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Tame Me
 Part 1

Knotty Pines Omegaverse

Book 3
Sirena Song
 Contents

Author’s Notes
Prologue: Nicholas

1. Madison
2. Vincent
3. Avery
4. Nicholas
5. Madison
6. Alex
7. Madison
8. Alex
9. Madison
10. Madison
11. Madison
12. Nicholas
13. Avery
14. Madison
15. Luca
16. Madison
17. Madison
18. Alex
19. Alex
20. Madison
21. Vincent
22. Vincent
23. Luca
24. Avery
25. Avery
26. Madison
27. Luca
28. Alex
29. Madison
30. Nicholas
31. Vincent
32. Madison
33. Alex
34. Madison
35. Avery
36. Nicholas
37. Nicholas
38. Madison
39. Luca
40. Alex
41. Madison
42. Madison
43. Vincent
44. Avery
45. Madison
46. Avery
47. Madison
48. Madison
49. Nicholas
50. Madison
51. Alex
52. Vincent
53. Nicholas
54. Avery
55. Madison
56. Luca
57. Madison
58. Nicholas
59. Luca
60. Madison

Need More?
Upcoming Releases
Acknowledgments
About Sirena
To all my brats with hearts as big as your mouths, this one is for you
&
To Fallon for helping me believe I could
Copyright @ 2023 by Sirena Song
Editing by: Cassie Robertson, Joy Editing
All Rights Reserved.
Formatting by: Vellum
No Part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
mechanical means. This includes information storage and retrieval systems without
written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a
book review.
Created with Vellum
Author’s Notes
Omegaverse
Welcome to the non-shifting Omegaverse. Folks in the Omegaverse
have secondary gender designations: alpha, beta, and omega. This
universe includes fated mates through scent matches.
Alphas can be any sex and generally are considered more
dominant in nature. They experience rut and can turn feral. Female
alphas have locks, while males have knots. Betas are like humans
today. Omegas, also any sex, go into heat and can become
pregnant. Heats occur on a cycle, starting at the age of maturity.
They cause omegas to enter a frenzy that begins with nesting and
focuses on mating. This pushes alphas into a rut, creating the
physical conditions necessary to sustain an omega’s heat sexually.

Content
Polyamory, M/M, kink, and BDSM.
Trigger Warnings
This book explores darker elements in the larger plot and includes
more D/s than previous Knotty Pines books. Our main characters are
morally grey and operate both inside and outside the bounds of the
law. Our FMC also enjoys rough sex. There is manipulation and
game-playing. Danger and underworld activities will be present
within the plot. This book also includes characters with family
trauma, including abandonment and neglect, sickness, and death.
This book contains explicit sexual situations and language,
suitable only for those 18+, including unquenchable biological urges
that manifest as heat/A/B/O dynamic, BDSM/Kink, pet names, dirty
talk, spankings, shibari, impact play, voyeurism, exhibitionism, sex
toys, orgasm control/edging, claiming/biting, knotting, stretching
and stuffing, anal penetration, double vaginal penetration, and
siblings and family members sharing one sexual partner.
There is consumption of alcohol and mentions of drug usage.
This book discusses sex work, including larger cultural viewpoints
that are not sex-positive, and the difficulty of consent in a larger
social world where people can be hampered by the reality of gender
and sexualized circumstances.
This will also include discussions of medical care and class-based
social inequities, including the impact of medical drugs on omegas.
Avery is neurodivergent, has anxiety, and is kinky. His experience
is not meant to be representative of neurodivergence or kink. The
way he copes with anxiety is individual and his own.
Take care of yourself and sit this one out if needed. If I missed
something you believe should be included, send me an email at
sirenasongbooks@gmail.com
 Prologue: Nicholas

“What’s the intel? Did the omega already bond?” My brother Alex’s
rough voice booms through the Bluetooth speakers in my SUV.
He and our cousin, Vince, are on the call, waiting to learn what
has become of Sadie Lancaster, the omega we’ve been courting. She
no-showed for our date and hasn’t answered our calls.
I tap my hands on the steering wheel and watch through my side
window as Brock Lancaster, Sadie’s father and our true mark, argues
with a beta in front of the old Victorian home. What a dick. My view
from the street isn’t ideal, and using tech in this Podunk town would
draw unwanted attention. I’ve been parked on the opposite side of
the road down the street from her location for the last fifteen
minutes, looking suspicious as fuck. After Vince found her location
by hacking the phone company, I left the city and hauled ass so we
could get eyes on the area. I have the essential gear, but nothing in
the air or the house.
I wince as Lancaster grabs his daughter. “My best guess? If Sadie
hasn’t officially mated the pack, she’s about to.”
Vince’s laughter is slightly unhinged, bubbly, and fast.
At the same time, Alex roars, “Fuck.” The sound crackles, sending
rattling vibrations through the floorboards, his anger a tangible thing
that defies time and space. “I knew we should have sent a team
when she left town or made her mother finalize the full contract
before they left. This was an avoidable mistake.”
 I know his words are directed at me. As head of security for
KingBio, the secondary gender biotech company we run as a pack,
it’s my job to anticipate these kinds of breaches, and I fucked up. I
let Sadie get the drop on me. She was supposed to be spending time
with her aunt in the country. Instead, I’m watching the omega argue
with her father as he tries to take her from a small-town, no-name
pack.
“You’ve read her file. This wasn’t predictable. The omega has
never stepped a toe out of line. Nothing. She must have met her
scent match. No way a timid thing like her planned this,” I say
defensively.
“She may not have planned this, but anticipating security needs
is your job,” Alex growls.
“What? I’m supposed to be clairvoyant now?” I spit back.
“You don’t have to be a seer to know to follow your mark,” Alex
says, his tone as sharp as his words.
I chuff. Come on. This omega is not a runner. “Going to her
aunt’s farmhouse while her parents were away was not a security
threat.”
“Apparently, it was.”
Nothing about this tracks with her past. I curl my fingers around
the steering wheel and take a deep breath. After the annoyance
fades, a sense of begrudging respect hits me. I did not see the
omega having the backbone to cross her family and decide to
choose her own pack. Color me surprised. And totally screwed.
“Yeah, well. Sadie is in there now. From what I can tell, she has
been since before yesterday. It’s a pack of four alphas. One is
jacked. Military, most likely. The others aren’t small, but they don’t
look trained. I can pull a team. Go in tonight. We can get her out, no
problem, but it might be messy. If they’ve already bonded—”
Vince interjects, “She was a means to avoiding a messy end. I
want Lancaster messy. I vote we—”
Alex’s rumble isn’t quite a roar, but it’s enough to silence Vince.
“No one is laying a finger on the omega. This was our mistake. Let’s
not play double or nothing and lose our asses in some botched
kidnapping attempt. The fallout of a failed grab could expose
everything, and if she already has the bite, it’s useless anyway.”
Vince tries again, “Lancaster—”
My brother cuts him off. “Lancaster will pay, Vin. We all want
that, but Sadie choosing a pack of her own isn’t only messy for him.
If Nic is right, we will be publicly rejected by the nation’s omega
sweetheart. The press will have questions. Our involvement in this
could leave us vulnerable. It could sway opinion and draw unwanted
attention we can’t afford,” Alex says with a strong emphasis on his
last words.
The implication is clear: losing the omega means we will have to
risk ourselves to take down Lancaster.
We let my brother, Alex, lead our pack of five for a reason. Vince
always goes off halfcocked and full of fiery rage that could light the
tenders of the matchsticks on which we’ve built this life. Everything
we have stolen, built, and bartered has been in pursuit of his
vengeance, but I’d rather live long enough to enjoy the spoils of this
kingdom we’ve created.
“If the omega is a loss, we can salvage the impending press
storm with a quick bonding to another. We can use it to stem the
bleed of our reputation and draw away the focus of the press while
we find another access point for Lancaster,” Alex declares.
Vince grumbles, “What access point? Sadie was our in to Brock
Lancaster’s company and our only way onto his LanCo board. You’re
the one who convinced me of that and got me to go along with this
head-fucked scheme. And what the fuck do you mean bond another
omega? Are we going to order an omega online and have her
delivered the next day?”
Vince has never supported the plan to bond Sadie to take down
her father. He wants the throat and throne of Brock Lancaster, owner
of LanCo, without the mess of being bonded to his daughter. It
never bothered me too much. At least she would have gotten away
from his clutches. I don’t blame Vince for not wanting anything to do
with the whole family after what happened, but it makes getting him
to see reason when it comes to Lancaster a crapshoot.
 Taking down the nation’s largest biotech company isn’t exactly
straightforward. Brock Lancaster is one of the world’s wealthiest and
most recognizable figures. His company is responsible for changing
secondary gender as we know it and revolutionizing the biotech
industry. His inventions decades ago created heat suppressants and
scent eliminators. As a result, people now have options for meds
that negate the side effects of secondary gender. He is the face of
the market, which means he’s a hard man to take down without
exposing ourselves.
The guy is a douche, but he’s well-protected. Try telling Vince
that. When Vince’s mother died at the hands of Lancaster’s ruthless
drive for innovation over safety, Vince got ragey, and logic tends to
come second.
“No, we’ll use Crescent Omega Academy. I’m sure Director
LeBlanc will be amenable if there is a donation to the academy or a
personal check,” Alex says, serious and calm.
“I was joking, asshole,” Vince says.
“I’m not,” Alex assures him, voice pulling the tone of his Prime
Alpha.
“You can’t simply flaunt your wallet and expect to bond an
omega. I went with your plan because she’s Lancaster’s omega
daughter, and her dowry ensured our access to her father. But if
that’s off the table, we should look for an actual match.”
“We don’t have time for a real match. We need an exit strategy
before this news breaks. Preferably we need to already be in place
to bond when the press finds out. Get your head out of your ass and
think. You either want to take down Lancaster and ensure no one
else gets hurt, or you want a sweet life in the suburbs with your true
mate. You can’t have both.”
Vince huffs.
Across the street, Lancaster stumbles down the stairs and
backpedals toward a waiting town car. Fucking coward. He turns and
says something to the posturing alphas on the porch, and the
brutish one looks as if he’s seconds away from breaking skulls.
I crack my window in time to hear the tatted man-bun bark,
“Sadie is part of the Jackson Pack now. The sooner you accept that,
the sooner we can all move on.”
Shit. There is no way I’m salvaging this screwup.
Alex barks, “Vince, get into the academy’s system. Grab the
omega files and look for those closest to heat or aging out. I only
want those likely to bond. Send it to—”
I cut him off. “I’ll screen, full security check. I also want
confirmation on the Lancaster omega. Let’s see if they pulled
papers. From the runoff they just forced on Lancaster, I would say
it’s a done deal. Give me twenty-four.”
“Nic, tell me those country boys—”
“Get it done,” Alex commands, speaking over Vin.
The line goes dead at the same time a tap-tap of fingernails on
the glass startles me. I turn to see two pairs of sharp eyes staring at
me from inside wrinkled and weathered ivory skin. Two ancient
omegas in matching colorful dresses and bouffant hair stand on the
curb at my passenger door.
How many omegas are going to get the drop on me today? Nic,
you’ve got shit for brains.
The one with the bright orange hair narrows her eyes. Her raven-
haired twin motions for me to roll down the window. The temptation
to floor it swells. Instead, I push the button and brace myself.
“Aren’t you a strapping thing? What did I say the other day,
Hester? Men don’t know the value of a nice, tailored suit,” the raven-
haired omega says, leaning into my window, eyes looking left and
right inside the vehicle. Not finding anything interesting, she turns
her hawk eyes back on me. “You look like real estate. Are you here
to check on the Kelly place? Do you have a pack? An omega?”
“We aren’t interested in making Knotty Pines into one of those
tourist traps. If that’s what you’re after, go ahead and go. We don’t
need any of what you’re selling,” the orange-headed one spits,
crossing her arms. If she were wearing pearls, she would be
clutching them.
My smile slips into place, and I turn up that King charm. “Ladies,
I’m considering moving my pack here from Lux City. Our omega
needs less hustle and wants to settle down so we can start a family.
What can you tell me about the neighborhood?”
Town gossips are the gold standard of information.
Chapter 1
 Madison

