“Then help,” I challenge with a casual shrug as if none of this matters to me one way or the other.
A smile snakes across her ivory face. “Well, first we need to leave the bathroom.”
I huff and stomp toward the door, flinging it open and marching out into the hall. I haven’t yet washed away my ruined makeup, so instead I decide to wear it as a mark of pride.You break me, and I’ll keep going. I’m the feminine fucking mystique. I have powers they’ll never understand.
Of course, the halls are mostly empty, but I do get a couple of stray students to avert their eyes from my probing gaze, which I consider a win. No one will win a challenge against me now.
Warden Black pulls a couple paces ahead of me, leading the way to a large office with no windows tucked in the back corner of the building. “Take a seat,” she instructs, motioning to a pair of studded leather club chairs that flank a coffee table and couch. If she has a desk, I don’t see it here. Weird.
I choose one of the chairs and slump down into it.
Black lowers herself gracefully onto the edge of the loveseat closest to me, then crosses her legs at the ankle. I, on the other hand, keep my legs open wide, taking up as much space as possible. Who cares that I’m wearing a skirt, and showing off my panties to anyone who dares to look. I’m an alpha, that’s what we do, right?
I smirk to myself as I wait for the warden to say why we’re here.
She motions toward a navy-colored folder sitting on the coffee table. “That’s for you. Take it. Please.” As I reach for it, she begins to explain its contents. “You’ll find your student handbook, class schedule, and since the semester is already underway, your class syllabi.”
“What about Wi-Fi?” I attempted to browse around online while I was holed up in that bathroom stall, but I couldn’t find the network and using 5G was draining my battery way too quickly. I can’t wait to get my connection to the outside world back, to check what all I’ve missed while being away.
Warden Black nods and reaches out her hand, palm-side up. “Ah, thanks for the reminder. I’ll need your phone please.”
I hesitate briefly before handing it over. After all I’ve gone through at home, I’m naturally suspicious of others’ motives, but this woman said she wanted to help me. I need to calm down and try to trust the process here.
She stands with my phone and strides across the office. “You’ll get this back once your enrollment at Drakewood is complete,” she reveals before shoving my phone into a safe, slamming the thing shut, and spinning the dial for good measure.
I’m on my feet in an instant. “Hey!” I cry. “I did not consent to this!”
She turns to me with hands clasped. “Actually, you did. It was Drakewood or prison. Am I right? Think they’d let you check your social media in jail?”
I sink back onto the chair and cross my arms over my chest. “I need my phone.”
“What you need is to be focused on your studies. If you don’t, you may find yourself kicked out.” The warden floats back over to the seating area, seeming lighter now that she no longer has to bear the weight of false kindness.
Anger buzzes through my chest, tensing my body. “And then what? I’d go to prison instead?”
“Worse.” She pauses to let that sink in, tilting her head to the side as if deep in thought. “Students who fail out of Drakewood are forbidden from ever creating or joining a pack.”
“Meaning what exactly?” This is all so new to me. For eighteen years, I thought I would manifest as an omega. I never took the time to learn about alphas, apart from how to please them. I can’t possibly be expected to understand what’s at stake here.
“You’ll be blackballed from society. For the rest of your life.” Black purses her lips and stares at me down the bridge of her nose. I hate being so tiny. It’s hard to get respect when you’re barely any taller than a child.
I shake my head and kick at the floor, hoping my posturing will make me seem bigger. “Big deal.”
Black’s eyes light with cruelty. “Oh, it’s a very big deal. Omegas without a pack can work in education, hospitality, or childcare. Betas don’t even need a pack at all. But an alpha without a pack? You’re as good as dead.”
“So why not just kill me now and get it over with?” I challenge. A part of me actually hopes she’ll take me up on it.
She smiles to herself, and it makes my stomach churn with rage. “At Drakewood, we like to think of ourselves as benevolent captors. Each semester, the top 25% of students are able to continue on. Complete one year at the academy, and it’s like your sins never happened. You graduate with a clean record and are able to go back to living your pampered life exactly how you always intended.”
I dig my fingers into my palms. My cherry-vanilla scent grows stronger, more potent. Her satisfaction over this grates at the violent part of me. “I never intended this.”
“And yet here you are,” she says pertly, clearly enjoying my misery. “Your parents paid a pretty penny for you to get this chance. Don’t go messing it up.”
four
AMBER
Itrail behind Warden Black as she shows me to my dorm room, because unfortunately, I don’t have a choice. Like she said, I’m a captive now if I want a chance at reformation. A part of me wants to argue that there is no saving me, but a greater part of me feels guilty. My sisters wouldn’t deserve that kind of loss. They’ve already been through so much, and I’ve already added enough to it.