up most of the population. They are left alone to do as they please for the simple reason that they are rarely permitted to marry Alphas, and their bodies can never satisfy the needs of an Omega. Not the way an Alpha can. So, both males and females live their existence in peace, watching the rest of us like we’re freaks in a circus.

Then there are Omegas who are seen as celebrities but also kept in gilded cages. Once our insatiable, hormonal heat consumes us, our bodies prepare for mating and falling pregnant. Only Alphas can satisfy us and ease the pain. Funnily enough, while we can’t be with a Beta male to ease our pain, Alpha males can have children with a Beta female.

Yep, Omegas are niche and in high demand since there are fewer of us compared to Betas and Alphas.

It’s crude and barbaric, yet our biology makes us victims of this lifestyle.

Except tonight’s about freedom from everything. With my heels in hand and the cool grass on my bare feet, I run past the front gate and onto the sidewalk. Then I rush down the block to be out of sight in case my mother or anyone else glances out from our apartment building and reports me.

Three blocks later, I’m huffing out of breath, but across the road, Kayla and Casey are waiting for me. They wave at me like crazy, all dressed up and looking spectacular.

“You’re late,” Casey calls out with laughter in her voice. Her white-blonde hair cascades down to her waist, shining under the streetlights, and her skin is perfectly sun-kissed from some Hawaiian heritage in her blood. She lives with her older brother, who raised her after their parents vanished, but she’s the kindest person I’ve ever met. Tonight, she’s rocking it with her black leather pants and crop-top showing off her midriff and the glint of her belly button ring.

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