I ’m slick as fuck. The sounds are deliciously dirty as I work myself

over. The lace of my panties rubs against my knuckles, and I dip
my middle finger into my entrance. I tease myself, drawing out
the pleasure.
The aching starts in my belly, moving from my core to my pussy.
I stop teasing, dipping inside to finger myself. Using my thumb, I tap
my clit. The feel of the two sensations combines to scorch through
my veins. My nipples ache, begging for touch.
The musical beeps ping in rapid succession from my computer.
I picture an alpha’s dick, girthy and long, the ridge of the knot
inflating as a large palm glides up and down a hard shaft. What
would it feel like to sit in his lap and ride an alpha’s cock? I want
that deep stretch, that feeling of finally being full. Imagining the pull
of an alpha’s knot sends me over.
The word “Alpha” slips from my lips with a moan, and I elongate
the sound, drawing it out. My climax starts in my center, burning
through my body, leaving bursting little tingles in my legs and chest.
The rush settles through my limbs, making me a little too slow,
causing me to startle when the timer light flashes to my right.
I slip my hand from my panties, trailing my fingers sensually up
the heated skin of my belly, over the fabric of the sweatshirt, and
between the valley of my breasts until I’ve brought it to my mouth. I
take a lick and taste myself.
Three. Two. One.
 Little jingles of music tinkle like laughter as the tips roll in. My
knees are spread wide, and my back is arched to give the perfect
view of my soaked panties. I lean into the frame, my cropped
sweatshirt with the sparkling pink script “Alpha’s Little Omega”
coming into the center of the monitor. The bottoms of my breasts
are visible, and I wiggle a bit to ensure they bounce, keeping my
head above the camera’s frame.
The red circle goes dark. The screen fades to black. The monitor
behind the tripod shows the final incoming messages and
notifications from the chat. I tap the button, and the glowing white
light fades. It takes a moment to adjust to the relative darkness
without the harsh lamps, my eyesight spotting at the edges.
My body is keyed up. Even though I’ve come several times
tonight, I’m not satisfied. I ignore it. My heat is coming. Usually, I’m
good, only taking a single round of suppressants every month—four
little pills. No scent. No need for slick-absorbent panties. Never a
chance I’ll land on my knees, begging an alpha for a bite.
I’ve gotten good at shutting down those omega urges to nest
and grow roots. But I need to be careful if this is how I feel alone.
Maybe I need to take another dose, even though that will make it
twice this month.
Using a disposable cloth, I clean my hands and move through the
labyrinth of cords and nest bedding to grab my laptop. I log into the
backend of my site and open the data. The money from tonight was
a solid turnout for my Thursday show. That “Alpha” I slipped in drew
some nice tips, and they’re always higher when I wear this
sweatshirt in a live.
It should be enough extra that I can use my backup
suppressants and afford to replace them without having to dip into
savings. I need what’s in my savings to pay the remainder of my
boarding fees to the academy and get me through until
January. That means I better find a way to meet up with Spence, my
dealer, and add a few extra shows to leave a little buffer.
Shit, Madison. You’re cutting it close.
T he place where S pence asked me to meet him to pick up the
suppressants turns out to be at his pack house—a birthday party for
his Prime Alpha, Patrick. Making my way into one of the living rooms
in the condo, I scan the crowd for Spence’s long wavy hair.
“He’s one of the top richest alphas in the nation. Ancient money,
oil.” Emma steps beside me, pointing subtly at a salt-and-pepper
alpha who is shaking the hand of a younger beta, the two of them
talking animatedly.
“The Alpha looks like fossil fuel. How old is he anyway?” I turn
my head, looking her over.
Emma’s taller than my 5’5” frame, and her sparkling mini dress is
embellished with rhinestones and pearls that accentuate her
voluptuous curves. Everything about her, from the sharp, glossy,
pencil-straight hair to her professional makeup, makes it clear she is
a pampered omega in her element as the hostess for tonight’s
party.
Emma went to Crescent before I attended, but she runs in my
friend Tatiana’s circle, and we’re casual. Not enough to get an invite
to her alpha Patrick’s birthday party type casual. I swallow. The only
reason I’m here is to pick up drugs.
Keeping it classy as fuck, Madison.
Emma doesn’t comment on my presence, skipping over the
awkward explanations. “James Lafon. Fifty-three. Three grown
children, all omegas. They’re bonded. His mate died last year.”
“I don’t mind an age gap, but that’s an age canyon.” I can’t
decide if Emma is offering me this alpha as a sympathy proposal or
if she thinks we could be an actual match.
My eyes widen as I turn my gaze back on the salt-and-pepper
alpha in question. James is weathered-looking. His Boise western
suit cut and large gold belt buckle peg him as country, even here in
the city. I wrinkle my nose. I left the middle of nowhere for a
reason.
 Besides, single alphas outside of packs make me nervous. With
packs, there are more opportunities to stay relevant. A single alpha
requires that they never tire of an omega. I’ve seen how that plays
out.
“And he’s looking for an omega? Was he bite-bonded to the first?
Wouldn’t I be younger than—”
“Yes. His youngest is twenty-four. That’s only a problem if you let
it be. I don’t think he’s actively courting, but Patrick says he’s using
a rut companion. So he must not be suffering from the bond break. I
figure you might sway him to reconsider his position on courting.”
“Why would you help me? I hardly know you.” I turn, crossing
my arms.
Unaffected by my tone, she speaks without turning to look at me.
“Spence.”
“What does your beta have to do with it?” Spence is one of her
mates. He’s also a pharmaceutical rep for LanCo and is known to sell
other drugs to the Crescent party crowd. Or, in my case,
suppressants I want to keep out of my official courting portfolio.
“He didn’t break confidence. Stop glaring. Gods, you really should
see if my alpha Nitro can slip you some edibles before you leave.
You need to chill.”
“Not my speed. I’ll pass.” I never like to give up control.
“Your loss, the truffles he makes are divine.” She turns to me, her
look searching as she taps her pointed red nails, encrusted with tiny
jewels, against her champagne glass.
I lift my eyebrows. “What?”
I look down at my knee-length sweetheart gown. It’s Tai’s from
last season, but she only wore it once before she offered it to me.
It’s designer, strapless, and pale pink with intricate daffodils stitched
into the fabric. My tan clutch and heeled sandals are nude classics.
Nothing in my design says I don’t belong here, at least on the
outside. But I can feel the power imbalance between us, which
makes me determined to secure what she seems to have found so
easily.
“I know we aren’t close, but omegas look out for each other.
Spence said you were dropping by, and I know you haven’t found a
pack yet. I asked him if you would be a good fit for James. Spence
doesn’t have nice things to say about most of his clients, but he
vouched for you. And Patrick has a soft spot for James. Maybe the
age gap will suit you. Don’t assume the worst. People are surprising.
They do awful, terrible things, but sometimes they do good things
too.”
“Okay,” I hedge. People, I find, are generally not surprising. They
do exactly as expected. The surprise for me is always the
disappointment I feel even when I know it’s coming. “I’ll talk to
James.”
“Spence is upstairs—second door on the right, Patrick’s office.
Nitro is on the pool deck if you change your mind. Stick around after.
Mingle.” She breezes away from me and slips into the crowded living
room without another glance.
I weave through a swarm of alphas and get stopped by Crescent
alums several times. By the time I make it to the stairs near the
entrance, another half hour has passed. The marbled hall of the
high-rise condo is quiet except for the clipped sound of my heels as I
make my way up the stairs quickly before knocking on the closed
door.
“In,” a deep voice commands.
Stepping into the dim room, I realize I’ve interrupted a game of
cards. Four alphas and the beta I’m looking for sit at a round table
on the opposite side of the room from the desk by the fire and
seating area. Others mingle in the space, cigars lit. A record plays
from the setup near the couches; the room is thick with smoke and
jazz. It’s old-world, like something I imagine a speakeasy looked like,
and the opposite of the trendy cocktails and electronic music
downstairs.
I cough and stand frozen for a moment. This is not how we
usually meet. I feel exposed and vulnerable, on edge. The
suppressants are necessary, but publicly securing them isn’t ideal.
“Madison,” Spence booms, setting down his cards and rising from
his seat to greet me. I meet the party-boy beta halfway, and he
hugs me. “You look great. Are you enjoying the party?”
 I pull back from his embrace and air kiss his cheek, his long dark
curls tickling my neck as I lean in. “A blast. I saw Emma downstairs.
She looks wonderful as usual.”
He smiles with his teeth and tugs on my elbow, turning me to
face the table. He attempts to introduce me around. No one pays us
much attention, returning to the game as quickly as our eyes meet.
Their uninterested manner is a relief.
Spence places a hand on my lower back and walks me to the
door. “Let’s get libations. You’re entirely too serious for a party.”
“Actually—”
“Yes, yes. I forget. You’re all business and no pleasure.” He rolls
his eyes when I don’t back down. “Fine. Business first. I insist on a
drink after. And I have someone I want you to meet.”
“Emma warned me,” I grumble.
He laughs, escorting me out of the room and down the hall until
turning into a closed guest room. “Do try to make it sound less
painful.”
I grimace.
He laughs again, walking over to an armoire and fiddling with a
keypad before he pulls out several packets. “I do enjoy our talks,
Madison. So refreshingly pessimistic.”
“I’m known for my charm,” I say sarcastically, shrugging as I
open my clutch.
I pulled out all my tips from yesterday in cash, not wanting to
leave a trail for this transaction. I’m hoping it will be enough to bank
a larger emergency supply in case I find a pack and can’t get access
to them for a while. “Do you have six?”
He whistles. “Why so many this time?”
“You can never be too careful.”
He lifts his brow, assessing. I don’t stir. He’s my dealer, not my
therapist.
“I got seven on this run. I’ll throw in the last for free.”
“Sold,” I reply, handing over my stack of cash and slipping the
offered pills into my bag.
“Now about that drink,” he asks, and I sigh.
“Fine. I’ll even be charming.”
“That’s the spirit!” He laughs, leading me back to the party.
Chapter 2
 Vincent

