Chapter 4

Chapter

Four

ELLA

I wish I could say that the first thing I thought wasn't oh shit , or damn, Omega Wolf is way cooler to be called than Omega Ella or even Omega Prestford .

But, it wasn't.

Both of us remained silent.

Omega Olverti cleared her throat.

"All right then," she said. "I will leave you two girls to it. Dinner begins at six sharp. Please be aware and feel free to ask Omega Wolf any other questions you have. She has been a fine student here at the academy for quite some time until late."

Jessica looked at me one more time. Taking a step forward into the dorm, her eyes scanned around the room as if she were assessing the situation one more time. Once satisfied, she reached out to put a hand on my shoulder.

Then, she stopped.

Out of all the omegas, I was probably the least like any she had met before. But it seemed that she was okay with that. She respected that boundary.

Jessica cleared her throat. "I will be checking in," she said. "You have my card?"

I blinked before I nodded. It was somewhere in the duffle bag that I was packed with essentials. A card with some woman's detailed contact information. It sounded so mundane in this mess I was in now. It also felt extremely unhelpful.

Because no matter what anyone thought here. No one was helping me. Now that I was an omega, that is all they saw me as. And omegas were seen as no more trustworthy of their thoughts and feelings than a child.

I bit the inside of my cheek.

"Good. Make sure that if you need anything you reach out to us." With a nod, as if unsure if she was forgetting anything both of the older women left the room. The door shut with a click.

The moment the door shut, Lidya flew towards me, reaching for my hands the way she did in her alpha's office that day in the library.

I let her take them just the same.

Her warm, concern-filled eyes were wide with shock as she whispered, harshly. "What are you doing here?"

I shook my head enough that she pulled back further. "I'm not supposed to be here."

"Well no shit," she said, a hint of laughter in her voice, though her eyes were still wide, not fully understanding.

I swallowed.

"Tell me everything."

Could I tell her everything? At this point, everything I did and said was being used against me, but at this point, I felt like I was about to crumble under the horror and pressure of everything falling apart around me and nothing staying the same which sent my heart into a race where it wasn't competing against anything but itself. It hurt.

And now that I was left alone in a room with only Lidya standing in front of me as a piece of the big life I left behind and the smaller one that still felt like a precious dream, it hurt even worse. It was as if I was being split in two.

So I told her.

I told her everything. I told her that in the past twenty-four hours, I had been put through hell. By the end of it all, I almost didn't have any air left in my lungs from how I had been heaving the heavy words out. I swallowed, having to take my tears with heavy movement.

"What about the Prestfords? I thought they were yours. I thought you were going to be bonded and everything to them. Omega Services can't just tear an omega away from her back," she snapped, aghast. "Omegas go crazy beyond repair for much less, especially considering."

"Considering what?"

"I don't want to say this if you didn't know, Ella but…"

"But what?"

"You look like you may be going into heat soon," Lidya said. Her voice now took a more soft and soothing tone.

I shook my head again. "I know. But I'm not going to."

"Oh."

"Not without them."

"Oh," she said with more understanding. As if we both knew that I wouldn't be able to starve my heat off when it finally came to ruin my entire life all over again and there would be no chance I couldn't be just a pretend beta anymore.

It was truly the last straw of any of my pretend life left far behind oddly.

Because betas didn't' have heats.

"They wouldn't listen to me," I said.

"This is insane."

"They wouldn't…" And they were going to take me right back to where I was before all of this. I thought that my life had been ruined when I met Cal and finally came to terms that I was an omega.

Wasn't that the biggest joke I'd ever heard now?

"They aren't going to let me out to see them but I need to get out of here," I said. "They are going to probably sell me off or–"

"Sell you? Okay, I will calm you down here. The Omega Services people are pains in the ass. As if the academy has strict rules, but they don't sell you off. Force you to find an alpha perhaps, but they aren't going to sell you off."

"They will if…"

"If what, Ella?" Lidya asked.

I didn't answer.

"There is more to this story still isn't there."

I nodded. "I… I had an alpha once. Sort of."

"You're bonded?"

"Well, no."

"Then you don't have an alpha."

"But what if they think I'm their omega? What if they thought that for a long, long time?"

Lidya stared at me, trying to piece this all together. "Is that how they found you with the Prestfords after so long of you at the university? You were hiding all that time, weren't you? Oh, Ella."

I took a deep breath.

"We'll figure it out."

"No," I already was glancing towards the window. "I need to leave now. Tonight."

Lidya's face started to drop even further than it already had. "That isn't possible. Seriously, I wish it was but…"

"Yes, it is. You'll help me get out of here and then it's basically a straight shot to the gate." I only needed to figure out where I was then to get back to the city…

But then what?

What in the hell was I supposed to do now? With myself? With my life?

Would all of this ever end even if I ran?

"You forgot about the guards. And what they'll do if they find you ran."

"What would they do?"

"Well they'd definitely bring you back," she said. "You know, for your safety and all so they say."

"Is this a prison or something?"

"Kind of." Lidya's lip quirked. "Like I said. The academy isn't good or bad, but… They don't think that omegas have a whole lot going on upstairs if you know what I mean, beyond basic instincts. At least not at this academy which is very… traditional. At least, from what I hear."

"Traditional," I repeated the word. Like omega housewives. Like what Benjamin Davinson always wanted from me. This just got better and better, didn't it?

I put a hand to my clammy forehead."

"How about this, when I'm able to contact my alphas I'll make sure they reach out to your pack. Okay? I promise."

"Why are you still here?" I asked her. Was I going crazy now as well as omega-insane? Nothing in my head was making sense. "I thought… You have a pack."

"I do." She agreed. "Of course I do."

"Then what is going on?"

"Well, I still had one year left here… technically?"

I didn't realize that the Omega Academy was like a college. I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you could also say I'm being punished," Lidya admitted.

"Is that what all that, fine student until late , was about?" I asked, recounting the headmistress' words.

"Let's just say my courting of alphas didn't quite go to plan." Lidya sighed, leaning back on her bed piled with pillows. "But all well that ends well, right?"

I wasn't so sure that was going to be the case for me.

"It's going to be ok."

I shook my head.

"It will, but for right now…" Lidya paused. "People are watching everywhere here. I get calls to my alphas and we will sort this out and make sure that you get home, but right now. You need to learn how to play the game."

"The game?" I said though I was already starting to catch on.

"Yes. This place is filled with omegas all working towards getting out of here. Smile and pretend and hopefully we can sort this out sooner rather than later before…"

"Before what?"

She paused.

"What, Lidya?"

"Courting season is coming up. I doubt they would put you out considering you just got here and have no clue about the etiquette, but with your age…"

Right.

"I can play the game," I said. I had been playing it my entire life, after all, hadn't I? Just now I had to pretend some more. Keep my head down. Out of sight. Out of mind.

And then get out of here. If I still could.

If Prestford pack even wanted me whether or not they knew where to look.

Lidya studied me. "We'll figure it out."

Right.

"Come on, we have dinner to get to and we can't be late. Especially not with the headmistress' eye on you with me already. You might want to change first though," said Lidya.

I looked down at myself. I understood what I had on wasn't fashionable, but I was pretty sure that for now, it was all I had.

Lidya immediately saw my dilemma. "You can borrow something of mine. I don't want you to start here on the wrong foot. These omegas here are about as well mannered as piranhas, especially when it's going to come to you."

I wasn't sure if I was ready to fully comprehend what she meant.