Page 37 of Omega Alliance

I hold her hands in mine but stay quiet. I can tell how much sharing this piece of her past takes out of her, but I'm so, so grateful for it.

Sin offers me a sad smile before continuing. "She'd loved her pack and didn't want to mate another despite the omega shortage, and I was already a teenager by then. She didn't trust any new alphas as far as I was concerned, so she disguised herself as a beta and worked hard to keep us fed.

"But then money got tight and she couldn't afford her suppressants anymore. A brawl broke out at the restaurant where she worked when some unruly alphas caught her scent and began to fight each other for her."

Her words are coming quicker now, like she's eager to get them all out and be done with it.

"And then two men from the Omega Alliance came to talk with us at home. The OA was brand new, nobody knew what it was yet, and it sounded like a good thing, so she let them in. They told her about their new experiment, how they wanted to create a virtual omega experience to help reduce crime rates, that she would appear on TV only, and no alphas would ever have direct access to her. And they offered so much money that she couldn't say no. So she left with them."

She shrugs, and I squeeze her hands as a silent show of support.

"At first she only worked normal hours,” Sin continues softly, though the expression in her eyes is quickly turning angry. "She would come home to me every night, but soon those hours got longer and longer to the point I'd only see her a couple times per week. Being alone so much at that age was terrifying, but the money was good and my mom seemed happy so I never said anything.

"Until one day she didn't come home, but already it was too late."

"Oh, Sin," I say, squeezing her hands again. "I'm so sorry." I feel like I'm constantly apologizing to her for things I haven't done, but someone needs to. It might as well be me.

"It's okay." She sniffs. "It was a long time ago. Back then, a woman came to that tiny house I shared with my mother and told me that she was dead. I don't even remember what happened after that. Just that I woke up in a big and beautiful new house, laying in the most comfortable bed I'd ever slept on.

"The lady was gone, but there were words on the wall. They said, 'Don't worry, Cindy.' That was my name then, before the watchers voted to shorten it to Sin. And the wall said, 'Don't worry, Cindy. You're safe now. We'll take care of you.'

"And for the next seven years they did. They always took care of me, but it came at such a great cost."

"Your freedom," I whisper.

She nods. "They took me before I'd even fully manifested as an omega. I guess they suspected that since my mom was one, I would be too. And for all the things they got wrong, they were right about that.

"So they took me and kept me and for the first three years, they trained me. That's what they said, they 'trained' me on how to be the perfect omega for the people. But really I think they brainwashed me. They tried to make me forget everything from my life before, and a lot of it I did, but I always remembered my mother."

She falls silent, and I wait to see if there is any more. When she doesn't speak again, I ask, "You said that before your name was Cindy. Do you want me to call you that instead of Sin?"

She shakes her head. "No. I'm not that girl anymore."

"Does that make you sad?" I venture, watching her closely for her response.

Sin offers me a sad smile. "I like being here with you, so in that way I don't wish things were different. But it's so hard, you know? Losing my dads and then my mom. It was all so abrupt. I didn't get to say goodbye to any of them."

"I'm sorry for what they did to you. All the things that happened." I can't help but apologize again. I can't make things right, but at least I can offer my support, show her that I care.

She just shrugs. "It doesn't matter."

I lean forward and place a hand on each of her shoulders. "No, don't do that. It does matter. You matter. In fact, youmatter a whole lot to me." I motion toward sleeping Levi. "To the guys. Hell, even to that random-ass guy we met in the parking lot. You matter to a lot of people, Sin. I just wish you mattered more to yourself."

She sighs. "I'm trying. Really I am. It's just for so long I was more of a thing than a person. They worked hard to turn me into this object of worship and desire, to bury the person I was far, far underneath the facade."

Now I'm the one shaking my head, insistent, begging her to understand. "I see the person you are, Sin. I see her and she's beautiful."

Sin smiles, and then I lean forward to kiss her again.

SIN

I know it's cliche, but I feel like a weight has been lifted from my chest—lying in that bed with Dani as our mouths and hands explore each other's bodies. I shared my shameful past, revealed just how easy it was for the budding Omega Alliance to take me and my mother prisoner. We were desperate then, and in many ways I'm still that desperate girl, just struggling to survive while other people fall all over themselves to take care of me.

Omega or not, I need to claim that power for myself. But more than that I need to want it, and I'm not quite sure I'm there yet.

I already know our life can never be normal, but it can still be good. I'm reminded of that over and over again as Dani's lips join then part from my own.

My mother and I didn't know what was coming for us then, but Dani and the rest of Pack Thorin know exactly what to expect from our unscrupulous foe. Eventually the Alliance will come calling. They will take what they see as theirs. They've investedtoo much in crafting me into this perfect little thing to simply allow me to walk away.

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