15. Mila

Chapter 15

Mila

T he school has put me on house arrest, and now I am not allowed to leave my room.

All my meals are delivered to me, and I watch my classes live on TV.

A security guard stands outside my room at all times, even when I poop, and now I have lost my freedom.

It's my punishment for attacking Bridget, and it's going to go on my record now.

An Omega with a record. Now I will be chosen for fewer events, fewer auctions, and boo hoo, I'm about to cry a river.

I didn't plan on attacking Bridget, but I had just finished talking to Felicia, and I lost my shit.

I thought I finally had an out. I'm too old for this place, the government simply won't pay for my funding, yet they tell me that it's okay. I can just be fast-tracked quicker.

Auctioned off like a piece of meat so that my prospective pack can happily pay for my training, and fuck that.

I am no one's housewife. No one's broodmare, and no matter what, I will get out.

They can't keep me here forever.

I'm not proud of what I did, but hitting Bridget bought me time at least.

Now that I have a record, I won't be fast-tracked so quickly.

Not as many eligible packs will want me now, and that gives me time to plan my great escape.

The Academy can't expect to keep me prisoner forever. What if no pack ever wants me? Then what?

Will they have me working in the kitchens?

There's just one thing I don't understand… Why had Oliver and Gryphon been there at the scene of my crime?

What were they doing at the Academy?

Were they here to see me?

My heart flutters at the prospect, but I push the sensation away, turning the tap on my faucet.

Even if I wanted to go back to the Hart Pack, I couldn't.

Life just isn't that simple.

Oliver is my scent match, but we can never be together…

He already had three Alphas.

What does he need with little old me? I can never satisfy him the way they can, and vice versa.

I am an Omega, and I need an Alpha's knot in order to live.

I got lucky the last time I went into heat.

The next one could simply kill me.

A thin rap at my door, and I look up from the sink, water dripping down my face.

It's most likely Felicia again to give me another pep talk. She is sorely disappointed in me, and I am in no mood to deal with her fake concern right now.

She is not my friend. She is just some bureaucrat who is getting paid by the government to fast-track me into the system.

Drying my face with a towel, I head for the door, not even bothering to put on a smile or a show for this woman.

Simply put, I don't want to be here.

Yet instead of Felicia's faux smile, I am met with a pair of jewel black eyes that still haunt me to this day, and before I have the chance to shut the door on her face, she slides her manicured hand through the gap, barging her way into my room.

My head whips around, desperately searching for an escape, but I'm trapped. They put bars on my window after what I did to Bridget, and I really have become a criminal.

How did she even find me here?

My heart pounds, and all the blood drains from my body.

Had she known all along?

My security guard has vanished outside, replaced by armed soldiers, and how did she even get inside the school?

Alphas are banned from campus.

"Why, hello, Daisy … we meet again…"

Lily is just as cruel and convincing as last time.

"How did you know where to find me…?" I say, my voice hollow.

Lily arches a brow, folding her arms across her chest. "I'm the head of state now, dear… nothing ever gets past me..."

Looks like she has people working for her here at this school, and I was a fool to think I could go on undetected.

Silence trickles between us, and I have no idea what to say to this woman.

My head is still spinning.

"Are you here to finish the job, Governor?"

Lily laughs, taking a seat on my bed without invitation. "No. If I had realized you were an Omega, I never would have banished you in the woods."

Oh, that's nice of her.

I get it. All Omegas are precious and need to be protected. As an Alpha, even Lily can't resist my allure.

"I'm impressed that you managed to hide who you were all this time, Mila. Even I was none the wiser. Did Frederick ever know? Don't answer that. It's obvious what the answer will be... That man didn't know his right knee from his left elbow…"

I scoff. "Then how come you never realized?"

Lily stills, and I immediately regret my comeback.

But then she waves her hand in dismissal, yet I still make sure to stay as far away from her as humanly possible.

If I could melt into the plaster, I would.

Any way to get away from this woman.

"Why are you here? If you're not going to kill me..."

Lily rises, stepping toward me, and the difference in our height is alarming. Her silly pink hat almost touches my chandelier.

"I have a proposition for you, Mila…"

I don't look away from her cruel black eyes, despite everything I was taught as a Beta and then as an Omega.

Never look an Alpha directly in the eyes.

"What proposition?" I ask, puffing out my chest.

Lily merely rolls her eyes. It's obvious she is not interested in me, but she could still use her bark on me if she so desired.

