Page 20

At home, attendants had always prepared my baths, laid out fresh gowns each morning and left clean sheets on my bed every evening. I had once sent a dress back to my seamstress because the silver embroidery around the sleeves was a shade darker than the design I had approved.

Now I sat in a cell reeking of urine and faeces because I had been foolish enough to walk away from my own family. I hated these Betas and hated the Alphas even more, but above all, I hated myself.

I had been so eager to share my fears and hopes, so relieved to have someone truly listen and, for once, take my side. She had told me exactly what I wanted to hear: that I was more than duty and family honour, that I was my own person with the right to choose my own future. All that time, she had been using those very fears to lead me here.

She had planted the idea so carefully. She was the reason I had begun considering running away at all. Fury rose in me at the memory of how patiently she had listened to me dismiss every kingdom and distant city I could think of.

“It doesn’t matter how far I run. My fathers will find me. You know they will.”

“Not if they don’t know they need to look for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I have it on good authority that there is another world.” She leaned closer to me. “A world with people who look exactly like us.”

I stared at her.

“Exact biological counterparts,” she continued. “The same appearance, the same age, even the same scent.”

I had thought the whole notion absurd until she showed me the woman with my face and body.

“She could take your place, and your family would never know the difference.”

“Of course they would. She might look like me, but she can’t have my memories.” I looked up from the tea cake in my hand. “Or can she?”

“No, but she will be very disoriented. Erratic, even.”

“So you expect my family to live with a mad woman?”

“Only for a while, my dear. If you choose to proceed with the exchange, I assure you I’ll be called in shortly after she wakes. My first recommendation will be to have her transferred to the Royal Mental Institute.”

“So she’ll spend the rest of her life in a madhouse instead?” I stared at her. “I don’t think I can condemn someone to such a life, even for my own benefit.”

“Not forever. Once Stormforge Pack sees what has become of you, they’ll withdraw from the contract, and your fathers will no longer face the financial penalties for failing to honour it.” She gave me a small smile. “I’ll then arrange for the other Elowen’s death to be staged and have the poor thing returned to her world. She will undoubtedly be distressed by the experience, but she’ll be alive.”

“What about my family, Mireya?”

“They’ll mourn, but in time they’ll move on with their lives, and so will you.”

I glanced from Mireya, my family’s most trusted physician and friend, to the closed doors of my rooms.

“This other Elowen… could she be compensated? For the trouble?”

“If you wish. We could send her back with a bag of gold. I understand it’s valuable in her world as well.”

“If we do this, I’ll never be able to contact my family again.”

“Freedom comes at a price, Elowen.” Her voice remained gentle. “You can keep your family and accept the match with Stormforge Pack, or choose your freedom and leave them behind.”

“Hey.” A soft, melodic voice brought me back to the cell.

It took the Omega across from me several attempts to sit upright. She pulled the blanket around herself and dragged herself towards the bars a few inches at a time, her voice barely more than a rasp. Her face was swollen, and her lower lip had split. Somehow, she looked younger than before, and I wondered how old she actually was.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “They won’t use you for the first few days.”

My stomach turned.

She rested her head against the bars. “They only test the new ones at first. You have time.”