Page 4 of Pack Fever

“Only by a few minutes,” I answer, rushing across the quiet road, grinning at my other girl, Kayla, whose dark-blonde hair is swept off her face but keeps tumbling over an eye. Her deep-blue eyes are grinning at me. With her bright pink lips and the black dress she’s wearing with a hem ending high-thigh, she looks hot. Those knee-high boots scream goddess. I love seeing her smile, as so often I catch her with heartache painted on her face. She won’t talk about it, but I know something’s happening at her home. I need to find out more to help her.

But not tonight. Tonight’s about freedom.

“Girls, you both look amazing!” I hug them, wishing more than anything I could move out with them into our own apartment and forget we’re all going to be matched with Alphas soon. Our lives will never be the same again. “I feel so out of place compared to you both.”

I glance down at myself, pouting at my jeans sitting low on my hips, the heels I’m stepping into, and a black halter top with a zipper down the front and long sleeves. I hate showing my arms from the scars I got during the car accident. The outfit looked cute in the mirror, especially with the silver bangles, but compared to my friends, I’m dressed down.

“Don’t be crazy. You look adorable and sexy as fuck.” Kayla chuckles and throws an arm around my shoulders, drawing me back against her. “Anyway, tonight’s about escape and getting drunk.”

“Umm, we’re missing someone,” I say, wriggling from her strong grip and glancing around. “Where’s Jess?”

There are four of us in our click. We found each other at Omega Foundations Academy, of all places. A location meant to teach us how to be a good little Omegas, but for us, it became a crash course in sticking together and finding ways to survive our controlled lives. Not to mention the dozen times we snuck out and got busted.

“She’s picking us up here, so she shouldn’t be long,” Casey explains, staring down at her phone.

As if on cue, the distinct sound of an engine reaches us, and we turn to see headlights cutting through the night as a black SUV rolls into view. It’s a brand-new model, the exterior shiny, and the tires polished. I can only wish my mom could afford something like this. It pulls up to the curb, the tinted passenger window rolling down to reveal a grinning Jess in the driver’s seat.

“You all gonna get in, or are you waiting to get caught?”

We burst out into laughter and scramble inside, me in the back with Casey.

“Does your mom know you took her car?” Casey asks.

Jess laughs and glances back at us with her pouty, glossy lips and black curls framing her pretty face.

“Yeah, right, she’d kill me, but she’s drunk and won’t be awake until midday tomorrow. Plus, Dad’s out of the city this week for business stuff.” Her eyebrows raise, and we all know that means it’s something illegal. Her father works for the local mafia chapter, and he’s pretty high up the food chain. I wouldn’t care if my father was the mob boss of the country so long as he was alive. “So, I’m free, bitches!” Jess howls, and we all do the same. “Let’s go to Nocturne.”

I wriggle in my seat with excitement, hands in the air, unable to remember the last time I laughed and smiled so hard since our last catch-up a week ago. I live for these moments with my friends and going to Nocturne, which is my escape from reality. It helps dull the ache in my chest at missing my father, at the regret and guilt that chews me up.

As the city swishes past in our drive, we are parking in a back lane in no time, close to the club that’s hidden from the main public. It’s not exactly encouraged in our controlled society for Alphas to have fun and go clubbing. The line into the club moves swiftly. Each of us is handed a black eye mask that covers half of our faces… a necessity to enter the premises. A place for having fun and not focusing on who is who. It’s why we love coming here. No one asks questions.

Once we’re inside, we head downstairs, where the walls are concrete and spray-painted with graffiti, as though we’re about to enter a house of horror. The moment we enter the door at the end of the stairs, we emerge into a club that bursts with purples, blues, and reds that pulse to the beat of the music.

My toes are already tapping in my heels. I love how the walls are screens that have been transformed into a 360-degree view of the cityscape from the heights of a skyscraper. Every week, they change the images. The last time we were here, we were thrown into the jungle, and we all wore feathered masks.

Kayla nudges me in my side, whispering excitedly, “It feels like we’re suspended in the air. Oh my God, this is amazing.”

We move inside with the crowd. My heart’s thundering, and the music is loud enough to drown out the world. Every lyric speaks to me, every drop of the bass strokes me. This is my place, where I belong.

Here, I’m not just Danica the Omega.

I’m Danica, the girl who loves to sing, who has the chance to be herself.

Where I forget the ache that sits permanently in my chest.

Jess has me by the arm as we thread through the crowd. It’s dark where the moving lights aren’t pulsing, and before I know it, we’re moving up the steps to the platform behind the dance floor, where the bar is located. Black couches line the edges and overlook the dancers.

Halfway up, the tune switches to a song I’ve been loving lately. I release a squeak and tug on Jess’ hand.

“We have to dance,” I call out. “I love this song.”

Her eyes are huge with excitement, and suddenly, the four of us are rushing back down and shoving ourselves onto the dance floor.

As the beat of the music carries me, we’re not just dancing but claiming the space. The place is alive—everyone’s jumping up and down around us to the beat, and my friends and I are joining in, singing the song at the top of our lungs. I have no idea how much time passes, but I never want to leave.

This is where I belong.

Here, I can sing, but no one really hears me.

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