Page 28 of Defiant Beta

“I’m sure you’ll find a way to get off campus. You seem like a resourceful beta.”

My heart leaps in panic, and I shove the door open to leave.

He won this battle, but that’s okay.

He hasn’t come close to winning the war.

“Are you okay, Delilah? You were quiet at dinner.” River is walking beside me as we return to the dorms.

I should have left after Professor Vincent’s threat, but I’ve been thinking about what will happen at the end-of-year ball.

River’s sister, Juniper, isn’t happy with her pack. If I don’t do something, I’ll be leaving River to suffer the same fate as her sister.

I twist to face her. “What would you say if I suggested we run away from here?”

She laughs. “Run away?”

I don’t laugh back.

Slowly, her amusement fades. “You’re serious.”

I grab River’s hand and tug her toward the side of our cottage so the rest of our roommates won’t see us. “This place is a cage, River. You have to get out.”

“It’s not a cage,” she denies. “We have the best teachers and facilities. And?—”

“—A spiked gate that goes all the way around, and we need to get ‘permission’ to take one step off campus. Do you know anyone Ms. Arkwright has ever granted permission?”

River is silent for so long that I grasp her by both arms and shake her, hoping to shake some sense into her. “We have to break free.”

“Why me? And stop doing that. You’re making me dizzy.”

I stop shaking my friend. “I’ve tried with the others. They’ve either been here too long or they don’t have a sister made miserable by alphas.”

“Juniper isn’t miserable,” she denies.

I arch a brow. “So, she’s happy then?”

Silence.

I sigh. “This is not a good place, River. No one should have the right to choose your future partners but you. And now with the Asylum…”

She casts an anxious glance over her shoulder. “Stop, Delilah. We’re not allowed to talk about politics here.”

Alphas from the city’s wealthiest families had been using free heat clinics as hunting grounds, snatching up omegas so lost to heat, they likely didn’t even know what was going on until their heat ended. All free heat clinics are being investigated, and cops have shut down some already. There’s still a long way to go to make them safe for all omegas.

“Do you know how insane that sounds? We’re in a school and we’re not allowed to talk about politics? We cover history, but we’re not allowed to think critically about how much power alphas have over anyone. Just look pretty, have the best ofeverything, and get tied to whatever alpha some perfumer and Ms. Arkwright decide will look good with our dresses.”

“So, what do you want me to do?” River finally reveals her frustration, throwing her arms up. “This is where omegas find alphas who will care for us; otherwise, we end up at heat clinics and…” She shakes her head. “If I left, I’d never see my family again. My parents would cut off contact, and I wouldn’t see Juniper either.”

“They’re your family. They’ll come around.”

I avoid thinking about my fractured relationship with my mom. How guilty I felt for not realizing she was drugging Everleigh’s orange juice before she sold her to an alpha.

I never spoke to Mom again. I left, and I miss her. Sheisfamily, but after what she did, I can’t look at her the same way or even want someone capable of doing something like that in my life. I just can’t.

Some things arenotforgivable.

“Come on, let’s go inside,” River says, smiling.

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