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ChapterTwo
Briar
Ispend the rest of the day looking over my shoulder, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I needed a glass of wine in the worst way, but of course that was off the table. Maybe chocolate could suffice… or something salty like chips… or both? My stomach growled loudly, reminding me I’d missed my lunch. That would be an issue for me on a normal day, let alone one where eating my feelings was basically a survival requirement.
When I left work, all eyes were on me again. This time, I knew I wasn’t making it up or imagining it. Every time I glanced up, someone would look away just as quickly. It wasn’t until I got outside that I could really breathe normally again even though that sense of dread never left me.
Instead of chocolate, I needed to order a pizza and force my brother to watch some ridiculous movie we could make fun of together. He was my best friend and only real ally in that house. Right now, I needed a bit of normalcy.
Even with the prospect of a movie night, the walk home felt like I was heading to the gallows. Something was settling in my stomach that was terrifyingly similar to fear, and although part of me claimed that it had to be irrational, I couldn’t push it aside.
Would they somehow know I was pregnant? My entire life it felt like Mom was two steps ahead of me. Keeping secrets from her was usually an exercise in futility, one that didn’t end well in any way. There was something about her blend of smug triumph—she loved knowing that she’d ferreted out something I’d tried to hide—and disappointment that had the power to practically incapacitate me. If she did find out… How would they react?
My mother was always telling me how to be a proper omega—to be submissive, do as I was told, listen to my alpha, obey him, everything the omega centers of the world loved to tell us from fucking birth. I didn’t buy into that outdated bullshit, or at least I didn’t want to. I didn’t give a fuck what my hormones and pheromones thought about the world; I had a very different view, and I intended to stick by that. Even now, no matter how hard society was probably about to make that.
My phone dinged, and I looked down, my stomach clenching at the SOS my brother had sent.
Liam:Some lady from the mayor’s office is here. What the hell happened at work today? She’s been chatting with Mom and Dad for like twenty minutes.
Me: What?!
Throwing my phone in my purse, I took off at a run, my heart sinking. Vivian had snuck out of work early today, so she was an hour ahead of me already. What had she told them? And why?! Then my mind flickered back to the purse strap hanging from my desk, and I realized her true purpose.
I was sweating profusely and out of breath by the time I reached our front door. Not wanting to look like a mess, I took a few deep breaths and swiped the back of my hand over my sweaty forehead before stepping inside.
The voices that were speaking in the next room became hushed before my father’s voice called out to me. There was a hollow quality to it that had me panicking, but I put a smile on my face and pushed open the door to our dining room.
Vivian turned, her grin morphing from sympathetic to evil as she locked eyes with me. What a fucking bitch.
“Here she is,” she said in a singsong voice like this was some sort of fun reunion, not her overstepping so many boundaries by being in my fucking home.
“What are you doing here?” Despite my smile, I knew there was malice in my voice. I just didn’t fucking care. We both knew the truth of why she was here, just as well as we knew my job was no longer a reality. The future I’d been working so hard for was gone.
She gasped dramatically, the sound full of perfectly orchestrated fury, and my mother jumped in to chastise me. “Briar, this isn’t how we treat guests!” I didn’t entertain that admonishment, never turning my eyes away from the snake still staring at me. How she managed to look like Edna Mode in supervillain mode was impressive, though the comical image did nothing to calm my nerves.
My father wasn’t the type to beat around the bush, so when he cleared his voice, I turned to him. What I saw there, the detachment in his eyes, had my chest aching. What the hell is going on here?
“We’ve heard some very troubling news from Vivian here. She’s concerned about an omega working in your… condition,” he practically growled. Every single word dripped with his true feelings of embarrassment. “Do you have an alpha waiting to take care of you somewhere?”
The disappointment and judgment in his eyes had me breathing quicker, but it was all indignation. Like this was in any way my fault! Leave it to a fucking alpha to blame a packless omega for getting pregnant. It wasn’t like this shit happened by immaculate conception.
“No,” I said simply. At this point, I didn’t even care if the bitch heard what I had to say. “I don’t. In fact, he’s a deadbeat who should be in jail for what he did, but I want to focus on my life and not be dragged down by him. I only have two more months of my internship to handle, then I’ll figure out where to go from here.”
