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“This is bullshit! Why the hell does it have to be us?” Alex snarled, pacing the cramped cell with restless energy. He kicked the bars again, the sharp, furious tinge to his scent filling the air. Tamil stood nearby, feeling the cold bite through his thin orange jumpsuit. They had been shoved into this cell the night before with barely a word of explanation. Six omegas, no benches, and one exposed toilet. The chill had seeped deep into their bones during the long, brutal night, and now, as morning crept in, Tamil could see the bitterness beginning to overtake the fear. Each of the omegas dealt with it in their own way.
Tamil gnawed on his thumbnail, standing close to the huddled group, torn about what to do next. The cold made everything worse, like it always did. He wanted to scream alongside Alex, to pace and rage at the injustice. He’d spent most of his life being passed from one terrible alpha to another, used—abused—in ways he could barely count. And yet here he was, tossed into prison for prostitution, as if he’d ever had a choice. Leave it to the system to lock up the old, used-up whore and cast him away like a sacrificial lamb.
And now, they were being shipped up north, part of some so-called pilot program for “wayward omega inmates”—a chance to “rehabilitate” them and get them back to their pimps or whoever else wanted them. Tamil had no illusions about what that really meant. It was just another way to fuck ‘em over and send ‘em on their way. He wanted to scream with Alex, to rail at the injustice of it all. He was thirty-two, for crying out loud. When was the world finally going to leave him alone?
Prison had almost sounded peaceful compared to the life Tamil had been living. At least here, they were mostly left alone. The guards only bothered you if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. And no one woke you up in the middle of the night demanding a quick suck. That, at least, was something.
Raging against the world was all well and good, but Tamil had Danny to think about, along with the other omegas huddled behind him. Danny had been picked up at the same time as Tamil, and Tamil had made it his mission to see the kid—barely twenty—through this whole ordeal in one piece. He couldn’t do that if he lost his head at every injustice thrown their way.
Tamil and Danny had met Simon Carter and Cody Hayes when they were brought into the prison wing and placed in the cell next to theirs. Yard time had quickly been filled with Simon complaining about the drab, scratchy uniforms they were forced to wear, always trying to style his hair with whatever small tricks he could manage. Meanwhile, Cody sat nearby, watching the others with that blank, detached stare he always had. Even now, Danny and Simon clung to each other in the cold, seeking comfort in the only way they could, while Cody sat next to them, elbow just brushing against Simon’s space. His eyes were closed, his head leaned back like this was just another day for him.
Who was Tamil kidding? Maybe it was, for Mr. Tall, Dark, and Dead Inside Hayes.
If Tamil started pacing with Alex, it’d shatter the little peace the trio had managed to find together. Sure, he could have joined them, but that would feel like abandoning the last member of their group to suffer on his own.
Luca Mariano was huddled against the opposite wall, arms wrapped so tight around his bent knees that Tamil thought he might snap in two. His face was buried in his knees, and Tamil could tell by the rapid rise and fall of his back that he was hyperventilating. Again. To be fair, Luca had been like that since he arrived two weeks ago, flinching at his own shadow if it moved too suddenly. Tamil knew Luca was older, but how much older? It was hard to tell. The gray streaks in Luca’s hair might’ve been from age, or just as likely from stress. Tamil had seen his fair share of horrors in life, but he suspected his hair would turn white too if he ever learned the full extent of what Luca screamed about in his nightmares.
Tamil remained stuck in the middle of the cell, the others scattered around him like broken pieces of a puzzle. He felt pulled in three directions at once, standing helplessly upright as if frozen in place. Each omega seemed to need something different from him, but Tamil had no idea what to offer. Maybe he could calm Alex down and send him over to check on Luca. Anything to ease the rising tension that filled the air. They hadn’t been told much—just that they were being moved to some omega rehabilitation center. The fear was palpable now, thickening the air, and Alex’s sharp, angry scent only added to the suffocating mix. Their emotions stunk up the cell, turning it into a cage with each passing minute.
