Page 88 of Desperate Omega

“It’s fed by a hot spring under the city,” Hines explains. “This whole place used to be a luxury hotel back before the Cataclysm, and I guess this hot bath was one of the attractions.”

“The Cataclysm?”

“Sorry,” Hines says, smiling. “The Big Change, I mean. I’ve been living here in the Zone for fifteen years, but I still slip into Outsider vocabulary from time to time.”

“You mean… you’re an Outsider?”

Hines nods.

“Yup. Used to be, anyway. I’ve been here long enough to consider myself an honorary Zone dweller, I think… in spite of my occasional linguistic lapses.”

I manage to keep my mouth from dropping open in shock, but just barely.

I already knew, of course, that there are a few former Outsiders living among the Tribe, but there can’t be more than two or three. I never thought I would actually meet any of them, and I certainly never expected to be sharing a bath with one of them before my mating ritual.

Naturally, I bombard her with questions about her life before she came to the Zone.

There was a time, not so long ago, when I envied the Outsiders. If I had been born on the Outside, I wouldn’t have to be an omega, I wouldn’t have to go through a heat cycle, I wouldn’t need to be dominated by a pack of alphas.

But the picture of the outer world which Hines paints for me is not a particularly appealing one. The city where she used to live sounds more like an insect hive than a dwelling place. The air was poisoned, the food was synthetic, and half the population was hooked on drugs to help them cope with the strain of their unnatural way of living.

If I’d lived in a place like that, I never would have learned how to hunt, unless perhaps I was hunting rats in the sewers. I wouldn’t be able to run free through the grassy plains and shady forests. I wouldn’t be able to sleep out under the stars.

And I would never have met my three alpha mates.

My old anxieties are gone now. My alphas have taught me how to be an omega. I’ve learned not only to accept their dominance, but to revel in it. And I understand that their protectiveness does not mean I am weak.

After a while, my conversation with Hines shifts to other topics. She tells me about her life now, about her three mates, Taliesin, Baen, and Canaris, and about her many children. Her four oldest—Aleph, Ash, Abram, and Azura—are fourteen now. It’s obvious that Hines loves them very much.

She asks me many questions about myself as well—about my mates, about my fathers, about my love of hunting.

Before long, we are laughing together like two old friends.

I’ve never had an omega friend before.

It’s kind of nice.

“You know,” Hines says after a while, “we should probably talk about the ritual a little. I mean, that’s the whole reason I’m here, after all. Before every mating ritual, the omega who is to be claimed is appointed an older omega to be her guide, so to speak. They meet here in the bath house so they can discuss the ritual to come.”

“And you were appointed to be my guide?” I ask.

“Yup.” Her face suddenly grows serious. “I guess you’ve probably discussed it with your mates already, but um… you do know what the ritual entails, right?”

“Pretty much. Actually, I’ve seen one.”

“Oh?” Hines says. “So you’ve attended a ritual before?”

“Well… not exactly. When I was thirteen, my friend and I snuck into the ventilation system so I could spy on the ritual. It didn’t turn out so well. We ended up falling through the ceiling during the middle of the ceremony. If one of the alphas down below hadn’t caught me, I probably would have broken my neck.”

Hines’s eyes go wide.

“That was you?”

I nod sheepishly.

“Holy shit!” Hines says, and she laughs. “I remember that. There was a boy with you too, right? Whatever happened to him?”

“Actually, that was Markus. He’s one of my mates now.”