No Strings Attached

I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes but remained silent. There wasn’t much I could say to him that would change things. The Omega Centre told me that he had been listed as my guardian. It wasn’t like I had anybody else around. 

My mother was dead and my father had disappeared from the face of the earth a week before she died. I was an unclaimed Omega with no family, deserted in a small town where most of them disliked me for some reason. 

“Shit, I need to call Lauren to let her know,” he muttered. 

Swallowing, I focused my attention on the passing scenery. It was a small town basically in the middle of nowhere with few shops and even fewer houses surrounded by ranches for miles. The Omega Centre was located just on the outskirts of town, newly build and fully functioning. The center had been my home for nine years and now they wanted me gone. 

I was being thrown into a world I had only learned about while living at the center. The thought of being out in the open, surrounded by Alphas filled me with fear. I had only ever been around Omegas and Beta’s with the few occasions where the center tried to find me an Alpha. 

Thinking about the Alpha’s made me remember what my doctor had told me a week ago when I went for my annual check-up. My heat was going to hit soon and in order to make it through it, I needed an Alpha. 

“Do you need anything?” Draven asked me. “You don’t have a lot of things.” 

I shook my head. I didn’t need anything else at the moment, not clothes anyway. What I needed was a place to stay where I could hide away the moment my heat hit. Preferably somewhere far away from Alphas. 

My eyes darted over to the man who sat in front of the car. Not all Alphas were bad, I knew that. Draven had rescued me when I was twelve but he had always been careful to respect my boundaries. That was something I couldn’t say about the other Alphas I met at the Omega Centre. 

The car slowed and then turned off onto a quiet street with double-story houses on either side. Green laws, beautiful gardens, and a few high walls. A fancy neighborhood, nothing like the place where we used to live when before we started moving around. 

He stopped the car in front of a big black metal gate and leaned forward to search for something in the glovebox. Muttering under his breath, he sat up and then leaned out the window to press a button on the box thing that stood a few inches next to the car. 

There was a low sound, and a few minutes later the gates began to open. We started moving again. My eyes darted up to stare at the branches of the tall trees we passed until we reached the end of the drive. 

I certainly wasn’t expecting the house to be so big. 

“Here we are.” Draven parked the car behind a sleek silver one and glanced over his shoulder at me. “We don’t have any animals.” 

Swallowing, I hesitated a moment before I climbed out of the car. I glanced at Draven who was busy pulling my bags from the back of the car and then turned my attention to the house. 

It was bigger than the other house on the block. The garden was colorful and well taken care of, but from what I knew of Draven and his family, I could bet that someone other than them took care of things. 

“Come on.” 

I clutched the hem of my shirt as I followed him up the steps to the front door. My heartbeat increased the closer we got to it. Meeting new people was something I hated. I was comfortable with those I already knew because I knew whether I could trust them or not. 

Cool air greeted us the moment we stepped into the foyer. I tugged my t-shirt away from my sweaty skin and blew out a breath. 

The first thing I noticed was the fact that nearly everything was white—from the walls to the furniture. It looked too sterile and unwelcoming. My lips twisted when I took in the paintings on one wall. What was it supposed to be? 

“Lauren?” Draven called. 

I shifted from foot to foot as we waited for the woman to appear. My unease increased when I smelt her—sickly sweet with something else. Instinct screamed at me to run but since I had nowhere to go, I stood my ground and waited. 

Not even a second later, a woman stepped into view. Her blue eyes instantly locked on me and narrowed. She frowned and then seemed to pale considerately. 

“What’s she doing here?” she sneered. 

Draven lowered my bags to the floor, snapping her attention to him. “This is Sin,” he introduced. “Sin, my bonded mate, Lauren.” 

“I don’t care who she is,” Lauren hissed. “What the hell is she doing in my house?” 

I expected him to scold her, but he didn’t. He moved closer and reached out which made her jerk back. Frowning, Draven stared at her silently for a few seconds and then started explaining things. 

“Remember that girl I told you about?” he asked. “The one I rescued from that Motel that closed down a few years ago? This is her. Sin is going to stay here with us until—” 

“No,” Lauren interrupted her. “She’s not staying here.”

“Can I talk to you for a moment?” 

“There’s nothing to talk about! I don’t want this little—” 

“Now, Lauren!” he growled, instantly silencing her. “We’ll be right back, Sin.” 

Draven gave me a stiff smile before he gripped her arm and steered her into a room off to the side. He pushed the door closed behind them but it didn’t close all the way. I could hear every single thing they were saying and based on their conversation, Draven’s mate wanted me out of the house immediately.

I stared at the door for a few seconds before I glanced around again. My eyes locked on the sliding doors I could see from where I stood. They had a pool too and the water looked extremely inviting. Shaking my head, I focused on the staircase but it only held my attention for a few seconds.

The door behind me opened, making me stumble forward. His smell hit me first, making me spin around. He didn’t look like I imagined him to but there was no mistaking the fact that he was Alpha born. 

His eyes darted around and then locked on me. I watched in dismay as his eyes brightened and his lips curled up into a smile. He stood straightener and puffed out his chest as his scent thickened. 

“Looks like today’s my lucky day.” The door clicked shut behind him. “Who might you be sweet Omega?” 

My eyes darted to the door for a few seconds, but he still stood close to it, blocking the only escape I had. Draven was in the other room and I knew that if I scream, he would be here to help me, but would he do anything? The Alpha that stood in front of me looked similar to him so it must mean that they were related. 

“What’s your name?” he repeated. 

I swallowed and took a small step back. There was one thing I learned about Alphas and that was that they thought that they were superior to Omegas because of their status. They like to abuse the power they held to get what they wanted. 

An Omega’s biology was different than a Beta’s. An Alpha had power over them but they couldn’t control them. They didn’t submit to an Alpha because it wasn’t in their nature, but being an Omega—especially an un-bonded one—was dangerous. One growl and an Omega would drop to their knees and agree to everything the Alpha wanted. 

It was what I feared most. 

I didn’t want to be bonded to an Alpha or anyone for that matter which was why I ran the moment the stranger open his mouth again. My eyes were glued to the sliding doors. I had no clue if danger waited for me beyond those doors, but I knew that they were going to lead me to my freedom. 

The Alpha called out behind me, making shivers race down my spine. Reaching the doors, I gripped the door handle and pulled but the door didn’t budge, not even an inch. 

“It’s locked,” he said from behind me. “That door always stays locked so that my little sister can’t go near the pool when no one’s around.” 

Sucking in a deep breath, I slowly turned around and jerked back when I realized how close he stood. His lips curled up into a predatory smile that made my stomach clench. 

“Now answer the question,” he growled. “What’s your name?” 

My lips parted but then another scent hit me, making my knees weaken. Goosebumps broke out all over my skin when her soft voice reached my ears.