Page 89 of For the First Time
Murmurs of agreement went up.
“I still think you should have fought that, Eve,” my dad said.“I know you’re happy now with your pack and all, but you gave a lot of good years to the OC.I’m sure they could have found some way to save your position.Or transfer you to another location.”
Mama Ruth made a clucking sound.“Considering all the drama that’s happening now at the compound, it might have been a saving grace that Eve was let go.”
“Well, that’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.”My words were lost as my parents continued to talk.
“The problem is,” Momma Abigail started, “They’re letting go of all the good betas like Eve.”
“I hate to be the one to say it.”That was Mama Ruth.“But I do think this was for the best.Maybe betas, even the good ones, just aren’t capable of helping omegas.The designation gap is so wide.You can’t expect them to truly understand the dynamics.They can’t biologically understand—”
I cut my Mama off.“I actually didn’t call to debate the allowance of betas in the OC.”
“Watch your tone,” Deborah-Ma snapped.“We’re still your parents.”
“Are you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.”I was getting worked up like I was a teenager again, not an adult.I turned, wanting to pace, only to slam into Everett who hadn’t moved away.His touch only made me angrier—not because of him.But because of how perfect he was.An alpha who cared about his pack, not just Atlas.
I forced myself to take a deep breath and to relax my grip on the stuffed animal I was nearly squeezing to death.“I’m sorry.I shouldn’t have said that.I just want to explain my reasons for calling and I got frustrated because you all weren’t listening.”There, that was an adult statement.
“All right then,” Mom Elizabet said.“Tell us what’s so important.”
I didn’t know my mom well enough to know if she was being serious or if her tone was sarcastic.Either way, I took the opening she’d created.“The real reason I was let go from the OC is because I deleted a file on an omega without proper authorization.The omega—you all remember Hannah from the news a few months ago?Well, she was being investigated.Or I guess, the investigation hadn’t started yet, but people had created profiles on her so that when the investigation did start, they’d have a history already in place.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” my dad said, not quite interrupting me.“I’m confused.You deleted the file?Why?”
“Because it shouldn’t have been created in the first place.Hannah was essentially being stalked by the upper echelon in the OC because they wanted to eventually bring a case against her pack.”
“What kind of case?”Mama Ruth asked.Or at least, I thought it was Mama Ruth.My heartbeat was in my ears making it hard to hear clearly.
This was it.The moment that made or broke my relationship with my family.I stared at the stuffed keychain in my hand.
I didn’t know how much to say about Hannah since I didn’t want to expose her own secrets in order to appease my parents.So I kept it vague.“They were tracking her, wanting to claim that her alphas were neglectful.The whole thing was wrong.They just wanted to break her and her pack apart because they don’t like Hannah.I can’t go into the details, not without breaking her trust, but know I only did what I did because I was protecting her.”
“Eve.”The stern tone of Deborah-Ma’s voice was not encouraging.“If you suspected foul play, then you should have reported it.”
“To whom?The file on Hannah was still open, still being consistently added to.That meant that someone at a higher level than me was allowing it to continue.So who could I trust?”
“This isn’t some spy-game,” Momma Abigail admonished.“There is no large conspiracy, Eve.There’s a reason chains of command exist.Or HR.If you had concerns for this omega, there was a proper way to handle it.”
I started pacing.I even tossed the keychain onto the bed and gripped the Wilder name around my neck.“But it shouldn’t have existed in the first place.You don’t understand.The pages of her file weren’t filled with abuse from her alphas.It was literally a conspiracy to get her pulled from her pack.To punish her for—for being different.”
Someone on the other end gasped.
“Eve Tellus,” that was Mom Elizabet.“Are you trying to tell us that you’re the beta in Adam’s case?”
“No.”
Someone sighed with relief.
“I’m telling you that Adam is using me to create a strife between the designations, claiming betas are the cause of all the problems within the other designations.I’m telling you that Adam is a liar.He’s an elitist and a bully.I’m telling you that you can’t believe what he says about the OC, about betas.”
“I can’t believe this,” Mama Mary said.It was her first time speaking up since we’d started talking.“We raised you better than this, Eve.”
“Better than what?To protect an omega?”
