by J. L. Wilder
JASPER
It was the last social of his college career.
It was now or never.
And Jasper knew that his opportunities might be better now than they ever had been before. It was forbidden for omegas and betas to mate while they were at school, so no omega would ever have gone near him before. But now, with senior year ending...
Maybe they won’t be afraid of being kicked out.
It was an unspoken understanding among the students that nobody was going to be kicked out of school at this point. The schools wanted to graduate as many people as possible. It was good for their statistics. So if someone broke a rule, even an important one like this, the school would probably look the other way.
Jasper stood with his back to a broad tree trunk, analyzing the partygoers.
Some of the girls were clearly already mated. They attended to their alphas, and Jasper watched and assessed the different ways different alphas responded. Some were doting and affectionate, and others seemed to regard the whole thing as a joke. That made Jasper’s blood boil.
They have no idea how lucky they are.
He set his sights on one of the girls who was by herself, not with an alpha or a group of friends. She had long blond hair that was blowing in the wind, and when she turned her back to the fire, Jasper saw that she was unusually pretty.
She could be the one.
Why not? What did he have to lose by trying?
He pushed himself up from the tree trunk and ambled over to her, trying to give the impression that he just happened to be wandering her way, that he hadn’t had his eyes on her at all. She didn’t seem to buy it. She watched him walk over, smiling as he came.
“You’ve been watching me,” she said when he reached her.
“Guilty,” he admitted. “You go to school here?”
“Yeah.”
Which meant she was an omega. Perfect.
He held out his hand. “I’m Jasper Wood,” he said. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Amelia,” she said, blushing faintly.
“We haven’t met before, have we?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “I definitely would have remembered you if we had.”
Oh, I am so in.
“You’re not with a guy,” he said, acting as if he had just noticed that fact. “Your alpha couldn’t make it tonight?”
“Oh, no, I haven’t got one,” she said.
“Really? A pretty girl like you? That’s a crime.” Or it’s my lucky day.
“Well, I was seeing a guy last year,” she said. “But he never imprinted. We just assumed we would be able to make it work out by ourselves.”
“So, what happened?” Jasper asked.
“He imprinted on someone else,” she said, a note of wistfulness in her tone. “He couldn’t help it, of course. It just happens that way sometimes. He felt awful about it. We both cried when we were breaking up. But what could he do?”
“You can’t fight something like that,” Jasper agreed.
“No,” Amelia said.
“Does it ever bother you?” he asked. “I mean, how little control we have over what we’re going to become, who we’re going to be with? It’s like we can’t even choose the lives we want to have. We have to accept the roles we were born into.”
“I’d say you have a lot of control,” Amelia countered, raising her eyebrows at him. “More than any of the rest of us, anyway.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Well, you’re an alpha,” she said as if she were pointing out the most obvious fact in the world. “Alphas tend to get what they want.”
“If I wanted you,” he said, “would I get what I wanted?”
She smiled up at him, blushing prettily. “Is this a hypothetical?”
Fuck. She was his for the taking. All he had to do was say yes, and he knew she would leave with him.
But he couldn’t lie to her.
He couldn’t build a relationship on that kind of foundation. He wanted to be respected and admired for the truth of what he was. And besides, if she came with him, she would find out eventually anyway.
“I’m not an alpha,” he admitted.
She withdrew slightly. “You aren’t?”
“I’m a beta.”
“You’re a beta?”
“A beta who thinks you’re the most beautiful girl at this party,” he said. “Never mind what that ex of yours did to you.”
She stood up and backed away. “It was nice to meet you, Jasper.”
“Wait a minute,” he said. “Don’t just leave like that.”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I misunderstood what this was.”
You mean you misunderstood what I was.
He stared after her as she turned and walked away.
Chapter Five
HALEY
Margaret detached herself from a group of couples who had been talking and flirting by the bonfire for the past hour and came over to stand beside Haley. “So?” she asked.
“So, what?” Haley had parked herself near the refreshment table upon her arrival, hoping—and hardly daring to hope—that the men at the party would take notice of her standing here.
So far, none had. And Margaret had been virtually ignoring her from the moment they’d arrived at the party.
“Are you having fun?” Margaret pressed.
Haley couldn’t help it—she burst out laughing.
Margaret looked wounded. “What’s funny?”
“Am I having fun?” Haley repeated. “I’ve been standing here by myself all night. What kind of fun could I possibly be having?”
“Well, I don’t know!” Margaret protested. “I haven’t been watching you all night, Haley. Have any alphas come over to talk to you?”
“None,” Haley said.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Margaret said, frowning.
“Sure it does,” Haley said. “Most of them are already mated and settled. Most of the omegas are already mated and settled. Any alphas who are left over are probably assuming I’m a beta.”
“They wouldn’t just assume that,” Margaret said. “They would come over and ask.”
“Why?” Haley said. “I look like a beta.”
“What do you mean?” Margaret asked.
