Chapter Four
Triss
I couldn’t fucking believe it. I knew many of the faces staring back at me. I’d worked with many of them, consulted with some and led others as a part of a collaborative team. They’d listened to me with respect and had always looked to me as a leading woman in science.
I’d been someone at Genwell. But now I was just an omega. An animal for them to study. I should have known they’d never allow me to walk the streets of Tharia again. I should have known that something like this would happen.
As a part of my sentence, the city would allow me to return after my punishment had been fulfilled. I should have realized I wouldn’t be permitted to return to my job as a scientist at Genwell. I should have known that everything that I’d ever believed and cared about would be shredded to pieces, but I hadn’t expected this.
I wailed with despair. I couldn’t contain myself.
I recognized the lab. I’d been here many times to study the silver-haired omega and her alpha deep in the underground reaches of Genwell’s laboratories. In fact, that same omega was probably next door to this room. I’d joined her as a science experiment.
I was held captive by the very corporation I used to work for.
Furious, I pushed myself free from the thick white comforter. As the air caressed my chilled skin, I came to the stark realization that I was still naked. The scientists who aimed to study me hadn’t even left me clothes to cover myself with. My blood boiled and I stood up beside the bed, my chest rising and falling with my rage.
“Omega,” Ravick warned, his voice low but I didn’t listen. I didn’t care. I was far too angry to listen to a word out of his mouth.
I rushed toward the glass, staring into the eyes of my former coworkers. I rolled my upper lip, snarling and hissing in their direction.
“Is this what you want to see, Cheryl? Frank? Are you happy to see me like this? Are you going to use me as your test subject now, despite everything we’ve worked on together?” I growled but none of them even faltered, not even the slightest bit.
It was like they didn’t care. I was just an omega now. The fact that I was still Triss no longer mattered.
I knew they could hear me and not a single one of them responded. I remembered every face. I knew them all and none of them were going to do a thing to set me free.
My hands fisted by my sides. My blood boiled and my fury spiraled out of control. My omega demanded that I act, that I break free of the bonds that held me captive. I wouldn’t stand to be a prisoner for the rest of my life.
“Quiet, omega. Come here to your alphas,” Ravick demanded calmly, yet I ignored him. No longer was I fueled by the lust of my heat and as far as I was concerned, in that moment he wasn’t anything more than a cock I had enjoyed fucking. A lot.
Without thinking, I began to pound my fists on the glass. Over and over, I hit that window, too angry to care that I was probably hurting myself. I couldn’t feel anything. I was numb. Ashamed and maybe even a little scared, but most of all was my uncontainable rage.
Everything I had ever worked for in my life had been torn away and shredded into a million pieces. My identity as a scientist and a strong independent woman was shattered. Now I was nothing but what my genes forced me to be. An omega. A specimen to be studied and tested for the rest of my days.
“Omega, stop this nonsense right now or else you’ll be punished,” Ravick commanded behind me, his voice louder and more demanding this time, but still I didn’t listen. I was too angry to even care. In fact, I snarled at him and then, the room grew strangely quiet.
In return, he growled back at me, and I felt the force of his own fury. I faltered for just a moment, before resuming my attack on the glass that I knew I would never break through. I knew it was futile, but I had to do something. Anything. I had to get out.
“Never challenge an alpha,” Lothgar warned, his voice low and threatening.
“Know your place, Triss,” Garret added and the hair on my skin stood on end. It was as though the air was charged with their displeasure.
Behind me, I heard footsteps, but I didn’t turn around to see who it was. Arms looped around my waist and suddenly my feet lifted off of the floor. Looking down, I recognized Ravick’s darker fingers curling against my pale, naked skin and I began to struggle anew.
“I see we need to reestablish ourselves as your alphas, omega,” he threatened. I kicked and punched at him as he walked back over to the bed, before sitting down and depositing me face down over his knees.
“What are you doing?” I screamed, struggling against his firm iron hold. He was so strong though, so much bigger than me that it was entirely useless. I didn’t move an inch no matter how much I fought, but still I didn’t stop.
He placed his massive palm on my naked backside and I finally stilled, growing suspicious of the placement of his touch. Something about it was both comforting and threatening and I didn’t quite know how to react.
His palm began to move, tracing over my skin in soothing circular patterns and my overwhelming anger finally began to abate to something more manageable.
“There, there, omega. See? You respond so nicely when I force you to submit,” Ravick replied and I began to grow uneasy.
“You didn’t answer my question,” I retorted.
“No. I didn’t,” he answered. He was quiet for a long moment, before he began to speak once more. “I gave you an order, Triss, and you didn’t obey me.”