Page 9 of Harley

Veronica ushers us inside, and I can barely keep up in the heels she’s made me wear. As soon as we enter the large theater, I freeze. The scents of hundreds of alphas hit me like a truck, and I gag at the sickly scents. I scrunch my nose as I try to breathe through my mouth. All eyes are on us now, including the cameras, and I feel like a fish out of water.

“We’re on TV,” Storm whispers under her breath beside me.

“Girls, smile,” Veronica hisses from behind us. “They’re announcing you as the next omegas. You might want to use those manners we taught you, so you can show all the alphas what good omegas you’ll make.”

Storm reaches for my hand and squeezes, smiling over at me before letting go. She spins on her heel and winks. Fuck. I can’t contain my giggle. I can’t believe Jonathan wanted us both at this thing. Oh, we will show them our manners, all right. We have two weeks to show them all what good little omegas we are.

Storm spins back around and is walking down the aisle between the alphas seated, her gold dress glittering in the spotlights, and all eyes are on her. She waves to the camera, then proceeds to run her fingertips over the shoulders of the alphas sitting along the aisle. She’s perfuming hard, and I grin as the alphas begin to notice too. They start standing up and scrambling over each other to get closer to her.

“Fuck,” Frankie curses as he takes off, and I realize I haven’t moved from where I’m frozen, and alphas are now looking at me.

“Oh my gosh.” Veronica panics and starts chasing Storm down the aisle, but it’s too late. I can’t keep the grin from my face.

When Veronica turns to look at me, I quickly reach down and pull off the heels she made me wear and kick them to the side. I dare her to say something. Because if I have to walk down there, I’m not doing it in those heels. I grab the heavy fabric of the dress and hitch it up, so I don’t trip over it as I follow Storm.

I had no idea that alphas reacted this strongly. But Storm obviously knew. She’s playing with fire.

My humor fades as I notice alphas moving right into my path, blocking me from Storm, and turning their gazes on me. I take a step back, and a strong hand wraps around my wrist as guards from the Omega House rush beside me. Some of them are alphas that wear the Omega House uniform but I’ve never seen before. I gasp, trying to pull from the person’s grip, but that's when I hear his voice.

“You’re safe. I’ve got you, Harley,” Gage whispers in my ear.

I can’t smell him over the alphas here. He’s here. I almost let out a sob. I should have realized. They always bring omega guards to these events. That’s why Frankie is here. I relax under his touch. I feel safe with him. Always.

Hearing the deep rumbles of alphas around me, I realize my scent blockers aren’t working anymore, and I perfume for Gage. Shit, that’s never happened. I took the blockers this morning.

A few guards start to push the alphas back to their seats, but Storm riled too many of them up. It isn't until someone gets on the PA system that the alphas start to listen.

“If you do not return to your seats, your names will be taken from the barrel, and you will no longer be permitted to enter any future omega lotteries.”

It doesn’t take long for them to return to their seats. During the entire ordeal, Gage never removed his hand from me. He held me close, and I could feel how tense he was. He’s not as large as an alpha. He’s actually one of the smaller guards on duty back at the Omega House.

I think he’s there so we don’t feel intimidated by his size. Or so I don’t go scaling over the wall again, because he’s a sweet talker. Either way, I’m glad I met him. He keeps me from wanting to go over the wall...but now everything’s changed, with my Choosing Day so close.

I lean into him. I tried so hard not to, but he’s my comfort. He’s my beta. I breathe in his vanilla bean scent. Even though he’s a beta, and doesn’t smell like an alpha, his scent always does something to me.

“Harley.” I look up to see Veronica waving for me to come down to the front. Her eyes narrow at where Gage holds my wrist.

I look up at him and give him a small smile. “Thank you so much for helping me back there.” But what I want to do is kiss him in front of them all and let them know I don’t want to choose a pack of alphas if I don’t get to keep him.

His eyes dart to Veronica. He nods and removes his hand from my bare skin. I almost whimper at the loss of touch. I’m so touch starved. I want his hand back the moment it leaves.

Soon, I tell myself. Soon, this will all be over, and I will claim Gage as mine. I’ll just need to work out how to escape from a pack of alphas in a city full of them and find where Gage lives and break into his bed and never leave.

I quickly hurry down the aisle, trying not to trip over my dress while alpha scents assault my nose. So many pheromones in such a small space, it makes me feel sick.

“What were you doing?” Veronica scolds me, looking back over her shoulder to see Gage followed me down to the stage.

“I felt dizzy. I thought I was going to fall. There were so many alphas, I was overwhelmed, and Gage saved me from collapsing.” I blink a few times, holding my hand over my chest, and cast my eyes to the floor, giving her my best omega act.

“Oh, I shouldn’t have left you. Do you think you're well enough to sit through the Choosing?”

I look up at her through my lashes and nod slightly.

“How come you didn't take your scent blockers?” she asks, hurrying me up the side onto the stage.

“I did. You gave them to me this morning. I don’t know what happened.”

I really don’t know how that happened. Gage being there when I needed him seemed to be all I needed to break through the blockers. It didn’t happen last night when we kissed.

---