Tamil opened his mouth to say something—anything—to calm them down, but Cody’s voice cut through them all like a dull knife. It was rough, clearly unused. “It’s not so bad, you know.” Cody cleared his throat, still not looking up or opening his eyes, as if he were speaking to the ceiling. “The rehabilitation centers aren’t that bad once you get used to them. You just have to do what they tell you, and eventually, they let you go back to your family.” He wrapped his arms around his stomach, a slight shiver running through him as Alex scoffed.
Alex whipped around to face the huddle of omegas, his voice sharp and biting. Luca whimpered from the corner, shrinking further into himself. “Right, and then we all end up like you, huh, bigfoot?” Alex glowered at Cody, crossing his arms tightly against his chest. “Considering that’s the most I’ve heard you say the whole time we’ve been stuck in here, I’ll stick to figuring out how to get out of this, thanks. What do they tell you—hold still while they fuck you, and if you do it right, they use the good ice pick to lobotomize you?”
Tamil quickly stepped between them, cutting off the brewing argument before it could explode. He frowned at Alex, his voice low but firm. “Give it a rest, will ya? Everyone’s already on edge, and this isn’t helping.” His gaze flicked toward Luca, whose trembling had worsened, his body a quivering mess in the corner. “Why don’t you try doing something useful and go comfort Luca or something?”
He hoped redirecting Alex’s nervous energy might help. Tamil had seen plenty of omegas like Alex when they first arrived at the house he and Danny had been kept in—raging against their fate, burning out within months. Most of them had the fight beaten out of them by the end of the first year. The ones who didn’t... well, they didn’t last long. Keeping Alex calm was for everyone’s sake, whether Alex realized it or not.
As Tamil tried to defuse the situation, he caught Simon whispering in hushed tones to Cody. “But... everything you told me about your family sounds terrible. Why would you want to go back there?”
Tamil silently agreed. Cody hadn’t shared much, but from the little he had mentioned, Tamil knew his family had been awful. And now here was Cody, a hollowed-out shell of an omega, sentenced to five years for embezzlement. Shuffling through the prison like a ghost, barely existing. It was hard to picture someone as compliant as Cody doing anything wrong, but Tamil suspected he’d been set up.
Prison had almost been a godsend, in a strange way. For all its miseries, at least here, Tamil knew what to expect. The idea of leaving wasn’t as exciting as it should’ve been. He wondered idly if his old pimp, Mr. Ebbing, was still registered as his alpha. The thought made his stomach turn. Strangely enough, he realized, he’d actually be sad to leave.
Alex was screwing up his face, ready to argue, when Cody spoke again. His voice was just as detached as before. “No, it’s not like that. They just... they want to make sure you’re a good omega.” He gestured vaguely, as if brushing away confusion. “They have an alpha help you learn. It took me longer because I’d never... well, I’d never done the things they wanted. I wasn’t good, so they had to be harder on me. But I got better, and you all are so nice. I know you’re going to be good too…”
Cody’s words trailed off, his flat expression meeting the horrified faces of the other omegas. Tamil’s disbelief mirrored theirs.
“Oh God,” Luca squeaked, his rocking growing more frantic. He mumbled into his arms, “I want to go home. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. I just want my Mark back.”
Tamil made up his mind. He turned away from Alex, whose face had paled at Cody’s explanation. Alex stood there, frozen, but Tamil didn’t have time to deal with that now. He sat down next to Luca, gently patting his trembling shoulder, whispering quiet reassurances.
A soft tap on his shoulder made Tamil glance up. Alex stood over him, his expression pained, but beneath that, Tamil could make out the fear. Alex wasn’t just angry; he was terrified. Terrified of ending up like Cody.
“Hey, shove over. I got it,” Alex murmured, his voice tighter than usual. Tamil nodded, shifting to make space. He could feel Alex’s terror simmering beneath the surface, driving him to act. Tamil was relieved that at least Luca would be helped in the process.
“Hey, hey buddy,” Alex said, his voice a little unsteady as he started rubbing Luca’s back in slow, careful circles. “It’s fine. You’re fine. You got that letter from Mark last month, didn’t you? He wouldn’t be writing if he wasn’t waiting for you, right?”