W ith my fists, I air drum the funk-jazz fusion beat against my

wooden computer desk, catching the song’s groove as I wait
for the matching software to render the following profile set.
I finished uploading the data files in our Fated matching software
hours ago, but each omega profile has to individually run through
the system. It’s only a little more than halfway through the list of the
eighty-seven omegas who meet my cousin, and pack leader, Alex’s
criteria for age and nearness to heat.
Fated is the newest project of one of our investments. Our
company, KingBio, bought into the little start-up three years ago and
bank-rolled their A/B/O matching software. It’s solid tech but won’t
be on the market until next year.
When Alex asked for a list, he didn’t set many rules on how I
curated the pool. Running it through Fated’s match system isn’t what
he asked, but it’s the best way to comb through the data. He didn’t
forbid an actual match. He only said we didn’t have time for one.
Two birds, one stone. And what Alex doesn’t know won’t hurt him.
He may not care about a scent match or the dynamics with our
new mate now, but long term, that shit matters. Packs succeed or
people die. I compromised when courting Sadie because it was a
clear path to Lancaster. Not anymore. If Alex wants an omega-
delivery like some kind of spoiled prince, he can at least wait until I
make sure we order the right one. Pushy fucker.
 The screen refreshes, and the profile compatibility report for the
latest omega data set pops up: Madison Benson. Age 20. Match
Compatibility: 99%
You’ve got to be shitting me.
Madison Benson is the fucking omega from the tabloid courting
debacle from earlier this summer. The press ran with a ridiculous
love triangle between our pack, Sadie Lancaster, and this random
woman. They snapped a picture of her and Sadie at a party we
attended, and the gossip sites went feral, taking bets over who we
were courting. Speculation spread like wildfire, and that news cycle
kept my PR team busy for weeks.
It was good publicity, but the laser focus on our personal lives
made Alex’s eye twitch. He worried Lancaster, already hesitant to let
Sadie join a pack, would get nervous and pull the plug if he thought
we were toying with his daughter. The news story with this omega
threatened Alex’s carefully crafted plans. He prefers when he
controls all the pieces, including the media.
I open her profile and scan the data. She scored the highest
match the Fated program will give, and she’s the only one to score
more than ninety-five percent. The program can run more than two
hundred areas for cross-compatibility, using a combination of
algorithms from various perspectives. Everything from biochemical
compatibility, like chemical scent markers, to psychology are
included.
This could work. The tabloid stories from the summer spun a love
triangle that we can harness to our advantage. We can spin the
press bullshit and make the choice to part with the Lancaster omega
seem mutual instead of a rejection, making it look like we chose
Madison over Sadie. Alex will lose his mind with the publicity, but I
don’t think it will slant negatively as long as everyone agrees to say
we parted on mutual terms.
Navigating to the original school files, I click on Madison’s folder
and open the first link. My monitor fills with the image of an omega
in a silver party dress. She leans her arms onto a piano in an empty
ballroom. Her head is turned away, and her pouty red lips open
slightly. Sleek curls so light they’re almost white frame her face, and
there is a beauty mark near her cute button nose. Taken all together,
she looks regal, like a queen bored of her subjects. It’s her eyes
though, that cause me to lean in. They’re a smoky mountain blue
with specks of sparkling silver, like the night sky filled with a blanket
of stars.
She reminds me of the old Hollywood films my mother used to
watch between heat cycles while she recovered. Like those starlets,
there is something undefinable about her allure. She is glamorous
and soft, all omega, but it’s something else I can’t quite name. The
combination leaves me unsettled.
I exit the image and skim the school’s notes. Scholarship student.
One year of studies with the purpose of matching. Near perfect
entrance exam. She failed to secure an offer during the scholarship
year, and it was not renewed. A second year’s tuition was paid in
full, and she was granted permission to complete her degree.
I look through her transcripts, noting she was valedictorian of her
class second year. The file mentions no offers, but she remains on
campus, even after graduation. Interesting. I flag the file to return
later and open the courting coordinator’s attachments. The
biochemical synthesis of Madison’s olfactory sample included in her
original required school documentation is coded for removal with a
series of links. That means that, for some reason, the required scent
sample she produced for the portfolio is removed when her data is
matched through the academy.
Clicking on the hyperlink enlarges a set of scanned records. Ah, I
see. The coded removal indicates Madison refused the use of
biochemical analysis for scent matching, citing the desire for a pack
arrangement based on other compatibility factors. Priority: financial
security.
My eyebrows raise. Why, Madison?
I add her name to the list of four other potential omegas that
meet Alex’s criteria in my journal and circle it twice, thinking.
Double-clicking on her basic profile, I mull it over. Not everyone uses
scent, and relying on pharmaceuticals to solve the problem is more
common now than ever. That’s not unusual, necessarily. She’s young
though, and she applied to Crescent for a matching scholarship. Why
would she refuse a method that would help her secure a match?
Scanning the basic info in her application brings me to a town
I’ve never heard of. A quick internet search tells me it’s southwest of
the city. Small. Mostly trailer parks, duplexes, and a closed factory.
Why would someone from a small town, where scent matching is the
most common method of pack selection, choose not to include it? Is
it because she wants security more than a match? How did she land
the matching scholarship to Crescent, and when it ran out, how did
she secure the second year? No way she had the family funds to pay
for it if she’s from a town like Kincler. So, how did she do it?
I open her image again, looking at the mysterious omega.
What are you hiding?
The matching software pings with another complete set. Gwen
Preston. Age 20. Match Compatibility: 64%
Not a match. I save the report in the “no” folder while the
program analyzes the next set. Searching through the mess on my
desk, I locate my phone. I text Kat, our media team’s researcher,
asking her to go through our records from the summer and send me
the relevant background we gathered on Madison. I wince when I
realize it’s past eleven o’clock at night and hope she doesn’t see it
until morning.
I stretch on my way to the built-in bar in the corner near the
back of my home office and make myself a whiskey to take to my
desk. I haven’t left this room in more than twenty-four hours, and I
don’t expect I’ll get to crash until the list is finished.
Leaning back and closing my eyes, I take a sip. The first taste on
my tongue is floral before it hits the herbal hops and spicy tones. I
savor it, puzzling over Madison. I need to do some digging. Start by
following the money trail, so I can learn more about the tuition and
scholarship. See if I can get Nic on background and have him visit
her hometown.
“You missed dinner again.” Alex’s deep voice catches me by
surprise, and I open one eye to see him bending down to set a sleek
serving tray on the coffee table. “Avery said to tell you that you can’t
work all day without breaks, and he expects to see you in bed later.
I asked him not to interrupt, but he insisted on sending this.”
Bringing my whiskey, I move to the couch and bend to take a
whiff of Avery’s lasagna. He’d want me to start with the salad, but I
can’t resist eating the pasta and groaning. “Pasta night is my
favorite.”
“That’s because you lack taste,” he accuses. “Like this gods’ awful
coffee table.”
I flip him off. “That table is a steampunk masterpiece.”
He scowls. “Right.” His eyes harden, and he gets to the reason
he’s here. “How much longer?” Alex leans against the armrest of the
black leather couch, rolling up his sleeves before crossing his arms.
“Patience, cousin,” I say before taking another bite.
“How hard can it be? You hacked into LanCo when you were
seventeen with less equipment and time. This is an omega finishing
academy—hardly your level. Quit stalling. Get the list of omegas for
Nicholas tonight.”
Hacking into the omega academy was a cake walk. The easiest
way into a house is often the front door, not the attic. And it’s hard
to guard against tech-stupid employees. The director accepted my
phishing password update email; once I had her credentials, it was
front door access. It’s the matching program that has slowed me
down.
“He’ll get it when it’s ready.” I lean back and sip my whiskey.
“Then get it ready.” He turns to leave and pauses by my
computer. “Why is Madison Benson on your screen?”
During the media buzz, she was a one-liner in our daily press
briefing. I knew the story’s attention annoyed him, but I assumed it
was all about the problems the story created for his plan with
Lancaster, not the random omega. But apparently something about
this omega caught his eye. He remembers the omega’s name and
knows what she looks like.
Checkmate.
“She’s the one from the tabloids. The courting triangle.”
“Yes, Vin, I was there. What is she doing on your monitor?” His
head swivels and his eyes sharpen, my cousin taking on the air of
the ruthless businessman he’s known for. His lips turn into a feral
smile. “You’re a genius. Get a contingency list tomorrow and have
Nic and Luca start background. If she clears, I want to make an
offer before the weekend. Let my assistant know as soon as Nic’s
ready. Susannah can coordinate with the academy. Get marketing
looped in when she is. I want a roll out plan before we meet her.” He
glances back at the vixen omega on my screen.
“Right away, Mr. King, sir,” I say sarcastically, saluting him with
mock deference before I take another sip of my whiskey and go
back to my plate.
Alex takes himself too seriously. Of all my pack, he’s the one who
could benefit the most from the grounding of an omega. He never
lets himself rest, never lets down his guard.
He turns back to me with a shit-eating grin on his usually serious
face, the alpha muzzled for now, reminding me that underneath all
the weight of this life, he’s still Alex, the cousin who made a deal
with the devil for me and tore down his life. “Damn straight. And see
Avery. You look like shit.”
“Aww. You really do care.”
He gives me a final glance from the door. “You’re family. That’s
what this is all for. Even if you are a pain in my ass.”
As I finish my plate, my mind puzzles over the blond omega with
haunting blue eyes.
What are you hiding, Madison?
Chapter 3
 Avery

