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Prologue
TheAuctionHousesofSolstice Bay were the worst nightmare of every omega.
At the central hub of the train tracks, the upper crust of Solstice Bay sold omegas to the highest bidder—omegas that had done something bad enough to get the ultimate sentence of being breeders for the rest of their lives. The ACB was cruel to ordinary people, and they were even crueler to omegas who broke the rules.
They've gotten even worse since their enemies, the Enclave, started gaining power.
The Enclave is committed to freeing Solstice Bay's omegas, to making sure everyone can mate with who they want, when they want. The Auction Houses had become a major target of Enclave attacks, but that didn't mean you wanted to be there when they carried one out.
They could be brutal.
Deadly even to those they were trying to save.
So when the Auction Houses went up in flames one fall day, everyone assumed that the people inside were killed or gone for good. It was tragic, but at least the damnable place had been destroyed.
And it did kill a lot of people, true.
But some lived to fight another day.
1
Kendra
I'monthebrinkof ruin.
My wrists and ankles are chafed from the shackles that have been locked around my limbs, my body achy from days of being hunched over in a cell. It reeks inside the cell block, the stench of fear sweat and vomit on the air, someone crying a few cells away. This is hell. I'm in hell, and I'm never going to get out.
I committed the greatest sin an omega is capable of in Solstice Bay: I tried to escape.
And now, I'm paying the price.
Light suddenly streams in at the end of the hall, and I hear men's voices somewhere in the distance. My heart pounds as I realize what's happening, where I must be. The place I was supposed to go months ago is finally coming for me.
The omega auctions.
The railyards.
Stomping footsteps come closer, and I huddle into the corner as I pretend that I'll be able to hide. It's only a show for myself; a split second later, the cell door opens and a big man comes through and grabs me by the arm. I scream and beg, but he doesn't pay any attention to my pleas for mercy.
He drags me out of the cell, and I stumble behind him, barely able to keep up. My heart is racing, my breath coming in ragged gasps. The hallway is crowded with other omegas, all of whom are being dragged out of their cells just like me. Fear and desperation fill the air, and I can smell the sweet tang of blood.
I know what's going to happen to us. We are going to be sold like animals, to the highest bidder. Our bodies will be used and discarded, and there's no escape from it. The fate of an omega is sealed from birth, and nothing I do can change it.
The man pulls me outside, and I blink in the bright sunlight. As my eyes adjust, I see a large crowd of people gathered in the distance, all of them milling around a raised platform. It's the auction. A chill runs down my spine, and I try to pull away from the man holding me.
But it's no use.
I'm screwed.
"Get up there!" the big man shouts, shoving me toward a set of stairs. I climb them slowly, my entire body shaking, my legs trembling. I'm so scared that I can't breathe, but I have to keep moving; Ihaveto keep going. If I don't walk on my own, they'll drag me anyway, and I can't look weak in front of them.
The minute I'm weak, the alphas will strike.
If I look weak, someone will take me away from here whowantsa weak omega.
I toss my hair back and squint into the sunlight, looking out at the crowds. There are alphas of all kinds here--men in suits who clearly belong to the upper class, those in casual clothes, a few in coveralls who've just come by to observe. The one thing I'm certain of is that there's no help in sight; no one is coming to save me. I tune out the sounds of the crowd and make my eyes vacant, just looking at the horizon.
The sea is somewhere out there.
