And we are plunging toward the climax!

TV*JW TV*JW TV*JW

Cat found Jade back in the girls bathroom, clenching the sink until her knuckles were white, and trying desperately not to throw up.

"Why'd you do that, Jade?" Cat asked, softly, not judging her. Cat never judged anyone.

"Because she deserved it," Jade shot back, bitterly.

"Did she?"

Jade turned to face her, hands clenched into fists. The look on Tori's face - the betrayal. Oh, Jade was glad that she was the one who had put it there. No one else was allowed to hurt Tori that much. "She wouldn't stay out of my business. She was giving me all this bullshit about not taking the easy way out, saying she didn't want to lie about being an alpha anymore." Jade forced a grin. It was mostly teeth. "I made her put her money where her mouth is. Too bad it turned out that she couldn't handle it."

"That was cruel, Jade."

"Life is cruel." Jade slumped against the sink. God, was life cruel sometimes. She had never wanted an alpha. She had never understood why all those other omegas found them so irresistible - stupid, immature boys. It had been easy to keep herself pure for whoever her father finally picked out. And then he did, he finally picked out an alpha. The one thing she had dreaded paired with the one thing that she had thought impossible. The alpha she had to have and the alpha that she wanted. And what had she done now? Bite and claw at the alpha that she wanted so the alpha she had to have would have full access. "Fuck."

"What's wrong?"

"She asked me out," Jade said quietly.

"What? But that's awesome! You'd be so cute together! You'd have the cutest-"

Jade covered Cat's mouth with one hand and choked her with the other. "Don't say another word."

Cat nodded, her heart fluttering panicked in her throat, under Jade's hand.

"None of that matters." Jade sighed. "She asked me out now. When it's too late."

Cat frowned, but kept her mouth shut.

"Just... I'll be gone at the end of this week. If she does come back to school, keep her away, okay? I'll be missing for a week, probably, and when I get back, I'll be... different. It won't be an issue anymore. Just don't let her come looking for me. That was the point, really, of doing what I did. So she wouldn't get in trouble coming after me."

Cat's eyes were so wide that she looked like her eyeballs would tear down her face. But Jade had told her to not say another word, and she didn't. She just threw herself at Jade and tried to hug her. Jade fought her off.

She couldn't deal with that right now.

She couldn't deal with anything right now.

TV*JW TV*JW TV*JW

Tori ran all the way home.

"Tori, honey? What's wrong?" Her mother had been sitting at the kitchen table, working, but she rose as Tori burst through the door, sweating, eyes streaming.

"I- I can't." Tori stumbled into her mother's arms and cried.

Her mom petted her head.

"It's not fair!" Tori lifted her head. "Why would she do that? I thought..." I thought she liked me, even if she was trying so hard to keep it a secret. "I don't know if I can go back there." She hung her head. "She told the whole school."

And in some ways, what was worse was not that Jade told them that Tori was an alpha, but that she had told them all, very clearly, that Tori wasn't good enough for her.

What was the point?

TV*JW TV*JW TV*JW

Jade's manicure was perfect, and her toenails were still drying. Everything was scheduled, everything was ready, she was the last thing to be painted and decorated, dressed and posed, like a doll.

There were too many things to ready for her to go to school. But her father hadn't bothered to tell her teachers, or let her tell them. He didn't know she was going back. It was going to be a hassle.

But Gavin had promised she'd go back. She just wished she knew how long he was going to keep her at home first. These things spread and expanded to fill all the possible time available - one week of preparations - one week of parties, being shown around like a prize. Or would it be two? Three? By then it would be winter break. Had he planned a trip?

Maybe it would be better to never come back.

TV*JW TV*JW TV*JW

Tori's parents hadn't pushed her to go back to school. She was glad of that. She hated that she had run. But why would she have stayed. There was one stupid high-school reason that she had even thought of outing herself - there was one reason that would have been worth it, and that had blown up in her face.

Andre, Cat and Robbie had sent her a lot of text messages. Some were supportive, others were asking her when she was coming back to school (A large proportion of Cat's were just incomprehensible.) She didn't respond.

On Thursday, someone knocked on her door. Tori opened it.

"Hey," Doug said.

Tori straightened. "What? What are you doing here?"

Doug grinned. "Beck let me know what was going down. I figured I'd drop in and let you know I've got your back."

Tori stared at him blankly. "Why?"

"Beck says you're all right, and you were cool at the party the other day, kicking some ass. One of those girls was my cousin, so I figured had some gratitude to spare."

"Oh."