T urning off the bathroom light, Vincent tries to slink into our
bedroom unnoticed. He crawls under the covers quietly before
he scoots to my side and molds himself to my bare back,
draping his arm across my hip. The spicy pine of his scent loosens
my muscles. Without him, I tend to get lost in my head. Vincent’s
presence is grounding, calming all those racing thoughts that plague
me.
“Done?” I ask, voice soft and low from sleep.
He kisses my shoulder and traces his hand lazily along my hip.
“Enough to get the list to Nic and Luca.”
That means he has a list of potential omegas he will hand off to
our packmates for a security check. Unease and anticipation sit
heavy in my gut. I’m both excited and weary of bringing an omega
into our pack. I wasn’t jazzed about their plan to bond with the
Lancaster omega, though I know they would have been good to her
despite her name. It was messy, and I didn’t want our home to be a
place of unrest.
I understand their decisions and why they wanted to use her to
get to her father. My pack is made of men who have done bad things
to right a more significant wrong. They hacked and schemed their
way to the top of an industry, using false identities and a
ruthlessness that sometimes scares me. But knowing what we do
about Lancaster’s company and all the harm he has caused allowed
me to put those qualms to rest.
 With the Lancaster omega bonding on her own, she fucked their
end game. Now I’m left with an unknown, and that never does my
busy head any good. They don’t have a clear plan for how to take
down Lancaster. Our Prime’s decision to try to secure a bond with
another omega so quickly means we could end up with someone
unsuited for this cloak-and-dagger life. It’s a fine tightrope to walk;
whoever they pick could potentially destroy us if they expose us.
I’m not made for prison.
I sure as hell hope Alex knows what he’s doing, though I have a
feeling my alpha has an unauthorized scheme all his own. I hum
thoughtfully, trying to determine why it took my hacker almost two
days to gather a list of potential omegas. There is no way he had
trouble getting into the omega academy system, which means he’s
been doing something else with his time.
“You ran them through Fated, didn’t you? Are you going to tell
Alex? The others?”
Chuckling, he pulls me closer and nuzzles my neck. “What makes
you think I ran it?”
“You didn’t?” I ask, turning to look at him, my tone full of
disbelief.
He moves his hand, finding my face in the dim light cast from the
city glow filtering in through the wall of windows. Not satisfied, he
bends to kiss my nose and finally treats me to his firm mouth.
Leaning over me, he takes the kiss deeper, turning me into his
strong arms. He grabs my hands, pinning my wrists above my head.
I struggle against him momentarily, loving the feel of his unrelenting
weight and possession. Eventually, I give in to what we both want
and soften. His deep and reassuring purr rumbles to life.
“I’m sorry I missed our lunch session today, sweetheart.” He
breathes into the crook of my neck then lets me go for a moment.
Lifting off me, he turns on the lamp, and the room fills with a
warm glow. He gathers supplies from our closet. When he returns,
he straddles my hips, placing his knees on either side of my legs.
Sitting back, he says, “You ready?”
A few strands of Vincent’s honey-blond hair hang in his face, and
his icy slate eyes snare mine. The love I see shining there steals my
breath.
“Always, Alpha,” I rasp, voice shaky.
“What do you say to stop?”
“Red.”
“Good.” He nods, firm and satisfied.
He takes my lips in a starved kiss before he reaches over me
behind the mattress, digging for a moment until he finds the padded
cuffs connected to a chain and secured to the bed. He attaches one
of my wrists then the other, pulling the cuffs snug.
I test the restraints, giving them a good tug, and my belly
swoops with arousal. My breathing runs ragged at the first sign of
his control, knowing I’m bound and at his mercy. He runs his large
smooth hands up and down my chest. I’m average sized for a beta,
but Vincent’s large, defined body makes me feel delicate and
cherished.
He lets his fingers ghost over the exposed area of my chest,
scooting farther down my body and brushing along the dip at my
hips. When he teases the band of my silky sleep pants, I suck in a
deep breath full of anticipation. In the wake of his touch, my skin
ripples with goosebumps.
I try to focus, realizing my alpha has successfully thrown me
from following his breadcrumbs. “So, we’re not telling the brothers
or Luca? You found a match, didn’t you?”
“Maybe,” Vincent hedges.
“And you’re keeping it secret from the rest of our pack? Why are
you trying to distract me? Is it because you know I’ll tell Alex if he
questions me directly?”
He laughs, knowing I will roll belly up for our pack Prime. Though
we aren’t romantically involved, I care for Alex. Love him, though he
won’t let me do so in the ways I long to. He has never thought of
me as anything more than a pack member, and he tries very hard
not to let me care for him. My service kink expresses itself most in
my itch to take care of our pack. I want to submit and serve Alex in
more than the simple ways he has allowed, and I find it hard not to
give in when questioned by our high-strung leader.
 I was one of KingBios’s first employees, acting as Alex’s PA for a
while when they were a young start-up building their empire almost
a decade ago. Since then, I’ve transitioned to the pack side of the
house, focusing on the care and running of their personal affairs. But
I’ve also been Vincent’s partner and submissive for the last three
years. Our relationship has never been public. To the outside world,
I only work for the pack, but I don’t think this pack could function
without me. They tend to focus only on business and their plot
against Lancaster. Whoever they bring in as their omega, I hope
they will be able to help me lighten the load and bring more joy to
this driven pack.
The upside of the Lancaster omega going rogue is that we won’t
be bound by Brock Lancaster’s courting rules and ridiculous pack
limits he set for his daughter. Our pack has built our entire life
around taking him down, and his whacked ideas about packs meant
that we’ve had to make sacrifices. Both Luca, Nicholas’s best friend,
and I had been prepared to wait in the wings as unofficial pack
members until we made our move on Lancaster.
I’ve never complained about not being public with Vincent. I
understand what is at stake, and it wasn’t a big deal to me. In truth,
what we have is enough. But having the option to include Luca and I
on a courting contract will be a big deal to my alpha.
Vincent grew up with a mother who worked as a rut companion
and was only ever used by alphas as a convenience. The LanCo
meds she took that were supposed to make her job easier made her
sick. More than the rest of us, Vincent struggled with the public pack
arrangements and the plan to bond with the daughter of the man
whose products killed his mother. Maybe this disaster will have a
silver lining, easing my alpha’s guilt.
Vincent pinches my side, the sting a sharp command that
refocuses my attention on him, quieting my anxious thoughts. “I
found a match from the list. I queried it using the profile for the
whole pack.”
If he used the whole pack profile to test these omegas, he
intends for Luca and me to be part of the courting agreement. The
failed courting contract put us in a fucking corner on the Lancaster
front, but long term, this could be better for everyone.
He skirts his fingertips back and forth along my waist, then runs
his hand along the outline of my cock before returning to tease my
ribs.
“And?” I ask impatiently.
“And it’s Madison Benson, the—”
“I know who she is. Why does that matter?”
His hands still, then he removes them entirely. I buck against my
restraints, wanting him to come back to me. The tug on my wrists
makes my stomach flip.
“How do you know Madison?” he asks, tone skeptical.
I let out an impatient sound, agitated by his question and the
loss of his touch. “I may not be Alex’s work PA anymore, but I
manage this house and the four of you. She was part of my daily
briefing for two months during the media buzz about who our pack
was courting. Why does it matter if she’s the match? Isn’t that a
good thing? The press has already put her together with the pack.”
He leans over me to trail kisses that start at my belly and end
when he circles my right nipple with his tongue, scattering my
concentration.
Fuck. Keep your head in the game, Avery. I need to figure out his
devious mind so I can make sure he doesn’t fuck up this whole
thing. If he found an actual match in Madison Benson, we don’t
need to play games and lose her. I focus on following the pieces.
“Of course!” My voice ticks up in understanding. “You want Alex
to think it’s his idea and for him to believe we are matching her only
for the press angle. You want him to think he’s in control and this is
a matter of business. Do you actually think he would be opposed to
a real match?” I ask breathlessly, need making my speech slow and
disjointed. The fact that I can speak at all while his hands and
mouth roam my skin is a miracle.
“I think Alex doesn’t know what he needs, but he definitely
doesn’t think it’s a match.”
So my alpha plans to let the pack go in blind and see where it
goes. I don’t love this idea, but I can’t see disclosing our history to
anyone upfront. Talk about a huge risk. What the fuck would we
say? “I know we’ve just met, but we’re going to bite you in on our
secret plot to take down Lancaster? Got any previous experience as
a spy?”
He pinches my left nipple, rolling it between his fingers while he
sucks on the right. I tug uselessly against the restraints, arching into
his touch.
“Still, sweetheart. Take what I give you, or you won’t come
tonight,” he growls.
Shit. That’s so fucking hot and probably not the threat he was
intending.
I jerk against him before settling down as he continues his
perusal of my chest with his mouth while using his free hand to
trace along the outline of my cock. He teases me, stopping and
starting again, his touches alternating between light and firm.
“Please, Alpha. Let me come. It’s been two days,” I whine. I’ve
missed our daily routines and the weightlessness of submitting to
him.
“I happen to like knowing you’re waiting for my permission.”
I tremble beneath him, sinking into his control.
He yanks down my silk pants, pushes them past my knees, then
off, tossing them behind him. Situating himself between my legs, he
sits back to admire his handiwork. I watch his defined muscles
twitch as he moves his hand to squeeze his hard cock. Reaching to
his pile of gathered supplies, he takes the bundle of black cotton
rope and starts a leg tie.
Vincent’s purr rumbles to life as he works, looping the rope in a
single column before pushing my shin closer to my thigh. With the
weight of every knot against my skin, my body loosens. The tension
bleeds out, and I can’t worry anymore about omegas, packs, or my
alpha’s need for vengeance. He spirals and cinches the ropes tightly
so that by the time he’s got four knots on my right leg, my breathing
has turned deep and slow. He repeats the process on my other leg,
then sits back to admire his work.
My wrists are bound above my head and my ankles are tied to
my thighs, leaving me spread out and open for my alpha. A lattice of
his rope work binds my legs, and my hard cock juts out proudly on
display.
He leans between my legs and reaches over me to cup my chin.
“Look at me, sweetheart.”
I blink, fighting to keep them open. My mind is full of the
nothingness of quiet, and my lips tug up in a smile without thought
at my handsome, commanding alpha.
“You feeling better?” he asks, though I imagine the answer is
apparent on my face.
“Touch me, please,” I say softly.
He answers with his mouth, trailing kisses along my cheek, down
my neck, across my shoulders, and over my chest until he ends by
kissing my hard cock. I plead for more, little whimpers and cries
escaping me in gasps.
Reaching next to me, he grabs the lube and squirts a generous
dollop on his fingers. With one hand, he circles my hole, and with
the other, he holds my stiff cock, licking the head and circling the
crown. When I buck against my restraints, trying to push myself
deeper in his mouth, he pulls back completely, a sinister chuckle
escaping.
“Oh, no. You will take what I give you when I give it. Or I’ll leave
you waiting,” he says darkly.
I squirm, my cock jumping.
“Or is that what you’re after? Do you want me to leave you
aching while I stroke my cock and come all over you? You want to
burn for me?”
“No, Alpha. Please let me come. I can be still.” I thrash my head
from side to side, proving myself a liar. My cock leaks my desire, a
bead of pre-cum trickling from the head and down my shaft. The
room swells with the woodsy scent of my alpha.
He circles my cock with the lightest grip, a whisper of a touch. I
bite my lip but force myself to keep motionless. Satisfied, he uses his
fingers to get me ready for him, stretching and teasing my hole so I
can accommodate his size. My cock, however, remains untouched,
and I whine.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 Suffrage
How the Voters Control the Government.— Direct and indirect
A democratic government is one in which the popular control.
people, acting directly or through their representatives, control the
course of public affairs. This control may be exercised, as has been
pointed out, in either one of two ways. It may be exercised directly,
that is, by the use of the initiative and referendum. The proposal for a
law comes from a designated number of voters, and the adoption or
rejection of the proposal is decided by a majority of the voters at the
polls.
It is easy to see, however, that the people cannot perform the
entire work of government in this direct way. There are too many
laws to be made, too many details of administration to be handled,
and too many disputes to be adjusted. So most of the work of
government is carried on by persons who are chosen by the voters
for this purpose or who are appointed to office by the representatives
of the people. Elective officials, as a rule, have authority to determine
matters of general policy in nation, state, or municipality, while
appointive officials, for the most part, carry out the policy thus
determined upon.
 GOVERNMENT. By Elihu Vedder