Luca sniffled, his voice barely above a whisper. “But why are they doing this to us? I don’t want them to hurt me. I’m not a bad omega. I do everything they tell me, and they still hurt me anyway.”
Alex’s grip tightened on Luca’s shoulder, his jaw clenching as he glanced at Tamil, eyes hard. “It’s not your fault, Luca,” he said through gritted teeth. “It’s just how things are. Some alpha thinks they know what’s best for you and doesn’t even bother to ask.”
His voice dropped lower, colder. “We’d be better off without them.”
Luca wiped his face on his sleeve, sniffling again. “You can’t mean that. My Mark’s an alpha, and he’s so nice.”
Alex rolled his eyes. “Yeah, alphas are so nice. They’ve kept us locked in this cell for six hours with no explanation and got you crying on the floor.”
An awkward silence followed until Simon, ever the one to lighten the mood, chirped, “Well! Maybe the new place will have better clothes. Orange washes me out, and what I wouldn’t give for something besides these plastic sandals.” He turned to Cody with a raised brow. “What do you say, Cody? Did they let you wear what you wanted at your last place?”
Cody shrugged, about to answer, but Danny cut in, a bit of excitement creeping into his voice. “Yeah, and it’s up north, right? Maybe we’ll get to see some forest or something. Maybe the alphas will let us go outside.” He grinned at Simon, elbowing him playfully. “Could see some deer or a raccoon or something... oh, wouldn’t it be creepy if there were bears?”
“No bears!” Luca yelped, practically jumping out of his skin. His eyes were wide, panic flooding back into his voice. “They wouldn’t let dangerous beasts roam around there, would they?”
Alex snorted, leaning back against the wall with a smirk. “Besides the alphas?”
Tamil shushed Alex as they heard footsteps echoing down the corridor. The sound bounced off the walls, loud in the cold, cramped space. Every head turned toward the door as two guards appeared, escorting a small blond omega dressed in the same orange jumpsuit as the rest of them.
Alex groaned softly, leaning toward Tamil. “Great, now this guy,” he muttered, but Tamil shook his head in warning. He could feel the other’s tense as the guards drew closer. One of them had a look in his eye that made Tamil’s skin crawl, the kind of look alphas gave when they thought they owned everything they saw. Tamil could smell it on him—trouble. Thank God they traveled in pairs, or that look would’ve been a lot more dangerous.
The second guard half-carried the omega, the boy’s feet barely dragging on the floor. His head hung forward, face hidden beneath a mess of blond hair, but Tamil could make out the bruises on his neck and the angry red marks where the cuffs had dug in. As the guard dumped the omega unceremoniously on the floor, the boy hit the ground with a dull thud, a faint hiss escaping his lips as he curled in on himself.
“That’s the last one,” the guard announced, brushing his hands off like the omega was just another piece of luggage. “Van’s coming soon. Get the lot of you loaded up.”
The omega didn’t move. He just lay there, crumpled near the door, breathing shallowly like each breath hurt. Tamil could see the faint tremor running through his body, the bruises that were visible, and probably worse ones hidden under the jumpsuit. His face was pale, and his lip was swollen, split at the corner.
Tamil’s gut clenched. The kid was beat to hell and back, barely holding it together. But he wasn’t making a sound—not even a whimper, just lying there as if he’d already learned it didn’t do any good to fight.
Tamil stood up, lowering his head as he approached the guard, exposing his neck just like Mr. Ebbing used to like. “P-please, sirs. Could we maybe get some food? A blanket or two for the younger ones?” He knew the whole group needed care, but if someone was going to get smacked for asking, Tamil would rather take the hit than let the others keep freezing and starving.
He flinched when the guard raised an eyebrow, expecting a blow, but instead, the man just shrugged. “Let me check if there’s anything. Kitchen’s closed, but maybe we’ve got some protein bars lying around. No blankets, though. You know the rules, inmate.”
Tamil gave a small nod, shuffling backward with his head still down, murmuring his thanks.
