9. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Shadow

O ne little call to our lead Alpha, who’s not even a permanent member of staff here, and the guard on the gates lets us in. I can’t believe it was that easy to get onto the grounds of the infamous Goldcrest Academy. It’s like we’ve stepped right into the setting of a true crime podcast, except no one would let someone make one out here.

This place is too exclusive.

Sure, a bunch of people died here at the hands of a serial killer.

Did they close it down because of that? No way.

Because the folks that run this place are the real psychopaths.

Money’s more important than anything to people like them, and this place is a glorified brothel.

Omega academies were invented to make the rich richer, and this one is the most “elite” of them all, which really just makes it the most profitable.

It’s still the priciest place for old money Alphas to hunt for the kind of mate who never says no.

“I can’t believe Easy’s out here, working for these cunts,” Pete mutters.

He kicks the ground and sends a clump of dirt flying into the trees by his side.

My Beta mate’s mood has been souring ever since we got within sight of the gold-painted railings that keep this place sealed off from the general public.

He has his hands buried in his pockets, the muscles of his arms and neck are full of tension.

Touching him when he’s so … unrelaxed doesn’t always help.

It can take a lot of work to ease the pressure he builds up inside.

The calming touch I’m gifted with as an Omega only works if he’s just beginning to stress the hell out. I missed my moment to relax him. I didn’t notice he was tense until he was too far gone to fix it.

“Ixnay on the untcays,” I remind him, nodding at the guard who’s walking slightly ahead of us.

He snorts. “Talk like a pig and I’ll find ways to make you squeal.”

“Promises, promises.”

It’s a tickle-threat if it’s anything, but the way he says it makes it sound sexual and damn if I don’t feel that energy starting to rise inside his tightly wound body.

If we weren’t being led around by an armed guard, I might have a shot at relaxing him properly.

My perfume is triggered by his arousal, and that fresh burst of my natural attractant only makes it worse.

The look he gives me is full of dark, kinky promises.

Too bad we’re not at home alone where we could act on them.

Not for the first time I wonder if this impromptu trip was a bad idea.

I didn’t think much about potential consequences before I decided it was happening.

Pete didn’t ask too many questions when I told him it was what we should do.

Now we’re here, and this place …

The energy is weird.

Not bad, exactly, which I would have expected.

It just feels kind of strange, which I guess makes sense.

There is a hospital inside, and a whole heap of Omegas.

Hospitals are creepy-weird enough at the best of times.

Put one inside a place where Omegas are being pimped out, and where a bunch of people were brutally murdered in the last few months, and you’ve got a Twilight Zone vibe pretty much built in.

The guard leads us off the road into a car park.

There are only a handful of cars in the lot, which would seem to suggest there aren’t a lot of staff in the building. It’s not like this place is easily accessible by public transport. I know that first hand, after taking two buses and a train to make it out here.

We walk past a gleaming white Lexus, and the guard opens one of the huge wooden double doors at the front of the building.

Pete spits on the ground and mutters under his breath before he follows the guard inside.

A spark of anger is lit inside me as I follow my mate into the grand building.

This is exactly the kind of place I narrowly avoided being sent to when I ran away from home at eighteen. I might joke around a bit, but the fact that these academies still exist boils my blood.

I knew what they were way back when my parents started to talk about them, to prepare me for what was to come.

I’d already heard them discussing what to do with me, on several separate occasions.

I’d never be offered a role in one of my father’s companies, like my elder brothers.

The single Omega in a line of Alphas, I was only worth something to them as a commodity.

One of my Alpha-hole brothers was good enough to let me know when he found out it was about to happen, and I made my hasty escape before it could.

Sometimes I wonder if Shayne might have been trying to be a good brother, but the look of disgust he wore at the thought of coming across me at one of the academy events seemed to indicate he’d prefer not to have his embarrassment of a brother show up when he was out chasing pussy.

“This way,” the guard says as he opens a second set of doors.

It’s a small, enclosed entranceway, and I can see it’s been renovated recently.

“This must be where the fire was started.”

When I look up, I see the guard watching me with suspicious eyes.

“Like I’m the only one to ever mention it,” I mutter, following Pete with him into the building.

I thought it looked huge from the outside, but the tiled hallway is cavernous.

Some people have way too much money, and it shows.

The hardwood reception desk seems small in comparison to its surroundings, but it’s more like something out of a hotel than an office.

The woman behind the desk stands up and gives us a warm smile.

“I can take it from here, Harry.”

The guard nods slowly and exits the same way we came in.

That’s when I realize the red head is dressed like she’s headed to the kind of party we’d have to wear a tuxedo to get into.

“You must be Ms. Cole’s visitors,” she greets us. “Follow me.”

I’m not sure who she’s talking about, but I’m guessing there’s a whole procedure we’re supposed to follow in order to be allowed to visit our mate.

It’s typical rich people bullshit.

Our lead Alpha is out here helping these people out of a jam, and they’re going to scrutinize us for having the gall to come out here asking for the chance to see him in the flesh.

The overdressed Omega moves a little faster than I would have expected, high heels clicking with every step on the tiled flooring. She leads us to the left.

Pete rolls his eyes and only follows her after I do.

She doesn’t take us too far.

The door she stops at is just off the main hallway in a corridor that’s a little darker and less impressive than the main reception area. The bench across from the door looks like something that belongs outdoors, and there’s nothing fancy about the white-painted walls.

The Omega taps the door with her hand before she opens it.

She gives us a smile as she steps inside. “Your visitors are here.”

“Let them in.”

