Abandoning my hairbrush mid-stroke, I rushed to join him, anxiety coiling in my gut like a snake poised to strike. “What’s going on?” I tried not to sound too overly concerned, but after everything that had happened recently, my nerves were on the damn edge.
“There’s an issue at the front gate,” he said grimly. “The gate guard on duty said something about a crowd of people trying to get in.”
“Who are they? What do they want?” My mind raced with possibilities, each more unnerving than the last.
“I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out.” Ty’s jaw clenched, steely resolve flashing in his eyes. “Let’s go down to the security office and see what’s happening.”
We got dressed and hurried to the security office down in the estate’s basement, adrenaline pumping through our veins as we prepared to confront the unknown threat. The room was a hiveof activity. Security guards huddled around monitors displaying live feeds of various angles around the estate.
“Look at this,” one of them said, pointing to a screen that showed a throng of people gathered outside the front gate. “I have no idea who these people are or what they want.”
“Neither do I,” Ty muttered, his face tight. “But they’re getting restless, and we need to get to the bottom of this as fast as we can.”
While we tried to make sense of the situation, my thoughts drifted back to the dream that had haunted me just hours earlier. The lost happiness, the innocence of childhood… it all seemed so far away now—far away from this ensnaring, ever-growing web of danger and uncertainty.
“All right.” Ty snapped me out of my spiraling thoughts. “Let’s figure out a plan to deal with this crowd, and find out why they’re here. We can’t let them storm our property.”
My pulse ratcheted when Ty’s phone rang again, the shrill sound cutting through the tension like a knife. He put the call on speakerphone. “Okay, Isaiah, I’ve put you on speaker so Liza can hear you, too.”
“Good morning, Alpha Keller, Mrs. Keller,” Isaiah said. “I’m imagining right about now you’re wondering what the hell’s going on around the estate? I think I might have some answers for you about that crowd outside your gate.”
“You’d be right. Wanna fill us in?” Ty said, his eyes locked on the monitor, showing the sea of unfamiliar faces.
“They’re there for Liza,” Isaiah explained. “People from all over the country are trying to catch a glimpse of her. They’re fascinated by the idea of an omega, and they want to see it with their own eyes.”
I flinched at being referred to as an “it”. Although my kind were rare, I refused to be treated like an artifact on display in a fucking museum. The thought of being the center of attentionand having strangers gawking at me made my skin crawl. It felt so unnerving, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of panic.
“But I made the announcement weeks ago! When I wasn’t mobbed immediately after, I just figured people didn’t care,” I said in a high-pitched voice that did not sound like my own.
“Seems they only really started believing it now,” Isaiah said.
“Fuck,” Ty muttered. “How bad is it, Isaiah?”
“Bad enough that every Airbnb and all the hotels are fully booked. There’s not a room available in a hundred-mile vicinity.” Isaiah sighed into the phone. “I wish I had better news for you, but I’m afraid this isn’t going away anytime soon.”
I listened with one ear as Ty finished up the call, a sinking feeling settling in my stomach. This was bad. All these people were here because of me. Then I remembered the incident at my office the other day—two strangers taking photos of me through the window.
Shit. I’d forgotten to tell Ty. Would he be pissed that I hadn’t told him until now? Did I really have to ask myself that question? Of course he would be.
“Hey, Ty. Something like this happened to me the other afternoon.” His eyes widened. “I know I should’ve told you sooner, and I meant to, but I guess it just slipped my mind.”
The muscles in Ty’s jaw contracted. He was more than a little annoyed. “What exactly happened? Are you telling me a group of strangers bombarded you?”
I shook my head. “No, nothing like that. When I went to my parents’ place the other day, I noticed the town was busier than normal. It seemed a little odd, and I thought I’d maybe missed a date in the calendar or something.” I tried for levity, but Ty wasn’t in the mood. I was only delaying the inevitable. “So, anyway. I went to the office, and while I was in there, a couple of people outside came up to the windows. It looked like they weretrying to get photos of me with their phones. Jamie and Robin kept me safe, saw them off. That’s all.”
“That’s all?” Ty lowered his voice. “You should’ve told me, Liza. For that matter, your fucking security detail should’ve reported the incident. I’ll have to speak to Isaiah about it.”
“I thought it was a strange fluke. Just some teenagers doing weird teenage shit. I suppose it makes sense now. Look, I know I should’ve said something sooner,” I said, feeling a spasm of guilt. “But I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”
Not that I could tell him exactly what had been on my mind—or would that be in my mind, imaginary people, and voices? I know in my heart they were real. Ty already knew about the figure I’d seen in the trees, but the thought of telling him about what happened in the garden… Something else I hadn’t told him.
“I understand,” Ty said, but I heard the irritation in his voice. “We can’t let stuff like this fall between the cracks again. I get it’s not been easy, Liza, but this is your safety we’re talking about. You’re my top priority.”
Frustration and confusion consumed me. By some weird twist of fate, I’d been born an omega—something that people thought was a mythical beast, like a unicorn—and now I was at the center of a media circus that threatened to spiral out of control. I’d wanted to get in front of the rumors when I’d made the announcement, but I hadn’t known I was digging my own grave.
“Look, let’s just focus on getting these people off our property,” Ty said. “We don’t know what they’re capable of, or what their true intentions are. We need to handle this carefully.”
Just as I was about to say something, Persephone’s high-pitched voice reverberated through the house. My in-laws had arrived. Dominic’s demanding tone cut through the air like a knife as he stormed into the room. “What the fuck is going on out there, Tyson? Who are all those people?”