As the guards turned to leave, one shot a pointed glance at the crumpled omega on the floor. “Watch out for that one. He’s dangerous.” The other guard snorted as they locked the door and walked away.
Tamil watched the guards disappear down the hall, then turned his attention back to the small omega curled up on the floor. He gently tried to coax him up, but the poor kid just trembled in his arms, frozen in place.
Before Tamil could even think to stop him, Danny was already on his feet and moving toward the omega. He knelt down, shaking the boy’s shoulder with a gentle touch, but the omega remained unresponsive.
“Hey, you might just want to leave him there,” Alex called over. “That’s the one who killed somebody. Guards weren’t joking when they said he’s dangerous.”
Danny shot him a sharp look, then turned his attention back to the omega, continuing to coax him toward their huddle. “Yeah, really dangerous just laying here,” he muttered softly.
Tamil allowed himself a small, fleeting smile as he watched. Danny, usually so quiet and shy, was stepping up again. It was always a relief to see this side of him come out. Tamil silently vowed, once more, that he’d do whatever it took to keep Danny—the real Danny, the one that emerged in moments like this—safe and happy.
He joined Danny, and together, they managed to guide the trembling omega back to where Cody and Simon sat.
Propping the boy against the wall, Tamil frowned as he took in the sight of him. The omega’s face was marred with dark bruises, and a cut near his temple had crusted over with dried blood. His expression was vacant, eyes glazed over as if he wasn’t really there. So fragile. So impossibly young. Tamil leaned in a little closer, catching the faint scent beneath the blood and sweat—something familiar, yet wrong.
Then it hit him.
Heat.
Tamil’s stomach twisted into knots. A kid this young, already beaten and broken, and now smelling like he was in heat? It meant one thing: alphas. And alphas meant danger, more than they could handle. They wouldn’t stop until someone got hurt.
He exhaled shakily.
“He’s got a heat scent.”
Alex looked up sharply, his arm tightening protectively around Luca, who had calmed, his head now resting on Alex’s shoulder. “Fuck. Push him to the far end of the cell before the rest of you start reeking like heat.”
Tamil shook his head, raising an eyebrow. “Seriously, Alex? He’s just a kid.”
“Don’t give me that,” Alex snapped, gripping Luca like a lifeline. His voice dropped, lower and more urgent. “He killed someone, and I heard it was another omega. Luca and I aren’t getting caught in the shitstorm that’s coming for him, and you should be thinking about Danny and Cody, too. You really want them in the middle of this? Ain’t your precious Danny just a kid?”
“Dammit, fucking dammit,” Tamil growled as he gently nudged Danny aside, settling in next to the omega, who reeked of heat and sweat. The boy’s scent was overpowering, raw and dangerous. “Fine.” He pulled the trembling kid into his arms, rubbing his cheek against the bruised skin of the boy’s neck, both to comfort him and to pick up his scent, hoping to absorb enough of it to shield the boy if the guards came sniffing for trouble. It wouldn’t be the first time Tamil had stood between a predator and his prey.
“You’re an idiot,” Alex whispered, loud enough for the others to hear, but his voice lacked the usual bite. There was only resignation now.
“Feel free to take my place anytime,” Tamil muttered, pulling the omega closer. The boy shuddered at the touch, a small pained whimper escaping him, and Tamil whispered softly into his ear. “Gonna keep you safe, kid. No one’s gonna hurt you. We’ve got you.”
Danny slipped quietly into the space on the other side, his presence steady. Tamil’s chest tightened as he remembered the times he’d whispered the same promises to Danny—empty promises, perhaps, but they had to mean something now.
It was another hour before the guard returned, holding a couple of protein bars lazily in one hand. The sight of food, even just a little, sent a wave of tension through the room. Seven omegas, no food or water since lunch the previous day—those bars weren’t nearly enough. But Tamil knew better. Alphas never gave something for nothing. His throat tightened, breath catching as his heart pounded painfully in his chest.
