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Curiosity flashes in those eyes as he tilts his head ever so slightly. “Yes. Who stays and who goes is our decision. We shouldn’t get any pushback if we decide to keep you in the running, particularly not if that’s the very reason why there hasn’t been any pressure to get rid of you thus far.”
The gears are turning. The longer I stay, the more compensation I could get to help my family. But maybe there could be something more. Something that’ll last longer than a couple thousand quid.
“Maybe I can help you.”
“Excuse me?”
“Before you tell me I’m crazy, just hear me out.”
He frowns but nods. “Okay?”
“I share living quarters with the other Omegas, right? We eat most meals together. We share recreational areas. What if I get some insider info for you? I could watch out for any disingenuous behavior and report back. They’ll speak more freely and act differently in front of the rest of the Omegas than they do when they’re with you. I could let you know what they’re like when you’re not there. I could be your eyes on the inside. There’s no getting out of this tradition, but maybe I could help you find someone who wants you for you and not for the crown.”
Those dark eyes flare wide open, but then he swipes his tongue across his lips. Surprisingly, he doesn’t turn me down right away. When his gaze focuses on mine again, he arches a dark, knowing eyebrow at me.
“Say I agree to this. What do you want in exchange?”
Excitement bubbles deep down in my gut. This isn’t exactly winning, but at least it’s a chance to help my family. “My dad is unemployed, but he has experience in culinary work as well as gardening. You give him a job. Anything steady that pays a decent wage. Oh! And living quarters where my little brother and my mother could stay with him. You promise me that and you give me your word that he won’t be fired as soon as the Trials are over, and I’ll get you the information you need not to wind up with a gold-digging asshole for the rest of your life.”
He regards me for a long time as he mulls it over. Then, slowly, he reaches that elegant, long-fingered hand out toward mine. “Gardening, hmm?” He rolls it around in his mouth, eyes flicking to the bushes. “Okay, Maddie. You’ve got yourself a deal. If we can’t find love, then at least you can help us find a good person.”
We shake on it. Once again, I’m disturbed by how much his touch stirs up in me, but I shove it all down. This is for my family. For their future. For mine, too.
Kaz’s grip tightens before he withdraws, quickly swiping his hand over his thigh like he’s trying to rub my scent off his skin, making me rethink whether or not my scent is repulsive to them.
It will confuse me until the day I die that they didn’t get rid of me after the Scenting Ceremony, but maybe I’ll have a chance to ask one of them at some point.
A day when Tai doesn’t immediately launch into the queen’s vendetta against him, and Wolf doesn’t get me chucked off a horse. A day when Kaz isn’t breaking my heart by shattering dreams I was only now starting to dream.
Not today, but one day, I’ll ask my new ally about it.
“Give me your phone,” he says suddenly. “You’ll need my private number so you can text me.”
After we exchange numbers, he gets up. I realize we’ve been together for much longer than our appointed thirty minutes. He doesn’t seem to be as concerned about his tardiness for his next date as he was about mine for ours, but I don’t say as much.
In fact, we don’t say another word to each other as he dips his head in a goodbye and then strides away to find the next Omega who’s waiting to spend time with him. I sit back down on the bench for a while, thinking about everything he said and how bittersweet it is that I will never be their Omega.
There’s definite comfort in the fact that I managed to achieve what I came here to achieve in the end, though. I wanted to find a way to monetize this experience to provide income and stability for my family, and I’ve done that.
When I see Kaz walking in the distance with another Omega, though, I decide it’s too soon to watch him on a date. A date with someone whodoesactually stand a chance. Instead of subjecting myself to a sight that hurts more than I thought it would, I head back inside the palace.
The Omega living quarters are an entire wing of the south side of the building. It consists of multiple sitting rooms, TV rooms, and even a small library—which, of course, I adore. Then there’s a dining room, our bedrooms, and a parlor, and that’s where I find the bulk of Omegas when I walk back into the palace.
Rachel, a horrible snob of a female with a nose that’s literally slanted so that it’s permanently up in the air, is bullying Antonio, a gorgeous albeit reserved male I’ve spoken to once or twice in the library. Rachel stands with her hands on her hips, a smug smirk on her lips as she rakes her gaze over him like she’s already the queen.
“You should stop wasting everybody’s time, Antonio,” she sneers. “You’re the runt of the litter around here. Everyone knows about your family’s solvency issues. Your business almost went belly up last year, didn’t it? Do you honestly think they’re going to choose an Omega who’s on the verge of being penniless?”
My teeth grind together as I watch him stare her down, itching to say something in his defense, but I really have no idea who Antonio is. If I’m going to be a valuable spy, I can’t make enemies.
Antonio can stand up for himself, if he thinks it’s even worth his time to waste his breath on someone like Rachel.
“You’re a joke, Ramirez.”
Antonio’s jaw tightens, his face turning a light shade of pink.
“All of Barcelona knows it,” Rachel drones on. “We know it all the way over in California, and London knows it too. Do us all a favor and—”
Yeah, that’s it.Maybe Ishouldn’tmake enemies, but that doesn’t mean Ican’t.
