Thirteen years ago the government had implemented what it called the "Preservation of Species" act. With the Beta percentage of the population rising each year, Omegas were increasingly in demand. And assaults were on the rise. So the government started building "orphanages" for single Omegas. Separate ones for women and men. Where the main goal was to get them mated as fast as possible.
It was, by any measure, an awful plan.
But it did make things marginally more convenient.
Because he knew he was out there somewhere, and this gave him a place to start looking.
Dean crossed another name off the list he carried in his wallet. There were seventeen orphanages for single, adult, omega-presenting women scattered across the country He'd been to nine so far, been generally unimpressed with the entire scheme, and struck out every time.
He hadn't - for the first thirty-one years of his life - felt any compulsion to try and marry or mate. That is, until his younger brother Sam found his true mate - a sweet pretty Beta named Jessica. And things had just gone so damn well for the two of them…that Dean wanted in. So late last year he'd started looking. And kept looking. And he knew eventually he was gonna find her.
It was March now, spring rain threatening to turn to sleet. And he was fifteen miles east of Davenport, Iowa at Sonny's Home for Girls.
Even the nomenclature was demeaning, he thought as he got out of the car and made for the door. Most people didn't present Alpha, Beta or Omega until close to twenty. And the government had implemented a couple year "grace period" for Omegas to find a mate on their own before they came knocking. These weren't girls.
But, as he'd forced himself to do every time before, he gave them the benefit of the doubt, thanked his lucky stars that this atrocity at least gave him an easy way to search, and made for the door.
Sonny, the old hippie who ran this little farm, seemed nice enough as he shook Dean's hand and let him into the big red farmhouse. It was pretty. A whole heck of a lot prettier than the last place Dean had visited. Smaller too.
"Each of the girls has their own plot of land, lots of free time," Sonny said, "We want them to have lives. Interests. Skills."
"That's good," Dean agreed. And rare, he thought to himself. Only one of the other homes he'd visited so far had a similar approach. Since, the main goal was to get single omegas married fast, not happily, most of the orphanages focused on making their charges seem as benign and inoffensive as possible. At the last place he'd visited the caretaker had screamed at a young woman for expressing, with painstaking politeness, that she didn't feel comfortable mating with someone who wasn't also Orthodox Jewish.
"We've got one - Anna - who's a stellar calligrapher. She wants to work in publishing - layouts, typesetting, that kinda thing. She'll be great in it," Sonny said, "And Josie's started doing some light genetic engineering. I got her all set up in my back room. Went to school for biochem. I've got the best damn carrots in the county now thanks to her."
Sonny took a deep breath, about to continue, when a tall, dark-haired man in a black leather jacket and heavy work boots stormed down the stairs.
"What the hell?" The man demanded, looming over Sonny.
"I take it something didn't work out the way you'd hoped?" Sonny asked, nonplussed.
The man was livid, angry pheromones coming off him in waves. But there was something else underneath. A good smell. Homey. Calming. Lavender, incense, baking bread and…something else.
It wasn't an alpha smell.
And Dean wanted, no he needed, to find out where it came from. Now.
"She's defective," the man snapped, "Wasn't even worth the test drive."
"Then you can see yourself out," Sonny said calmly.
The man scowled, standing frozen with anger for a moment, then slammed the door on his way out.
"What was that about?" Dean asked.
"Apparently it wasn't a fit," Sonny said, "There's this common misconception that any alpha and any omega will just be perfectly happy together. But it's just not true. So…as a rule…we let the alphas test a girl out. Provided she's not in heat of course."
"Can I see the girl he just left?" Dean asked.
It was a long shot. He knew that. But Sam had told him, repeatedly, to follow his nose. And so that's what he was going to do.
"Of course," Sonny said, "Want me to take you up there and introduce you or…"
"Just tell me which room," Dean was already making for the stairs.
"Third door on the left," Sonny called after him.
The third door on the left was cracked open, unlatched. Dean knocked. Got no response. And then let himself in.
