“No, no, no, an omega is supposed to look sweet and act sweet.” I wagged my finger at him. “No deviation.”
“If we’re supposed to be adults who can run our own lives…households and businesses and everything else we’re supposed to want, why can’t we choose how we behave in the bedroom?” Jonah shook his head. “Or even out of the bedroom, for that matter. Why is it anyone else’s business?”
“Shane had never thought about that until he figured out about the club.” I glanced around the room, taking the question seriously. “He was raised to know we’re as smart as him and we don’t need to be hovered over, as his mother puts it, but he never even considered that I could need something more than traditional sexual roles.”
“It’s an utter lack of education.” Austin straightened the long skirt he was wearing.
Bradley disagreed. Shaking his head, he focused on Austin. “No, it’s overeducation. We’re told from the first time we start school what to think and how to behave. There’s no room for deviation. No one is allowed to be who they are or who they want to be anymore.”
Dakota shrugged, then slowly nodded. “But is there a way to change that?”
“No.” Bradley snorted. “Not without society exploding.”
“I’m not willing to tackle the education system.” Taking another sip of the drink that was growing on me, I tried not to shudder at the thought. I’d rather try and take over a small country. “But I think making sure there was more easily accessible information online would go a long way toward changing things.”
I gave Austin a teasing glance. “Some of you probably already know this, but Shane was really surprised that the only information he could find online was about betas. And did you know an unmarried omega isn’t allowed in a sex toy store?”
Jonah laughed. “Do we want to know how you came across that fact?”
I grinned. “Shane discovered that when he went searching for a local adult store.”
Austin’s drink nearly came out his nose. Coughing, it took him a second to speak. “We have a sex store in town?”
I nodded. “You didn’t know either? Evidently it’s labeled as a novelty and gift shop.”
That sounded insane.
“What?” Austin thought so too. “Why would I look for novelty shops if I want a vibrating dildo? That sounds like jokes and party gifts.”
It was Wade’s turn to snort whatever happy juice concoction they’d come up with out his nose. Laughing, he shook his head. “Because it’s a novel idea?”
Bradley chuckled. “That’s got to make everything from advertising to how the owner pays taxes insanely difficult.”
Dakota spoke up again. “That’s just stupid, but it’s not surprising. I’ve seen authors online mentioning the lengths they’ve gone to so that their books with questionable content don’t get taken down. It’s not just one thing, it’s a whole system of oppression no one is willing to talk about.”
“All designed to save us from ourselves.” Bradley leaned back against his chair and shook his head. “I’m not stupid. I don’t need anyone to save me.”
Austin snorted. “You need someone to save you from terminal boredom.”
“That’s what we have you for.” Dakota laughed as Austin lobbed one of the throw pillows at him.
“It’s something that needs to get talked about more.” I took another drink, trying to look at the problem from different angles.
“Maybe the first step really is just making sure there’s more online visibility for content that focuses on omega choices and submission.” I looked over at Austin. “Didn’t you say you had a very interesting friend who was good online? Maybe see if he has some ideas.”
I had money to throw at the problem but no idea what would help. I knew shipping ports and contracts, not online algorithms. Austin, on the other hand, had to know someone who could help. He knew everyone.
Austin’s eyes lit up. “I’ll ask.”
Bradley snorted. “Nothing illegal.”
“You take all the fun out of life.” Austin brushed off the remark without a care.
“I was thinking more like figuring out a way to make sure those sites aren’t deliberately buried, but whatever works.” I shrugged. “Just nothing we can do time for. I’ll pay fines but that’s it.”
Bradley looked like he was going to swallow his tongue, but Wade stepped in. “Let’s try small steps first, though. Small, legal steps.”
Dakota’s gaze was dancing back and forth between us all, and I had a feeling we’d turn up in a book if we weren’t careful. Sure, there was no sex in his books, but his outrageous characters sometimes bore a striking resemblance to us.