I don’t know what it is about that voice that burns the anger right out of my body, but now I’m really curious about who we’ve been brought to see.

The redhead pushes the door open further and steps back. “Ms. Cole will see you now.”

“Fuck me,” Pete murmurs behind me, as his own venom is sidelined by heavy lust.

Every time I hear those two words, it’s right before something sexual happens.

He only ever breathes them when he’s full of desire.

My perfume spikes the moment I lock eyes on the woman inside the office.

Wavy dark hair that rests on her shoulders frames a strikingly beautiful face.

Soulful eyes, full lips, and a virgin throat ready and waiting for mating marks …

My gaze drifts down over her body, and the lust I’m drowning in only multiplies.

She has curves, and they’re real curves; her hips and breasts stretch out the fabric of her clothes and make her walk with a sexy sway. Watching her move toward us, my mouth starts to water at the thought of seeing her body naked.

It takes a few seconds and a cough from Pete to realize we’re supposed to be stepping into this office to meet this woman for the first time, not standing here waiting for her to devour us sexually as if she’s some sort of succubus luring in prey.

That’s when she stops at the side of a sofa, a mere few feet away from me, and gives me a bemused smile.

“I know you’re here to see Dr. Clarke. I can take you to his suite once I’ve signed you in as visitors.”

“Right. Sure,” I tell her, moving to the other couch that’s three steps away from the door.

There’s a small coffee table between the couches, and there’s a form and a guest book open on its surface. I’m too consumed by the way this woman is making me feel to really care that we’re being forced to jump through hoops to see our mate, so I sit down without saying another word.

She looks over at the door and I realize Pete hasn’t followed me inside.

He’s standing in the doorway, staring at Ms. Cole in the half-mad, half-lustful way he usually looks at me when I’ve just done something crazy.

She’s definitely affecting both of us.

“Come in and close the door,” I tell him quietly, in the soft tone I usually use to signal I’m in the mood for some intimate affection.

He moves fast on impulse, and I see that he’s fully aroused when he sits down next to me, his fat cock straining against the front of his jeans so tightly that it must be painful. He scoops the small sofa cushion from his side and covers the lump with it.

When I look back at our host, she’s standing in front of the other couch, cheeks flushing with color as she tears her gaze away from Pete’s crotch. It’s nice to see we’re also having some kind of effect on her while she’s having an incredibly strong effect on us.

“You’re not an Omega,” I find myself murmuring.

She sits down and looks back at me. “I’m a Beta. You might be thinking of Geraldine Sawyer. She was the Omega who used to run the academy.”

“I’m not thinking of anyone,” I tell her. “It’s just …”

“You’re bloody gorgeous,” Pete cuts in, being his usual filter-less self and coincidentally stopping me from making an error in judgement.

If this woman is a fated mate of ours, then Ezra already knows about her.

It wouldn’t be up to us to tell her what she means to us.

Our lead Alpha is the one who needs to make that move.

She doesn’t seem to know what to say to Pete’s compliment.

It was probably already obvious that he was interested, considering the situation he thinks he’s covering up with that cushion.

“What did you need us to sign, or whatever?” I ask.

“This is the guest book,” she tells us, picking up the pen and handing it to me. “First name, last name, date and time, and who you’re here to visit.”

I take the pen and nod. “Okay, sure.”

“The form is in case you intend to stay in your mate’s suite longer term. You can take it with you and pass it back to me filled out if you need to use it.”

I fill out the guest book for me, and then I offer Pete the pen.

He frowns at me, so I fill it out for him, too, using one of his aliases.

“So, when do you run background checks and tell us we’re kicked out?” I ask, as I put the pen down on the filled-out guest book page.

She smiles at me. “I skipped the background checks when I let you in. Dr. Clarke really helped me out of a tough spot by coming out here to work in the medical unit. He’s a good man. I trust his judgement.”

I can hear the warmth in her voice as she talks about him.

She might not be fully aware of what it means, but she feels a connection to him.

It’s harder to tell if she feels it with us, but I guess we just met.

“I’m Shadow,” I introduce myself, as I pick up the form and fold it up.

I can feel Pete watching me with a frown.

He isn’t into the idea of staying here.

I wouldn’t have been, either.

That was before.

“And this is Pete,” I go on, when he typically doesn’t chime in.

He growls lightly, grudgingly, at being introduced, as if he’s trying to remind me that despite how this woman feels to us, she’s still running the kind of establishment that neither of us want any part of.

“Nice to meet you both,” she says, as she brushes a hand over her skirt. “I’m Lana Cole, the latest head of admin here at Goldcrest.” She gets to her feet. “If you’re ready to go, I’ll take you to Dr. Clarke’s suite. He should be on a break soon so you should expect him shortly.”

“Do the heads of admin change a lot?” I ask, realizing she mentioned a predecessor already.

“Recently, there have been a lot of changes,” she admits, as we get up and follow her to the door of her office.

I’m careful to maintain a bit of distance between us, not sure it would be wise to let her fall under the spell of my perfume. I know how powerful it can be.

I wouldn’t want to do something that might be hasty.

We literally just met this woman, and despite our obvious attraction to her, she’s also in charge of a place that pimps Omegas out to the richest Alphas in the area.

I don’t know how it’s possible that Lana could be our mate.

Pete clearly doesn’t understand it, either.

We glance at each other as we follow her back out to the reception area.

He raises an eyebrow like he expects me to know why this is happening.

I shrug back at him.

He lets out a sigh.

We’ll see our lead Alpha and figure it out soon enough.