Chapter 5

Chapter

Five

ELLA

I couldn't help but look around at everything as we made our way to the pristine dining hall.

The academy I imagined was a luxury for those who had the money to provide an education beyond managing a household like we were back in the 19th century, but I never expected such a statement. It was better than the photos of some Ivy League schools I'd seen.

I could only imagine what the library looked like. The small thrill of even passing by a wide door made me a little excited. Though, of course, I shouldn't be.

I didn't want to be here.

Not only that, but so far all of the omegas we passed– and they were all omegas I somehow was still stunned to think at this school– looked at me like I didn't belong. They weren't wrong.

Maybe there was more to this game than I thought there was. Maybe I couldn't just keep my head down. Most importantly because of one blatantly obvious thing.

"Lidya. I haven't…" I whispered.

She glanced back at me as if nothing was wrong. "What?"

"I haven't ever been around omegas before," I admitted.

"What?" She paused with me, stopping just before the cafeteria. "That makes no sense. Never? I mean, I know that you went to some lengths to hide the fact that you weren't one– very impressive now that I know by the way."

I shrugged.

"You're kidding though. Then how did you even know that you were an omega or what to do?"

That was kind of the problem, wasn't it? I didn't.

"Your mom?"

I shook my head.

"Aunts? Uncles? Anyone?"

The only omegas I've been around before were her and the Davinson omegas which after I was inducted into the household, they were told to ignore me most of the time until I learned my place.

I never did.

But I did learn a few things back then, and for the first time, I searched my mind where I stuck those memories far away, trying to remember every piece of information I could and coming up emptier than expected. Because whenever I saw the Davinson's or Ben's eyes…

I shivered.

Lidya's eyes widened as she processed my revelation. "You were completely isolated from other omegas your whole life?"

I nodded, feeling a mix of shame and defiance bubbling inside me. It wasn't something I liked to dwell on, but being here at the academy made me realize how unprepared I was for this world of hierarchy and rules.

"Well, that explains a lot," Lidya muttered under her breath, her brows furrowed.

As we entered the bustling cafeteria, the chattering voices quieted, and all eyes turned to us. I could feel the weight of their gazes, assessing, judging. I straightened my back, determined not to let their scrutiny shake me.

Lidya led me to a table where a few other omegas were already seated. They eyed me warily as I took a seat next to Lidya.

"Everyone, this is Ella," Lidya announced, her voice loud and clear. "She's new."

"New?" Someone snorted.

Lidya whacked them with the back of her hand before looking at me. "We'll be right back."

Only, when we got to the front of the cafeteria where the food was, wasn't much better.

I hesitated, looking around.

"Just scan your finger and they'll give you your meal."

I stared at her. "You don't get to choose what you eat?"

"They're making ideal omegas, Ella. That means for prime health and aesthetics. They once had an ice cream sundae bar and to say that there was a riot would be an understatement though. Basically, Christmas."

"Wow."

"You surprised?"

Sadly no.

"Missing being out in the real world to eat a burger and fries," I said instead.

Lidya laughed as we collected our meals and walked back out into the sitting area. Both of our meals looked similar, though I noticed that I had an extra grain and veggies on my plate compared to her.

Glancing around the room for a spot to sit down, the loud chattering seemed to turn much more specific.

"Is that even an omega?"

"She looks skinny. Nothing to hold onto."

"Probably won't make it through her heat let alone an alpha rut." A rumble of laughter spread through the group.

"She's so old." Another whispered, though honestly, it wasn't soft enough to be a whisper.

"I know. Are they going to put her up on the courting market like that? Who's going to want some saggy omega?"

"Maybe they plan to make her the new HeadMistress and finally replace Olverti before she kicks," a male omega added into the conversation.

An uproar of laughter came from the table.

Wow, I got about a dozen insults in less than five minutes. I was pretty sure that had to be a record.

"Don't listen to them, they just get overly jealous when a new omega comes in at courting age. They have the disillusion that any pack that would want you would stoop to that level for them," Lidya advised. I don't know why, but I hadn't thought she had such a fire in her.

I thought it was all the hair.

"Lidya." I nudged her as she kept close before we found two seats near the back. Sitting down, she started to undo her silverware and get settled.

She smiled up at me all light and sweet once more. Her general setting. "Yeah?"

"How old is everyone here?"

"Hm," she thought for a moment. "The youngest right now is fourteen. The oldest is twenty-three, or no, four, I think."

So I wasn't even the oldest. I wondered where the omega was who was twenty-four. I didn't blame her so far if she had found somewhere else to hide during dinner.

I felt eyes on me as I ate. Students glanced back over their shoulders towards me. Even what looked like older betas who watched around the perimeter of the dining hall didn't care to mask their looks of interest and confusion at me.

Even though I was hungry, it was hard to get anything down when I felt every move I made being calculated. After a decent amount of time, Lidya glanced at me with a sympathetic smile.

"Ready to head out?"

I nodded.

"It'll be better once you're used to everything," said Lidya after we threw out our trash and headed back towards the entrance we came in. I'd have to take her word for it because right now, I had a feeling it was better to live in a fishbowl than wherever I was right now.

We nearly made it back out without any problem, until we stepped back out into the hall leading out of the main building.

"Just going to walk out with introducing us to your new friend, Lidy?" A voice called out.

The small group I noticed at the table before caught up with us far too fast.

Did they run to reach us in time? I almost wanted to snort a laugh.

