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“Everyone else in the pack is organized into a hierarchy below that,” she says. “At the top are alphas, the protectors of the pack. I think there are only about ten of them here right now: Grant, Will, Elijah, Arden…”
“I’m not gonna remember all these names,” I say.
“Okay, okay,” she says. “Anyway, at the top are the pack alphas. And then most people are betas—not as big and strong and tough as the alphas, pretty much just normal folks.”
“And at the bottom is omegas?” I say.
“Well, uh…yeah. Kind of literally?”
“Meaning…?”
“Oh, you’re gonna hate this,” Peaches says. Her cheeks are flushed pink now, and I don’t think it’s just because the room is a little warm. “Can I just cover it by saying we have some special skills? Like when we fully shift, we’re damn sneaky. And fast as lightning.”
“I’m getting the feeling that’s not all there is to it.”
“So also…I don’t want to say it! It’s so embarrassing to talk about this with humans.”
“Well, thanks to Reyes, I’m not fully human anymore,” I say. “C’mon, Peaches—tell me.”
“Okay,” she says, rubbing her hands together. “Um. Every month at the full moon, alphas and omegas kind of have a…well, a thing happen? Where alphas go into rut and omegas go into heat.”
I try not to let the horror show on my face. “You mean like cats?”
“More like wolves,” Peaches says. “It has something to do with the moon, I don’t know what. And here, where we aren’t blocked by the celestial curtain, it gets a little crazy.”
“In what way?”
“Normally we just kind of try to stay isolated if we aren’t mated,” she says. “I hole up in here and kinda just…well, ride it out. But you don’t have to worry about that since you might not even be here for the next full moon, since it just ended last night.”
“And why would I…” I pause. “Wait a minute—you said you took me to the omega pool earlier. Is that because…?”
Peaches nods. “I guess you’re one of us,” she says. “But it’s okay, I promise. Really not as bad as it sounds, especially here. You’re mostly justrealhorny for about a week.”
I inhale deeply, blinking my eyes and staring down at the stone floor. “This is a lot to take in.”
“It is, but it’s not,” she says. “It’s really just like when you’re…I don’t know. I guess I don’t have any other point of reference since I’ve been like this all my life.”
“No, that’s okay,” I say. “I kind of just want to process it.”
Especially because I’m now thinking about what I’ll do if Reyesdoesever let me go. Will I be cursed to a straight week of horniness every month and not be able to tell anyone in Homestead…? Or am I going to only ever be horny for him? It doesn’t seem fair at all—like he’s entrapped me with his pheromones.
“Wait a second,” I say. “Does that mean I’m going to turn into a wolf?”
“I don’t think so,” Peaches says. “The bite is like a…real weak version of what the Heavenly Host injects blessed subjects with. Just enough to shift around your hormones a little.”
“Does it mean I won’t have periods anymore?”
Peaches brightens. “Well, kinda. It’s only a day or so, usually pretty mild.”
I shrug. “So it isn’tallbad.”
I’m kidding myself. This is all bad.
“I’m pleased that you’ve found at least something to be happy about,” she says with a smile. “And I don’t know…you might find some other perks. Your senses’ll sharpen, especially your smell. Like—can you smell that delicious food?”
I close my eyes and inhale deeply, and find that she’s right—Icansmell food, something with…cheese.
Even if it’s artificial, I smellmac and cheese. Melting, delicious, hot.
