The Omega Prize (The Legion Omegas Book 1) Read online

  The Omega Prize

  The Legion Omegas Book 1

  Leann Ryans

  Copyright © 2019 Leann Ryans

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  This one was for me.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  1. Brie

  2. Brie

  3. Brie

  4. Brie

  5. Zander

  6. Brie

  7. Zander

  8. Brie

  9. Brie

  10. Zander

  11. Zander

  12. Zander

  13. Brie

  14. Brie

  15. Zander

  16. Brie

  17. Zander

  18. Brie

  19. Zander

  20. Zander

  21. Brie

  22. Zander

  23. Brie

  24. Zander

  25. Brie

  26. Zander

  27. Brie

  28. Zander

  29. Zander

  30. Brie

  31. Zander

  32. Brie

  33. Brie

  34. Zander

  35. Brie

  Epilogue

  Thanks

  To find more books by Leann Ryans and receive a free copy of In the Darkness, the book so naughty Amazon banned it from sale, check out https://leannryans.com and sign up for her newsletter.

  1. Brie

  The growling.

  Always with the damn growling.

  It's like it was impossible for Alphas to be in public without losing their temper over something; trying to see whose dick was bigger. It didn't seem to matter the species, either.

  Brie rolled her eyes at herself as she made her way through the dim room packed full of bodies. The music was so loud she could barely hear her own thoughts; with so many people crammed into the club, even her skirt and tank top seemed too warm. Her milky skin glistened with a layer of sweat.

  "Hey Sheena, I need two doubles, and four pints."

  Brie leaned her hip against the counter, fanning herself as she sat her tray on the top and waited for the drinks.

  "These Alphas are killing me. There's too many, and it's too damn hot in here!"

  Sheena turned to her with the drinks and raised her purple eyebrows. "I know what you mean. It always sucks when we get warships in. We end up with so many of them in here that you can't move without bumping someone, and they lose their shit if they’ve been drinking too much. Plus, the warship crews are wound too tight, anyway. Grouchy fuckers. You feel okay Brie?"

  "Yeah, I'm good. It's just the growling and having to hustle my chubby ass more than usual, plus all the bodies," Brie responded, lifting the full tray with a shrug.

  Sheena grinned at her, showing off her sharp canines.

  "You know you got a nice ass," she said, winking. "Just try to ignore the Alpha-holes. You've taken your pills, right?" Sheena asked, sobering and giving her a pointed stare.

  With Sheena's dusty blue skin and neon green eyes, her stare used to seem creepy, before Brie had seen weirder things at the club.

  Sheena was the only person who knew that Brie was not a beta like her but was an omega on heat suppressants. Though it was illegal to hide her dynamic, that was better than the alternative. Being an Omega on a space station where the population had a higher than usual number of Alphas could mean bad things… if you weren't careful.

  The best- case scenario, being force bonded to a complete stranger. Even though Station Eight wasn’t in the middle of nowhere, it was far enough out in the Legion that not everything that happened on the station was on the right side of legal, and there were much worse alternatives.

  "Of course," Brie said sweetly, blowing Sheena a kiss.

  She headed back to her tables as Sheena moved on to other orders.

  Even though Sheena wasn't much older than Brie, she had acted as a mother figure ever since Brie came to the station as a stowaway, running from a brother who tried selling her to an Alpha almost three times her age. Brie's parents both died when she was a child, and for a couple of years they made do with what they could scrape together.

  Eventually though, her brother’s gambling problem got him in a bind, and since she didn't look like a child anymore, she became his get out of jail free card. As soon as she figured out what he was planning to do with her, she snuck onto the first ship she could catch off-world. Lucky for her, Sheena found her shortly after she stumbled off the ship, dehydrated and weak from hunger.

  She took Brie in, fed her, and taught her the ropes on the station. She also found the heat suppressing pills for Brie once she realized Brie was an omega entering puberty.

  They lived together for a few years, until the apartment next to Sheena's opened up. Brie moved to give Sheena her space back and to prove to herself that she could make it on her own.

  Brie went back to the table that was waiting for their drinks. Two Alegran Alphas with their short red horns and solid black eyes, most likely from the warship that came in, and two of the girls from the pleasure deck watched her.

  Another one of the other-than-legal things that everyone on the station turned a blind eye to, Deck Three was a place that females avoided, unless you were willing to take credits to give pleasure. The girls would come into the club often to lure men back to their rooms.

  As an omega, just the thought of what would happen to her on that deck made Brie nauseous. She had heard the stories from when it happened in the past. It was a blood bath.

  "Here's your drinks," she yelled over the music with a smile for the Alphas.

  She passed the drinks out around the table, and the Alegran on the left grunted, holding out his arm so Brie could pass the scanner over his wristband.

  Everyone on the station wore one since it contained all their personal information. From identity, to funds, to security clearances, and medical information. It told the time and worked as a communicator, too.