“Look at me. I’m dressed like a slut. I have all this makeup on my face. This is not what an omega is supposed to look like. This is not the way people like us are supposed to present ourselves. I should never have listened to you.”
“Are you serious?” Margaret asked. “You’re blaming me?”
“You’re the one who made me dress up like this.”
“Okay,” Margaret snapped. “First of all, I didn’t make you do anything. I spent all day trying to help you. And you agreed to it. You could have said no to me at any time. So don’t stand here now and act like I stuffed you into that skirt and painted your face at gunpoint. You were into the idea.”
“I wanted to come as myself,” Haley said. “But you convinced me that I wasn’t enough. That I wouldn’t be noticed unless I did all this.”
“Haley...fuck, I’m not trying to be terrible to you, but...no one ever did notice you when you came to these things before. You said it yourself.”
“And you just assumed it was because of my looks. That if I looked sluttier, the alphas would get interested. When everything the shifter community knows about pack dynamics teaches us that this is not what an alpha wants.”
“There you go, sounding like a textbook again,” Margaret said. “Did you ever think that maybe this is why guys don’t want you? You’re a know it all.”
“I thought it was that I don’t know how to be submissive,” Haley said.
“They’re the same thing,” Margaret said. “If you didn’t think you were right all the time, maybe you’d be capable of letting someone else take the lead. But you can’t because you always think you know best.”
“Is this why alphas don’t like me or why you
don’t like me?” Haley asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Jesus, don’t be so dramatic. I like you. You’re my best friend.”
“Really?” Haley asked. “Because you know this is my last chance to meet an alpha before graduation and you haven’t been paying any attention to me at all. You’ve just been flirting with your boyfriend all night.”
“Not everything is about you!” Margaret cried. “I helped you get ready tonight. I convinced you to come. But tonight is a chance for me to see Terrence too. It’s the last one we’ll have before we graduate. After graduation, we have to go off and start a life together, and we deserve to have some time to talk about that and plan where we want to go and what we want to do.”
“You’re not making plans,” Haley said. “You’re sucking on his neck. I saw you.” She shook her head. “Omegas aren’t supposed to behave like that in public, and you know it. It’s low class, and it’s beneath you.”
Margaret sighed. “Do you have to be such a complete bitch, Haley?”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m sorry I don’t fit in with your perfect vision of what an omega should be,” Margaret said. “I’m sorry that I actually want to be affectionate with my mate, who I never ever get to see, while we’re still in school. We’ve been together for four years, and the chemistry between us is absolutely out of control, and we hardly even touch each other because of the rules. You can’t even imagine how hard that is.”
“Poor you,” Haley said unsympathetically. “At least you have someone to feel that way about.”
“I’m not going to stay here and have you treat me like I’m responsible for everything you don’t like about your life,” Margaret said. “I did my best to help you. If the alphas aren’t taking the bait, go and talk to them.”
“Omegas don’t—”
“I don’t care,” Margaret interrupted. “I don’t care what you think the perfect omega should do. Go over to them or don’t. It’s entirely your business.”
She turned on her heel and stormed back over to Terrence.
Haley felt sick to her stomach. In their entire four years at Omega U, she had never had a fight with Margaret. Margaret had been her best friend and her sister all this time.
She had been happy for Margaret when she had met Terrence. Even though she had been sad for herself, she had been happy for her friend.
And she would never wish Margaret’s happiness away from her now.
Why did I say those terrible things? Am I really letting the fear of graduation get to me so badly that I would turn on my best friend like that?
Of course, Margaret hadn’t exactly been nice either. To call Haley’s whole identity into question the way she had today, to suggest that Haley was flawed in a way that would prevent her from ever having the life she wanted...
If that’s what she thinks, why didn’t she say something last year when there was still time for me to change?
Haley wanted to go back up to her room and wash all the makeup off her face. She wanted to get back to being herself, to get rid of the impostor that Margaret had turned her into. She wanted to forget that she had ever, even for one night, allowed herself to be this person.
But there was Margaret, laughing in the arms of her mate. A mate she had had since freshman year.
She must know something I don’t know.
It was a hard thing to admit. Haley had studied every detail of shifter lore so exhaustively, preparing for the day an alpha would claim her as his own. Readying herself to be the best omega in the world.
And her grades reflected her hard work. She was at the top of every class.
But her life didn’t match the work she had put in at all.
This is the life a slacker should have. A girl who came to Omega U and never even tried should find herself without a mate at the end of senior year. But not me.
She couldn’t allow herself to give up.
As crazy and wrong as the idea seemed, she was going to have to approach the alphas as Margaret had suggested. Because they weren’t coming over to talk to her.
Maybe they just don’t realize I’m available to them.
She set down the can of soda she had been drinking and slowly made her way over to a cluster of raucous, laughing young men.
It was always obvious which ones were the alphas. They were bigger and burlier than anyone else. The alpha guys looked about five years older than the beta guys. It made Haley wonder whether they had a way of distinguishing omega women from beta women—something more reliable than simply checking to see if they were wearing makeup.
