FIVE YEARS LATER
The hum of the machines was the only heartbeat I trusted anymore.
White light spread across the small underground lab, flickering over metal tables and glass jars filled with failure. I'd lived down here for so long that I'd forgotten what sunlight looked like. Maybe that was a good thing. Light represented hope, and right now, I was hopeless.
On the counter in front of me, a single vial glowed faint blue. The liquid moved slowly when I tilted it, catching the light dangerously. My hands didn't shake this time. They used to, back when I cared what lines I crossed.
Now I only cared about one thing.
Revenge.
"Still alive?" Sera's voice broke the silence from across the room. She leaned against the steel door, arms folded, her white lab coat filled with odd stains. A Beta scientist. Sharp mind, sharper tongue. The closest thing I had to a friend.
I didn't look at her. "Barely."
"You've been at this for seventy hours straight." She sighed and walked closer. "Tell me this isn't another failed batch."
"It's not."
She came to my side, peering at the vial. "That's the one?"
I nodded. "Version 7.4. Perfect ratio. Stable compound. It works."
She frowned. "You tested it?"
I didn't answer. My wrist still stung from the small puncture wound, but I kept my hand hidden behind the counter.
Sera's eyes narrowed. "You did, didn't you?"
I finally met her gaze. "I had to be sure."
"Lira—"
"Vale," I corrected softly. "It's Vale now."
She hesitated, then shook her head. "You can change your name, your face, your papers, your scent, but it's still you underneath."
I didn't respond. I looked at the vial again, watching the color shift slightly as it settled. It was beautiful in a way that terrified me.
The serum wasn't meant to heal. It was meant to erase.
A decade of research and stolen data had built it, spliced genes, rewritten pheromone codes, hidden nanotech in blood. One injection, and my body no longer broadcast the gentle pull of an Omega. No submission. No heat. Nothing for Alphas to control.
Instead, the air around me carried something colder. Stronger. I'd tested it an hour ago, and the machines didn't even recognize my signature.
I wasn't an Omega anymore.
"Do you feel different?" Sera asked quietly.
"Yes."
"How?"
I lifted my head. "Free."
She didn't smile. "Or lost."
I almost laughed, but the sound came out hollow. "You sound like my conscience."
"I am your conscience," she said. "Someone has to be. You've spent five years building this, what happens if you lose yourself in it?"
"That would make things easier," I said, picking up the vial. The cool glass steadied my hand. "The Omega in me died a long time ago."
Sera looked at me for a long time, then turned away. "You don't have to go back there."
"Yes, I do."
"No you don't. If you go back to AlphaCorp, you'll be walking straight into the lion's den."
"To catch a lion you have to go to it's den. It's only natural."
The silence between us thickened. I could feel her worry in the air, like static before a storm.
Sera finally exhaled. "What's the plan?"
"I've already sent the application," I said, pulling up the screen on the old terminal. My reflection stared back at me, different now. My hair darker, skin paler under the fluorescent light. My face no longer soft.
The name glowing on the screen: Dr. Vale Ren. Geneticist. Alpha designation.
Her eyebrows shot up. "You forged the ID?"
"Everything checks out. Papers, background, education. Even my pheromone signature reads as Alpha."
She whistled under her breath. "You're insane."
"Maybe." I glanced at the monitor, refreshing the page again. "But insanity built this world. I'm just playing by their rules."
For a moment, neither of us spoke. The hum of the machines filled the space again.
Finally, she spoke. "You still think about him, don't you?"
I froze. "Don't."
"I know you, Lira. This isn't just about revenge. It never was."
I closed my eyes. The old memory flashed again, the council hall, the crowd, the way his voice sounded when he said I was unfit.
"It's not about him," I whispered. "It's about what he stood for."
Sera didn't believe me. I didn't, either.
A soft beep cut through the tension. I turned toward the computer. The application portal flashed with a new message.
Status: Accepted.
Position: Senior Geneticist, AlphaCorp Division 3.
Start Date: Immediate.
My pulse spiked, the countdown had started.
Sera read over my shoulder. "That's it, then."
"Yes," I replied quietly.
"You're really going back."
I nodded. "To finish what he started."
Sera hesitated, then touched my arm gently. "Just promise me one thing."
"What?"
"Don't let them turn you into the monster you're fighting."
I pulled my arm away. "Monsters built this world, Sera. Maybe it's time one of them burned it down."
I turned back to the screen. The reflection of my face stared back, sharp eyes, steady mouth, no trace of the frightened girl from five years ago.
Dr. Vale Ren. Alpha geneticist.
Lira Vance was gone. Dead.
Outside, thunder rolled faintly through the underground tunnels. The city above didn't know it yet, but the moment I walked into AlphaCorp, their world would start to crack.
And when Kael Drayden looked at me again, he wouldn't see the Omega he broke.
He'd see the storm he created.