  Only slaves went without one since they were property, but there weren’t many of those on the station.

  As she took the payment for the drinks, the Alpha on the right leaned over and made a grab for Brie’s ass, even though he had one of the pleasure girls halfway in his lap. Brie had been doing this long enough that she easily avoided his hand.

  Flashing him a smile to keep him from getting too upset, she took off in the other direction, weaving through people to her next table. Brie had learned to be quick on her feet to avoid groping patrons and drunk Alphas who took offense at the slightest provocation. Including evading their advances.

  Apparently, they took that as an insult, so it was best to get out of reach quickly. Alphas seemed to think they had the right to get what they wanted, and when they were drinking, they became barbaric animals that only wanted two things; to fight or fuck.

  Maybe it was because she had been on heat suppressants for so much of her life, but Brie wasn't like other omegas who would meekly give in to any Alpha. Their growling just grated her nerves, and she'd never heard the supposed purr they could make.

  Shaking her head, Brie told herself to shut up and focus on her job so she could get through her shift.

  2. Brie

  Groaning, Brie smacked at her wrist to stop the alarm. The wristband was regulated to give seven hours of sleep, tracking it by pulse and movements.

  She hated the thing and wished there was a way to get it to allow more because she was always left feeling tired. Trying to snuggle back into her nest of blankets, the damn alarm kept going off and wouldn’t stop until she got out of bed and made enough movements to register as being ‘awake’.

  "All right, all right," Brie mumbled, rolling over the side of the bed to her feet.

  She stumbled to the bathroom to relieve herself and winced as she turned on the light. Even with her eyes closed, they burned for the first couple of minutes.

  By the time she finished and walked to the sink to wash up and brush her teeth, she was awake and able to open her eyes without pain. Brie had never been the type to need anything to wake up besides movement and light. She could never get back to sleep if she had to get out of bed for any reason either.

  Stimulants like coffee were an extra charge that she just couldn't afford with her other costs on the pay from the club, so it was a good thing for her that she didn't need them. As it was, Brie barely had enough extra to cover her suppressants each month and keep herself fed, but she always found a way.

  Once done in the bathroom, Brie headed to her tiny kitchen. There were cafeterias and cafes throughout the station, but every room had at least a small fridge and a heating unit.

  Grabbing a glass for water and her bottle of pills, she emptied it into her hand and frowned down at the little white lumps. Heat suppressants were hard to get since they were illegal. Alphas didn't enjoy being denied what they consider rightfully theirs, but Brie had arrangements with one of the chefs in the cafeteria on her deck.

  Cherik was from a race that didn't have the Alpha-omega dynamic, an
d he would get them smuggled in with his food orders for her. She hadn't heard from him in a while and was down to only four pills. Brie took one, and though she usually skipped out on eating in the cafeteria to save money, she decided to go as an excuse to see if he had gotten in her suppressants and just hadn't sent a message to her yet.

  Brie threw on some shorts and a baggy shirt, then head toward the cafeteria where Cherik worked. Her apartment was one of the cheaper ones, so it wasn't close to any of the public spaces. Brie didn't mind since it meant less traffic in the area. For someone who slept odd hours due to working in the club, that was worth more than having to walk farther to reach anything. Plus, being right next to Sheena was something she wouldn't give up even if she could afford a better place.

  Luckily, with the odd hour she came in, the cafeteria was empty, and she had a chance to talk to Cherik without worry of being overheard. The cafeteria was a buffet type set up, where you paid to enter the room by swiping your wristband as you passed through the doors, then gathered food on a tray to sit and eat.

  Cherik was an Olarian who had bright orange skin, so he was easy to spot as soon as Brie walked in. She made her way over to him while grabbing her breakfast.

  Loading down her tray, she grabbed two bowls of fruit since it was something that she rarely got to have due to the cost. Fresh fruit was hard to come by in space unless you had money to spend on fast shipping.

  Cherik noticed Brie making her way to him and turned to clean the table next to the drink dispenser. She stopped and pretended to think over the choices.

  "Hey, do you have my package? I'm running low," she murmured just loud enough for him to catch.

  Even with no one close enough to hear, she couldn’t help being nervous.

  "Sorry Brie, they haven't come in. We found out they busted the usual supplier, and we haven’t had any luck finding more just yet. I have some friends looking but..."

  He trailed off with a shrug and started to walk away. Brie broke out in a nervous sweat as she reached for his arm.

  "But, Cherik, I only have three pills left! I've never been without the pills."

  She tried to keep her voice down, but she could tell he heard her panic.

  "There's nothing I can do. I'm not expecting another delivery till next week, but I'm not sure he will even have any by then."

  He gave Brie a sad look and rested his cool hand atop hers on his arm.

  "I'm sorry Brie. I'll let you know as soon as my supplier gets here. With or without them."

