Page 17 of Pack Rivals, Part One

Courtney takes my hands in hers. "Bea, I think so, yes." The blind panic that swims through my gut must register on my face, because, my cousin adds quickly, "We'll give Aunt Julia a call. She'll know what to do."

I hope so, because I sure as hell don't.

If I thought my life was a failure before, a complete and utter mess, I have a feeling I had no flipping clue.

* * *

Aunt Julia ringsthe buzzer exactly an hour later and Courtney lets her into the apartment. I can hear them whispering out in the kitchen diner, and then an older lady with salt and pepper curls and a string of beads around her neck sticks her head around my door.

"Can I come in?" she asks.

I shuffle up against my cushions, another one clutched to my belly and nod. I'm now wearing the sweater the alpha left behind, much to Courtney's amusement.

Aunt Julia tiptoes inside like I'm some frightened wild animal. She examines my face and my eyes as she does, her nostrils flaring.

"How do you feel?"

"Hot, cranky, confused," I swallow, "scared."

"Nothing to be scared of, my dear. We'll get you all sorted." She smiles at me kindly. She looks just like my mum, except less up tight, no worry lines crisscrossing her face. I can't remember now why the two of them fell out. "How about we start by coming into the living room? Hiding in this grubby little room is no good for an omega. Besides, when was the last time you ate or drank?"

"Courtney made me tea a half hour ago."

"And I've brought you some soup. Come on, out you come, you can bring your comforter with you."

I wrap it around my shoulders and hobble into the living room. Courtney's cooking something on the stove and I sink onto one side of the sofa, Aunt Julia claiming the other.

"You think I'm an omega too?" I ask her.

"No doubt about it, my darling."

My lip trembles. I know very little about the lives of omegas and alphas, but what I've heard sounds pretty horrific. Painful, humiliating heats lasting days. A life ruled by hormones and alphas. No free will. No choices. No freedom.

Basically, omegas are treated like property. Slaves to their alphas' commands and wants.

"Now let's not panic," my aunt says, wiping tears from my cheeks. "It all feels new and unfamiliar now, but that's probably just because your hormones are all a tumble. I think we'd better get the doctor here quick. We'll get everything confirmed and she'll soon have you sorted."

"You know a doctor who will come?" Courtney asks from the stove.

"Yes, Dr Hannah. She's an omega herself."

"She's an omega and a doctor." That doesn't sound likely.

"Yes dear. Best in the city."

"Then I doubt she'll come out to see me," I mumble. "I don't have any money."

"Or a job," Courtney calls over. "Alicia left you a message. She's fired you. Says she can't afford to have an omega on her staff."

I burst into tears. "My life is ruined. Even more ruined." I hiccup, a snot bubble forming in my nostril.

Aunt Julia hands me a tissue from her purse. "Your life is not over. It's only just beginning." I blow loudly into the tissue and throw her a skeptical look. "Well, it is. You're young, beautiful and about to have the city's alphas falling at your feet. Seems you caused quite a stir last night. There's been non-stop chatter about the mysterious new omega. I had no idea, of course, that the mysterious new omega was my niece."

"I don't want the city's alphas falling at my feet. I want them as far away from me as is physically possible. I've sworn off men. They're all jerks." Including the man with the beautiful gray eyes and the owner of this sweater. I bet they are both jerks too. You can be as pretty as you like on the outside, can smell like something divine, doesn't mean you're any better than the rest.

"How about women?"

"I came to the city to start afresh. To find myself. I want a job. I want to study. I want …" I start sobbing into my tissue again.

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