Page 2 of The Omega Project

We only dated for eight months, but I have way too many memories of being subjected to Rick’s version of tough love. Like the time he said I was the biggest disappointment in my parents’ lives; and how he capped off our break-up scene by telling me he was the only alpha who would waste his time with such a mediocre beta pussy.

Words that now echo in my head, making my eyes narrow to slits. “Get the fuckout, Rick, before I tell all your friends exactly what an abusive arsehole you are.”

Reputation is everything to Rick, but in the dying weeks of our relationship, he didn’t try as hard to hide the bully living under his smooth exterior. In fact, it alarmed me how quickly he could switch from loving to hostile, and just reinforced my need to get away from him. Of course, I hung in there just a few days too long, earning me a bite mark I later tried to remove with a Brillo pad and a bottle of whiskey. The scar is a mess, but it’s better than ending up bonded to a monster.

His sinister side is glaring at me now, his lip curled in a sneer. “You’ll be eating those words when I turn up next week with a rent increase.”

He gets slowly to his feet, his muscles coiled under his skin-tight clothes. The violence is almost vibrating off him and I grip the back of the chair, forcing myself to stand my ground. He stops only a few inches away, pressing his thumb to my bottom lip. “Enjoy this moment, kitten, because the next time you see me, you’ll be on your knees, begging to stay in this shithole.”

His thumbnail digs in painfully and I jerk my head back. “Get out!” I repeat, shoving him away and darting behind the kitchen counter. “I mean it. Leave, before you get a fucking frying pan to the face!”

“You heard her, Rick.” My sister’s voice sounds from the doorway, the alpha command like a rubber band snapping on my skin. Claudia is dressed in her green paramedic uniform,her knuckles white around her heavy work torch as she stares down my ex. “I’ve called the cops, but I’m more than willing to kick your skinny arse down the stairs if you insist on hanging around.”

Rick has always been a little intimidated by my alpha sister, and when she takes a menacing step towards him, he almost trips over his feet to escape. But he pauses long enough to point a warning finger in my direction. “Your knees. Next week. Or the whole fucking lot of you will be out on the street.”

“Jesus, Em,” Claudia sighs as the door slams behind him, and I sink into the chair. She quickly fits the deadbolt and checks the glass panel to make sure he’s gone. “How the hell did he get in here?”

“Mum,” I say with a weary sigh, rubbing my throbbing temples. “She was feeding him breakfast in her silk robe like a fifties housewife.”

“Oh,God,” Claudia groans, flopping into the chair at my side and snatching up a croissant. “That explains why she scuttled into her room like her arse was on fire.”

I snort and reach for the coffeepot, pouring myself a generous cup. We skimp on a lot of things in this house, including coffee, but it seems mum had some of the good stuff squirreled away for a special occasion. I pull a face as I contemplate her screwed-up priorities. “I hate to say it, but we really need to get her head looked at, Dee.”

We exchange a sad smile, since our mum’s mental state has plagued us for years. She’s a regular at the local walk-in clinic, but unfortunately, she’s there more for the cute doctors than the psychiatric assessments.

I let Claudia enjoy the flaky pastry before I break the bad news. “It gets worse, Dee. Rick only came by to gloat about buying the apartment block, making him our new landlord. He plans to increase the rent if I don’t get on my knees and…”

My sister’s hand shoots out and grabs my wrist. Unlike my mother’s touch, all I feel is safety and comfort in Claudia’s tight grip. “You don’t have to do anything, okay? If he really bought the place, then we move. This isn’t exactly my dream house, Em.”

As she looks around the faded kitchen, I can see the weariness etched into her face. Claudia is four years older than me, but she takes after our mum with her blonde beauty, while I look more like our dad with my red hair and hazel eyes. Once upon a time, my sister burned so brightly I felt like a pale shadow in her presence, but that was before one of her mates was killed in a training exercise and the other went AWOL. Now she’s working fulltime as a paramedic and raising Jacob as best she can. She’s an amazing mum, but grief hangs over her like a shroud, and I can still hear her through her bedroom wall when she cries herself to sleep most nights.

“The thing is, Dee… Derek has asked me to move in with him.”

A glimmer of pain flickers through her eyes, but she quickly blinks it away. “About damn time, Em!” She reaches over to give me a quick hug, covering us both in pastry flakes. “You guys are perfect together.”

“I’d take over his spare room and pay my way,” I interject, but she makes a rude sound as she sucks pastry crumbs off her thumb. “Okay, maybe roommates whooccasionallysleep in the same bed, but you know that part is still new.”

“Well, I think you’d be crazy not to lock him down,” Dee says with all the confidence of an alpha. “He’s hot, smart, and head over heels for you.” She looks around the kitchen, frowning at the plastic roses on the counter. “And maybe it’s the kick in the pants I need to look for a new place.”

“Well, I’ll still need to make the budget work. Derek’s neighborhood is pretty fancy.”

Claudia waggles her brows at me. “I’m sure he can think of a few ways you can cover the rent if you fall short.”

“Ew!” I smack her arm. “I’ll have you know I’m a fiercely independent woman.”

“Except when you’re crashing on my couch.”

I toss a piece of croissant at her smirking face. “Seriously, I want to go into this as equals. And if it turns into more… Well, I just don’t want to wind up living with a mistake again.”

“Derek is nothing like Ratface Rick,” she scoffs, but then pats my arm. “It’s good to be cautious, but don’t let the past hold you back from future happiness.” She grabs her torch and another croissant as she stands, tossing me a cocky grin. “Aren’t you lucky to have such a wise older sister?”

I squint at her. “Didn’t someone once say that wisdom is knowing you know nothing?”

“That sounds like the kind of useful thing you’d learn at uni.”

Claudia enlisted in the army straight out of high school and loves to introduce me to people as the oldest student on the planet.

We both snigger at our banter, but she pauses at the door to give me a serious look. “You deserve good things, Em, but the world can change in an instant. Make sure you reach out and grab what you want before it’s too late.”

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