“Van’s an hour out. Driver wants to grab some breakfast first. Got your breakfast right here.” The guard grinned, fanning the bars out like a deck of cards, his voice thick with amusement. “How about you bring inmate Cole over, and I’ll give you these bars.”
The words hung in the air, heavy and dangerous, leaving a bitter taste in Tamil’s mouth. The room shifted in response, the omegas falling silent as they held their breath. Tamil could feel the fear rise like smoke, thickening with each second the guard loomed. His eyes darted around, looking for the second guard—only to realize he’d quietly slipped away, leaving them exposed. Of course he had.
This was happening.
Tamil swallowed hard. “Why would you want some scrawny, half-dead kid when you could have someone who actually knows their way around alpha cock?” His lips pulled into a strained smile as he stepped forward, his stomach twisting with disgust. He prayed the heat scent from the boy had clung to him, enough to distract the guard from noticing the tremor in his voice. Or maybe the guard liked that—the scent of fear lingering in the air.
Behind him, Tamil could feel the others watching. Cody sat silent, his eyes glued to the floor, while Simon’s jaw clenched tight enough to crack. Danny hovered, looking like he might jump up and intervene at any second. Tamil knew they were all holding back, unsure of what would happen next, caught between their fear and the crushing reality that they couldn’t stop it.
The guard sniffed as he stepped closer, his gaze sliding over Tamil with a sleazy, calculated appreciation. “Hey, fine with me. A mouth’s a mouth,” he said, lazily motioning for Tamil to crawl forward. The protein bars dangled from his hand like a prize, waving them just out of reach as if tempting a dog. “On your knees.”
Tamil’s body moved on autopilot, stiff and mechanical, as he sank down onto the cold floor. His gaze landed on the guard’s belt buckle, now level with his face. How many times had he been here? How many times had he unzipped a zipper with trembling hands, felt the stench of sweat and lust invade his senses? The weight of a possessive hand on his shoulder. Fingers grabbing at his hair. The crushing grip on his throat as his body was reduced to nothing but an object.
The guard chuckled low, hips thrusting forward as he taunted, “Didn’t know I had such a needy slut in here, or I’d have come by sooner.”
Tamil froze, his heart thudding so loudly it drowned out the guard’s taunts. His vision blurred, and suddenly, the man in front of him wasn’t just one guard. He was every alpha. Every john who had fucked his face, beaten him into submission, used him like a thing instead of a person. Their faces overlapped, merging into a looming, monstrous shadow. He was small again, powerless again. He couldn’t save them—couldn’t even save himself.
Breath came in shallow bursts, his chest tightening as the air thinned. Tamil’s hands hung useless at his sides, trembling, refusing to obey his mind’s frantic commands. Just do it, he ordered himself. It’s nothing. You’ve done this a thousand times—almost every day for fifteen years. This is nothing. But his fingers wouldn’t move, and his throat felt tight, choking him from the inside out. You have to do it. For Danny. To keep the kid safe.
Just move your hand.
A soft touch on his shoulder. Light, familiar—yet it might as well have been a knife against his skin. Tamil’s heart shot into his throat, his breath hitching. He knew that touch. Danny.
“No fair, you got the last guard,” Danny whined, his voice a high-pitched, sickeningly sweet tone that rang false to Tamil, but he knew alphas ate it up. “It’s been so long. Please, let me have this one, you’re always so greedy.” Danny tugged at Tamil’s jumpsuit, trying to pull him up, the act painfully convincing.
Dammit, Tamil cursed silently. He had stepped forward to protect Danny, to shield him from the ugliness he knew was coming. And now, all he’d managed to do was throw the boy directly in the path of it.
“Go away, Danny,” Tamil growled through clenched teeth, his frustration boiling under the surface. Danny wasn’t supposed to have to do this. Not Danny. He had taught him to play this sex kitten role to avoid trouble—not to dive headfirst into it.
He tried to move his hands again, willing them to cooperate, but they were frozen. After all the years he’d spent playing the same degrading role, his body was betraying him now. The guard’s eyes were still locked on him, but Tamil couldn’t move. Just move your hands. Do it, he urged himself, as if saying it would make it real.
