A terrible idea

Gale grows up scrawny and underfed, with delicate knobby bones and a sweet, full mouth. Omegas run in his mama's family, so odds are good he'll present as one.

In fact, Gale's dad is counting on it. It's the ace up his sleeve -- omegas are rare enough that they're the ones whose families are offered a dowry, not vice versa. So Gale's dad knows if he ever loses more than he can afford, Gale will be there as payment for his debts.

But Gale, it turns out, is an alpha. Late presenting, but an alpha all the same. And Gale's so afraid when he sees his father's expression at the news, when he watches him slam out of the house and not come back until hours later, drunker than Gale thinks he's ever seen him.

Somehow, though, is father is SMILING. He's singing and laughing and Gale feels like the farthest thing from an alpha, cringing away when his daddy comes into his dark bedroom and sits on the edge of Gale's thin mattress.

There's someone he wants Gale to meet tomorrow, he says jovially.

Gale never even learns the name of that man. He doesn't remember most of what happens, but that's okay because he doesn't want to remember.