"You want to get out of this place, right?"

I set my jaw in place. "And what if I do?"

One side of her plump mouth quirks. "I could make it happen… I could set you free in a heartbeat. Set you up for life, dear… You wouldn't even need a pack or an Alpha to get by. Pure freedom."

Pure freedom, my ass.

If I accepted her offer, I would become her creature for life. Just like how I was Frederick's creature.

Lily would own me.

"You just have to do one thing for me first…" she drawls.

I grind my teeth. "What would I have to do?"

Her smirk returns. "You would join the Hart Pack again under my orders this time…"

It takes me a moment for the words to register, and when they do, I bark a laugh. "You've got to be kidding me? The same pack you chased me away from?"

Lily gives a mock sigh. "We discussed this… That was before I realized you were an Omega… and that you may be of actual use to me…"

I shake my head, trying to move around her, but her arm shoots out, and now she has me cornered.

Shit.

My heart thumps like a little rabbit.

"The choice is yours, Mila. Continue to rot in this place or seize your freedom. You will never get out without my help…"

I scowl up at her beautiful, harsh face, and she really has backed me into a corner here.

She's right. I will never get out of here, and the more Omegas I beat to a pulp, then the worse it will get.

They most likely will have me working in the kitchens one day.

Either way, I am trapped. If I go into the system and meet a pack, I will become nothing but a prisoner.

I refuse to join another pack.

This may be my only chance to get away.

"I saw the state of that girl, by the way… Very commendable. That's how you deal with your enemies, Mila. As I told you once, you and I are quite alike…"

She's talking about Bridget. What I did to her was terrible, and I will never forgive myself.

I knocked her teeth out, and I heard that the school had to pay an extortionate amount in the end just to cover the cost of her dental fees.

Worse, my future pack will have to pay back the cost once I'm auctioned off, which again makes me even more undesirable.

Who wants an Omega with baggage?

"Don't worry about a thing. I can make it all go away, clearing up your record. It will be like it never happened…" Lily promises, her voice like venomous candy.

And she most likely could make it go away. She's the freaking head of state. She can do whatever she wants now.

"So, what do you say? You join the Hart Pack for a short while, and then I will grant you your freedom. You will live life by your own means… the first and only packless Omega to ever exist…"

A packless Omega.

Can such a thing be possible?

I have a lot to think about, but one thing does concern me.

Why does she want me to join the pack again? Especially as I already know her plans for Oliver.

"Why the Hart Pack? Why now?"

Lily exhales, stepping away. "I'm afraid that Gryphon may betray me… steal my place as Governor… I saw it the other day when he came to my office… the challenge in his eyes… It was enough to rival my own strength…"

I raise a brow. "And it has nothing to do with Oliver?"

She snorts. "Who said it ever was? I have only ever had his and the pack's best interests at heart. But now I fear that they may betray me…"

Yeah, right.

"Look, Mila… I understand the hesitation, but that pack never cared about you. They abandoned you in your time of need. Where were they when I came for you?"

Is she serious? Her words are pretty, but she's only making herself the bag guy here.

She was the one who hurt me. Not them.

But why weren't they there for you? Why didn't they turn up to your father's funeral?

No pack would abandon one of their own.

I'm stuck. I just don't know who to trust.

But there is one thing I do know…

I want to get the hell out of this place.

Lily holds out her hand. "What do you say, Mila? A truce?"

I grip my head, trying to remember all the positive times I spent with the pack. There were many, but now, all those good memories are clouded with doubt.

All I can remember is standing alone in the rain, gazing down at my father's headstone.

Grief can do that. Wash away all the good times…

Oliver may have cared about me. He even took a bullet for me, but he will never be mine.

That I have to accept.

But can I really bring myself to double-cross them? If they are planning something against Lily, then I would have no choice but to expose them.

After this, I will become her creature.

No going back.

Lily will own me forever.

Despite my better judgment, I reach my hand out. Lily grips my wrist, dragging me closer, then wipes her scent on my cheek.

She's marking me, and I have never felt so sick to my stomach.

From this moment on, I am at her every beck and call, and already, her scent is seeping into my veins, making me loyal to her, and no wonder Gryphon was so afraid.

The woman doesn't even need to bite me to make me hers.

Her scent of dead roses is strong enough.

"You made the right choice, Mila."

Have I?

It doesn't feel like it.

But only time will tell.