It all started making sense. The women were being harassed in the food lines because everyone was looking for her. And the bounty itself was a king's ransom. "What's she wanted for?"
Senator Kantor's lips went into a line and he shook his head. "I don't know, but she may have information valuable to our cause."
Corday could not take his eyes off the photo. He took a deep breath, let it out of his nose, and muttered, "Then you better come to my apartment." Glancing at the Senator, he added, "But you must understand, she is not going to be comfortable around an Alpha right now. And if you show her that leaflet, it might just send her over the edge."
Senator Kantor was already walking towards the exit. "The rest of you are dismissed. Corday, you will take me to her immediately."
#
It was almost dawn when she heard the key in the door. After a night of hellish sleep and total exhaustion, Claire was jumpy, bolting towards the wall when another man—an Alpha—came in the room behind Corday.
"Don't come near me!" she snarled, looking for anything she could use to strike him with. Settling on a lamp, she clutched it so hard it shook.
Senator Kantor and Corday waited by the door so Claire might feel a bit less cornered.
The older Alpha exercised the kindest voice, soft soothing eyes, and years of experience playing to a crowd. "Do you know who I am?"
With lips pressed in a line and eyes narrowed to slits, she nodded. "You're Senator Kantor." The man known as Champion of the People; beloved by many for his outreach to the proletariat, laboring for the greater good in the Lower Reaches.
"I am not here to hurt you." He cocked his head at the young Enforcer. "Corday says you need help. I'd like to see what I can do."
Her sweaty grip tightened on the lamp. "I don't want you coming any closer."
"I can stay over here." He smiled softly, even backing up a few steps to sit on a stool by the kitchen counter.
It seemed to appease the Omega, and she slowly lowered the makeshift weapon. From the dark smudges under her eyes, Corday could tell she had hardly slept, could smell the lingering tinge of fear in the air. There was a standoff; Claire silent as she watched the Alpha like a hawk. Senator Kantor waiting, letting her do what she felt she needed to.
When several minutes had passed and her chest stopped heaving, the old man began. "You were taking the counterfeit heat-suppressants and went into estrous in a place that was dangerous."
"Yes."
"What happened?"
Rubbing her lips together, she took a deep breath. "What matters... the only way you can help me is to find a way to protect the hidden Omegas. They are starving... they need food."
"I need to know what happened to you before I can figure out how to help you all."
Her back was pressed so sharply against the wall, Claire's shoulder blades dug into it. With an expression that grew positively wretched, she fought to say, "It was dangerous to take our share at the designated areas. More of us were getting picked off every day, and those of us who did get food... it was never enough to feed us all. So it was decided that I would go to the Citadel to ask in person for help.
"I was taking the pills, covered in clothing that had been on a rotting corpse to mask my scent. I climbed the steps and found him. He would not acknowledge me, so I waited." She drew a shaky breath and stopped.
Corday picked up for her, saying cautiously, "And you went into heat in the Citadel..."
Claire nodded.
The young man continued, "And someone took advantage."
She tried to explain, but she just could not get that name past her tongue. "There was a riot, he killed a lot of people and carried me off."
Both men noticed that she had not once said Shepherd—that she continued to refer to Shepherd as him. It was Senator Kantor who posed the question as delicately as he could. "And Shepherd was the one who took you?"
Claire began to cry, whimpering as she fell to pieces. "He refused to give us our share. Instead he demanded I tell him where the Omegas were so they could be taken and used by his men. He forced a pair-bond... kept me locked in his room for weeks." Her hand went to her chest, her fist knocking against it. "And I can still feel him, right here."
They were stunned, both slack-jawed.
A pair-bond... the man was searching for his mate.
Corday shook his head as if it were impossible. He could understand why a villain like Shepherd would rut her through a heat, but to actually pair-bond with a stranger seemed extreme. A bond was forever; there was no known way to break it without the death of one of the pair. And the aftermath was messy—oftentimes the living partner could never pair again. He'd taken Claire for life. No wonder she was so terrified; a man with the power to take over an entire colony, with devoted Followers at his back, was hunting her down and bonded to her.