37. Chapter 35
CHAPTER 35
Wren
T he smells. The sounds of my feet against the linoleum tile. Even the flickering of the overhead fluorescent lights.
Everything was exactly the same.
I was the one who’d changed.
Not once had I ever stopped fighting, but there was always a sense of dread and fear any time I had to walk these halls toward the medical wing. I hated the prospect of what new test – or punishment – I might have to endure.
Now? Now I knew there were five men waiting in another room, prepared to fight for me. They were the only people in my life who gave a half a shit about my wellbeing. I knew they would move Heaven and earth to get to me if I needed them.
But would they actually hear me if I really did scream for them? These walls weren’t exactly soundproofed, but they weren’t thin, either.
If shit went south, I would simply make a big enough scene to trigger the alarms. That would be a dead giveaway to my alphas and betas something was wrong. Even if it was another omega who caused the chaos, they would still rush to my side, seek me out in this massive building to ensure I wasn’t being abused.
There was a part of me who wanted to believe this was truly on the up and up. But come on – I’d basically grown up here, knew exactly what kind of people ran it, knew what kind of sickos worked here.
At no point did the Center do anything without some kind of ulterior motive. I just couldn’t quite understand what that motive could be.
If the issue was truly because packs complained about their omegas not getting pregnant, why did we all have to come in for testing? Shouldn’t that decision be left up to each individual pack?
I truly believed my pack wouldn’t love me any less if I was unable to give them an heir in the future. I wasn’t even sure they were dead set on adding children to our pack someday.
Fine with me . More children in the world increased the odds of more omegas being born. Which, of course, meant more omegas being sent to this hell hole.
If only I’d thought to pack some dynamite or other explosives on me before showing up. I could have leveled this building and the chance of anyone else being exploited or abused the way so many of us who were forced through these doors had.
Nah. That would have been too risky. Too many innocent people were in this building and they sure as fuck didn’t deserve to be hurt or killed because they were forced to be here same as me.
“Through here,” the beta said, opening a door with the number eighteen over it.
Hesitating a moment, I looked back down the hallway, looked at the door closing me off from my pack. “Why can’t they be back here with me if there’s no one else in the room?” I asked.
Something was unsettling my omega instincts, whether it was the separation from my guys or possibly something more sinister.
At no point would I ever trust a single person who worked for this organization. Sure, there had been betas and even a few alphas who’d been nice to me and the other omegas, but they also never stopped the higher ups when I was punished – or rather abused.
Because that was what I’d endured all those years – abuse. Any time I stepped a toe out of line or refused to follow their orders or instructions blindly, any time I showed an ounce of my true personality or refused to be the meek, silent omega we were trained to be, my abuse was ordered by either the headmistress or whichever instructor I was working under at that time.
Names . It felt like so long ago since Raece had demanded the names of every single person who’d inflicted pain upon me during my time here. That morning had been chaotic, but it was the first time I truly saw how protective he could be of me.
Even if he had shut down and turned into a complete ass after Dean almost beat his ass.
I could have given him the names then. I could still have given him the names.
And then what? Would my alphas pick them off one by one? I really didn’t want to be an accessory to murder. Would they somehow point the police toward their activities here?
There was no way the general public was completely ignorant to the daily bullshit we dealt with in the Center.
Or…maybe they were. Otherwise, wouldn’t there be families refusing to turn their children over, regardless of the number of zeroes on the checks they received in exchange?
“You were here long enough to know only approved alphas are allowed past the waiting room.”
I frowned at her. I didn’t remember her, but she acted as though she was familiar with me. Or maybe she simply read my file, read how long I was a resident of the Omega Center, read about my escape attempts, the times I tried to steal birth control and heat suppressants, the consequences I suffered from all my acts of defiance.
Before I could respond, demand at least one of my betas to stay with me for the exam, she stepped out and pulled the door shut.
Not a new nurse, then. She must have been doing the intake bullshit. Filling out our paperwork and putting us in another room to wait.
I should have brought my phone back with me. Or at least a book. Something – anything – to occupy my mind while I waited. Patience had never been my strongest virtue and I highly doubted that would change any time in the near future.
Thing was, I wasn’t bored. Or not just bored. The longer I sat here not knowing exactly what this exam would entail and what kind of bullshit the Center was up to, the higher my anxiety grew. A quick peek down the threads connecting me to the pack showed me their emotions mirrored my own.
Except there was a shit load of anger simmering there, too. I could picture Raece and Mateo pacing or verbally accosting any employee who made the mistake of approaching them while Winter, Doran, and Dean did their best to keep the two dominant alphas calm.
