3

Molly

He's gone when I wake up. I hold my head and sit up. The bed is spacious and comfortable, but it pales in comparison to the room itself. It's stunning and intricate—huge. The floor to ceiling windows illuminate the large room, the deep hardwood floors. I stand and look around, stopping at a door in the corner of the room. I open it, peeking around the door.

The bathroom doesn't fall short of the luxury of the bedroom. Whoever lives here must be filthy rich. The towels are folded and—warmed? They're pristine white, instantly sullied by my dirty hands. I wince and pinch it between my fingers throwing it in the nearby bin labeled dirty towels.

Finally. The blood from last night has crusted over. I need it gone. I want to rinse away this whole night. Then...I'll deal with whatever the hell this is.

It doesn't take me too long to figure out the shower, maybe out of sheer desperation. I take a while. The shower is spacious, and the water is hot, steaming up the room, and softening my skin. I watch the water dirty and then clear.

There's a robe hanging up. I take it and walk out of the room toweling my hair. I pass the mirror and pause. I look different, I think. I don't know how I know because I'm not sure what I looked like before all this. But somehow...I know. I lift my hair and glance at the transparent patch on my neck.

Everyone kept calling me an omega. It's why I needed this patch, I'm sure. What I'm not sure of, is what it means.

Someone rustled inside the room. I leave the bathroom and find a woman in a uniform, with cleaning supplies. She must work here. I grab her hands desperately.

"I'm sorry ma'am I know you don't know me. But please tell me, what's an omega? Everyone here keeps calling me that."

The woman, a bit older than me, wrinkles her brow and glances around before looking between my eyes. She looks shocked like she thinks the question is a joke.

Is it common knowledge? I have other common knowledge, why not this?

"And an Alpha...what's that? And this patch?" I move my hair to the side. "Do you know what it is? And—And—"

She squeezes my hands tightly and offers me a sympathetic smile. "Do you remember anything?"

I shake my head gently. "Just my name. Molly."

The lady looks around the hall and shuts the door, before grabbing my hands and pulling me to the bed. She sits and pats the seat next to her, indicating I should do the same.

I do.

The woman, who tells me her name is Kerri explains every thing to me in detail. The hierarchy of this world, the Alphas, the Omegas and the Betas. Alpha's are the top of the pyramid, but they can only get an alpha if you mate with an omega.

"But omegas are super rare," Kerri informs me.

In the first few months of Alpha's adulthood, they need to find an Omega with a high pheromone match to have sex with, and the way they do that is—

"That's why your scent is so attractive to alphas. Your suppressant helps disguise your scent."

I lean back on my hands and take it all in. The pheromones, the suppressants it's a little confusing but...at least I know something. My knowledge bank has grown a lot.

I feel like I've finally put my feet on solid ground. Like I was floating away before, untethered and alone. But now I know enough about this world that i think I can walk it. Maybe even without dying.

"There's one more thing you should know. Marking. It's when an alpha bites you," she taps her neck where my patch is. I brush my fingers against it. "They inject pheromones when they do that, to increase the chance of you getting pregnant."

I swallow roughly. For the millionth time since I work up, my stomach flips.

"If you don't cleanse the pheromones from your system with medicine. You'll be permanently marked."

Kerri sits with me for a while but eventually has to leave to tend to her duty.

She pats my shoulder as she goes in silent encouragement, but I barely register it. That man...the one who hurt me...he was trying to get me pregnant?

I clutch my belly and rush to the bathroom. My stomach lurches but I haven't eaten anything so nothing comes up. My eyes sting.

My skin feels sticky again like the blood is still crusting over, infecting me.

I hold myself and rock for a bit. Wait...why...why did the old man bring me here then? Oh...I need to run.

I fling open the door ready to make a break for it. There stands the old man, in the doorway. He smiles kindly and taps his cane.

"I'm sure you have questions." He says calmly.

My eyes dart to the exit. He sighs and turns around. "Let me tell you why I brought you here. Then, you can decide if you want to leave. Deal?"

I glance at the door but follow him. He pulls out a chair at the vanity and I sit on the bed.

He opens his mouth to speak.