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“Out the back door with you. We don’t need those who saw you walking in as an omega, walking out as a beta,” Tulla said. “Follow me.”
“Good idea,” Avery murmured before trailing the man out into the hallway.
Tulla took him through a greasy kitchen and then out the back beside the dumpsters. The scent of old food and waste was pungent and only added to his rebellious stomach. He paused beside Tulla at the door, wanting to say something… knowing he might’ve exposed old wounds the omega hadn’t wanted to rip into. “I didn’t mean to upset you… by asking questions…”
Tulla lifted his chin. “Darling, you need to toughen up… or this world is going to chew you up and spit you out.”
The man urged Avery on through the door. After he’d taken a few steps, he received a dire warning.
“My namenevercomes from your lips… or youwillregret it,” Tulla reminded him before pulling the door closed.
The sudden quiet was almost a shock. He still heard the bassline of the club’s music and the muffled hum of the surrounding city. Avery stood in that alley a moment, realization hitting him that there was no turning back. He’d done it…
He was now a beta in the world’s eyes.
As long as he didn’t get caught.
The contents of his stomach did their final roil, and he had to rush over to the side of the dumpsters to puke. The first inhale afterwards almost made him sick again, the smell of the dank alley filling his nose. He stumbled down a little way, but had to stop and get his bearings. Leaning against the brick, he closed his eyes and tried to take a couple more breaths. A cool breeze whipped down the narrow passage and brushed along around him. His neck was cold… without the cover of hair he’d been so accustomed to. He pulled up his hood. He shoved the bag of meds into one pocket of his hoodie before pulling the new ID out of his envelope. Once he had it in his wallet, he zipped the envelope into his hoodie and headed for his first test.
Only a few blocks down, he saw one of the Beta Quadrant guard stations. Fishing the new ID out from his wallet with shaking hands, he sidled up to the gate and waited behind the several others waiting to get in. As a beta, he would be free to move about all four quadrants now…
As long as the ID worked, naturally.
Time ticked by slowly as he waited his turn. As the line progressed, he tried to act as nonchalant as he possible, knowing full well he was likely failing. When it was his turn, he handed his ID over with a shaking hand and waited for alarm bells to go off.
He held his breath. The ID scanned.
When the bar lifted, and the ID was finally handed back, he got a muttered, “Have a good night.” He paused, almost stunned that it had worked. He stared up at the big beta guard—almost big enough to be an alpha from the appearance of him.
“Any day now,” the guard spat, eyeing him close.
Avery quickly moved under the bar and took a few steps into the Beta Quadrant—for the first time in years. He walked along the street, a smile coming to his lips.
Freedom!
Taking a deep inhale, he thought the air a little sweeter. Of course, it was the same air that was on the other side of the wall, but he didn’t care. He’d made it, even if it was for only one brief second. He was outside the omega prison and wouldn’t be contained inside its walls again—unless he chose to be. Avery took a corner, walking along a row of shops. Most were closed at that hour—but it was thrilling, nonetheless.
He was unrestricted.
A nearly empty trolley slid past him, the driver giving him a curt nod. Avery raced over and gripped a pole, dragging himself onboard. The current flung his hood back, his shorter hair blowing about. He closed his eyes, allowing the wind to wash over him.
He jumped off a few blocks down and dragged his hood back up. There was more than one gate into the Omega Quadrant—it would’ve looked too conspicuous for him to re-enter where he’d just left. He made several turns, and he got himself slightly lost before making his way to what appeared a principal street. He soon found the second gate and breezed through again without a hitch. Avery sighed with relief and raced toward home. By the time he made it inside, he could breathe again. He rested up against the door, his heart racing.
Exhilarated.
“Where in the hell have you been?” his uncle demanded.
Avery lifted his stare, not realizing his uncle had been right there. From the stern expression on Gray’s face, the male wasn’t happy with him, but nothing would stop his jubilant mood. “I took the long way home… so I could testthis.”
Avery handed over his new ID.
He’d already shared his plan with his uncle—who’d begged him not to.
Gray stood there a moment, his stare searching over the small plastic-covered pass to Avery’s freedom. After a moment, he lifted his stare—fear in his gaze. “Please tell me thatisn’twhat I think it is.”
Avery drew down his hood, and Gray gasped. His uncle crossed the foyer and ran a hand through Avery’s shorn locks. And then he looked down at the ID again. “My gods.Whathave you done?”
* * *
