Page 35 of Who We Were

That gets Oli to look at me. "Thanks!"

His smile is so big, so I do the same, no longer feeling weird about telling him I liked his singing. I can't sing, and neither can Sammy. Oli just laughs and laughs whenever we try, so I haven't tried in a long time. I don't need to, because he's always filling the quiet with his voice.

Jokes, stories, and songs. That's Oli.

He starts humming again and I close my eyes, trying to think about what I do for us. I don't make them laugh like Oli does. Sammy is always watching the world around us. I'm not sure what he's looking for, but it makes me feel better.

I'm just kind of… there. Maybe someday I'll figure out what I can do for my friends to make them happy and safe. Like a pack member is supposed to do.

"Guys," I whisper, kind of hoping they don't hear me. My cheeks feel warm again, especially against the cooling air.

"Yeah?" Sammy asks softly as Oli pauses his song again.

How long has he been singing?

I swallow, squeezing my eyes closed. "Are we going to be a pack?"

"Yes," Sammy says right away.

Oli sits up, and I wonder if he's hiding how dizzy that made him. Sometimes when I stand up too fast, I feel dizzy. "Can I be a part of it?"

Opening my eyes, I look over fast enough to see Sam frown at his little brother. "Of course, Oliver. You're family. We areallfamily."

"Like we're already a pack?" Oli tilts his head.

I sit up, too, and ignore the itchiness of the fresh-cut grass beneath me. Looking at Sammy, I wait for his response. I would love to call them my pack. I know we're young, but they are my closest friends.

Sammy smiles, looking so much like Oli that I have to hold in my joke about them being twins. "Sure, Oliver. We can be a pack now."

Oli sighs with a grin. "We're gonna be thebestpack."

My smile joins theirs and my excitement rises to meet Oli's. They are already the best pack members. Now I need to know how I can be the same.

I'll ask Papa.

25

AMAYA

Everything has happened so fast. Too fast. It was just a month ago that I moved in with Paul. Two weeks later, he had me sign the deed to a house. One week after I became the new owner of said house, I moved in. And now, two days after moving in, I'm beyond lonely.

It's a different kind of lonely.

At the academy, I felt like I had lost everyone and everything. Which I had. I was surrounded by students my age also living the same horrors as me. But it didn't unify us.

The alphas and betas kept away from us, as was the requirement. I preferred it actually, because no attention from the other designations was better than their ire and testing out the abusive behaviors they were being taught.

Hell, I watched one alpha on the football team almost drown a female omega in a puddle of mud, then rip her back open with his metal cleats, all because he felt he was above her and could do whatever he wanted.

The cleats were illegal, and she was badly injured, but from what I heard, he got off the hook pretty easily. Just a slap on the wrist because he damaged the academy's property.

Property.

My fists clench, wrinkling the cream-colored sheet curled around me on the couch. A whimper slips free, and I wince. "Sorry," I whisper, and release the fabric.

Great, now I'm talking to my omega.

At the academy, the main goal was to force us to separate from our omega side. Literally tear our brains and souls in half so we could learn to control our instincts. An omega ruled by their instinctual feelings and behaviors is a wild card, and in the name of science, that's unacceptable.

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