From a Copley Print, copyright by Curtis & Cameron, Boston.

Reproduced by permission.

GOVERNMENT

By Elihu Vedder
From a mural decoration in the Library of Congress.
Mr. Vedder portrays Government as a mature
woman in the fullness of her strength. She is seated
upon a bench of hewn marble, which is supported by
the figures of two lions—all emblematic of strength and
power. Behind is an oak tree, which typifies slow,
deep-rooted growth. In symbolic pictures the ballot box
is usually represented as an urn. Here the marble
bench rests upon urn-shaped vases. In the lions’
mouths are mooring-rings to remind us that the ship of
state must not drift aimlessly but should be moored to
strength.
In her left hand Government grasps a golden sceptre
(the Golden Rule) to signify that all her actions are
 based upon respect for the rights of others; her right
hand holds a tablet upon which is graven a notable
epigram from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. On either
side of Government are two genii or mythical figures.
One holds a bridle which typifies restraint, discipline,
and order—the bulwark of effective government. The
other supports an unsheathed sword, emblematic of
defence and justice.
In this picture, therefore, the author prefigures the
outstanding marks of a successful free government—
strength; fairness, democracy, restraint, security, and
justice.

The Citizen and the Voter.—Government by the people does not,

of course, mean government by all the people. Not all citizens are
In every country there are many persons who voters.
are not competent to exercise a share in the government. Very
young persons, for example, do not have maturity of judgment,
which a share in government requires. Insane persons, prisoners in
jails, aliens, and others are also, for obvious reasons, usually
debarred from the privilege of voting. It is not to be assumed that
everyone who is a citizen is also a voter. All persons born or
naturalized in the United States and subject to American jurisdiction
are citizens no matter what their ages or mental capacity may be, but
not all are voters. The voters are those upon whom the privilege of
voting has been conferred by law. In the United States they comprise
a large proportion of the adults but they do not form a majority of the
entire population. Out of a national population of about one hundred
and five millions the voters of the United States number about thirty-
five millions. This number is quite large enough to ensure an
adequately representative government.
Development of the Suffrage.—Voting is a The gradual
privilege and duty rather than a right. In the widening of the
earlier states of American history the privilege of suffrage
voting was restricted to property-owners and taxpayers. This
condition of affairs, moreover, continued for a considerable period
after the Revolutionary War. One by one, however, the various states
began to abolish their restrictions and by the middle of the
nineteenth century the principle of manhood suffrage had become
firmly established so far as the white population was concerned. The
struggle for the extension of the suffrage to men who did not own
property was a prolonged and bitter contest in which the opponents
of manhood suffrage vainly argued that the extension would put all
political leadership into the hands of noisy agitators and would end in
the ruin of orderly government. But manhood suffrage ultimately
triumphed because the country came to the conclusion that the
structure of democratic government could be made more secure by
broadening the base upon which it rests.
Negro Suffrage.—In the Southern states prior The rights of the
to the Civil War colored men were excluded from negro.
voting at all elections. But with the emancipation of the slaves the
question of guaranteeing the suffrage to colored men had to be
faced. By the terms of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to
the national constitution no state is permitted to withhold voting rights
from any man on account of his color; if it does so, the constitution
provides that such state shall have its number of representatives in
Congress reduced. As a matter of fact, however, there has always
been a very strong sentiment among the white population of the
Southern states in opposition to political equality on the part of the
colored element, and this has prevented the enforcement of the
guarantees contained in the constitution.
By various devices the Southern states have How negroes are
for the most part excluded negroes from excluded from
suffrage. One of these is the requirement that all voting.
voters shall be able to read and write. If this provision were
impartially applied to the white and the colored population alike; if all
illiterate persons irrespective of color were excluded, this action
would be entirely justified. But the aim of the South is to eliminate the
negro as a voter whether he is illiterate or not.[34] The attitude of the
white population in the South is not difficult to understand. In the
days immediately following the Civil War the colored men were given
the ballot in all the Southern states, and the results were disastrous.
Unfit men were elected to office, public money was spent wastefully,
and government was badly conducted in all these states under the
domination of the colored voters. As a result the white population
took the control once more into its own hands and has kept it there.
But this can scarcely be regarded as a final solution of the problem.
No political problem can be solved in this country in defiance of the
constitution. Many Southerners realize this and are endeavoring to
find some solution which will be for the best interests of the negro
while protecting the white man’s political supremacy. The negro
question is particularly the Southerner’s problem; he knows the
colored race as no Northerner can; and if he cannot settle it justly
and wisely, no man can.
The Nineteenth Amendment.—It is now The extension of
more than fifty years since women first began to the suffrage to
claim, in this country, the right to equal political women.
privileges with men. Those who supported this claim argued that
women were quite competent to assume an active share in
government and that in some branches of public administration
(such as the management of schools and the enforcement of the
laws regulating child labor) women have an even greater interest
than men. Women were required to pay taxes and it was urged that
on this account they were entitled to representation. On the other
hand the extension of the suffrage to women was opposed on the
ground that it would tend to weaken the interest of women in the
home, thus impairing the strength of the family as a social unit, and
also that women would not use the ballot wisely. They would be
influenced by their sympathies and emotions rather than by their
judgment, it was predicted, and would bring an element of instability
into public policy. Another objection commonly raised was that with
twice as many voters the cost of holding elections would be doubled.
But despite these objections the movement for woman suffrage
made gradual headway in one state after another and finally, in
1920, it was made compulsory upon the entire country by the
provisions of the Nineteenth Amendment.[35]
Present Qualifications for Voting.—Each Citizenship, age,
state decides who shall not vote. Each state has and residence.
entire freedom to do as it thinks best in this matter subject only to the
provisions of the national constitution, which stipulate that the
privilege of voting shall not be denied to any citizen by reason of sex,
or because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. There is
no reason, therefore, why the qualifications for voting should be the
same in all parts of the country, and as a matter of fact they differ a
little from state to state. At present the restrictions relate mainly to
age, citizenship, and residence, but sometimes also to literacy and
taxpaying. In every state the privilege of voting is restricted to
persons who are twenty-one years of age or over. As for the
residence requirement it varies considerably in different states,
running usually from six months to a year. It is imposed in order to
make sure that those who vote in any community shall be somewhat
acquainted with its affairs. In most of the states none but citizens are
permitted to vote, but in two or three states the privilege is extended
to those aliens who have declared their intention of becoming
citizens.
Educational Tests for Voters.—Educational qualifications for
voting, in one form or another, exist in nearly one-third of the states.
[36]
In some the requirement is that anyone who desires to be
enrolled as a voter shall be able to write his name and also to read
aloud any clause taken at random from the state constitution.
Exemptions from this test are always granted to persons who by
mere reason of physical disability are unable to read or write.
Several of the Southern states have provided additional
exemptions which result in excusing from the test all white persons
who are unable to read and write while strictly applying the
requirement to all colored applicants. Various How educational
methods are employed to this end. In one case tests are applied.
the provision is that no one may be registered as a voter unless he
can read any clause in the state constitution or “give a reasonable
interpretation thereof”. The white officials in charge of the registration
then decide, in their own discretion, whether the interpretation is
reasonable or not. In some other states the attempt has been made
by what is commonly known as the “grandfather clause” to excuse
from the literacy test all persons who had the right to vote before
1867, and all descendants of such persons. As there were no
colored voters in any of the Southern states prior to this date the
“grandfather clause” virtually establishes a racial discrimination
which the Supreme Court, a few years ago, declared to be
unconstitutional.
Is an Educational Test Desirable?—In the majority of the states
men and women are permitted to vote even though unable to read or
write. The question is often asked whether this practice is wise.
Would it be better to insist on an elementary educational qualification
everywhere, or is it desirable that in a democracy no distinction be
made between those who can read and those who cannot?
On the one hand it is argued that men and The arguments for
women who have never had the advantages of a and against