I did.

Lidya's eyes widened as I did nothing to hide it before looking back at the four omegas standing in front of us.

One smeared. "Is she laughing at us?"

"Probably can smell desperation from here," said Lidya. "We are heading back to our dorm to be around polite omega company we cannot find here. Have a nice night."

We tried to turn around as if we didn't have a care in the world. But really, who thought that was going to work?

"Don't run too fast with the elderly omega!"

"Ignore them," murmured Lidya.

I was trying.

But damn , they were annoying.

And I was back to swearing again. Which made me think of Cal again. Would I ever see Cal? Would I ever hear his terrible sense of humor and language that boarded the crude ever again?

I bit the inside of my lip.

"Aw, I think we made the new girl cry."

"Give it up, Sophie," Lidya said with a roll of her eyes. "We're tired and I thought by now you would be done with all this intimidation crap."

"You find me intimidating?" The blond omega, Sophie, asked with a smirk. "I heard they pulled you out of a gutter somewhere and now you are here for some reason."

"You don't have to answer that," suggested Lidya.

I wasn't going to.

"I also heard that you were taken by a pack and they used you until services found you. Is that true? Probably some gross, dirty, lowly alphas rutting you like some kind of streetwalker."

These girls were ridiculous. And I thought some of the college students were bad when they were drunk. This felt like something out of one of the romance novels I read. Far too dramatic and unrealistic, until now.

Unless… this place must've been so boring.

I knew all this, but I couldn't stop myself. "My pack is one of the best set of males you'd ever meet."

There was a pause at my omission. It didn't last long.

They all shrieked with laughter. "Another trash omega then used up and thrown to the side, then. You almost knew how that was, didn't you Lidy?"

Lidya's pale face took on a bright pink color as she clenched her jaw. "Don't you dare talk about me or my pack like that."

"Right. We'll just leave you alone in the garbage now until you can tell everyone you act all purebred as an academy and college graduate like some beta."

Taking a deep breath, I watched as Lidya's shoulders fell away from her ears, her body relaxing. "You can think what you want Sophie. All I know is that I had two very handsome alphas servicing my heat and now my every whim and you are still along after two courting seasons. Those alphas must've smelled something bad when they looked at you."

Now it was Sophie's turn for her face clench.

"You're such a–"

"A what? A mated omega, Soph?" Lidya asked. She threaded an arm through mine, keeping me close. "Stay away from me and my friend who has more class than you ever will even after all those etiquette lessons. Shame."

"Like I'd want to be anywhere near you. Your trash smell might be catching."

"I think that was just my insult. But feel free to use it." Lidya offered as she tugged me along. "Let's go."

"That…" I took a deep breath. "Could that have gone worse?"

I knew the answer, and yet it made me feel better when Lidya attempted to disagree with me.

"Well, yes. I mean, there was this one girl who completely went crazy and started throwing things when she started here a few years ago. No one let her live it down until she was matched and left. Even still there is the occasional mean omega mess going on that the administrators say is ‘just part of our designation.'" Lidya rolled her eyes. "Like being a complete bitch is just an omega quality."

I chuckled. I never thought so until this evening. "Don't worry about it."

"But what about your friends?"

She rolled her warm hazel eyes that flashed like jewels in the low light. It was nice that the lights had a set time to gently dim to the right amount. They didn't give me a headache. "So be it. They'll get over it too. They're already upset considering that I am still going to school even though I matched with my pack for the rest of the year. Under the contract, we have to make everything good– and a pack, even a pack of me and only two alphas– That scandalizes them all too."

"You're kidding."

"Nope. God, it's like they think that I'm out here getting voluntarily gang-banged, which I mean…" her head swayed back and forth as if considering the validity of that statement.

I immediately started to envision myself between Cal and Liam. Liam would be whispering dirty words in my ear as Cal kissed me from underneath my chin down to my breasts Liam held for him, gently squeezing and playing with me like I was their favorite toy.

"Control the perfume, girl."

My face flushed as I was yanked out of my thoughts. "Sorry."

She shook her head with a shrug. "Just teasing. You can think all the dirty thoughts about your pack you want. Makes me feel better about whatever is going on here."

"What?" I asked.

"Just that I know after everything you said now that you love them. Makes me feel like even more of a hero to make sure that we get you back to them and out of here. If that's what you want, anyway."

"Oh, I don't…"

Did I love them? Love them, love them?

The idea sounded crazy. I was living with them, but I still barely even knew them. It wasn't logical for me to love them. But…

Lidya didn't look convinced either.

"Sure," she smirked. "Tomorrow will be better. Just follow my lead and we'll both get out of here sooner rather than later. I'm sure Rylan and Mark will be able to sort everything out. YOu don't need to worry about anything."

I nodded. "Okay."

"I mean it."

I could tell she did. Or she hoped at the very least she could do all she promised. It was just as good in the end.

"I'm just glad that you ended up here and I found you," she said softly. Talk about fate right?"

Fate. That reminded me of Cal. That hole in my chest felt like it was opening up again. Tears pricked at the corner of my eyes before I could swallow them down. I was only glad that it was dark and no one could see me right now as I was about a second away from falling apart if I let myself.

And I wouldn't let myself. I already made it this far.

"Goodnight, Ella. Sweet dreams."

I blinked. "Night, Lidya."

Everything was awful. That was certain.

But, for the first time in a very long time, I was grateful I wasn't alone.