"I told my guys to leave you alone. I can't stop all the hassling, but the guys know that if they get rough with you, they answer to me. And there's a reason I'm top dog in these parts." He grinned.

Tori bristled slightly. "I don't... need protection."

Doug raised an eyebrow. "Sure you don't." He patted her on the shoulder. "Alphas are always out to push each other around, show who's best, but if we never looked out for each other it would just be a free-for-all all the time. You're just a little alpha now, until you figure out how to work things, so why not join my pack? I like to think of us as a team, watching each other's backs, keeping the peace, playing defense for our betas and omegas. You already did that when you helped out my cousin, so you've got the idea. You've got to be in the system before you can build real respect. That's how alphas work."

"Really?" Tori rubbed her head. "I never saw that before. My dad..."

"He doesn't have a tight group of old friends from high school that he goes to when he needs a hand?" Doug shook his head. "Once you get into the real world you start building respect in other ways. But down on the ground it's about loyalty and looking after your friends. And any alpha on his own is in trouble. You in, Tori?"

So this was what it was like to be an alpha. It hardly had anything to do with biology. It was a social structure, and Tori had managed to get herself invited in. "I'm totally in," she said.

"Awesome," said Doug. "Here's my phone number. Call if you need me."

"Thanks."

"And I'm sorry. Those omegas, they can be bitches, yo."

Tori flinched. "Yeah," she said, sliding her phone back into her pocket. "They kind of can."

TV*JW TV*JW TV*JW

On Friday morning, Jade's father came downstairs with the injection kit. Jade sat on her bed, arms around her knees, rocking slightly. So this was it.

"Ready?"

Jade swallowed, and held out her arm. A cold swab of rubbing alcohol, the sting of the needle, he depressed the plunger, and it was done.

It was over.

He gave her shoulder a squeeze. "I'll be back at five. Be ready then."

Jade lay her head on her knees.

He left.

For a moment she let herself wonder what she would have said if he had paused in the doorway and asked if she was happy with this, was okay with the way things were happening. "No," she murmured to herself. "No. But in a couple of hours, I will be."

TV*JW TV*JW TV*JW

The whispers and giggles when Tori walked into school on Friday were only to be expected, but a few nods from guys who were clearly Doug's alphas were enough to make her straighten and let them slide off her back. Even with Doug's backing, she almost hadn't come. It wasn't the bullying she was afraid of, it was facing her friends, and facing Jade. What did you say to someone after they did that?

What could she say?

The moment Cat saw her she raced to her and threw her arms around her. "Tori! You came back!"

Andre gave her a shoulder slap.

Robbie grinned at her in a half thrilled half terrified way. "So, you're an alpha. I guess I should have known when you punched through my locker."

Tori covered her face, feeling her cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

"Oh, I knew for ages," said Cat. "Jade told-" She broke off, making a weird face.

"It's cool, Tor," said Andre. "Like I said: Normal's boring."

"Thanks."

Tori cast a surreptitious glance over towards Jade's locker, but no one was there. She was a little glad - to not have to deal with her yet, but also slightly disappointed.

In Sikowitz's class, Jade didn't show. She wasn't in any of the classes they shared, and she didn't appear at lunch. Tori leaned on her elbows and frowned as Cat came up to sit next to her.

"Where's Jade?" she asked.

Cat dropped her tray. "Oh god, Tori! She told me not to tell you that you shouldn't go looking for her! She doesn't want you to get in trouble, and that was why she outed you, so you wouldn't look for her!" Cat paused. "I probably wasn't supposed to say any of that."

Tori gaped at her. What? Jade had outed her to keep her away? She was trying to stop her from getting into trouble. "Wait? What do you mean? Why would she do that? Is something happening to her?"

Cat shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. She's just been sad lately. And I think she's in love with you."

It felt like the world had twisted upside down.

What was she supposed to do?

TV*JW TV*JW TV*JW

The heat built slowly, steadily. It felt different from the regular ones, not as raw, but slightly more desperate, more lonely.

But she was alone.

Her mother knocked on the door a few times, asking if she was all right, but Jade just yelled back for her to go away.

She was a mess. Eyeliner smeared from crying, she ached and couldn't do anything to sate it. She hated this, hated the way the chemicals broke her iron control, slid in surreptitiously to play in her mind like feral children in a sandbox. She hated not being able to control her own mind.

She focused on that hate, drawing herself together around it.

If all she had left was her dignity, she would dig her fucking nails in.

TV*JW TV*JW TV*JW

Tori considered the front door, but if Jade thought she might get in trouble coming after her, she should probably avoid meeting anyone she didn't trust. Tori snuck through the bushes instead and found her way to the small rectangular window that opened onto Jade's basement room. She peered through.

