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“I thought your mother was auctioned?” I tell him. He nods his head.

“My father was one of the main sponsors of the facility. While attending a tour there, he met my mom. They dated for a bit,” Thane answers.

“Headmaster Waylen was so mad! He scolded her for drawing attention,” Elaine chuckles.

“Anyway, when she went to auction, he and his mate, who at the time was only his business partner, made sure to be the winning bid,” Elaine chuckles. Raidon comes back in and clears his throat, but I hold up my hand.

“No, I want to listen,” I tell him. It helps me understand Elaine better. We aren’t so different, and I realize I had forgotten that. She ducks her head, staring at her bracelet, and I know she’s thinking the same about me.

“Anyway, Hana came back for us. She gave us these bracelets, and she tried to bid on us, to set us free from the facility, but then politics came into play.”

“And my fathers had just filed for bankruptcy. Their business collapsed,” Thane tells me, as Raidon takes a seat beside his mother. I glance at her husband, Charles, who has a somber expression on his face.

Elaine shakes her head and makes a strange noise. “Anyway, after we all left, we decided to get charms to represent each milestone,” she tells me, showing me hers. She pinches a charm between her fingers. It’s a flower, and Hana’s bracelet in my hand has the same charm.

“The flower represents our time in the facility and us blooming. We were in the same facility she got you from, Harlow,” she tells me, and I am taken aback. Some strange emotion chokes me hearing that, knowing that we are connected in a way I never imagined possible.

“The carousel represents my three years in rotation before Hana set me free,” she says before showing me the next charm; it is a little birdcage with the door open. “This one represents my mate setting me free of the cage Omegas are put in when in the system.” The next is a medical symbol. “Caduceus and a tassel; these two represent my time in medical school and graduating.” The next is a ring, “Me finally marrying Charles, and this one,” she holds up an R, “is for having Raidon. And this is the last one,” she shows me the charm of a baby. “Hana and I got them together. It represents our future grandchild,” she tells me, and I nod, looking down at the same charm on Hana’s bracelet.

Hana’s also has the ring and the letters T and S, which I now know must represent her children. Elaine leans forward, showing me the other charms on Hana’s bracelet. One looks like a tiny little mirror.

“Hana got this one to remind herself that what she sees in the mirror does not define her. She was more than an Omega, and she refused to conform,” Elaine tells me before moving to the next one. It is a little book. “This represents the history of Omegas,” she tells me, and my brows furrow.

“History?” I ask, and Elaine nods.

“Yes, we weren’t always slaves to the system. Omegas were celebrated, revered. Not how it is today,” she tells me. Hana’s bracelet also has a tiny birdcage, and then I see a little unicorn.

“She got this one after Scarlett passed,” Elaine says, moving to the next, which is a little gavel. “This one is for her fight against the system. She tried everything to get the laws changed,” Elaine tells me, and I peek over at Thane, who is staring at the table.

“And this one?” I ask, holding up the little crown. Elaine smiles sadly.

“I remember she was so happy when she got this. She was in shock at first,” she whispers.

“What’s it represent?” I ask her.

“Becoming equal to her mates.”

“When she took their serum?” I ask her. Elaine shakes her head.

“No, that didn’t make her equal. The serum doesn’t make you of equal power. This is from an older tradition, one that is long forgotten. It made her more than them.”

I tilt my head to look at Thane.

“I told you my mother was their equal,” he says.

“I thought you meant the serum,” I whisper, and he shakes his head.

“This one represents something more than the serums, more than marriage ever could,” Elaine tells me.

“It takes a very strong Alpha to do it. It's not in our nature. It goes against everything that makes us Alpha,” Charles chimes in, smiling sadly at his wife.

“I have never expected it of you,” she tells him, and he nods while I turn my attention back to her.

“This crown represents her becoming their Luna,” she tells me.

“Luna?” I ask. It isn’t a word I am familiar with. Elaine nods her head, but it is Thane who answers.

“My fathers submitted to her. She became their Alpha,” Thane tells me.