If they can do that, then they already know I’m an omega.
One of them caught sight of her as she approached. “Hey, look at this,” he said, nudging one of his friends. “We’ve got company.”
The friend turned. The grin that spread across his face was predatory. “This one’s mine,” he said.
Haley’s stomach fluttered. His?
Was this how it happened? Would he take her hand now, lead her away, and tell her that he had imprinted on her? That they would be together forever?
She hadn’t anticipated that it would be so fast. She had expected a conversation. She had expected to learn his name, at least, before he laid claim to her.
A part of her was afraid.
But another part of her was overwhelmed by excitement. This is it. This is what I’ve been waiting for all this time. It’s finally happening.
The alpha stepped forward and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Let’s take a walk,” he suggested.
“Okay,” Haley agreed, remembering what Margaret had told her about submitting. He wants a girl who will say yes to whatever he asks.
He led her toward the tree line, and she heard whistles and catcalls coming from the group they were leaving behind. She felt a flush of pleased embarrassment. They know he’s taking me away to claim me. Maybe they’re even jealous.
The alpha walked her about ten feet back into the trees. She could still hear the sounds of the party, but she could no longer see it. “What’s your name?” he asked her.
“Haley,” she said. “Haley Miller.”
“Cute name.” He locked his hand around her wrist. “So you’re an omega, huh?”
“How could you tell?” she asked.
“Smelled it on you,” he said. “Smells like sex and desperation. You all smell like that.”
“We do?” She was fascinated. She had never noticed any particular smell on the omegas in her classes. But maybe it was just too similar to her own scent for her to have picked it up.”
“It’s like the best drug in the world,” the alpha said. He leaned close to her and inhaled. “I’m Zach.”
“Zach,” she said. It’s a good, strong name. Zach. My alpha, Zach. Her heart fluttered.
“Why haven’t I met you before?” Zach asked her.
“I don’t know,” she said.
“Do you usually come to these things?”
“I always come to them,” she said. “Every single one.”
“But you’re not claimed, right?” he said.
“No,” she said.
“Good. I wouldn’t want to touch another man’s property.” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “That could lead to a fight, and no one wants that at a party.”
The word property sent a shiver down her spine. There was something so devastatingly dominant about it. She had read about claiming rituals a thousand times, but nothing could have prepared her for the intensity of being dragged into the woods by a man she hardly knew, being told that she was his property.
“So,” he said. “Do you want to fool around?”
She blinked. “What?”
That wasn’t part of the ritual. The alpha was supposed to declare himself, and then order the omega to submit. Not ask her. The submission could take the form of a kiss, or, if the pair had left school, a fuck. But this?
Do you want to fool around?
“Come on,” Za
ch said. “No one will see us here. No one will ever know.”
That was a deviation too. An alpha claiming an omega should want everyone to know that he had made her his. It wasn’t supposed to be a secret.
“I don’t understand,” she said.
He sighed, and she saw that he was exasperated. “Look, Haley, this party’s going to be over in about an hour, so it’s now or never. And my girlfriend could come looking for me at any minute.”
She stepped back. “Your girlfriend?”
“You didn’t think I was single, did you?” he asked. “Only a complete loser would graduate without a mate.”
“I thought you were...” she swallowed. “I thought you were trying to claim me.”
“Oh, shit,” he said and laughed. “No. Fuck, no. You seriously thought I was trying to claim you?”
Haley felt like she was going to die. Could this really be happening? What had she done to deserve it?
“Look at you,” Zach said. “You’re dressed for sex. No omega would dress like that unless she wanted to get some. What was it supposed to be, some kind of weird entrapment thing? You lure me in by dressing like you want to fuck, and then when you get me in the woods, you think we’re mated? Holy shit. That’s creepy.”
“No,” she protested. “It wasn’t like that.” What if he went back and told the other alphas that story, painted her in that horrible light? “I just wanted to meet someone.”
“You’re a mess,” he said. “You’re an embarrassment. No wonder you’re still unmated. You’re a total waste of an omega.” He shook his head. “Fuck this, man. I’m out of here.”
He turned and stormed out of the woods.
Haley remained pressed up against the tree he’d led her to, shivering, feeling nauseous and on the verge of tears. Her knees trembled, and she sank to sit in the dirt.
Of course, he didn’t want me. Of course, it wasn’t real. He just wanted to use me for sex and then never talk to me again.
And she had known. She had known that was how she would be perceived if she showed up at a party dressed like this. And she had allowed Margaret to do this to her anyway.
She was supposed to be my best friend, but she’s ruined everything.
At that moment, Haley forgot the years of friendship that she and Margaret had shared. She forgot the fact that she had never had any luck at finding an alpha for herself. The only thing she could focus on was tonight. It had been her last chance. She had gambled on Margaret’s strategy. And look where it had gotten her.