  Cherik walked through the double doors into the kitchen, leaving Brie staring after him. Almost a week until she could get more pills, and only three left. She cursed herself for not having a backup stash.

  Taking her tray and forcing herself to eat the food on it, she didn't taste any of it as she sat and thought about her issue. Once she finished, she dumped her trash in the recycler and headed out of the cafeteria.

  Wandering around for a while, Brie’s mind alternated between running in circles and freezing. She finally headed back toward her rooms, still not sure what was going to happen to her now.

  3. Brie

  Brie walked slowly, eyes locked on the floor as she followed the familiar hallways. She couldn't claim to be lost in thought, since her brain was repeating that she only had three days.

  Checking the time, she figured Sheena would be up and decided to go talk to her about what was happening. Brie didn't think there was any chance that Sheena would have a solution, she just needed to talk it over with someone.

  Brie knocked on the door when she reached her friend’s apartment, and Sheena cracked it open. Peeking out for a moment, she threw it wide and grabbed her.

  "What's wrong? What happened?" Sheena asked, running her hands over Brie like she was looking for injuries.

  Once Sheena pushed her back to arm’s length, satisfied there were no physical wounds, Brie looked into her eyes. She hadn't broken down yet, but Sheena knew her well enough to realize from her expression that something was wrong.

  Brie struggled with what to say, her brain still feeling foggy.

  "I'm going to run out. They busted the supplier. Only three pills left," she managed.

  Sheena looked confused for a minute before it dawned on her. She let out a gasp as her eyes widened, and her grip on Brie's arms tightened.

  "Your pills? What do you mean they busted him? They can’t get any?"

  Brie explained what Cherik had said as Sheena guided her to the small couch to sit down. Moving her pillows, she sat next to Brie and thought it over.

  "So, you already took today's pill. You have three more, but a week until you'll get more... We can make it work," she told Brie with a determined look.

  "A week until he gets another delivery, Sheena. He said he didn't know if there would be any in it," Brie stressed to her friend.

  "Nonsense, I'm sure they'll find some. It's too lucrative of a business for there to only be one supplier, even just within this galaxy. Plenty of the species without our dynamic supply and harbor omegas that choose not to be a slave to their biology. There might be a difference in price, but we will work that out when it comes. You just need to get through this week, and you'll be fine."

  Brie loved that Sheena tried to be so optimistic, but she could still see the worry in her eyes. Though there were multiple species that did not have the Alpha-omega dynamic, they tended to be the more planet bound races, and less technologically advanced.

  Even when they had the technology, they still preferred to stick to their home worlds for the most part, unless overpopulation was an issue. Something about the dynamic seemed to push a species to advance more than the ones without it.

  It also made them more warlike since Alphas tended to be so aggressive.

  While the ones without the dynamic may pity omegas for the way they tended to be treated by Alphas, there weren't many willing to risk the wrath of the Alphas by helping to hide them. The penalty for creating suppressants was steep. They killed most who were caught.

  "What you must do is try to stretch the time between pills and make them last longer. I know you take them when you get up, so tomorrow, wait until right before your shift at the club to take the next one. Then take the following one after your next shift, so you're taking them about thirty-six hours apart instead of twenty-four.”

  Sheena took her hands and continued.

  “That'll get you through about five days, on the three pills by the time the last one wears off. Maybe more since you've been on them so long. If you need to take time off work for a couple of days before the pills get here, I'm sure I can keep Largo off your case. Boss shouldn't care since it saves him money. Hopefully the warships will have moved on by then and we won't be as busy. I can help you if you lose too much of your pay being out, too. I've got a little saved up."

  Brie began to tear up at how helpful her friend was being. Especially offering the little she had to her and dealing with their boss.

  Sheena knew Brie hated having to talk to him. He had a hand in, or was in charge of, most of the illegal activities on the station. The club was just one of his businesses to make him seem more legitimate. Even though he was Darilian and wasn't even compatible with any species besides his own, he made Brie feel like she needed to shower every time he looked at her.

  "Everything will be okay," Sheena said and gave her hands a squeeze. "Don't even think that it won’t."

  "Okay," Brie said.

  Nodding, she held back her tears. She would not break.

  Brie reached out and gave Sheena a hug. They hung on for a few minutes before pulling back, both of them dabbing at damp eyes. Taking a deep breath, she stood up.

  "I'll be fine."

  She forced a smile for Sheena though tears still threatened.

  "Thanks."

  "Of course you will," Sheena said, giving her another quick hug and a peck on the cheek. "I'm sure it takes a while for it to leave your system after you've been on it so long, and I doubt it's even the right time in your cycle to matter anyway. Everything will be fine. A couple weeks from now we will joke about how worried we were over nothing."

  Brie thanked her friend and left, heading next door to distract herself until she had to go to work.