Page 24 of Broken Omega

My dull as dishwater week starts to get more interesting just after hump day with the arrival of two new Omegas. A pretty girl with long, dark hair and terrible dress sense named Secret, and a kind of cute but scruffy guy with bright green eyes named Dylan. The two of them are in the first flushes of love, or at least attraction. They’re trying to hide it, but any Omega can tell.

It’s sweet, but it makes me sad for them.

I make a bitchy comment about the girl’s clothes in the hopes of embarrassing her into playing pretend. It would be much easier to hide how different she is if she listened, and therefore much easier to conceal her relationship with her friend.

Curiosity eats at me.Who are these people, and what the hell are they doing here?

I text Lana to tell me what she knows at lunch.

She tells me she doesn’t have time to meet me, but she can call me in a while, so I get settled at the kitchen table in my suite and order my lunch from the academy’s kitchen. The salad arrives about ten minutes later, and I’m just starting to pick through it for the best bits when I get Lana’s call.

“Hey, Lana,” I answer, putting the fork down.

“I’m just heading out to my car, so give me a second,” she says, before a gust of wind makes her location more obvious. A few seconds of wind whistling later, I hear the distinct noise of a car door opening, and then closing.

“Okay,” she starts. “This is all kinds of crazy and I don’t want to be caught talking about it in reception. So, get this … the male Omega, Dylan Cain, is rumored to be Cassidy Halloran’s Omega, and I say rumored because his father is super traditional and absolutely can’t stand the fact that his son has taken a male Omega. Now, Cassidy has never announced Dylan as his Omega, but there have been a whole bunch of incidents that make it obvious, according to students at Cassidy’s college, and locals who knew Dylan when he used to be a bar tender in the city.”

She pauses, and I can just tell there’s a lot more to come.

“Why do I know that name?” I ask. “Halloran?”

“Oh, right. You know it because everyone knows it. Cassidy’s father is seriously loaded. He’s been a billionaire for a long time. One of his companies owns the biggest electricity supplier in the country.”

“Wow,” I murmur, realizing he’s probably one of the top donors like my father if he’s that rich.

“The girl Dylan came in with is a bit more of a mystery. She’s from Silver Lake. Didn’t seem to know she was an Omega until she went to college in Cressidan City and one of the Alphas there triggered her perfume.”

“She seems pretty cozy with Dylan. They were brought in together, right?”

“Yeah. I think Cassidy brought them both in with another Alpha.”

Well, I guess that means they could both belong to Cassidy. It’s not super common for an Alpha to take two Omegas as his mates, but it’s possible. Still …

“If they have an Alpha, why are they here?”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Lana tells me. “I have to get back to reception now, but you can call me after five if you want to talk more.”

“Okay. I’ll speak to you later.”

I don’t have anything more to ask, but I’m sure I can think of something. The invitation to call Lana later is too good of an opportunity to pass up.

BROOKE

Iimmediately picture Lana when my phone starts ringing on Friday night. I’m already dressed for bed in a loose T-shirt and plain, old cotton panties, my skin stripped of make-up and slathered in night cream. I feel weirdly self-conscious, while my heart races just a little at the same time.

“Hey,” I answer, wondering if she has more info about the new Omegas, or if she’s finally calling me to talk randomly about something like I so often do to her.

“Brooke, dear, I was hoping I’d catch you before you went to bed,” Geraldine’s voice carries down the line.

Disappointment makes my shoulders droop.

It’s after seven, dummy. Lana doesn’t work this late.

“Oh?” I ask, not sure I want to know why she’s calling.

I know my father must have spoken to the head of the academy about his little plan for me by now. It makes my stomach churn to think of them organizing my future together.

“I have an Alpha visiting the academy tomorrow. I’d like you to give him the tour and get to know him a little.”

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