“No, Tamil. It’s my turn,” Danny purred again, his voice too practiced, too smooth, like he’d slipped effortlessly into the role Tamil had so carefully taught him. The whine had all the traits of innocence, but Tamil could see the shadow of something behind it, something broken that he had hoped to never see in the boy.
The guard laughed, sidestepping Tamil’s trembling hand as if it were nothing and motioning for Danny to come closer. “You snooze, you lose, old man. God, I knew there were some cock-hungry omegas in here, but I never imagined…”
Tamil slumped back on his heels, his face a carefully schooled mask. He watched as Danny winked at him, a hollow gesture, before unzipping the guard’s pants. In seconds, Danny’s mouth was full, and he closed his eyes as though savoring it, moaning with what sounded like pleasure. Tamil had taught him that too—alphas thrived on flattery. Keep them happy, and you might survive.
Danny started off slow, teasing, his head bobbing in a practiced rhythm, humming softly with every swallow, playing the role of the eager omega perfectly. But the act didn’t last long. The guard’s hand tangled in Danny’s hair, yanking hard as he forced the pace rougher, faster. Tamil heard Danny’s muffled struggle, the gasps between thrusts. Tamil felt it too, a sick, strangling pressure in his own throat as if he were the one suffocating.
He couldn’t save him.
Helplessness clawed at Tamil’s insides. He wanted to take Danny’s place, to shield him from this, but what good would it do? He wasn’t strong enough. He had failed—again. His fists clenched at his sides, nails digging into his palms, but he couldn’t force himself to move.
Tamil kept his eyes forward, staring at the guard’s back, willing himself not to look at the other omegas. He didn’t want to see the disgust, the judgment in their eyes. But worse, he didn’t want to see the resignation—the acceptance of this nightmare that, deep down, he knew they all shared.
The guard finished quickly, grunting as he pulled away, then barked a cold demand. “Lick it clean. Tuck me back in.” Danny obeyed, his movements almost automatic, before the guard tossed the protein bars onto the floor. They scattered across the cold concrete like scraps for animals. “Van’s coming soon,” he added, his voice indifferent as he whistled a tuneless melody, strolling out of the cell as if nothing had happened.
"Danny’s shoulders dropped as the guard left, his body going slack like a puppet whose strings had been cut. He wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve, eyes downcast, but when he looked up, his gaze met Tamil’s. Tamil hadn’t been able to look away the entire time, trapped in his own paralysis. The sight of Danny—so young, so bruised by the world—tore at him. Danny offered a half-hearted smile, a quick, practiced shrug, before shuffling over to plop down beside him.
“I’m so sorry, Danny…” Tamil’s voice cracked, barely above a whisper, the weight of his guilt pressing down.
Danny cut him off with a hug, wrapping his arms around Tamil in a way that was both comforting and familiar. “Hey, none of that,” he murmured, his voice soft again, the false bravado gone. It was Danny—his real Danny—back in control. “How many times did you do that for me? What do you always say, huh? Omegas look out for each other, ‘cause no one else is gonna.”
He pulled away just enough to pick up one of the protein bars, turning it over in his hands with a small frown. “Damn, it’s got peanuts. Can’t have that. Ah well, I’m full anyway,” he said, shrugging as if it didn’t matter.
Tamil sighed deeply, pulling Danny back in for another hug, tighter this time. This sweet, gentle boy—he couldn’t let this happen to him again. He wouldn’t. Tamil squeezed his eyes shut, making a silent vow. Not again.
He glanced over and caught Alex’s eye. There was something more determined in Alex’s gaze than Tamil had ever seen before, a simmering anger that ran deeper than his usual temper. It wasn’t just fury anymore—it was resolve, cold and unyielding. Tamil gave a small nod. Alex returned it, sharp and silent, a wordless agreement passing between them.
Whatever hell Buck Pond had waiting for them, Tamil knew one thing for sure: no one else would protect these omegas. They'd have to do it themselves—and they'd make damn sure no alpha would hurt them again.