Page 12 of Prelude to a Revolution

As I work at the letters, the red drips down, like blood running across the door. Thankfully, it smells like paint; it’s the only way I’m able to ignore the sinister look and actually scrub them clean. After thirty minutes or so, the door looks as good as new. Better even. I can’t remember the last time I cleaned it.

But it’s not a moment too soon. I still need to clean the house and get things ready for dinner. Dragging the bucket into the grassy area alongside the house, I dump the incriminating water out, watching as the crimson soaks into the dirt. It’s good, but for how long? Once they know the door didn’t get the reaction they wanted, what will they do next?

Chapter 5

Gemhardt

Stifling heat curls around the nape of my neck as a higher-ranking Guardian Alpha goes over the status for Sector One. It’s the same news. Nothing is different, but then, why would it be? Until the High Echelon sees the destruction it’s causing by all this separation, things will never be right.

No one can go against the High Echelon Alphas. To do so would be more than treason…. It would be blasphemy. Adding that layer of fear and fervent religion made them practically untouchable. Shaking my head, I look down at the blank page in front of me and start to doodle at the edge. There’s no new information I need to retain. No new mandates that make it necessary to take notes.

It’s just more hot air - a pompous sharing of ideas that no one can dispute. They want volunteers to go to Sector One and police it, to have mandatory marches that remind them of their place. What place is that? The one that was forced onto the undesirable betas?

If I hadn’t mated Sonria when I had, she might have been stuck there; hell, she would have died there. The living conditions are just abysmal. It’s no wonder many don’t go there by choice. All of Sonria’s family are already dead. I’m the only family she has left.

A small niggle of concern wraps itself around my spine as all the eyes in the room swivel towards me. They can’t possibly want me to head this up. It’s a conflict of interest on so many levels. But the longer they stare, the longer I realize they want me to say something.

“You’re… mate… is from Sector One, is she not?” The older Alpha sneers at me, his lips curling up to show off his sharp canines.

“Yes, she was. She’s now in the higher levels with me.”

He glances down at his notes. “Along with your two sickly daughters. Is that correct?”

Anger burns in my gut as I stare him down. I want to lash out, to demand he take his words back, but to do so would be to challenge him. I don’t want to pick a fight that I have a chance of losing. Not when keeping my family safe is my number one prerogative, higher even than my Guardian Alpha duties.

“They’re not sickly. They’re of perfect health.”

“Yes, but I have reports of them being small in stature. Not at all hardy like other worker betas. What function will they provide to society except for being a drain?”

Gritting my teeth, I lean back in my chair and affect a neutral expression. He’s trying to get me to crack. I can feel it. “Well, little Annora is showing great aptitude in research and science. It is our hope that she pursues either of those fields after her primary education. She will not need strength or stature to perform more academic pursuits.”

He nods and turns to the other Alphas. “Since Gemhardt here doesn’t seem to share in the need to control the less desirable populations, we will simply have to finish this meeting without him.”

After a moment, he turns back to me before continuing. “That is, unless I’ve misunderstood.”

“I don’t sanction the taking of lives where it is not required. Everyone knows this about me. I never made it a secret.”

“Yes. Well. I don’t need your radical ideas spreading to all the troops. You’re dismissed back to your post.”

Without giving me another glance, he addresses the other Alphas, forcing me to skulk away like a scared dog with my tail between my legs. Something is very wrong here. I’ve never been dismissed from a meeting before. Gripping my hands into fists, I leave the room, catching snippets of the conversations before the door slams shut behind me.

It’s not enough for me to know exactly what is planned, but I know it’s not good. And it’s not like I can even warn the citizens of Sector One about something happening. As an Alpha, they won’t listen to me. I’m somehow one of the most powerful yet powerless men in the universe right now.

Perhaps if I talk to Sonria, she can warn them? They might listen to her, but as my mate, they still might reject it. Either way, there is one person I know will hear me. Whether or not he helps the others, that will be on him and no longer my concern.

Though my post is near the Capitol City, I long to go to Sector One right away, but who knows if I’m being tracked? By going to The Purveyor right away, it will put both him and my daughters in danger. Fuck. Nothing is going right. Shoving my respirators back into my nose, I head towards the Capitol City. For some reason, they want me guarding the High Sanctum, watching over omegas who have nothing better to do than lounge around and wait to be given away.

I’m deluding myself. It’s not for some unknown reason. No doubt they want me to spot an omega and want to claim her as my own. Thus, the respirators. I will never stray from Sonria, no matter how many omega pussies they throw my way. I made a vow to her. We are united until death separates us. Even then, I will never take another. Sonria is my mate until I die.

The thick, red carpet muffles the sound of my footsteps as I stride into the hallway to take my post. It’s not that these omegas are endangered, but as the sacred property of the High Echelon Alphas, they are guarded as if they are worth all the precious stones and gold on the planet.

It makes sense though. If an Alpha goes into rut around them, it could be disastrous. I plant my feet and look straight ahead, ignoring the soft tittering of laughter as they study me, plotting to see how good of a match I would make. It’s sickening on both sides of the dynamic.

Not that they have a choice with whom they’re paired with, but they still talk and plan as if they have a choice. But with nothing else to pass their time, what else can they do? They’re not allowed to pursue anything that expands their minds, because that would make them intelligent, dangerous. Nothing is feared more than a woman who knows exactly what they want and how to achieve it.

Glancing down at my communicator, I count down the hours until I’m back at home, back in the sanctity of my house with my mate and children. The fact that they’re shoving these women at me must mean that they’re scared. They’re worried about appearance, about how it looks for someone high-ranking like me to have a beta bride. They detest how it makes me look to the other Alphas and betas.

It’s not a snub to the High Echelon Alphas, not exactly. It’s simply that I found my forever, and I don’t need an omega to make it work. I have a sinking suspicion that part of this is so they can create cleaner bloodlines, and that I will not stand for. There’s nothing wrong with my Sonria, just like there’s nothing wrong with being a beta.