Page 63 of For All My Effort

“I just want to do something, is that so bad? I want to make a difference—to stand up for my designation.”

“I get that, rebel. I promise, I do. But doing whatever feels right isn’t always the answer.”

“What does that mean?”

“Remember what we told you about our connections?” Seb asked, standing next to Jackson so he could meet my gaze and hold my attention. “Sometimes it’s better to work behind the curtains.”

“Like how?”

“Your classes for one. If you finish those, you’ll have a solid argument to make about omega capabilities in education. Before that, anyone can argue that you didn’t finish college.”

I felt the frustration slowly start to leak out of me, but my mate wasn’t done.

“Plenty of those representatives that voted no are people we know or have some sort of connection with. We have people on our side, but they aren’t going to keep associating with us if we’re causing too many problems.”

I pointed at the TV. It was still on the current count for the vote, but my mate understood the gesture.

“Right now, your image isn’t associated with a single side. Despite how they’re using it. But if you were at a protest or made a statement, that all might change.”

“I do nothing, then?”

Jackson reached out, pulling me closer, and I wrapped my legs around him. “I’m not saying that. Just that whatever you do needs to be a pack decision. The same way we all talk about what we’re going to do and say publicly. We need to be on the same page. You’re a part of this pack, Hannah.”

Despite the slight admonishing tone, I smiled at his words. I was a part of this pack. This new version of me was accepted by all my mates. That meant I had to do more than focus on myself and my own needs, I had to keep my pack together.

And as happy as that made me, I couldn’t ignore the kernel in the back of my mind that reminded me of the other omegas. The ones trapped at the OC. Trapped in packs that didn’t treat them as anything more than a baby maker.

“We’ll come up with a plan together, rebel. Trust us.”

Jackson’s words soothed me, and I nodded against his neck. I would trust my mates. They’d never done anything but protect me.

Setting me back down on the couch, both Han and Zeke took up the seats on either side of me. Zeke whispered about helping me find the perfect way to fight back which had Han leaning closer to whisper, asking what we were whispering about.

“Hannah is right on one front,” Jackson started.

“Just one?” I asked.

He continued like I hadn’t spoken after a quick glare in my direction. “We can’t do nothing. I think we should lay everything on the table. All of our connections, what we can do, and then we’ll create a plan. Who we can talk to, whose hands money needs to go into, everything.”

I nodded my head so hard that a slight headache started on my forehead.

Hope was a distraction that I clung to, excitement filling my veins as all my mates got comfortable, Zeke even bringing the notepad and pen to the living room.

Before we could even start, I heard clapping.

No, that wouldn’t make any sense. My gaze went to the TV for a moment. I was riding the high of my pack, my happiness clouding my prediction on what I was about to see.

Two. That was how many votes the No’s were behind. Two. Less than the members in my pack.

The temporary movement ban was in order. We had forty-five days until the vote for permanency occurred.

Chapter Seventeen

The first week after the ban was implemented, I refused to slow down. We had pack meetings each night, for hours, talking about what we could do.

Money donations and phone calls. We were looking into companies that made donations we approved of, literally shifting to a new soap brand because they were supporters of a representative that was adamant about not restricting omegas so harshly.

Seb and Zeke were forced to go back to work, and while they were gone, I worked on my classes.

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