I found it funny that Raece, as the pack lead, seemed to have far less control over his actions and control than the others. But they were packed up long before I knew they existed. And I’d never bothered to ask how he’d earned that title.
When we all got home, I’d ask him then. And yeah, I was totally convincing myself this shit would all be over soon, and I would be back with my men, in their arms, surrounded by their warmth and their scents.
There was no clock in the room, so I had no idea how much time had passed. I spent a few minutes attempting to open the locked cabinets and drawers.
Attempted and failed.
Then, I watched the traffic through the small window, but being on the first floor, I could only see so far before the vehicles parked in the lot blocked my view.
If I hadn’t been so fucking nervous, I might have curled up on the exam table and taken a nap. But the table, this room…
Hell no. Nothing good had ever gone down in here or any of the other rooms in this building. Pretty bad when I knew as a fact I’d been in every room down this hall at least once.
But the rooms where I was forced to ride out my heats with very little assistance was a floor down. Most of us omegas referred to the underground level as the dungeon because of the concrete walls and floors, the damp smell, and the low lighting.
It obviously wasn’t built for comfort.
As my nerves stretched tighter and tighter, I struggled to keep the bond closed. I knew it would piss them off and I’d get an ass chewing once I rejoined them, but feeling my own emotions was bad enough – I really didn’t need the combination of their anger and anxiety in the mix.
Finally, after what felt like a fucking eternity, the door swung open and a beta wearing a white lab coat stepped through. My nose curled at the familiar wet dog smell of the same beta who’d performed nearly every single examination I’d had here.
I swear this dude had to be pushing seventy and was still a working physician. He’d been the first doctor I’d seen in this Center and was still here ten years later. And sometimes, I swore he stayed simply because he enjoyed the facade of control and power he had over us omegas.
“Omega Stryder,” Dr. Creise – aka Dr. Creep – said as he pulled the rolling stool closer and lowered himself onto it.
His eyes stayed on the clipboard. Not the computer. These people were still living in the stone ages. That or they didn’t want to run the risk of someone being able to hack into the system and ascertaining certain information, such as how often we were fed shit to force our heats or how often we were marked as underweight when one of our punishments was the withholding of food.
“You’re bonded and mated to Pack Stryder, correct?”
“Well, being as you just referred to me as Omega Stryder, I assume you know the answer to that.”
He raised his eyes from the clipboard and glared at me. After living with five strong, amazing men, his beady gaze did zero to my resolve. Not that he ever scared me before. I refused to allow any of the people in this building to see the smallest increment of weakness. These fuckers loved to exploit shit like that.
After a few silent seconds of the stare down, he finally glanced back at his notes before setting the thing on the desktop holding a computer and a few things that weren’t even remotely interesting when I was attempting to snoop.
“Last heat?” he asked, his dull brown eyes roaming me from head to toe.
When my pack did that, it felt as though fingers were stroking every pleasure zone on my body.
But with Dr. Creep? I had to fight the urge to squirm. And maybe douse my skin in bleach.
“You know that answer, too. That’s exactly why I was at the top of the files.”
A muscle feathered in his jaw, and I fought the urge to smirk. I loved that I was getting to him, that I was getting under his skin.
Being as I knew damn well the words listed in my file, that I’d been labeled as difficult, stubborn, high-spirited, and a slew of other fun things that all meant not easily broken , it struck me as funny that he was so frustrated by my answers.
After a few more quiet moments, I lifted my chin. “What? Did you think I’d be returned as some well-trained, obedient omega? Hate to break it to you, but true alphas, real packs don’t want some Stepford omega. Real alphas – and even real betas – prefer an omega with their own mind.”
That muscle ticked in his jaw again and I couldn’t hide the grin that stretched across my face. I mean, I probably could have, but I didn’t bother trying. What was the point? I had never attempted to impress these assholes when I was here before. Why the hell would I start now that I had five men who adored me?
Who loved me.
Love. That was something I never truly believed I would experience. But I was madly in love with Winter, and Doran, Mateo, Dean, and Raece. Yeah, we’d had a rocky start.
But all five of them had shown me they could be trusted, that they would always put me – and all omegas – before themselves. They would protect me with their own lives if necessary.
Honestly? I would do the same for them. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind I would do anything and everything in my power to keep my mates safe, to protect my pack.
The doctor finally appeared to gather himself and straightened, as though that would make him appear bigger, more imposing.
My betas had a few inches on him and so many more pounds of muscle. Looking at Dr. Creep now…he just looked old, feeble. Weak.