grammar school education may nevertheless be educational tests.
good, patriotic citizens, and indeed may be better informed upon
questions of government and politics than some who have had far
greater educational advantages. People are not required to read and
write before they are permitted to own property or compelled to pay
taxes. Men who could neither read nor write were drafted to serve in
the army during the war. If, then, we compel illiterate persons to
perform the duties of citizenship, ought we not to grant its privileges
to them as well? But there is something to be said on the other side
of this question. Bear in mind that we provide free public elementary
education for everyone in the United States. The privilege of learning
to read and write is not the privilege of a single class; it is within the
reach of everyone. We no longer allow aliens to enter the United
States unless they can read and write, nor can any illiterate person
become naturalized. Under these circumstances is it unreasonable
to require an elementary educational test for voting? It may be true
that persons who are unable to read are able to mark a certain type
of ballot without spoiling it, but they can hardly hope to exercise an
intelligent choice as among individual candidates on the ballot; they
are unable to use any ballot which does not arrange the names of
candidates in straight party columns and they cannot vote upon
referendum questions except by mere guess-work. If we are
regularly going to submit questions to the voters at the polls for their
decision, should not the voting lists be confined to those who are at
least able to read the questions?
Tax-Paying Qualifications for Voting.—In a few states the male
suffrage is restricted to persons who have been assessed for a poll
tax. Massachusetts has such a provision and enforces it strictly.
Some Southern states also impose this qualification, partly, no
doubt, because it is effective in debarring large numbers of colored
men who are remiss in paying their annual poll taxes. There is a
difference, of course, between a taxpaying qualification and a
property qualification. Many people pay taxes, income and poll
taxes, for example, without owning any property. Nowhere in the
United States is the ownership of property a requirement for voting at
national elections.
These, then, are the general and special The requirements
qualifications. It will be observed that since each vary from state to
state prescribes its own requirements, no two of state.
them establish the same qualifications, or, if they do, it is merely by
accident. It is not strictly true that every adult citizen of the United
States has the privilege of voting; but it is approximately true. Those
who are excluded by the residence, educational, or tax paying
qualifications (apart from colored citizens in the Southern states)
form a relatively small fraction of the total adult citizenship, probably
less than ten per cent.[37]
How Voters are Registered.—In order to The registrars of
obtain a ballot on election day it is necessary voters.
that one’s name shall be on the voters’ list. This list is prepared by
officials designated for this purpose in every community or district.
These officials are commonly known as registrars of voters.
Whoever desires to be enrolled must appear before these registrars
and usually must make a sworn statement as to age, citizenship,
residence, and other qualifications. If there is an educational test, it
is applied by the registrars. The printed lists of enrolled voters are
then posted for public inspection.[38] In some states a new voters’ list
is compiled every year, and it thus becomes necessary for everyone
to register annually. In others it is the practice to keep a voter’s name
on the list so long as he continues to pay poll taxes.[39] But in any
case the only way a voter can be sure of having his name on the list
at every election is to give this matter his personal attention. In the
eyes of the law voting is a privilege, not a right, and the voter is
responsible for seeing that he obtains his privilege.
 Nominations
Why Nominations are Essential.—The The chief purpose
choice of elective public officials usually involves of nominations.
two steps—the nomination and the election. Nominations may be
made, and they are sometimes made, by a caucus or by a
convention of delegates. More often, however, they are made by the
voters at a preliminary election or primary. But the question may
fairly be asked: Why have nominations at all? Why not give the
voters blank ballots and let them write in whatever names they
please? Apart from the fact that many voters (in states which impose
no educational test) would not be able to write, there is the objection
that so many different persons would be voted for that no one would
have anything like a majority. In order to ensure that those who are
elected will represent the choice of a substantial body of the voters
and if possible an actual majority, it is desirable that there be some
way of eliminating all but the stronger candidates. That is why we
provide for formal nominations.
History of Nominating Methods.—During the past hundred
years or more we have tried a variety of nominating methods. First
came the caucus, sometimes a gathering of legislators and
sometimes of voters, brought together to select a candidate. The
caucus gave place, in time, to the convention, The convention
which is a body of delegates chosen by the method.
voters of each locality. To this day the convention remains the
mechanism by which nominations are in some cases made. But the
convention method, for a variety of reasons, did not prove
satisfactory and it has been replaced, throughout the greater portion
of the United States, by the system of nomination at a primary
election.
The Primary.—The primary, in our electoral Different forms of
system corresponds to the “qualifying trials” in primary.
athletic contests. Its purpose is to see that the race is confined to the
swift. It eliminates those who have no chance to win. Those who
desire to be candidates for any public office present their names on
nomination papers, each of which must bear the signatures of so
many qualified voters—say twenty-five or fifty. The names of the
candidates are placed on a ballot, and a primary election is held
some time before the regular election. But the details of primary
elections differ somewhat from state to state. An open primary is one
at which voters are not restricted to the ballot or column of their own
party, but may exercise entire freedom of choice among all the
names on the primary ballot. In some states there are party
primaries or closed primaries. This means that none may vote at the
primary except those who are members of a political party.[40] Each
party may hold its primary on a different date, in which case it is
called a separate primary; or both parties may hold their primaries
together, in which case we call it a joint primary. At a joint primary
there may be a separate ballot for the voters of each party or there
may be a single ballot which contains the names of different party
candidates in parallel columns. In some cities and towns another
form, the non-partisan primary, is provided, in which case the ballot
bears no party designations at all. The procedure at a primary
election is like that of a regular election, with printed ballots, ballot
boxes, and regular officials in charge of the polls.
Merits and Defects of the Primary.—As a Advantages of the
method of making nominations the primary, primary.
whether closed, open, or non-partisan, has both merits and defects.
It is better than the convention in that it places nominations directly in
the hands of the voters, thus making it more difficult for party bosses
to dictate who the candidates shall be. Conventions consisting of a
relatively small number of delegates, many of them officeholders,
can be manipulated by wire-pulling politicians. Nominations made by
conventions have frequently been, for that reason, very
unsatisfactory to the rank and file of the voters. The primary gives an
opportunity to the man or woman who is popular with the voters
although not popular with the politicians. It tends to break down
some of the worst abuses of the party system.
On the other hand there are some practical Objections to it.
objections to the primary as a method of making
nominations and a vigorous fight is now being waged to abolish it. A
primary means an additional election with all the attendant
campaigning and expense. The total vote cast at a primary is often
small; hence the candidate who gains the nomination may or may
not be the real choice of his party.[41] The primary puts a burden upon
those who seek to gain elective public office, for they must virtually
fight and win two successive battles at the polls. To do this takes so
much time that men and women who have business of their own to
attend to are often deterred from becoming candidates. The field of
political activity thus tends to become monopolized by professional
politicians who have nothing else to do. The primary contests are so
bitter at times that they create dissensions in the party ranks and
weaken the party at the ensuing election. The use of the primary has
not enabled us to get rid of political bosses; it has merely made them
work a great deal harder to retain control.
In some states the political parties have A new
adopted the practice of holding an “informal” development.
convention some few weeks before the date of the primary. This
convention, which is composed of unofficial delegates, makes
recommendations as to the candidates who ought to be voted for by
members of the party at the primary. Members of the party are free,
of course, to do as they please at the primary, but the
recommendations made by an “informal” convention, in view of the
fact that they are largely the work of acknowledged party leaders,
carry a good deal of weight.
One result of the primary system has been, This means a
therefore, to complicate our electoral machinery. further
If the practice of holding informal conventions complication.
becomes general, there will be four steps which a party will have to
take in order to put its candidates in office, first the informal
convention, then the primary, then the official convention which
drafts the platform, and finally the election. Surely it should be
possible to elect our public officials under some less complicated
arrangement than this.[42]
 Elections
How an Election is Held.—The date on The election day.
