Assigned a Breeder

+ Medora

The next second I opened my eyes, I was in my father’s truck. Bound for Ironholt.

The drive up the mountain took four hours. My father didn't speak a single word the entire ride, leaving only the steady hum of tires against icy asphalt. I sat in the passenger seat and watched the treeline bleed from green to stark white while the heater blasted dry air against my shins.

What was I thinking?

That I would have a choice in this? Of course not!

At least this was better than wasting away in a place I belonged. What is the worse that can possibly happen?

They kill me?

I wish.

We finally parked in front of the Ironholt pack house. It was massive, dark wood and jagged black stone cut directly into the side of the mountain. The roof sagged under heavy winter snow.

Four men stood on the wide front porch.

The Lyke brothers. Immediately my gaze were set on them, I quickly snapped my head down, staring daggers into the heap of snow.

My father killed the engine, reached into the back seat, and grabbed my canvas duffel bag. He tossed it out onto the snow where it landed with a dull, heavy thud. He was never particularly gentle with my things.

"Listen to me," he gravely called out, hands still gripping the steering wheel. He finally looked at me with flinty, hard eyes. "Keep your head down. Do your chores. Don't speak unless spoken to. And don't embarrass me in front of these Alphas. They own you now."

Own. I swallowed the thick lump in my throat.

Anything. As long as I don’t get to return.

He didn't wait for a nod. He didn't even want one. The second my boots hit the ground, he threw the truck in reverse and drove away without so much as a wave to the men on the porch. 

But at that moment, I really wanted to chase the truck. Because I was truly scared. I wish I could run and find somewhere to hide.

But for now, this is my fate, and I will face it.

I stood in the snow, the bitter cold slicing right through my thin coat, and watched his taillights bleed into the white fog until they were completely gone.

Then I turned to face the porch.

I kept my chin tucked down and stared at the icy wooden planks, knowing exactly who was standing up there. I spent fifteen years avoiding them whenever they visited our pack. I always made sure they never actually saw me. 

I was an expert at hiding my bulk behind oak doors and thick crowds, driven entirely by pure, suffocating terror.

I remembered hiding in the woods behind the old clinic when I was just eight years old. I watched them back a man against a pine tree and snap his neck without a single second of hesitation. Just a sickening crunch and a body dropping straight into the mud. I didn't know who the man was or what he did. I just knew these Alphas were executioners.

Despite being so young, they could end a life without even any sign of guilt or remorse.

Now they were right in front of me. I kept my eyes glued to the toes of their heavy boots as they seemed to swallow all the oxygen on the porch.

Kenzo stood on the far left. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, perpetually in motion. He stepped down the stairs, his boots crunching loudly on the ice.

I forced my legs to lock so I wouldn't step backward.

I risked a tiny glance up at his face, searching his eyes for any flicker of recognition. A sign that he remembered the fat girl from the pack house, though I doubt, he would since there was a high chance he never saw me.

There was nothing. Just an Alpha assessing a total stranger.

He didn't know me. He just saw the fat unwanted bride they bought for an alliance. It was actually safer this way. Being invisible kept me alive.

Kenzo smiled. It was an easy curve of his mouth that didn't reach his eyes. "Well. It's freezing out here."

He stopped two feet away from me. He was wearing a dark Henley stretched taut across his chest, completely ignoring the cold. He casually waved a hand over his shoulder. A young Beta servant hurried out, snatched up my duffel bag, and vanished back inside without a single sound.

"I'm Kenzo," he said. His eyes traced the line of my wide shoulders before dropping to my hips. "I have to admit we didn't know your father had another daughter. A beautiful one."

Beautiful.

I tossed that word out immediately. Alphas used words like that to keep Omegas docile before they hurt them. A verbal lockpick for compliance. I knew my own reality perfectly well. I took up too much space. My thighs rubbed together when I walked. I wasn't the beautiful daughter.

Vanessa was the beautiful daughter.

I just nodded, burying my hands deep in my coat pockets to hide the shaking.

Then Kai walked down the wooden stairs and positioned his massive body slightly to my left. He completely blocked the biting wind whipping off the ridge. It wasn't a warm gesture. It was a massive display of size, a solid wall of muscle caging me in.

"Kai," he introduced himself. His voice was a low, calm rumble that vibrated against my ribs.

I nodded meekly.

Kol stayed up on the porch, leaning casually against a thick wooden pillar. I didn't look up at his face, but I felt the heavy weight of his stare tracking the bulk of my winter coat. He gave one single, definitive nod.

He didn't say a word. His presence was terrifying enough on its own.

That just left Kaz.

He stood dead center on the top step. Completely still. Cold. Deliberate. Even the way he breathed looked calculated.

"Medora."

He said my name. It was the first time it ever crossed his lips, and it landed like a stone in the pit of my stomach. His eyes locked onto mine, so sharp and heavy that my throat closed completely. He looked at me like I was a problem he was about to solve permanently.

It was terrifying enough that I wanted to dig a hole and hide.

My heart hammered violently against my ribs. The silence stretched out while the wind howled through the dark pine trees. I needed to prove my worth before they decided I was just a waste of space.

"I can work," I blurted out, the panic leaking straight into my thin voice. "I can cook. I can do the heavy laundry. I know how to mend clothes and run a clinic inventory. I can scrub the mud off the floors."

Tears bit the corners of my eyes as they threatened to fall, I didn’t even notice my voice had become wobbly until Kaz raised his hand, stopping me instantly.

"You were not brought here to be a maid, Medora."

“Huh?” I sucked in a sharp breath and met his gaze.

His cold ones stared back at me, and I dropped my gaze straight back to my boots. I physically shrank into my coat. Omegas worked. We earned our keep. If I wasn't useful for labor, I was completely disposable.

Kenzo cleared his throat. He leaned back against the wooden porch railing and crossed his arms, exchanging a loaded look with his brothers before turning his gaze back to me.

"Actually, the reason you were brought here wasn't just to be a bride."

I looked up from my boots, letting the cold wind bite my cheek. I didn't understand the math. Brides were for political alliances. Maids were for manual labor. There wasn't a third option. Certainly not for an Omega built like me.

What else could I possibly be here for if not any of those?

Kenzo let the heavy silence stretch out for one long, agonizing second.

"You were sent here to be a breeder."