“You don’t have that anymore,” Vivian supplied like she was being helpful. “What kind of message would that send to the public? Your services are terminated as of now. We’ll be sure to submit to HR that your work was lacking. We can make up something so it’s believable. They never question us, anyway, and in your state, we aren’t required to give you reason for termination.”
“I wouldn’t even be showing at two months!” I challenged angrily. I couldn’t say I was surprised, but I wouldn’t just sit here and let this go without at least trying to put up with some kind of fight. “This wasn’t my fault. You can’t punish me for the father’s transgressions.” She wasn’t outright saying it, but I could tell she knew exactly who had done this. Neither of us were stupid, and she was doing everything she could to protect that bastard.
“It’s my job to protect the mayor’s office from possible scandals, so we will be handling this as appropriately as possible. the fact you would throw yourself at an alpha, tempt them in this way, is deplorable.” She threw me a victorious smile for everyone to see, and an overwhelming urge to smack it off of her face hit me. I was livid, protective of my baby, and ready to tear her apart for her part in it. What kind of fool was she? I might barely be pregnant and certainly still wrapping my head around this, but she should know better than to provoke an omega with child.
“I didn’t!” I screeched, my fingers clutching my purse like a lifeline. “He did this to me even though I said no!” Tears threatened to fall, but I refused to give her the satisfaction of seeing them.
Not a single expression in the room shifted. Judgment weighed heavy on my parents’ faces, and Vivian looked fucking gleeful. Because of fucking course it was the omega’s fault. Alphas never had to answer for their shitty lack of control. Hell, at this point, they just took what they wanted because they could. I was walking proof of that bullshit.
“I have a solution,” Vivian offered them sweetly, back to her act already. She was a fucking actor, playing them like an instrument, and they were eating up every word.
“You’ve done this before, haven’t you?” I accused. “Let him take advantage of omegas then fucking gotten rid of us like we’re the problem?”
“Of course,” she said simply. “We can’t let some promiscuous, hormone-driven omegas harm the office! Your kind are unpredictable and far too emotional to work in this world despite the laws that require us to humor your desires.” She let out a sigh like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders, which was ridiculous.
If either of us were a burden to society, it was her. She was a fucking beta; they were far more looked down on than omegas. At least we could have alphas’ babies. We all lived in the alphas’ world, and since a beta couldn’t provide a baby or a heat, then what good were they? I disagreed with that idea on principle, but she was my exception.
“What is your solution?” Mom asked with a slight waver in her tone. She refused to look my way now, both of them already resigning themselves to my fate, whatever it might be. Just like every other ‘scandal’ in our lives, I could tell they were ready to sweep me under the rug and use pretty lies to explain away my absence for their prestigious friends.
They were acting like this was my mess to handle instead of being angry on my behalf. Their daughter said she was forced against her will, and they weren’t even angry? I should have known this would be the outcome. They’d rarely surprised me in my life; if not for Liam, I’d have lost my mind long ago. Our family wasn’t a true pack. It was a mockery of one, where there were just expectations based on our biological lottery but no real bond based on love or affection. Our family was about duty, and frankly, I was happy to base my morals on a different foundation.
“We are prepared to pay for your silence to keep this out of the media,” Vivian started, but I interrupted.
“No. We won’t let you buy our silence,” I growled.
She laughed openly now, dropping the facade for a moment. “This offer isn’t for you. No one would believe an omega. In fact, if you spoke out, we’d spin it all around to ruin your life. Our strategies have shifted elections and ended careers. You’re but a speck of dust in comparison.”
“That’s not okay,” my father interjected, his brow furrowing. Hope bloomed in my chest for a moment when his pale blue eyes glanced at mine. There was frustration there, and I wasn’t entirely sure it was directed at me for once. But just when I was starting to give in to the wildest kernel of hope that he might partially be on my side, he stamped it down as quickly as it came.
“We’re prepared to sign over our support to your company, an exclusive contract, and pay out a sign-on bonus in this amount.” She handed over a check, ensuring I couldn’t see it as she did. My father let out a low whistle at the amount, eyes bouncing between me and the money being dangled in front of him.
“You can’t seriously be considering this?” I asked, my voice shaking with anger and utter disbelief. “I’m your fucking daughter.”
“You brought this trouble here, not me,” my father shot back.
“The fact that you think I did this is answer enough,” I said in disgust. “A real father would be angry his daughter was raped.” His face paled at the blunt wording, but that was all I got. He’d read between the lines prior to this, but he just didn’t care.
