Page 15 of Chosen Beta

Skipping breakfast probably wasn’t a smart move, especially when it feels like today might be manic, but that’s a choice I made when I left my room this morning.

It’s too late to regret it now.

“Erika!” I call out.

The tall Omega with long, vibrant red hair enters the room in a purple designer cocktail dress and five-inch stiletto heels. Her makeup is flawless and matches the formalness of her outfit. She looks like she’s supposed to be at a fancy event, not at a college at nine thirty in the morning.

I guess the academy was always more than a college, and less than one, at the same time.

“You don’t need to dress like that anymore,” I tell her, realizing the dress code is just another thing that needs to be tackled here. “We’re no longer providing a designer wardrobe every season, and we no longer expect our students to adhere to a dress code.”

She nods slowly before closing the door.

“There have been a lot of changes lately,” she admits. “I’m trying to catch up.”

“I realize it might be a lot to take in, but ultimately, the changes are being made to help our Omegas decide what they’d like to do with their lives. Instead of just expecting you all to find a mate and leave once you’ve been claimed.”

“I get that. I do. I just …” She sighs softly. “I’ve been here for so long, and I’m starting to think I’ll never find my mate, or mates.”

“Take a seat.” I point out the sofas that are a few feet in front of my desk.

She sits down and fiddles with the sheets of paper in her hands.

I move around to the front of the other sofa and sit down across from her.

A narrow coffee table in between the sofas keeps us a few feet apart as we talk.

“It’s completely up to you what you want to do now.”

I wait for her to look up at me.

When she does, she seems conflicted.

“What if I don’t know what I want to do?”

“I think if you’re not sure, you should give it some time.”

She sighs and leans back, slouching in the silky dress and almost instantly straightening back up. She smooths a hand down over the material.

“This stuff creases so easily.”

“I know some of the old administrators sold a really specific picture to the Omegas here, but things are different now. I’ll be allowing Alphas and Betas equal chances to meet potential mates here, in events that will be less formal and a lot more secure. I’ll be vetting the men carefully before they’ll be allowed entry, and we’ll be starting small.”

Erika frowns. “I just … I followed all the rules before. I did everything that was expected of me.”

And now those rules are changing. They’re changing for the better, sure, but it’s not going to be easy for someone like Erika to take that in. She’s spent so long perfecting herself into the model Omega, readying herself for an Alpha mate.

“You know about Brooke,” I start.

She nods slowly. “She almost had to marry someone who hurt her. But her true mates saved her.”

True mates.

Those words have teeth, as far as I’m concerned.

I’m happy for Brooke. She deserved to find real happiness.

I’m just sad I was never meant to be a part of that.

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