which an election is held is fixed by law. National
elections always take place on the Tuesday following the first
Monday in November.[43] State elections are usually, although not
always, held on the same date. Local elections take place on such
dates as the state laws or city charters provide. It is usually thought
best that local elections shall not be held on the same day as the
state or national elections because of a desire to keep national and
state politics out of local affairs. When national, state, and local
elections are held on the same day the tendency is for the voters to
focus their whole attention on national and state issues, giving very
little attention to the problems of their own communities. The names
of candidates for the local offices are away down near the bottom of
the ballot where they appear relatively unimportant. Separate
elections involve additional expense, however, and increase the
number of times a voter has to come to the polls.[44]
The voting is done at polling places, one or Polling places and
more of which are located in each precinct. The poll officers.
precinct is a small division of the county, town, or city; as a rule it
does not contain more than four or five hundred voters. The polling
place is in charge of officials, commonly known as poll-wardens or
inspectors, who are appointed by the state or local authorities. They
are assisted by clerks. The duty of these various officials is to open
the poll, give ballots to persons who are registered and to no others,
count the votes after the poll is closed, and report the results to the
authorities who are in charge of the elections. They are responsible
for the lawful and honest conduct of the polling. Each party is also
allowed to have one or more “watchers” at the polling place and
these watchers have the right to challenge any person whom they
believe to be an impostor. When anyone is challenged he may take
oath that he is entitled to vote, in which case he will be given a ballot;
but such ballots are counted separately. When a voter receives a
ballot, his name is checked off the voters’ list. Various stalls or
booths are provided, into one of which the voter then goes and
marks his ballot privately. Having finished marking it he folds the
ballot and hands it to one of the polling officials who, in the presence
of the voter, deposits it in the ballot box. Polls are kept open during
designated hours, usually from six or seven o’clock in the morning
until five or six o’clock in the afternoon.
The Ballot.—The history of the ballot in the History of balloting.
United States is interesting. 1. Oral voting.
Originally all votes were
given orally. The voter came to the polling place, stated his choice
aloud and the poll officials wrote it down. The objection to this plan
was that it precluded secrecy and left the voters open to intimidation.
Then paper ballots came into use, each party providing ballots for its
own members. Outside the polling place, at 2. The party ballot.
each election, stood a group of party workers
each armed with a handful of ballots, which were distributed to the
voters as they came. This method also was objectionable. It
encouraged the voting of a “straight party ticket”, Objections to the
in other words it took for granted that everyone party ballot.
wished to vote for the entire slate of party candidates without
exception. If the voter desired to do otherwise, it was necessary for
him to scratch out the unacceptable names and write others in. Most
voters would not go to this trouble. This method of balloting was not
secret, because a voter could be watched from the time he received
his ballot outside the polling place until he deposited it in the box.
This was an encouragement to bribery and intimidation. It also
facilitated fraud at elections since there was no limit upon the
number of ballots printed by the parties and it was not difficult for
dishonest voters or corrupt officials to slip extra ballots into the box.
This abuse, known as “stuffing” the ballot box could only be
prevented by having all the ballots officially printed. When a definite
number of official ballots is given to each polling place every ballot
must be accounted for.
In nearly all the states, therefore, an official 3. The Australian
ballot is now used. This is commonly known as ballot.
the Australian ballot. Usually the names of all the candidates are
printed in parallel columns, each party having a column of its own,
with the name and insignia of the party at the top. Immediately below
the insignia is a circle in which the voter, by marking a cross, may
record his vote for every one of the candidates in the entire column.
The voter who does this is said to vote a “straight ticket”. But if he
desires to vote for some of the candidates in the column of one party
and for some in the column of another party, he leaves the circle
unmarked and places a cross after such individual names as he may
choose. This is called voting a “split ticket”. In some states there are
no party columns; the names of the candidates are printed on the
ballot in alphabetical order, each name followed by a party
designation. In a few large cities, such as Boston and Cleveland, the
party designation is omitted. Here the voter must pick and choose
individually. The party-column arrangement encourages the voting of
straight tickets; the alphabetical plan does not.[45]
The Short Ballot.—Throughout the United Evils of the long
States the number of elective offices steadily ballot.
increased during the nineteenth century. The result was that ballots
gradually became longer until in some cases the voters found
themselves confronted with sheets of paper containing a hundred
names or even more. It proved exceedingly difficult to use proper
discrimination among so many names and hence there arose an
agitation for simplifying the ballot by reducing the number of
positions to be filled by election. In a democratic government all
officials who have authority to decide questions of general policy—
the President, senators, representatives, governors, assemblymen,
mayors, councilors, and the like—ought to be chosen by popular
vote. But there are many other officials, such as state auditors,
county clerks, and superintendents of schools, whose duties are
chiefly administrative. These officials carry out a policy which is laid
down for them by law, and it is contended that they should not be
elected but appointed. If all such officials were made appointive, the
size of the ballot would be considerably reduced, and the voters
could concentrate their attention upon a smaller number of names.
A ballot is not an effective instrument of popular government
unless it is simple enough for the average voter to use intelligently.
When a ballot is so long, so complicated, and so unwieldy that the
voter is tempted by sheer exhaustion into voting a straight party
ticket, then the party leaders, and not the people, are really choosing
the officers of government. The movement for a “short ballot” aims to
make government more truly democratic, not less so.
The Preferential Ballot.—Another defect of Defects of the
the ordinary ballot is that it allows the voter to ordinary ballot.
indicate only a single choice for each office. If there are five
candidates for the office of mayor, let us say, the voter may mark his
ballot for one of them only. He is not permitted to indicate who would
be his second choice, or his third choice among the five. Whichever
candidate gets the largest number of first choices among the voters
is the winner, although he may be the choice of a small minority. To
prevent this likelihood of election by a minority when there are
several candidates in the field for a single office a system of
“preferential voting” is sometimes used.
Where the preferential ballot is in use, as it is How the preferential
in several American cities, the voters are asked system works.
to indicate, in columns provided for this purpose, not only their first
but their second and third choices and even their further choices
among the various candidates. The names of those candidates
whom the voter does not want to support are left unmarked. When
preferential ballots are counted, any candidate who has a clear
majority of first choices is declared elected. But if no candidate
obtains a majority of first choices, the second choices are added to
the first choices and if the two totals combined give what would be a
majority of first-choice votes, the candidate who received them is
declared elected. In like manner the third choices are resorted to if
necessary.[46] The candidate elected by the preferential system is
practically always the choice of a majority among the voters, not the
first choice of a majority always, but one whom a majority have
indicated their willingness to support. The chief practical objection to
the preferential ballot is that many voters do not take the trouble to
mark their second and third choices.
Proportional Representation.[47]— The problem of
Preferential voting should be distinguished from minority
proportional representation, which is a plan of representation.
choosing legislative bodies in such a way that all considerable
groups of voters will be represented in proportion to their own
numbers. Whenever several representatives are elected on the
same ballot it usually happens that one political party secures them
all. So many voters adhere to the “straight ticket” that the entire party
slate wins. The minority party, even though it may comprise nearly
half the voters, in such cases obtains no representation at all. This,
of course, does not give us a true system of representative
government; hence various plans have been put forward for securing
to “each considerable party or group of opinion” a representation
corresponding to its numerical strength among the voters. The best
known among these is the Hare Plan, which has been used in
several foreign countries and, during recent years, in a few American
cities.[48]
This system of proportional representation is The Hare plan
somewhat complicated but may be concisely explained.
described as follows: First, the names of all candidates are printed
alphabetically on the ballot and the voter indicates his choices by
marking the figure 1 after the name of his first choice, the figure 2
after the name of his second choice, and so on. Then, when the polls
are closed, the election officers compute the number of votes
needed to elect a candidate and this is called “the quota”. This they