A young woman was curled on the bed in the corner with her shapeless, pale-grey wrap dress pulled protectively around her body. Her long, brown, wavy hair was braided, but disheveled like she'd been working or fighting. She looked up when he came in, big blue eyes darting up and down his body. A look of confusion crossed her face for a split second. Then she jumped to her feet and flung herself into his arms.
He returned the embrace instinctively, trying to be subtle as he sniffed her hair.
That was where the smell had come from.
Incense. Lavender. Baking Bread. Spring rain.
Perfect.
His. She was his. He could feel it in his bones.
And if that reaction was any indication, she knew it too.
"Hey there," he said gently, pulling back so he could see her face, "You okay?"
She nodded.
"Go ahead and sit," Dean instructed, "Let's talk a bit."
She nodded again and complied. Sitting on the bed as Dean perched on the top of her dresser.
"Something didn't go well with the guy who just left?" Dean asked.
She shook her head.
"This a regular occurrence?" He prompted.
She nodded.
"Can you talk?" Dean asked. He was getting genuinely unsure now.
He could cope with that. If he had to. She was his true mate after all. But it certainly wouldn't be ideal.
She cleared her throat, swallowed hard and finally replied, "Yes."
"Then tell me about yourself," Dean instructed, "And tell me about what just happened?"
"My name is Sophie Katchkowski," she said, "I've been here for about eighteen months. I've had…twenty six alphas come see if they liked me. Every single one has said no."
She trailed off, eyes somehow widening further, her expression suggesting she expected him to be angry.
"Did he rape you?" Dean asked.
Sophie nodded.
"You told him to stop and he didn't?"
She nodded again.
"This happen often?"
Sophie held up nine fingers.
"Nine out of twenty-six?" Dean prompted.
She nodded again.
He wanted to go rip the man's head off. This whole system was supposed to prevent rape. But…nine times…in eighteen months. Poor girl.
"I'm gonna come sit by you," Dean said, "Promise you'll tell me if that's not okay?"
She nodded and patted the foot of her bed.
Dean sat down. Shit. She smelled fantastic. And she wasn't even in heat. He shook his head to clear it. He knew. She knew. But no one had out and said it yet.
Besides. She'd just been sexually assaulted.
So he had to play this carefully.
"May I touch you?" Dean asked, "I'm not gonna try anything. I'm just curious about something your last visitor said."
Sophie nodded then folded her hands in her lap and extended both legs. She closed her eyes and nodded again.
Dean reached up, pulled back her dress a bit, and ran his fingers along the inside of her leg - trailing up from her knee. If it'd been a good match - even close to one - there'd be fluid there. Bone dry. What the hell kind of alpha would have even tried to have her with her body so clearly saying it wasn't interested? And then to have the gall to suggest she was the one with a problem? Defective, the man had said.
Asshole.
But she wouldn't have to deal with that anymore.
Not if he could help it.
He knew, by rights, he could take her home today. Put a claiming bite even though she wasn't in heat. Finalize it without asking how she felt.
He also knew, true mates or not, that was a dick move.
So they'd just have to try things out. He'd woo her a little.
"How long can these…test drives…last?" Dean asked.
"Why?" Sophie asked immediately.
"I think I like you," Dean said, "If that…little display when I walked in was anything to go by I'd say you like me. But I want to give it some time to see if we'd be a good match. But it's really freakin' hard to do that here."
"So you want to take me home with you?" Sophie asked.
"If that's allowed," Dean clarified.
"It is," Sophie said, "Sonny has a pretty simple rule about it. You get me back by the end of next heat or you claim me."
"And how far away is that?" Dean asked.
"I'm due in about a week," Sophie said, "Mine usually last six days."
"Then pack your things," Dean told her, "You're coming with me."
He paused at the door.
"And wear something other than that dress, please?" He suggested.
"I just have duplicates of it…" Sophie admitted.
"Then you can skip packing clothes, because fixing that is first on our agenda," Dean said.