Undersecretary Barnard dropped a stack of papers on the desk and it landed with a loud thump. “We’ve run the gene sequence several times. I even sent the sample to a specialty lab for confirmation. It’s all here in the report. The girl is definitely a Beta. I can pursue this further, but I doubt the result will change.” The governmental official hastened to add: “On your order, of course, sir.”

Legion tipped open the file with one finger, expression inscrutable, although his displeasure scented the air. He was not accustomed to unanswered questions, and he paid the Undersecretary handsomely to provide him the information that he requested.

“I’m rarely wrong about such things.”

The Undersecretary bowed low. He was small for an Alpha but dressed smartly in an official uniform that he clearly hoped made him more imposing. Salty gray hair had been darkened with dye but it was clear the man was past his prime. “I apologize for any inconvenience, sir.”

“Apologies are of no use to me.” A low growl escaped his lips. It was never good to anger an Alpha and that went double for a man like Legion. “I assume you confirmed that her mother was in fact Omega.”

“Yes, I requisitioned a full genealogy map from the archives,” the Undersecretary responded, his voice shaking only slightly. “It’s all there in the report.”

“At least you’re good for something.”

Legion prided himself on existing outside the reaches of the Central Command and it caused no small amount of displeasure that he needed the Undersecretary’s aid to access confidential medical data.

Being the most powerful cartel boss in the city had its benefits, but no man was all-powerful.

Barnard cleared his throat. “I assume that you were otherwise satisfied with your trip to Eros House…”

The man trailed off as Legion stared him down.

Eros House, that bastion of petty desire and base mediocrity. Others had encouraged him to taste their offerings for years and he had resisted until recently. Barnard had assured him that the real draw was the women, most of whom toiled in the lower levels so a handful of credits was enough for them to agree to almost anything. But Legion had never been interested in paying for sex, it was offered often enough for free that there was simply no need.

What had finally changed his mind about Eros House was the assurances of the Undersecretary, who was the highest ranking government official that Legion had in his pocket. He spoke of Beta females that looked and acted so similarly to an Omega that an Alpha wouldn’t know the difference until the moment he knotted her.

Legion didn’t fuck Beta women, he’d experienced knotting a true Omega often enough in the past that he wouldn’t tolerate a lesser experience. But he would engage in other activities, mostly for his own pleasure although he didn’t begrudge them theirs. And the Undersecretary had insisted that the Betas found in Eros House were of the highest quality.

And to his surprise, he had not been disappointed.

Still, a niggling doubt remained. The little Beta female had been good, far superior to any other he had experienced, but her responses had not seemed like the playacting he had imagined. She had reacted to the painful pleasure he inflicted on her in a way that no other Beta ever had, seeming even to surprise herself.

She had responded like an Omega.

But he had been assured, repeatedly, by both the quivering Undersecretary and the proprietor of Eros House, that the girl had been tested and confirmed as Beta. So why did these doubts remain?

Legion was a man who was always sure of himself. That instinct was what led him to become one of the most powerful Alphas in the Astropolis, what kept the government officials under his thumb and not the other way around and why he had destroyed every challenge ever put to him. All of which is what made this particular issue so impossible to let go. Legion was unused to being wrong, about anything.

“Is there any further assistance that I can offer?”

Lost to his thoughts, Legion had nearly forgotten that the Undersecretary still stood across from his desk, and had been waiting there in silence for the last several minutes.

“No that’s all I have for you, at the moment.” Legion grasped the stack of neatly typed pages. Confidential records were kept on paper to prevent just this sort of illicit disclosure. It was an antiquated practice but would have been effective against anyone with less power than he held. “You’re dismissed.”

The Undersecretary’s shoulders practically sagged in relief. He turned smartly on his heel and strode toward the door as quickly as he could without breaking out into a run.

“Wait.”

Barnard froze in his tracks and turned back, expression grim. “Sir?”

“Alert the Crown that I haven’t yet received payment for this month. And I dislike being kept waiting.”

The warning in his voice was unmistakable.

Barnard bowed low. “Of course, sir. I will attend to the issue immediately.”

Legion finally let the pitiful man go, his disgust still permeating the air. He waited until the door had slid shut before opening the large file folder and thumbing through the pages.

His interest, and he refused to acknowledge any other term for it, was strong but likely fleeting. He had not expected to find a Beta woman who seemed such a match for his desires. He simply wanted to assuage his curiosity before letting her slide back into the mud of whatever slum that Eros House had found her in.

But Betas just did not respond in the way that she had, even the ones schooled in faking a response that did not come naturally. And the girl had clearly not been trained in any meaningful way, her reactions were too hesitant for that.

The file opened to a picture of the girl’s face. She was lovely, but not the most beautiful that he had ever seen. Although it was not her visual appeal that had him so caught, that had forced him to ask a favor of the Undersecretary and endure the man’s stink in his office.

It had been her scent. Not as full-blown as the overwhelming pheromones contained in Omega slick, but softer as if it had been carried from afar on the wind. And that small hint, of something deeper and more profound, kept him fascinated.