“Last heat cycle?” he asked again.
With a sigh and an eye roll, I answered him. And continued to give him monosyllabic answers or even grunts or hums to the rest of his questions.
Seriously. He was asking questions about how many times my pack ejaculated inside me, whether they focused solely on my vagina or if they’d finished in or on other places.
Pretty fucking invasive questions. I’d thought about screwing with him and telling him the six of us focused primarily on anal, but there was a reason I’d been forced to check in with the Center – they wanted to discover whether I was pregnant.
Or whether I was capable of getting pregnant.
Even for those packs who were actively trying for pups, it could often take several heat cycles before it happened. I’d had one heat with my guys – why would they be concerned whether or not any of my men’s seed had taken root or not?
Not to mention it was none of their damn business whether the six of us even wanted to add to our family.
All those points were on the tip of my tongue, but I decided to simply go through the motions, answer Dr. Creep’s questions, and get back to my men.
Surely, by now, they’d started pacing the floor of the waiting room. I was sure at least one of them had already questioned someone as to how much longer I would be back here.
Yeah, the Center employed guards. And those guards were armed.
But so were my mates. Mateo alone could barrel through a freaking wall like a damn wrecking ball.
After a few more questions, Dr. Creep pushed to his feet and jerked his head toward the exam table.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because I told you to,” he answered, turning to the sink and washing his hands vigorously before tearing off a paper towel to dry them.
He turned to me after tossing the used paper into the trashcan and raised a brow.
“Here’s the thing – because you told me to isn’t a good answer. Not anymore. I have a pack. I have alphas. I have betas. If I were to obey anyone, it would be them. Not you.”
“Either get on the table or I’ll call in a guard to put you on the table.”
I fought the shudder that rolled up my spine. They wouldn’t simply lift me and plop me onto the table like a petulant toddler.
They would manhandle me, leave new bruises on my skin, then strap me down. Yep. I’d experienced that shit more times than I could remember.
Turning my head, I stared at the table, so many memories – more like nightmares – flashing through my brain.
But he hadn’t asked me to undress. There was no flimsy paper gown sitting there for me to change into. That had to be good…right?
Choose my battles.
This wasn’t worth starting a war over, not worth getting the guards – and my pack – riled up over.
Inhaling deeply through my nose, I blew it out in a rush as I pushed to my feet and hopped up onto the exam table.
It was literally a struggle to avoid recoiling away from him when he reached forward and began to touch me, focusing primarily on my glands in my throat. He then put a blood pressure cuff around my arm and used the stethoscope around his neck while watching the little bobbling deal on the wall.
Next, he looked into my ears, eyes, even nose.
Not sure how any of that would indicate whether I was fertile.
My temperature was normal. And I peeked at the clipboard as he scribbled notes in that way all doctors do, the words nearly illegible.
Insubordinate. Defiant. Disobedient.
I had to fight a snort at his notes. I didn’t want him to know I could see what he was writing about me.
Seriously, though. How the hell did he think he knew a single thing about me after a ten-minute visit and a few surface tests?
Acting as though I was merely adjusting my position, I took one last peek…
And my heart stuttered to a stop before kicking into overdrive.
Suggestion: Removal from pack. Omega requires further training.
The second my brain registered the words written on that piece of paper, I lunged off the table and dove for the door.
I managed to get my hand wrapped around the knob and the door yanked open before Dr. Creep could hit the panic button, sounding the alarm that would send every guard running in my direction.
“Raece! Mateo!” I screamed as I pumped my legs as fast as they would go.
I had to get to the waiting room. Had to get to my pack.
“Dean! Winter! Doran! ” I screamed their names, praying they could hear me, praying they could fight through whatever was separating us before the guards were able to drag me away.
Because once they caught me, I would be secured in the area where they would work on reprogramming me. Training me.
Changing me.
Brainwashing me .
The halls in this place were so freaking long. The whole building was a maze. But I’d been here long enough, had attempted to escape enough times I had nearly every inch memorized.
Problem was, even knowing every inch didn’t do shit, not with the thundering of heavy boots chasing me. There was no way I could get to the waiting room, to my pack, before the large alpha and beta guards caught up to me.
Opening my mouth to scream again, the air was knocked from my lungs when someone tackled me from behind, bouncing my head off the floor.
It didn’t matter how hard I struggled…the stars floating around the edges of my vision blurred into nothing.
The last thing I remembered before fully losing consciousness were scents of the men who’d punished me, tormented me, and who were going to take me away from the men who owned my heart.