Jade was sitting on her bed, knees up to her chest, head pressed against one. She looked calm, not stressed or in danger, and Tori felt a little like an idiot, knocking on the window, but what else could she do? Jade shot a deadly look through the glass, but her eyeliner was running, she had been crying. Tori knocked again more fiercely.

Jade jerked open the window. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"You weren't at school. I wanted to see how you were."

Jade let her head fall back and rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Why did you think I wasn't there?"

Tori swallowed. She could smell the heat in the room, its warm rich scent, and now something new - arousal, gathering on Jade's skin and between her legs. "Oh, god," Tori whimpered. "Sorry. I thought- It's not supposed to be for like another week or two?"

It was sweeter than usual. Not the deep rush to the loins, soft and sweet and pleasing. Tori licked her suddenly dry lips.

"No," Jade said flatly. "This one's artificially induced."

"What?" Tori fell through the window and crashed onto the floor.

Jade jerked back. "You can't be in here!"

Tori sat up, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm not an animal," she muttered. "I can control myself."

Jade's eyes went bright suddenly, as if with newly gathered tears. She shook her head. "Yeah, I know. You're great at controlling yourself around me. I'm hardly interesting at all." She dropped back onto the bed. "But you're an alpha. If my dad smells you on me, he'll kill you."

What? Was she still pissed that Tori hadn't grabbed her the last time she was in heat? She was impossible. And none of this was making sense. Why would anyone induce an artificial heat? "I don't understand. What's going on?"

Jade flashed the inside of her arm, and Tori spotted the tiny red dot tucked into the crook of her elbow. "It's the mating drugs," Jade said. "My daddy's finally picked the alpha he's selling me to. And he gets a lovely merger out of the deal, and I get a handsome alpha husband and to spend the rest of my life with out a care in the world," she waved her hand, her southern (Tori) accent coming out in the false pretense of ease.

"What?" Tori stared at her, not able to believe this. She was on mating drugs? She was sixteen. This was medieval. "He can't sell you!"

"I've been sold already," Jade sighed. "I'm just waiting for delivery. This evening I'll be brought to him in one of the guest bedrooms upstairs, and he'll knot me and mate me and then we won't have to worry about this. I won't be interested in other alphas. I'll see you in school eventually. He promised I'd be able to finish high school, as a treat to me. And after that I get to start having his pups. Doesn't that sound wonderful?"

It sounded disgusting. "Jade. You can't just be planning to let this happen. You can't just let your dad sell you to him. You could call the police. This isn't legal anymore."

"It's wrong," Jade said, "It's still legal. Until I'm eighteen, he can do what he wants with me, and that includes mating me to his business partner, okay?"

"But can't we stop this? Can't I stop this?" She took a step toward her.

Jade backed up. "You don't want this. You're offering to knot me? Jesus."

Tori flushed. "I- I don't think this is fair. And I'm willing. It's not like it would be unpleasant."

Jade snorted. "You had better believe it wouldn't be. But it's a stupid idea. You'd knot me and mate me and my dad would find us and kill us. Being dead and bringing you down with me isn't the plan here." She sighed. "Look, I'm pissed now, but tonight I'm going to want him. It's going to be fine. He seems okay, and it doesn't really matter. He might be the biggest jerk on the planet, but I'll love his knot, and he'll have his teenage omega slut all over him." Jade crunched her hands into fists. "That's what I get for being an omega - I don't even get to control my own body, not even my own mind."

"This has to be illegal."

"You want me to go to the cops against my dad? My dad's one of the most powerful alphas in LA. It's not going to happen, okay? I'll just get through this, and then we can be friends, like you wanted. You always just wanted to be friends, right?"

Tori stared at her.

I love you. She had never wanted to think it, but it had always been there, and now it was all she could think.

Tori felt her own eyes filling bitterly with tears. Jade gave one suppressed, desperate sob, and Tori couldn't stop. She stepped in, wrapping her arms around Jade and drawing her in for a hug. Jade clung to her, and slowly they staggered backwards to sit on the bed. Tori's hand rubbed Jade's back in slow circles. Jade cried, soaking the shoulder of her shirt.

Tori considered pushing her down and taking her, not letting her protest, but she had said no, like she really didn't want it, and raping someone, even for their own good, was not something Tori could stoop to. Instead she just rubbed the inside of her wrist across the back of Jade's neck.

It felt... kind of amazing, and even Jade made a small sound that sounded more like moan than a sob.

