14. Barret

Chapter 14

Barret

T he door whines open, and I make my way down the squeaky stairs until I reach the room at the other end.

Lachlan is singing a song about snowdrops, and it's kind of catchy. Too bad the lyrics make absolutely no sense.

Seriously, what the fuck was he thinking, going for Jeremy?

Lachlan may be pack, but that doesn't give him an excuse to kill my cousin.

What was I supposed to tell my aunt if he'd gotten away with it too?

Worse, Jeremy has his own pack, and we would have had to deal with their retaliation.

We need Jeremy on our side. He is the only one who can get us information about Mila.

Lachlan hangs limply from his chains, his blond hair greasy and lifeless as he sings that stupid song. How did I get stuck with babysitting this Alpha?

I stop several feet away, trying to keep a safe distance. I'm carrying a bowl of pasta and hot dog chunks, the same meal that we cook for Oliver when he's sad.

We really are the world's shittiest cooks.

"Hey, Lachlan… how you holding up?"

The Alpha stops singing at the sound of my voice. Then his head jerks up, and I meet those luminous blue eyes.

My heart caves in, and I take another step back.

His pupils are huge and fuck this.

It's not safe.

"Barret… to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Ah, shit. Which of his personalities has taken the reins now?

I grab the bottled water, holding it up to the light, yet his blown eyes remain on me.

I don't think he can even see me.

"Brought you some grub. You must be starving."

He's been locked in the basement for nearly twenty-four hours, and not one of us has gone down to see if he's okay.

Who in their right mind would want to visit this Alpha? His eyes suck me in like black holes.

I shiver runs down my spine.

Before I met Lachlan, I always considered myself pretty disturbed.

But I know better now.

No one can hold a candle to Lachlan's crazy.

I unscrew the bottle cap, holding it out for him. "Now, are you going to be a good Alpha and let me feed you?"

Those unblinking eyes don't leave me for a moment, and finally, I sigh, approaching him at last. I coax his mouth open, and now he guzzles back the water.

When he's had his fill, I grab the steaming bowl of pasta and hotdog chunks, pressing the spoon to his mouth.

"You're meant to make airplane sounds…"

I sigh through gritted teeth. "For fuck's sake, Lachlan. You're twenty-seven years old. You're a month older than me! No."

He shuts his eyes, and his arms start to shake, rattling his chains, and for a moment, I think he's crying.

But it turns out he's laughing.

Did one of the voices inside his head say something funny again?

Lord, he would be a psychotherapist's wet dream…

With an impatient growl, I grip his jaw and force-feed him the pasta and hot dog chunks now, and it's fine. I'm good.

His arms are shackled.

Sometimes, I think he likes being chained to the wall, like some creepy-as-sin masochist.

I barely give him a chance to breathe, shoving the pasta down his throat, and I just hope he remembers to breathe through his nose.

My phone buzzes in my pocket and for the love of all that is rotten in this world…

I'm busy.

I let go of Lachlan's jaw, answering the phone. Then I step away.

It's Jeremy, and I don't want his voice to trigger Lachlan again.

"Barret speaking."

"Barret… something has happened…"

My heart hiccups, and I start ascending the stairs. Lachlan yanks on his chains, calling out my name when I shut the door behind him.

"What is it?"

My cousin sighs, creating static through the phone. "It's Gryphon and Oliver… it appears they have gotten into a little trouble at the Omega Academy. Gryphon broke onto campus and started throwing his weight around."

A growl rips from my throat, and I'm already halfway out the door.

It looks like I'm hoofing it to the Academy because Gryphon took the fucking Jeep.

Asshole.

So, that's where they went off to, hey? They have gone to find Mila, and they are going to mess everything up.

We need to keep our distance.

"I'll explain when I get there. I'll come and pick you up."

Good.

The sooner I get there, the better.

What the hell is wrong with those two?

Do I always have to be the sensible one here?

***

Jeremy leads me into a back entrance when we arrive.

Apparently, Alphas aren't allowed on campus. It would cause too much of a stir for the trainee Omegas.

But there's only one Omega I care about at this school.

We'll get her back. We just need to play our cards right first.

Then we can all be happy again.

We arrive at the headmistress's office, and there I find Gryphon with his hands handcuffed to a pipe, Oliver looking sorry as he talks with an older Omega at a desk.

The headmistress.

"Seriously, Oliver… I am so disappointed in you…" She sighs, shaking her head.

Poor Ollie bows his head in shame, looking so defeated, and what the hell happened?

I tug on the pack bond for an answer, and the Omega sends me a heartbreaking image.

A pair of green eyes, eyes so full of hurt and sadness, and then she gets up, running away.

Mila…

She doesn't want us back.

"Sorry, Headmistress Charlotte…" Oliver whispers, trying his best to hide the heartbreak in his voice, and I'm too numb to move.

No. It can't end this way…

I never got to apologize for leaving her that day. I should have stayed with her when I dropped her off at her father's, but I left.

I fucking left, and I will regret that day for as long as I live.

The woman continues to shake her head, and we get it, lady. We're a disgrace for breaking that sweet girl's heart…

She folds her arms, glancing up at the door. Her disappointment morphs into pleasant surprise when she spies Jeremy, and at least she's happy to see one of us in this room.

"Jeremy…so good to see you again…"

My cousin smiles at the Omega, inclining his head. "Good to see you again too, Charlotte."

The woman smiles and glances at me next. "I suppose you're here to talk some sense into your pack mates? Gryphon, apparently, saw fit to apprehend one of our security guards…"

I look at the Alpha. Not a scratch to be seen on him, and I feel sorry for the poor security guard.

I'm about to ask why he attacked this random guard when the headmistress answers for me. "The guard in question was apprehending one of our Omegas. She had attacked another Omega, and had to be stopped."

I don't need to ask who the Omega is, and my heart pounds.

Mila. Is she hurt? What did they do to her?

I try not to let the emotion show on my face in fear of the headmistress discovering who Mila truly is.

Let's hope she hasn't already made the connection.

Silence. Apart from the insufferable clock on the headmistress's wall.

With a sigh, she asks a Beta guard to release Gryphon, and now the Alpha rubs his wrists once he's free.

Again, Oliver is guilty as he grovels before his former headmistress. "I'm so sorry… it won't happen again…"

"No, it won't," she replies, her voice stern. "Because you and your pack are now banned from ever entering school property again."

Oliver flinches, and I heave a gritty sigh, reaching up to pinch the bridge of my nose.

I hope they're happy. Now any chance we have of making it up to Mila has just gone up in flames.

I guess I truly am the sensible one in our pack.

Getting her back is going to be harder than we hoped.

It's like fate will always be against us, and we deserve every moment of our shame.

Nothing will ever be as it was again.