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Chapter One
The trembling pencil tip danced closer towards stiffened lashes. Skin held taut, eyes forced wide, she painted the sooty black on in careful sweeps. Smoothed with the pad of her finger, she softened the harsh line on her eyelid before blinking at her reflection to view the results.
Eyes so blue they were violet peered back at her, the loose bun of thick black curls leaving delicate strands to frame her face. Paired with a sensible beige skirt and white blouse, she could pass for any one of the other droning bees in the cubicle farm she worked at—until they looked closer, at least, and noted her slight frame and the roundness of her curves.
Releasing her breath in a huff, Devin squared her shoulders and stepped into the low, practical heels beside her. The added inch gave her no command, but it didn’t draw the eye to her legs and backside. Omegas were always wary of attracting too much attention; playing at being a small Beta was much harder than it should be. It also cost a lot more. Suppressants weren’t cheap, and the soaps used to hide her scent cost a small fortune every month. Worth it, yes, but expensive, nonetheless.
Checking the ancient clock on her wall, Devin’s dusty pink lips pulled into a tight line. She was going to be late. The car was long gone, sold ages ago to make rent and pay the bills. Relegated to public transport, her entire schedule was at the mercy of overworked drivers and early arrival trains.
She could ask for help. There were people who would pitch in to make her life more comfortable, safer even. Her best friend Ashley had offered numerous times. The problem was Devin herself.
She was proud to her core. A trait her mother often lectured Devin about, but she didn’t understand, neither did Devin’s father. Betas both, they didn’t have the slightest inkling what it meant to Devin to be independent. She’d been valedictorian of her small-town high school while the few other Omegas she’d grown up with were barefoot and pregnant, alone in the world after whatever Alpha had used them and then cast them aside. Devin hadn’t fallen into that trap. She’d worked hard and studied harder, managing a full scholarship to her college of choice. Somehow, Devin conquered that, too, despite the constant battles against the discrimination for her dynamic. Majoring in business, she’d dreamed of so much more than the paltry existence she now blundered through.
Sighing as she clattered down the dim hallway towards the darker stairs, she shook her head at how off-track her life had become. Moving to Alderbrook had been the last in a long line of confusing decisions that never quite panned out for her.
Hurrying down the street as best she could in the heels towards the bus stop, Devin tried to frame her thoughts into something more positive. Today would be a good day. She just needed to believe that. As the streetlights flickered off one by one, the clicking of her heels seemed to hammer out that mantra in her head.
“No! Wait! Stop the bus,” she cried, running despite the risks of working up a sweat as the number thirty-two bus began pulling away from the ragged curb. Waving her arms in a desperate plea, she continued to yell for someone to stop the lumbering vehicle as she raced past the dented acrylic shelter to chase after the smog spewing bus.
She ran all the way to the next stop, a full block spent sprinting as fast as she could. Nylons ripped at the soles after she tugged off her shoes, her hair undone from its neat coil, she looked a ragged mess as she clambered up the grated steps onto the bus.
“Didn’t you see me,” she demanded in a low hiss to the driver, jamming her rumpled fare card into the slot.
The driver’s murky brown eyes narrowed as his fat, swollen finger prodded the ‘No shirt, no shoes, no service’ sign. Devin bit back her growl, mouth thinned to a livid slash as she jammed her feet back into the shoes. A jagged pulse of red-hot pain spread up her right leg, something stabbing deep into her heel.
“It’s company policy not to stop the bus… ma’am. Please take your seat, or I’ll have to ask you to remove yourself.”
Seething over the lame excuse and her inability to do anything, Devin stomped down the narrow aisle, trying to avoid touching any of the passengers who stared at her with avid interest. Not only had she made a scene, but she caught the faintest hint of sweetness emanating from her sweat-damp blouse. The special soaps she used on her laundry and body could do nothing for so much physical exertion.
Devin’s face felt icy and pale as she huddled in a seat near the middle door. It gave her any easy escape route as several males and a woman turned to peer at her, their cautious sniffs all too obvious. It also left Devin exposed, with no barrier between her body and their roaming gazes. Feeling vulnerable and more naked than she had when she got out of the shower that morning, Devin clutched the insignificant shield of her purse to her chest and stared hard at the scuffed tops of her shoes.
It could still be a good day. She swore it to herself as the bus lurched into motion.
* * *
“Let me get that for you, baby.”
Devin clenched her jaw, teeth grinding together hard enough to creak as the long arm came over her shoulder, surpassing her reaching fingers for one of the standard issue company mugs sitting on the shelf. Just a couple of inches too high, she’d waited an age to get in the narrow kitchenette alone so she could scramble up onto the counter to grab one. She should have known Allen Greer wouldn’t be far behind. Now crowded against the hard edge of the aged Formica, they were alone in the too small space.
He’d seemed nice enough when Devin first started at the property management firm. A Beta that was all smiles and sparkling blue eyes, chock full of that boy-next-door charm, Allen showed his true colors within the week. After shoving her over the back of a car, digging his hand inside her skirt and underwear, he’d had the gall to blame her after she’d coated his face in pepper spray, and kicked Allen in the balls as hard as she could. People leaving the office had come running, coddling the Beta as he rolled around on the filthy asphalt covering his groin. As if she’d been the aggressor, Devin stood in handcuffs, and shook she was so angry as the police took Allen’s statement.
HR gave her a lecture and a warning, marking it down in Devin’s personnel file. Another transgression like that, and she would be gone. She could forget any sort of reference for all the hard work she’d done.
Devin took a slow breath in through her nose, forcing her lip to uncurl from its snarl at the flat, metallic flavor of artificial pheromones coating the back of her tongue. Up to new tricks, Allen pressed closer, forcing her to breathe in the foul spray.
It should be illegal to sell things like that, but no one cared if an Omega was overpowered. As the weakest dynamic, they had no rights. An Alpha only had to pay a fine if they claimed an Omega in heat, a pitiful sum for ruining the Omega’s life. Nothing was done if the Alpha just raped them. Betas got away with much the same, though they couldn’t claim an Omega. They used pills to alter their scent or pheromone-laced colognes to get what came naturally to an Alpha. The more dangerous Betas used far more toxic substances to mimic the bulky muscle of an Alpha, though they always lacked the predatory grace.
“Thank you, I have it now.” Devin somehow managed to get the words out around the tight ball of fury lodged in her throat. Snatching the mug from Allen’s hand, she took up the fresh pot of coffee she’d made in the other. She’d use it if she had to. There was only so much she would take in order to keep this job, and being molested in the office kitchen was not one of them.
“There’s no need to be rude, Devin,” Allen murmured. A low, grating sound smeared through his words as he tried an approximation of a comforting purr. “Why don’t we bury the hatchet, eh? Over dinner at that new Italian place?”
“No, thank you.” Devin began making her coffee, for once praying someone else would come into the kitchen. There might not be any penalties for molesting an Omega in general, but there were still rules about workplace etiquette. Blind fingers going through the motions of adding sugar and cream, she mourned the loss of the comforting weight from the coffeepot in her hand as she set it back on the burner. She couldn’t stand there wielding it forever, no matter how much she might wish to.
“I’m willing to be the bigger man here and give you a chance to earn my forgiveness,” Allen said, impatience turning his stumbling purr into a growl.
“I don’t want or need your forgiveness for what you tried and failed to do to me, Greer.” Devin considered biting off her tongue as the words slipped over her lips, preceding all caution and thought. Taunting the man wasn’t going to get her out of this situation any faster.
“You think you’re so fucking clever, don’t you, bitch,” Allen hissed as he shoved Devin forward, pinning her against the counter with a painful grip on her hips.