It was no secret that he had little patience for the bootlicking and status obsession of government types. Unfortunately, he needed them almost as much as they needed him. It was government funds that made up the pile of credits that his empire was currently sitting on.

He had built the factory that supplied most of the air purifiers to the Astropolis. The devices were all that kept the atmosphere breathable in a place that would have otherwise been a polluted wasteland. And not only did Legion control the manufacture and installation of the air purifiers, but also their maintenance and continued functioning.

The first missed payment and Legion could easily cut off the flow of purified air to key parts of the sky towers in the Astropolis, including those in the palace. He could start with the apartments of government officials and work his way down the chain of command. The newly appointed officials taking the place of their dead superiors would be more amenable to Legion’s terms.

It would not be the first time that he had been forced to make his intentions clear. If memory served, Undersecretary Barnard had his current position because the previous occupant had been unwilling to do business with him.

Legion’s second-in-command, a green-eyed Beta male named Adrian, slipped silently into the room and waited by the door. Although Adrian wasn’t an Alpha, he had earned his place at Legion’s side through a ruthlessness and desire for power that nearly rivaled Legion’s own.

“Is the Undersecretary gone?” Legion asked as he flipped the file closed. “I can never tell, his fear stinks so strongly that I can smell it in here for days.”

Adrian crossed his arms behind his back as a sneer twisted his thin lips. “I accompanied him to the skycar personally.”

Legion pushed the file across the desk. “Have you seen the report?”

Adrian did not move from his spot by the door. “I reviewed pertinent information prior to bringing the Undersecretary in to meet with you.”

“And?”

“I do not understand the question.”

Legion was under no illusions about his second’s disapproval. Adrian had made it clear that he saw no purpose in devoting any energy to a random woman from the slums.

“You confirmed that the information was correct?”

Adrian shifted, causing the weapons slung on both hips to squeak in their holsters. “Only because you ordered it.”

Legion smiled, but it was completely without humor. “Have you thought about visiting Eros House yourself, the selection was better than I imagined.”

Smart enough not to rise to the bait and inadvertently insult his boss, Adrian responded without inflection. “I think yours may have been the exception.”

“Speaking of my selection…” Legion leaned back in his armchair and surveyed the unobstructed view of the sky revealed by the large window that rose from the floor to the ceiling. They were much too far above the lower levels to even see any of the people who lived below, but he looked down and imagined them crawling through the dirt, like a child squatting over an anthill. “I want you to follow the girl, find out anything about her that might be missing from the government report.”

“With all due respect—“

Legion cut him off with a low growl. “I do not want your respect, just your obedience.”

Adrian’s nostrils flared, and he made a clear effort to control his mounting anger. He strode forward to stand over the desk where Legion sat. “And what is to become of my other duties while I am babysitting a slum rat?”

“Mind your tongue.” The cold stare that Legion leveled at his second was more frightening than even his growl could be, making the other man stood up a little straighter. “It won’t be for long. I want confirmation that my instincts are incorrect, although they never have been before. Then you can forget all about her.”

“Even a moment spent swallowing poisoned air in the slums is too much.”

Both of them found the lower levels distasteful, each for their own reasons. And it was not an exaggeration that the air grew more toxic as you moved closer to the ground. Heavy pollution settled over the wildlife and killed the vegetation. Even plants couldn’t grow in the slums, all the agriculture was hydroponic and farmed exclusively in the middle levels. The people in the slums weren’t living, just dying slowly enough that the government could get away with not paying attention.

Dark eyes turned back from the window to survey his second-in-command. “Award yourself hazard pay and stop complaining before I tear out your throat.”

Adrian appeared unbothered by the threat as he picked up a page with a grainy picture printed on it. “What is it about this girl that you find so fascinating?”

The corner of his lip curled in a silent snarl. “That’s what I want you to find out.”

The possibility that the girl could be Omega was barely worth contemplating. And yet, he found no other ready explanation for what made it so difficult to push her from his thoughts. Women served limited utility in his world and had become mostly interchangeable. But this girl remained in his thoughts despite his best efforts to forget her, and he needed to know why.

“I could just drag her back here by her hair and save us all of this trouble.”

For a moment, Legion considered it. But no, the uproar that would result from a kidnapping, even one in the slums, would be more than he wanted to deal with. As much as it rankled, Legion recognized that he wasn’t entirely above the law.

At least, not for now.

“You have your orders, Adrian.” Legion swiped up on the desk’s surface to activate his terminal, his mind already moving onto other things. “Do not disappoint me.”

Adrian gave a slight bow and left the room.

Feeds from a dozen cameras appeared on his screen. They had conquered the encryption on the government surveillance units a long time ago and he often used them to monitor areas where it would be too suspicious to venture in person. He called up the block where the girl’s home address was located and flipped through the feeds.

He had not bothered to inform his second-in-command of it, but he had watched her before — leaving and entering her shit-hole of an apartment, walking to the public cafeteria where she worked. None of it was particularly fascinating, but he found himself returning to the feeds and zooming in on her face, which always seemed pinched with worry and fear.

“What are you hiding, little girl?”