Page 47 of Isla

Isla

Thewarmseabreeze kissed across my skin, but didn’t take away the goosebumps that still covered my arms. For anyone else, it might be fear, but for me, excitement caused them. Because as I walked with the other omegas here, for the same experience I was, my body thrummed away at what was to come.

“If you choose to take part in the chase, you have three options.” Miss Trimble, our guide, opened up a door and me and nine omegas walked into a darkened room. “This room is where the virtual attendees can experience a chase but in a safe environment.”

I held my index finger in the air, and at the same time, a light behind shone onto the wall ahead. “So we pick a chase and it happens in this room. Doesn’t that make it too easy?”

“No, far from it. The walls have holes which take you into a variety of maze-like structures. You only think you are taking the route on your chosen chase.”

She clicked a button on a remote control. “This omega wore a headset for this recording. She wanted to be chased by bears in the forest.”

Eek.

The screen ahead showed an omega running through woodland and there was an unmistakable sound of grunting behind her. Her eyes were wide, but the smile on her face told me this wasn’t fear she was feeling.

Why would she?

She chose it. Probably where the Island failed. It represented the primal instinct to hunt and be hunted, but took away the fear. Did the alpha truly get what they wanted?

The omega on the screen hid behind a tree as her head whipped around, looking for her next run. Her chest was rising and falling, her hands pushed against the trunk of the tree and she darted towards the rocks.

“It’s hot.” I heard behind me.

I smiled. But it wasn’t for me.

“People have different kinks. We have over one hundred settings for you to choose from, contemporary to fantasy, such as vampires in a medieval setting, or a modern hospital and being chased by doctors, other omegas just want the chase through woods, across streams,” she said and I shivered. “But you have two choices in the virtual room, one you wear the headset and you know the hunt is what you picked and the other, we fully submerse you in the chase and you believe it’s real.”

I swallowed a lump in my throat.

“If we choose this, who picks the alphas?” a girl with curly black hair asked.

“You do. Today you get a list of the first names and a number for each alpha who is attending. Tonight is the first masked meeting, but it's different to what you expect. You can talk to the alphas, but mainly you will scent them and they will scent you," Miss Trimble said. "And at the end of the event, give me the numbers of the alphas you are interested in and we will tell you if you match after your time here. We have new alphas turning up each day, so don’t rush into picking if you aren’t ready or if you aren’t interested in the ones here tonight. But be aware that not all alphas agree to take part unless you only pick them.”

“I was told the chase was an actual event,” Jess said beside me. We’d spoken just after I arrived and had brunch together.

“And that is your other choice if you want to take part in a chase,” Miss Trimble said. “Remember, the chase is what an alpha wants, but at Omega Island you get what you want.”

“Oh yeah,” Jess whispered.

“I want to experience the chase, but I want the live chase. No holds barred,” a girl with straight black hair asked.

“And that is your decision to make Polly, but watch the video in the privacy of your room, because you might change your mind. For a viewer, it looks stressful, and we were going to stop the event because of the mental strain it puts omegas under, but every omega on leaving the resort claimed it was the highlight of their stay.”

“I still want to partake,” she said. "I watched one when I was here last time."

“Okay, then you already know you have to sign a waiver, undergo psychological testing and watch the video before we accept you. Be warned, there will be security surveillance around the designated area to make sure you are safe, but alphas have been know to steer an omega away from the main hunt. Pheromones run very hard on the real hunt, as you can imagine.”

“Oh, I’m excited,” Polly said. “I want to be chased down like omegas were before suppressants and heat blockers and all those things we do to our bodies to stop being who we are. We are theirs to take.”

I wanted to vomit.

“I’m not theirs. I’m mine,” I hissed.

“Then why are you here?” Polly retorted, placing a heavy hand on her tilted hip.

“For the sex, for the knot and for the fucking fun of it,” I said and smiled sweetly. Not admitting my real reason. I was sure I’d be thrown out of the resort if I admitted I was there to get pregnant. All the papers stipulated an unbonded omega had to be on heat blockers or using traditional contraceptives. I put on the form I was on the pill. Everywhere, but here, it was frowned upon for an omega to use beta contraception, but lots did.

Jess spurted spittle from her lips, slapping her hand against her mouth to stop more from escaping. “Me too. I was just too shy to admit it.”

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