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“The assembly made a decision regarding your placement,” River begins. It gives me some comfort that his scent is also burning with rage. “They’ve decided you’re to be mated.”
In my periphery, I see Ferris tense. I will myself not to cry and ask, “To who?”
“Nothing is decided yet. I convinced the assembly to open up offers so that there will be options. Anyone would be lucky to have you,” River says. I hang my head, shielding my teary eyes, but he continues, “I know this isn’t what you wanted, but it’s time.”
When I meet River’s eyes again, identical shades of green clash across the table. He looks resigned, like he’s already accepted that this is my fate. To be mated to someone that I didn’t choose just because the assembly decided I was ready. Angry, I ask, “What if I refuse?”
“You don’t have a choice, Raine. It would make me look weak if my own sister can’t follow the rules. Besides, do you think any omega will agree to mate Ferris and me with you living here? An unbonded omega, perfuming all around the cabin? Until you leave, my pack will never be complete.”
A small omega growl rumbles in my throat and hurt coats my mouth in acid. “I thought I was pack,” I rumble.
River’s scent stings my nose as color rises in his cheeks. He’s pissed now. Good, so am I. His eyes stray toward Ferris and chill into shards of glass. “I thought so too,” he whispers.
Does he know?
“When?” is all I manage to ask. When will I be forced to live with an alpha I can never want?
“The delegation from the Northern Pacific Clans is due to arrive any day. Once negotiations are complete, I will choose a single mate or an established pack for you from those that have offered. That’s final.”
For a moment I stay seated at the table, my gaze flicking back and forth between my brother and my scent-match. Neither of them find the bravery to disagree with the assembly, so I ignore the alphas I’ve considered family and stand to walk back to my room. I don’t let a single tear fall until my door has slammed shut and I’ve burrowed myself so deep into my pathetic nest that all I can smell is my own devastated scent.
Days Since Last Attack: 83
Grand Prairie is a bit of a haven among the forested Wilds. In the Before, it was the site of a recreational camp where children came to stay for several weeks during the summer. The echoes of their fun can still be seen in the faded, sunny murals painted randomly around the compound or the old wooden signs that label buildings. Before the fall of society, the camp was in the process of being remodeled to be off-grid.
According to our records, around one hundred and twenty years ago, most of the power grids across the country were diverted to exclusively run large computer servers and big cities. If people wanted electricity outside of certain areas, they had to install their own power sources, often solar and wind energy, allowing them to operate without the overloaded grids.
When the founders settled here, they found a treasure trove of building materials, abandoned cabins, and all of the tech needed to refurbish this place into the perfect compound. Based on the size of this camp, I often wonder if those people in the Before were setting this place up to be a real community, much like it is today, but never got the chance.
As the years went by, the founders slowly built the concrete exterior wall from raw goods found at the camp and what they could trade for. Now, Grand Prairie is nearly impenetrable, but our population remains small primarily for resource management.
I marvel at what I can see of the fifteen-foot compound wall as I walk toward the community center to get to work. From behind me, I hear someone shout my name, breaking my train of thought, and I turn to see Vale scrambling across the camp center to catch up with me.
Breathless, she joins my walk, looping her arm with mine. Vale is an omega too, but unlike my tall, thick build, she’s a small, lithe woman, with a personality full of sunshine she uses to hide the mysteries in her eyes. Her warm-beige complexion looks golden in the sun, her straight dark hair is braided intricately, and despite seeing the horrors outside of these walls, she looks otherworldly in her beauty.
Her twinkling dark-brown eyes peer up at me, a shy dimple creasing her cheek as she fights a smile. “Morning, raindrop! What’s got you looking so glum?”
I groan, but despite the very real devastation in my heart, I fight a smile too. Between her infectious grin and spicy floral scent, it’s impossible to feel gloomy in Vale’s presence.
“The assembly has decided I’m to be matched,” I admit.
Vale’s face falls, all of her sunshine being replaced by worry. Vale knows about Ferris and me. She is probably the only person in this entire compound who can even imagine what I’ve been going through. When she and her family relocated to Grand Prairie from the bunker out west, she left behind a boy named Ren who she swears with her whole heart was meant to be her scent-match.
She’ll never know, though, because her parents fled with her and Clay the moment it seemed like she would present as an omega. Potentially losing her scent-match was the price of keeping her safe from the awful bunker culture and the oppression she would have been subjected to. Most days I think she’d agree it was a worthwhile trade. Other times? I see familiar misery deep in her eyes when even her light can’t chase away the shadows of heartbreak.
“What do you mean?” she asks. “They just randomly decided it was time for you to be mated? Did you tell Clay so he can offer for you? I know by all of my failed attempts to set you up that you two will never be more than friends, but y’all have more in common than you could possibly imagine.”
“That’s not a terrible idea,” I murmur. Mating Clay would be the best-case scenario, actually. While I’ve never felt anything more than friendship for him, he’s Vale’s older brother and has always been one of the kindest people I know. He’s high in rank among the compound guard, a decorated fighter, has the means to support me, and mating him would mean gaining Vale as a sister. But how could I possibly convince him to enter a fake mating with me? I’d never be capable of giving him everything a real mate could.
Vale shakes her head. “What the hell was River thinking, anyway? Why the sudden push for you to be mated?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “I’m worried he knows about Ferris and is doing this as some kind of punishment. Why else would he agree?” I can’t help but think that Mother would have never allowed this to happen if she were still alive.
“I don’t even know what to say,” Vale whispers, gripping my arm tighter.
“Me either,” I admit.
We round the camp center and turn toward the archive building where we both work alongside a few other residents under the compound’s self-instated historian, Soline.
