Academy of the Omegas

BELLAROSA

I sat on the plastic chair outside Mrs. Acerba's office, staring at my hands. I had my elbows on my knees and I was leaning forward. My fingernails were dirty, as usual. You could tell because the nail polish, a shade of blue that clashed with the faded dye in the grown out strands of my hair, was chipped, as usual, too.

What can I say? High maintenance, I am not.

Dyed hair and nail polish is already more than most people expect from my kind.

Two seats down from me was Kayla. Her stringy, greasy strawberry blonde hair was more like what you'd expect from a street dwelling omega, residence in a group home notwithstanding. Kayla looked like she could use a sandwich. Or six.

She was scribbling on a clipboard like the one I'd already handed in to Mrs. Acerba. Kayla felt my eyes and looked up, meeting my gaze.

Unspoken understanding passed between us.

Mrs. Acerba, our social worker, meant well, but Kayla and I both knew this whole thing smelled rotten.

If only Lupe had listened when we told her so.

Mrs. Acerba's office door opened and the hefty woman appeared, her dark brown hair pulled back from her face in a tight bun.

"Bellarosa, please come in."

I didn't look at Kayla as I stood up. Better for Mrs. Acerba not to realize I had any interest in Kayla. Better for the powers that be not to know any of us had friendships. People we cared about.

That kind of thing could be used against you.

Mrs. Acerba disappeared into her office and I followed her.

"This is Bellarosa Vasquez," my social worker said to a man in a suit, sitting across her desk. "The one you were asking about."

I hadn't realized anyone was in the office with her. I'd been out there on that hard plastic chair in the hall long enough for my ass to go completely numb, and this whole time, this suit had been in here.

It was creepy.

I glanced at his chair. It had a pretense of a cushion imbedded in the seat. Chances were, his ass was not numb.

But what did I know. Anyway, he'd been here a long time, and no one had come in or out of the office, other than Mrs. Acerba when she brought the clipboard out and then came and got it from me at least an hour later.

What had he been doing in here this whole time?

There was a stack of files on the desk. I bet mine was one of them.

The suit, a dude with a crew cut and cold blue eyes, looked me up and down like he was evaluating whether I was worth spending his salary on.

I stood where I was, letting my eyelids relax, putting on my best I-don't-give-a-shit expression. Seemed wise, under the circumstances.

"Bellarosa, this is Zeta Dufort, of the Granite River Pack," Mrs. Acerba said after a pause that was, objectively, way too long.

I pretended I hadn't heard her.

Granite River was a southern pack, covering states from Virginia down to Florida. Why they'd come all the way to San Diego was beyond me. They must have plenty of omegas of their own.

"Underfed," Zeta Dufort said pensively.

Mrs. Acerba tutted. "You know how it is with omegas. I'm sure the others you've recruited weren't in any better shape."

Dufort sniffed. "Some worse."

My ears pricked up at "recruited." I had not expected that. Seemed likely I'd be waiting for weeks to hear back--Lupe had. But this guy was part of the recruitment.

Maybe I'd get my answer now.

My heartrate sped up but I didn't show it. I just stood where I was, eyes focused on the tie the zeta wore.

Most wolves didn't want omegas making eye contact. And if you did make eye contact some of them could dominate you. Better to not.

"Fine," Dufort said after another long pause. "She's in."

My breathing wanted to accelerate and my nostrils flared, betraying me. I clenched my jaw, feeling a muscle jump in my cheek.

Dufort stood up, then stepped close enough to inhale my scent.

"I assume she's ready to go?"

Mrs. Acerba made a shuffling noise but I wasn't going to lift my eyes to look at her to see why. "Her things are at the group home. What about Kayla Whitt?"

The suit shook his head. "Just this one."

Mrs. Acerba made another shuffling noise. "Very well then, Zeta Dufort. If you will excuse us, I'll have a word with Bellarosa. You'll pick her up at...?"

I could feel his annoyance--you didn't live for almost twenty years as an omega in this world without learning to read even the smallest signs of shifts in mood among the wolves that run everything.

"I'll send a car. Be ready in an hour," he said to me.

It was the first time he'd spoken to me directly.

I kept my eyes lowered and gave the barest nod.

You don't acknowledge them, they're apt to think you're being uppity and decide to teach you a lesson.

"Very well," Mrs. Acerba said again, but Dufort was already out the door.

It closed with a sharp bang.

I hid the way it made me want to flinch.

"You're a very lucky wolf," Mrs. Acerba said in her businesslike way. "Bellarosa, are you listening to me?"

I gave her the courtesy of flicking my eyes up to meet hers. "Sure," I said.

Mrs. Acerba was shaking her head, though, and didn't hold my gaze. "This is an incredible opportunity. I only wish they'd have taken more people." She shuffled the files on her desk, pulling open a drawer and starting to put them away.

"Why'd he pick me?" I asked.

Mrs. Acerba paused and looked up from the drawer. "Something in the psych test, is my best guess. You and Kayla are otherwise pretty much the same. Abandoned young. Grew up in group homes and on the street. No family, no prospects."

"Why take any of us?"

Mrs. Acerba pursed her lips and then shook her head, returning to the files. "It's some pet project of Gamma Armstrong's. You've seen the story."

I had.

Plenty of buzz on social media. Big time rich dude, Gamma in the Granite River Pack, this dude, Jed Armstrong, originally from North Carolina. Came from money, of course, and never a doubt he'd be a high ranking member of the biggest pack in the region. He announced he wanted to give omegas a chance to turn their lives around, so he was founding a special academy. Omegas that made it through would become sigmas. An unimaginable chance at a new life.

It sounded like some kind of fairytale. Which told me that's what it was. I'd never had gone for it, if not for Lupe.

"Give me your phone, Bellarosa."

I gave her my best what-the-fuck-are-you-talking-about look. I'm not falling for that. Phones are contraband for omegas.

She raised her eyebrows at me and held out a hand. "Go on."

I glared at her.

"They'll have it or I will, and they might not take you if they find it on you."

I rolled my shoulders with a grimace, then pulled the phone outta my pocket and slapped it into her palm, looking away.

"I'm glad for you, Bellarosa," the social worker said, pausing again to attempt eye contact. "This chance is one in a million. Don't screw it up."

My mouth pulled into a mirthless smile.

"I'll try not to."