Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

RONAN

I wonder how long it will take for someone to realize I'm missing. We were just a few short months from the guys and Freya graduating, so we have at least until then before someone questions why I haven't reached out.

I wasn't allowed my cell phone or contact with the outside world, which should have probably freaked me out more when I took the position. But I basically fucking told all my friends I would be silent until Lucas graduated this spring. They understood but made it very clear that we all needed to catch up and get drinks when I was done teaching.

I now wonder if the school ever would have let me go. Surely, the headmaster would have made me sign an NDA, at the very least, before letting me leave. Maybe I would have been threatened, or maybe they would have just fucking offed me as soon as my contract was up.

It makes me wonder about the other professors. They all seemed as brainwashed as the fucking kids. Hell, most of them were as volatile toward the omegas as the students. I suppose they have to be to teach the betas and alphas to act that way too.

Disappointment festers in my gut and guilt roars in my head as I think about all the things I should have questioned before trapping myself. I should have shown someone else the contract that made my gut twist. Then maybe I wouldn't have taken the job if I had someone else's opinion.

Hell, my best fucking friend and his entire family work for OPS–Omega Protection Services. Remy would have taken one look at the details and forbade me from going, then he would have helped me get my brother out of there. His family would have ripped this place apart, too.

Hindsight's a bitch. So is fate. The fact that our mate was with my three pack brothers for almost four damn years and they never knew baffles me. I can't blame them. I didn't recognize her as my scent match until the other night.

Speaking of, I wonder how long it will take me to lose track of time down here. That brings up another thought. "How long have you guys been here?"

The blonde guy, Beckett, on the other side of Elliott, looks at me through multiple sets of bars with blank eyes. "No idea, man."

"Did you go to the academy?" I ask, wanting to gain as much information as possible. Anything might help us get out of here.

Beckett snorts, but it isn't born of humor. "Sure. For all of two minutes."

"Oh my god," Casey breathes, gaining everyone's attention. "I knew you two looked familiar."

Beckett cocks a brow, a spark of curiosity flaring across his features. The sun is beginning to set on our first day here, and I swear neither man has moved. Their scents are muted, just like their emotions seem to be, and I can't help but wonder what they've endured down here.

"The walk ceremony," Casey begins, watching the two strangers with pity. "Your omega?—"

Booming growls cut our beta off as Beckett and Nick throw themselves against their bars.

"You don't speak of her!"

"MINE!"

I curse, finally grateful for the cages separating us. Had they gone after Casey, it would have been a bloodbath. Elliott's about to snap at them, but he controls himself to my surprise. The young alpha has really stepped up today, seeming the most calm out of the four of us.

Casey's eyes widen as he takes them in, and their angry pheromones flood the room. Both men are alphas, I realize, as their dominance and rage presses down on us. Nick calms first, leaving us suffocating in Beckett's burnt hot fudge malt scent. Something about his scent feels familiar, but the thought is quickly wiped away by the sight of the crescent-shaped mating mark on his neck.

"They've kept you here all this time?" Casey asks, his eyes shining with fear and tears.

"Yes," Nick responds dejectedly.

Casey gasps and Lucas chokes. My brother tries his best to close his gaping mouth, and instead of keeping his thoughts to himself for once, he mutters, "But it's been three and a half years."

Beckett's shoulders immediately slump as he crashes to his knees. "Has it really been that long?"

Fuck, I'm missing something . Lucas must read the confusion on my face because he turns to me and explains.

"Freshman betas and alphas have a walk in ceremony through the gates while the teachers and omegas line the path to the auditorium where everyone else waits. Their omega," light growls sounds this time, but my brother continues, "bolted from her place in line, screaming for her mates. Nick and Beckett were the ones she was trying to reach, but before they could meet beyond just their scent, the enforcers hauled them away. Nobody ever spoke of them again."

"What the fu?—"

BANG!

The door being thrown open is soon accompanied by a man in a suit strutting into the basement, flanked by a group of enforcers. "Wonderful, all my pets are awake!"

The smirk on the man's face is malicious as he looks us over. A dusting of grey hairs at his temple tells me he's older, but his fit body warns me he probably shouldn't be underestimated. I watch him warily while he walks from cell to cell, a growl choking me until he's in front of me.

"Perfect." He claps and turns around. "Bring the pack alpha. We'll start big this time," he says with a hint of something cruel while winking at Beckett.

I'm so focused on the older man that I don't notice the rough hands on my biceps until the enforcers are dragging me out of the cell. Shouts surround me on all sides as I fight their harsh manhandling.

The man in the suit comes closer, and it's then I realize he's a fucking beta. After all the shit they spew about alpha's being superior, why the hell is a beta in charge here?

The beta tsks and shakes his head like I'm a petulant fucking child. "Calm yourself. Don't you want to see your omega?"

All fight leaves me. I don't hear anything but the pounding of the blood in my veins as I numbly allow myself to be pulled away from my pack brothers.

This is what we wanted, to be brought to Freya. But as I come closer to seeing her, my body tries to shut down. Fear for what I might find when I finally reach her steals the air from my lungs.

I'm coming, Freya, but you better fucking be okay.