26. Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

Owen

I t’s pitch dark outside by the time I pull up outside the academy gates. I can hear the wind howling through the trees of the forest that surrounds the building. And I can see a security guard at his post by the side of the gate, in a small booth that’s lit up just enough to show someone’s there.

Sighing, I lean back in my seat.

I don’t want to be here.

If it wasn’t for my mates, I’d be at home right now, cooking dinner and figuring out what TV show I could binge while I have the house to myself for the night.

Yeah, okay. That doesn’t sound like much fun, either.

Still, it would beat having to go onto Goldcrest Academy’s grounds, if my mates weren’t here.

I hate that Shadow did this. Knowing how he feels about Omega academies, and how I feel about them, it’s fucking crazy that he decided to come out here.

It drives me mad that Pete didn’t talk him out of it, but mostly, I wish Ezra had taken time off to drag him home, instead of letting him stay.

That’s the part that’s hard to swallow.

Ezra can be stubborn, sure, but this is more than that.

There’s something kind of weird about it.

I wouldn’t be surprised to find out they’re all being held hostage.

That’s what pushed me to drag my ass out to the city.

The thought that my pack might be in trouble.

If they’re not …

I’m gonna be pretty pissed off.

I take my phone out of my pocket, and I send Ezra a text, letting him know I’m outside the gates.

The guy in the booth has probably already reported my lingering car to whoever he reports to.

Ezra gets back to me in a few seconds, telling me I’ll be let inside soon.

I guess he’s gonna talk to his boss, whoever’s in charge of this hellhole.

I slip the phone back into my pocket.

My hands go back to the wheel.

My gaze moves back to the gate.

I don’t bother to start the car’s engine until the gates start to open.

It takes a good few minutes, then they slowly start to move inward.

I don’t release the handbrake until the gates stop moving.

Crawling onto the dirt road of the property, I’m stopped by the guy in the booth before I can get very far. Sighing, I roll down my window as I roll to a stop at his window.

He’s a big guy, with a tough expression on his miserable face.

I bet he hates this gig, sitting in a tiny booth for hours with fucking nothing to do.

“Straight ahead,” he tells me in monotone. “Car park is at the front of the building. Someone will be at the door when you get there.”

I wait, but apparently that’s all the instruction he’s there to give.

The threat I expected to hear doesn’t come.

Huh.

Maybe they’re more subtle about their warnings these days.

I guess it’s possible they don’t feel the need to threaten anyone who isn’t explicitly here to spend time with their Omegas. It’s also possible that they’re saving that shit for once I’m inside.

I roll up the window and restart the engine. I drive carefully over the dirt road, moving forward at a slow, steady pace in the darkness. The road feels kind of narrow because of the trees at either side of me, and I don’t want to ruin my paintwork because of a branch I didn’t see until it was too late.

When I break through the trees, I can see there are lights up ahead, showing the front of the building on the left, and a small car park to my right. There’s a large unlit patch of ground at the left side of the building, after the treeline ended. If I remember my invitation, that’s the side they only ever lit up on social event nights, to allow visiting Alphas’ easy access to the ballroom.

I’d feel better about parking over there, in the darkness where I know no one’s watching tonight, but I follow the guard’s instructions to avoid any unknown repercussions. I find an empty space in the brightly lit parking lot across from the front doors of the building, and I reverse into it.

Killing the engine, I stare across at the entrance.

The doors have been renewed. Probably thanks to the fire Frank Palmer reportedly started before his death. Every minute of the lame dramatized version of what happened that night was burned into my brain when it hit the streaming service we use, thanks to Shadow’s obsession with true crime.

The previous Head of Admin died that night. An Omega named Geraldine Sawyer.

It always struck me as ironic that the bitch running the academy was an unattached Omega, when the whole point of the academy, as far as the public are supposed to know, is to match Omegas with their perfect Alpha mates.

Of course, that was the biggest joke I’ve ever heard in my life.

Goldcrest only ever existed to let rich Alphas have things their way.

My father was one of those Alphas.

My mother was one of the Omegas trained to be the perfect mate.

She was so compliant with everything that was ever asked of her that she lost her own personality along the way. Her mannerisms are polished, and the only thing that ever bothers her is when something isn’t perfect.

Lipstick on her teeth, or a loose thread on her clothing.

Those were the things that would mortify her in front of people.

Having a kid was just another duty she was bound to fulfil when she married my father.

I was raised by nannies and household staff.

The gardener taught me how to play catch.

I only spent time around my parents when they needed their “beloved” child for a magazine photoshoot or some other such bullshit.

Honestly, it’s a good thing.

If I’d been forced to spend more time with them, I might have been convinced that they loved me, and if I believed that I might have believed they had my best interests in mind when they told me I’d be getting an invitation to Goldcrest’s first social of the year, the same month that I turned eighteen.

Now, a whole decade later, here I am, sitting outside that same academy, wondering what the hell it is that I’m doing here.

I have a pack. I found my true mates without having to set foot inside this place.

There was never any reason to come here.

I unbuckle my belt and open my door.

The sooner I talk my mates around, or resolve whatever’s holding them here, the better.

Getting stuck here overnight is not in my plans.

I get out of the car, and I sling my leather jacket on. Making a clear statement that I’m not intending to stick around is easier when it looks like I’m ready to fucking leave.

I lock the car and put my keys in my pocket.

Turning back to the entrance, I see one of the doors have been opened.

I step forward, ready to get my mates and get the fuck out of here.

Then, I see her, and I finally understand what all of them are doing in the city.

The woman walking down the front steps to greet me gives me exactly the same feeling I got when I met Ezra, and Shadow, and Pete. The strong pull of her energy makes my body tingle with interest, and my own energy spirals out toward her, longing to close the gap.

I move closer, taking in her physical appearance and her confident stance.

She’s in charge here, I can feel it. She might be a Beta, but she has the steely nerves of an Alpha.

“You must be Owen,” she greets me. “I’m Lana Cole, Head of Goldcrest. I’d like to say it’s nice to meet you, but it’s been kind of a long day so …”

She gestures to the open door of the building. “Your mates chose to wait in my office for you. You’ll have to sign in, and then you can join them in Dr. Clarke’s suite.”

“Dr. Clarke?” I ask, raising an eyebrow at the formality.

She nods, and turns, heading back inside the building.

I stand there, watching her leave while I try to reconcile what I felt with what she said.

My whole world just got spun upside down, and she’s acting like she has no fucking clue that she’s the reason for that.

It doesn’t make any sense. Not one little bit.

I force myself to follow her as she reaches the doorway, but my thoughts are still reeling.

Ezra’s been out here working for three whole weeks.

He didn’t breathe one word about her in that time.

All those late-night phone calls, and he never once mentioned Lana Cole.

Never once hinting about a Beta woman with Alpha energy who happens to also be our fifth and final fated pack member. She might not feel it, but I know it didn’t get past his Alpha instincts.

She closes the outer door and leads me through another into the reception hall.

It’s bright and spacious in here. Our footsteps echo on the tiled floor.

She leads me off to the left, where I see Pete waiting by the side of a bench.

He gives me a wry smile.

Surprise.

We have a new fated mate.

I smile back, with a tight nod.

Yeah, I figured that one out already.

At least now I know my mates are not being held hostage.

But Ezra and I need to have a long, hard talk about keeping secrets.