“You need to know, small fry, not every castoff was released when Shepherd staged his coup. There are paths in there you don’t want to stumble down. If you get lost… you let Shepherd find you.” With those final, frightening words, Maryanne gave Claire a quick kiss and disappeared.

Claire had to make the next move alone. Holding a device constructed from duct tape and a few stolen circuits, praying to her Goddess that their plan worked, she flipped the switch.

Scattered explosions went off, all four of the handcrafted bombs Maryanne had distributed functioning flawlessly. Right on cue, Claire began phase two. As her friend had promised, the Followers on screen rushed towards the disturbance with alarming precision. When the soldiers were separated and in halls or elevators, she trapped the men with updated overrides to the systems they would have to countermand at each terminal.

Lips a hair’s breadth from the screen, Claire took control of the prison’s internal communications system. “Omegas, the doors to your cells are unlocked. Anyone who would prefer freedom to Shepherd’s slavery, claim it. The guards are scattered, trapped, but I can’t hold them for long. Band together, I’ll lead you out. Do not forget your sister being held in the room at the end of the corridor.” Venom dripped from Claire’s voice. “I don’t imagine Shanice dreamed her first heat would be spent mounted by a soldier three times her age.”

On her small monitor, seven women, Nona included, stood and rushed out of their cells. More stood to watch, afraid but rallying. Over lingering seconds, the numbers began to grow, women throwing back the bars and racing out to join their sisters. But Claire’s attention was elsewhere; a band of Followers had already overridden control and broken free.

Lacking the skill to manipulate the system with the same finesse as Maryanne, Claire cried, “Four Followers have made it through. You have to stand up for yourselves! If you want out, you must fight back!”

At first sight of the unwelcome Alphas, the Omegas fell upon them like locusts. More Followers tried to grab at the women, only to discover supposedly weak Omegas attacked in packs. Even the strongest male could not stand against forty enraged females. Gunshots were fired, two of Claire’s sisters fell—but all four of Shepherd’s soldiers were destroyed as the group forced their way forward. By the time they descended on the room where the estrous high Omega was being rutted, the pack had fallen into a frenzy.

The rutting male was ripped away, torn apart by teeth and claws.

They scooped up their sister, and followed every last direction Claire shouted over the speakers. In less than five minutes, women began to flood the very passages the Castoffs had employed the day they broke free.