do by dividing into the total number of votes cast the number of
places to be filled, plus one, and then adding one to the quotient. For
example, let us suppose that 10,000 votes have been cast and that
there are seven candidates to be elected. Ten thousand divided by
eight (seven plus one) is 1250 and any candidate who receives 1251
first-choice votes is declared elected. If such candidate, however,
has more votes than enough to fill his quota, the surplus votes are
distributed in accordance with the indicated second-choices among
candidates whose quotas have not been filled. If enough candidates
are not elected by this process, the candidate with the smallest
number of first choices is then dropped and his votes are distributed
in the same way. This process of elimination and distribution goes on
until enough candidates have filled their quotas or until the
successive eliminations have left no more than enough to fill the
vacant positions. This plan is not a model of simplicity, of course, but
it is not so difficult to understand as one might at first glance
imagine, nor in its actual workings does it present any serious
complications. What the voter has to do is simple enough. In so far
as there are any difficulties they arise in connection with counting the
ballots, not in marking them. The plan is workable and the attainment
of proportional representation in all our legislative bodies would be a
great gain.
Counting the Votes.—When the polls are Majorities and
closed the ballots are counted by the officials of pluralities.
the polling place in accordance with whatever plan is used. With
ordinary ballots the counting does not take very long; if preferential
ballots are used, or if a system of proportional representation is in
vogue, the counting takes a good deal longer. When a candidate
receives more than one-half of all the polled votes, he is declared to
have a majority; when he merely obtains more votes than the next
highest candidate he is said to have a plurality. In the United States,
at nearly all elections, a plurality is sufficient. When the counting is
finished the result is certified to the proper higher officials. A recount
can usually be had at the demand of any candidate, and recounts
often take place when the result is close.
Corrupt Practices at Elections.—All Types of corruption.
elections afford some opportunity for corrupt
practices and various safeguards are provided against their
occurrence. Personation is the offence of voting under a name which
is not your own. Voters who have died since the lists were compiled,
or who are absent, are sometimes impersonated by men who have
no right to vote at all. Vigilance on the part of the election officers
helps to prevent personation although the officials can hardly be
expected to know everyone who comes to the polls. Repeating is the
offence of voting twice at the same election. To do this a voter must
first, by fraudulent means, become enrolled as a voter in two or more
precincts or districts. Ballot-box stuffing is the practice of putting in
the box ballots which have no right to be there. With the Australian
ballot the practice is very infrequent. Ballot-switching is the placing of
marks on the ballots, surreptitiously, while the ballots are being
counted. A dishonest official, with a small piece of lead under his
fingernail, has sometimes been able to spoil or to “switch” ballots by
marking additional crosses on them during the process of counting.
Intimidation is the offence of influencing a voter’s action by threats or
wrongful pressure. Bribery, of course, is self-explanatory. All these
practices involve moral turpitude and are forbidden under severe
penalties. They have now become relatively uncommon at American
elections.[49]
Absent Voting.—It frequently happens, in the nature of things,
that many voters cannot conveniently be in their home districts on
election day. Soldiers and sailors, commercial travelers, railway
conductors, engineers and trainmen, fishermen, students in
universities are obvious examples. It has been estimated that in
Massachusetts the number of voters who are necessarily absent
from their homes on election day averages about thirty thousand.
Many others, in order to cast their ballots, are put to considerable
expense and inconvenience. Now it has seemed desirable, in many
of the states, to make some provision whereby those voters may
cast their ballots without being actually at the polls on election day.
The usual arrangement is that a voter who expects to be absent on
election day must apply, some time before the election date, to a
designated official for a ballot. This ballot is then marked by the voter
and sealed in an envelope. The envelope is attested before a notary
public and deposited with an election official who sees that it is
counted when other ballots are counted. In some states the blank
ballot is sent by mail to absent voters who request it, and after being
marked the ballot is returned by mail before the election day. The
chief objection to absent voting is that it gives an opportunity for
fraud, but in practice this has not proved to be a serious objection.
Compulsory Voting.—Compulsory voting does not exist
anywhere in the United States at the present time although it has
been frequently proposed. Voting has been made compulsory,
however, with legal penalties for failure to vote, in several foreign
countries, notably in Belgium, in Spain, and in New Zealand. The
usual procedure is to impose a fine upon every voter who, without
good excuse, stays away from the polls on election day, or, for
repeated absences, to strike his name off the voters’ list altogether.
Compulsory voting rests upon the argument The arguments for
that, in a democracy, the right to vote imposes a compulsory voting.
duty to vote. The citizen must serve on a jury in time of peace and in
the army during war whether he likes these forms of public service or
not. Why, then, should he be allowed to shirk his duty to vote, a duty
which must be performed if democratic government is to survive? If
one voter has the right to stay away from the polls, every other voter
has the same right. And if all followed this policy, we could not
maintain a “representative” form of government. But there is another
side to the question. The voter who goes to the polls because he will
be fined if he stays away will not cast his ballot with much
discrimination, intelligence, or patriotism. Would Are they valid?
the votes of such men be worth counting?
Would they contribute anything to the cause of good government?
Moreover, it has been demonstrated by foreign experience that while
you can compel a voter to go to the polls and drop a ballot in the box
you cannot compel him to mark his ballot properly, for he marks it in
secret. In one of the Swiss cities some years ago it was found that
the chief result of compulsory voting was to induce many hundreds
of reluctant voters to drop blank ballots in the box. It can well be
argued that voting is a duty, but it is a duty which ought to be
performed from motives of patriotism and not from dread of the
penalties. Most citizens do not require compulsion and it is
questionable whether forcing others to vote would, in the long run,
serve any useful purpose.
Voting by Machine.—In some cities of the The merits and
United States the experiment of permitting the defects of voting
voter to record his choice by means of a voting machines.
machine has been tried with varying degrees of success. A voting
machine is constructed upon much the same principles as a cash
register. The keys bear the names of the various candidates and the
voter merely steps behind a curtain where he presses one key after
another just as he would mark crosses on a printed ballot. The
mechanism is so arranged that a voter cannot press two keys which
register for the same office. The voting machine plan has some
distinct advantages in that it does away entirely with the trouble and
expense of printing ballots; it eliminates spoiled ballots, it precludes
all chance of tampering with the votes, and it ensures an accurate
count. On the other hand the machines are expensive both to install
and to maintain, particularly when several machines are needed for
each polling place. Moreover, like all other complicated mechanisms,
they get out of order, and when they do this on election day it makes
a bad mess of things. It is doubtful whether they will ever supplant
the printed ballot plan of voting.
Summary.—In order that any systems of popular voting shall be
permanently successful it is necessary that the ballot shall be simple,
intelligible, and secret. It must not be so long as to bewilder the voter
of average intelligence, and it ought to give the voter a reasonable
chance to “split” his ballot without running a serious risk of spoiling it.
A short ballot is a far more effective instrument of democracy than a
long ballot. Another essential is that the polling place shall be
adequately safeguarded against fraudulent practices of any sort and
that the counting of votes shall be conducted with absolute honesty.
Any corrupt practice in connection with elections is a blow at the very
heart of democracy. We hear a good deal, from time to time, about
unfairness, fraud, and corruption at elections in the United States,
particularly at elections in the larger cities. While these things occur
now and then they are much less frequent than they used to be.
American elections, taking them as a whole, are conducted with as
much fairness and honesty as the elections which are held in any
other country. Rival parties and candidates try hard to win; they seize
every opportunity to gain political advantages over their opponents,
and in so doing often travel very close to the line which separates
right from wrong; but on the whole they try to keep within the letter of
the election laws. Transgressions of the law may bring some
temporary success but in the long run they do not pay, and the
politicians know it.
General References
F. A. Cleveland, Organized Democracy, pp. 130-191;
P. O. Ray, Political Parties and Practical Politics, pp. 109-164; 298-321;
W. B. Munro, The Government of American Cities, pp. 102-152;
C. L. Jones, Readings on Parties and Elections, pp. 212-250;
A. N. Holcombe, State Government in the United States, pp. 143-164;
K. H. Porter, A History of Suffrage in the United States, pp. 20-46 and passim;
W. W. Willoughby and Lindsay Rogers, Introduction to the Problem of
Government, pp. 107-126 (Popular Government).
Group Problems