Page 1 of Their Perfect Omega

CHAPTERONE

Kara

I was committing a felony. There was no doubt about it. The headline was as clear as the dark highway in front of me:Former perfect omega steals dean of students’ car.

In my defense, Ella had left her keys on the counter in her apartment that she’d given me a spare key to. She was practically giving me permission, right? She’d even taught me to drive and taken me to get my driver’s license.

A driver’s license didn’t erase the three words no omega wants to read in their email:No Match Results.

It had been a month since those words knocked me off my feet, and I was in a weird transition period where I needed to decide if I wanted to find an omega-friendly job or start attending fall match events. Unfortunately, I’d addedlose my ever-loving mind and steal someone’s carto that list.

Omega Match was a government-run matching program that paired newly graduated omegas with packs of alphas and was the current bane of my existence. After months of meet and greets, we listed our choices in order of preference, and the system matched us similarly to how newly graduated doctors matched into residency programs.

Top omegas always matched with the best packs… except for me.

I’d done everything right since before I’d even emerged as an omega. Having a pack was all I’d hoped for and wanted. What had been the point of all the late nights studying, practicing my skills, and worrying about how I presented myself in public and around alphas?

I was twenty-two, freshly graduated from the most prestigious omega academy on the west coast, winner of fourOmega of the Yearawards, yet I was pack-less.

And now, I was a car thief.

My fucks had gone right out the window like my match results. The matching was done and now I’d have to wait until the fall when the packs weren’t as plentiful or as desirable. I tried not to dwell on what could have been.

The farther I got away from the omega compound, the more relaxed I became. The omega compound might have been a highly secure apartment complex for unmatched omegas, but it was no contender for a determined omega.

With a tall, spiked fence and beta security guards always on watch, I’d still managed to drive out without issue. Between the shift change, the baseball cap I wore over my curly hair, and the cover of darkness, it had been easy to leave. Too easy.

How many other omegas had snuck in and out without our babysitters knowing? I’d lived there a month and hadn’t heard a peep in the common areas we shared. But I wasn’t surprised; omegas didn’t trust one another, and they wouldn’t want a goody-two-shoes such as me to rat them out.

Who’s the goody-two-shoes now?

The only one I ever hung out with was Ella Monroe, who had been my dean at Elite Omega Academy. We’d become quick friends when I had moved in across the hall from her. I think she knew I needed someone, especially after my twin sister moved a thousand miles away with her pack.

I looked in the rearview mirror to make sure the police and Omega Protective Services weren’t chasing me. It was only a matter of time before OPS found out I was missing, but by the time they did, I would be long gone.

The speaker in the car dinged, and I jumped. “Take the next exit to I-5 South,” Siri’s monotone voice directed me.

I smiled, checked my mirrors, and left my disappointment behind.

* * *

Driving a thousand miles in two days was beyond crazy, especially when my driving experience was limited. I was newly licensed, and Ella had let me drive between the academy and the compound several times as practice, but that hadn’t prepared me for the highway or everything that went with it.

I was extra cautious, checking my mirrors twice before changing lanes, staying in the slow-lane, and taking a lot of breaks. That didn’t change the fact that this was by far the stupidest thing I’d ever done.

Leaving Washington had been easy, and Oregon had been a breeze since they filled up my car with gas for me, but once I hit California, I was a little intimidated. Thank the knot gods for the internet, otherwise I would have been one of those people that spilled gas all over the place.

I’d stopped at night at cheap motels, not wanting to risk giving my ID to anyone. I was on heat suppressants and scent blockers to minimize the risk of attracting unwanted alpha attention, but there were evil people in the world, and if the wrong person knew I was an omega, I might have found myself in a bad situation. As an extra precaution, I’d picked up some cheap perfume at a gas station to spray the car and myself with.

After two long days, I made it to Kayla’s house in one piece and parked five houses down. If OPS or the police came looking for me, I didn’t want them to see the car right out front or in the driveway.

Kayla had been texting me all day, so I knew she was home. Her pack was on a week-long business trip to New York City, and she’d stayed behind to work on her plans for a quilting business. I didn’t know why she hadn’t gone with them since they were bonded now, but then again, she was stubborn as a mule.

I turned off the car and grabbed my purse from the passenger seat. I wasn’t looking forward to the trek uphill with my large suitcase, and I looked into the backseat at the two Squishmallows I’d brought with me. “You, my friends, will have to wait. Mama only has two arms.” I changed my voice to a higher pitch, pretending one of them was talking. “What happened to no man or Squishmallow left behind?”

The sound of a vehicle caught my attention, and I turned forward. A shiny black SUV with fully tinted windows turned right in front of me into the driveway leading to a gate. I’d parked about a car length back from where the curb dipped for the driveway. Ella’s car was nice, but it wasn’t Hollywood Hills nice.

The SUV idled, waiting for the gate to open. The idea that someone famous was inside excited me, and I squinted, trying to make out any figures inside. Was it even legal to have windows that dark?

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