Jade lifted her head, and looked at her, blue-green eyes clouded with tears. Then she leaned in and Tori met her in the middle. The kisses were light, soft presses of lips, no tongue, the occasional brush of teeth. It wasn't sweet. It wasn't passionate. It was just desperate and sad.

A knock came on the door. "Jadelyn," said a woman's voice. "It's time to get ready. He'll be here in an hour."

Jade choked and pushed Tori off. "Yes, mom. I'll be ready."

"You're going to do this?"

Jade looked up at her, lips twisted in resigned humor. "This is my life, Tori. And no matter how we fight, this is my destiny. I'm a breeder, and I've always been meant to be someone's bitch."

"But-"

"And don't say being yours is an improvement. Of things that will get me beaten up, being with you is number one on the list. He's not the worst option I have. And this way my dad will finally think I'm worth something."

Even if it was just a bargaining chip. Tori hated this. "You're worth more than anyone. You're..." The swell of feeling was almost overwhelming. "You deserve everything. I'd- I'd give you anything."

Jade smiled. "Get out of here before all the hormones go to your head. I've got to shower, or they'll know you've been here."

"No, Jade. I'm not leav-"

Jade stripped off her dress and stood in her underwear and bra. She glanced at Tori, eyeliner like owl feathers streaking her face. "Don't act like a stupid alpha, okay?" And then she walked into the bathroom and locked the door behind her.

Tori slumped back down on the bed. It hadn't worked. She hadn't fixed things. She wasn't even an option.

TV*JW TV*JW TV*JW

Jade, as clean and scrubbed as she could be, dressed herself in a simple red silk slip and barely there underwear. She dried her hair, twisting it up on the back of her head, and pinned it. It would just be thoroughly messed up later. Her stomach ached and her body hurt, and yet she had to protect Tori. She couldn't let her father find her and hurt her. And he wouldn't even be punished. Flying into a violent rage when some strange alpha defiled your omega daughter was only natural, right? And if the alpha was a flimsy little girl, killing her on accident was no big deal.

Jade reached back and touched her neck. It was sensitive where Tori had been rubbing her wrist against it. It felt almost raw, the soap stinging against her skin. But any lingering trace of Tori on her would be their undoing. She would make it through this. Tori would be her friend, no matter what, and she would need all the friends she could get to survive the life that awaited her - her mother's life.

The manicure and pedicure were still perfect. She did her make-up, light, using waterproof mascara, not wanting to risk another set of raccoon eyes if she lost control and started to cry.

And then her mother knocked again, and Jade stepped out, prepared.

Her mother looked at her. For the first time, really, Jade could see her eyes. They were an odd blue-green, like her own. "You look beautiful."

Jade's chest swelled with fury. How dare she let him do this to her? How dare she say she was beautiful, when she was only attractive enough to be sold for money?

Then her mother gave a short sniff and looked surprised. "Are you-"

"Wildly in heat? Yes," Jade snapped back. She could probably smell the lingering scent of Tori that was still in her room.

"No. I just thought... It's been a long time. I don't really remember what a mating heat smells like."

So submissive. Always submissive. Just like Jade was supposed to be. She really wasn't sure if she could bear that.

They walked up the stairs and her mother led her to the grandest guest bedroom, everything new and clean and perfect, like a hotel. God, she was an expensive call girl and her father was her pimp. The bed had been made up with satin sheets. Jade grimaced and sat on the bedspread, wanting to bring her legs up, but sure that the slip was too short, and she would just expose everything. She sat still, hands pressed against the blanket, and waited.

The door opened. She heard her father's voice outside. "Everything should be ready for you."

"I'm very excited," said Gavin, a slight smile in his voice. He stepped inside.

Gavin paused for a moment, looking at Jade. "What a prize," he said softly. "Worth every penny."

He slipped off his jacket, and loosened his tie. After his tie, his trousers came off, and Jade could see the swell in his boxers, the knot beginning to bulge. And she felt nothing.

She was in heat. She knew that. The wetness coated her thighs. Her breasts ached, tender and sensitive. And yet she still felt nothing. His knot might have been a chair to her. She had no interest in putting it inside her.

Something must have shown on her face, because Gavin paused, and frowned, then sniffed the air.

"Hey," he said softly. "You..."

Jade gulped. This wasn't how this was supposed to go.

"You've taken the mating drugs, right?"

Jade nodded. Her mother's comment before suddenly struck her with import.

"And you don't... you don't already have a mate?"

"What?" Jade gaped at him. "No. I've never even been knotted."

"It's just- It's just you smell like you already have a mate."

Jade reached back once more and slowly let her fingers run over the sensitive place on the back of her neck. Female alphas. Oh fuck.