30. Heat Dens
Heat Dens
I jerked upright at the sound of footsteps outside my cell. Finally! It had been a long night and when the lights came back on, no one had showed up, so I'd been sitting here for hours on my own.
Fingers tapped on the keypad and the door swung open, revealing two beta guards. One of them tossed me a uniform and I was never so glad to have the stiff fabric in my hands.
Dressing rapidly, I did up the last button and looked up at the guards, but I knew better than to speak. They were just itching to use their prods on me.
"Come on, the director wants to see you."
I padded silently after the first beta, with the other following me in case I tried anything. Being back in this place had already taken the fight out of me, though.
"Get in there." The guard behind me shoved me through an open door and stepped through after me, closing it.
"Ah, our troublesome omega." A tall, lean woman with greying hair and a stern face sat behind the massive oak desk that dominated the room. "Please, come closer."
I stepped toward the desk, plush carpet soft under my toes. The room was ridiculously overdecorated, with wood panels, lighting, and millions of knick knacks to make it look rich . . . but all that only succeeded in making it look like someone was trying too hard.
"You've been quite the handful," she said with a raised eyebrow.
Her scent hit me then and my eyes widened. A female alpha? She smelled like charred seafood, a bitter, unpleasant scent that made my head spin.
"Do you know what we do with omegas that cause this much trouble?"
I shook my head, though I had my suspicions.
"Well, normally, we'd pair you with a more difficult pack, one that could keep you in line. But after the heatshock, not even a fourth-tier pack would want you." She shook her head. "Do you know why heatshock is so rare?"
I shrugged. Honestly, it didn't matter much to me.
"Because most omegas are perfectly capable of attracting an alpha to knot them.
I'm not sure how you ended up in a house with what .
. . four alphas . . . and couldn't get a single one to knot you.
That's pretty indicative of your worth out there and it's the main reason no one wants a heatshock omega.
So you're going to the heat dens. And there will be no escaping this time," she warned.
"Wait, please, you can't . . ." the guard jammed his prod into my ribs, sending me to the ground with a jolt of electricity.
"That's exactly the sort of attitude no one wants from you. Take her to the transport." The director waved her hand like she was telling the guard to take out the trash.
One of them pulled me up, wrenching my arm in the process. I winced, but there was no reprieve. The guards herded me down the hall and through a small door into a dark, narrow passageway that ended in the same waiting room I'd sat in during my fake heat.
"No getting away this time," one of them sneered. "We've got orders to sit with you the whole way."
There was no waiting this time. They marched me out the door and into the waiting van. Another beta was driving, so my two guards flanked me in the back row.
My head was pounding from everything that had happened. The cold seeped into my bones, though one of the guards called for the driver to turn up the heat.
This was it. My worst nightmare. The only good thing I could think was that at least I'd had a good first experience with Kade and the others. Even if I had to spend the rest of my life on my back, I had those memories to keep. I just wish the men had kept me.
It took a long time to reach the heat den. When the van pulled up in front of the dull gray building, I frowned. It wasn't the same place we'd been when I escaped. How far from the center had we gone?
"Get out." I was jostled by the guards until I stood in front of the metal door, my feet freezing on the snowy concrete.
Fortunately, it didn't take long for the door to open.
The biggest beta I'd ever seen stood there in the doorway, glaring down at us.
He was dressed in a black uniform that reminded me of the military, but he took the paperwork a guard handed him, signed it and passed it back before grabbing my arm in a punishing grip.
The other guards disappeared as the massive one dragged me into the building. The door shut with a very final thump behind me and it was all I could do not to burst into tears. Instead, I took a deep breath and trotted after the beta.
"You'll be in Nest 211," the guard told me, leading me through a door and into a wide hallway with a row of doors on each side.
This section seemed nicer, with hardwood flooring and a tasteful gray paint on the walls.
Gold numbers identified each room. They all had windows on the doors, large enough that you could see the entire space easily.
The guard dragged me to the end of the hallway and up some stairs. My legs were wobbly by the time I reached the second floor, but my door wasn't far down the hall.
"Here's your room. You'll live here, entertain here, and usually eat here.
" He unlocked the door and hauled me into a room that was about eight feet square, with a double bed against the wall the door was set in and a toilet and shower combo in the corner.
A curtain was all that separated them from the rest of the space.
The entire back wall, apart from the shower, was a mirror that made the space look larger than it was.
"You'll be monitored during sessions through the two way mirror," he pointed at the mirror wall.
"You will not leave this room unless accompanied by a guard.
You will do everything the alphas tell you to, unless it poses a danger to you personally.
If that happens, or if you have an emergency, you can press this button.
" He showed me a small button on the headboard.
"And I stress this is for emergencies only.
Any false use of the button will end with you being punished. "
"Meals are at 8 am and 8 pm and will be delivered to you by our staff. When you have finished eating place your tray beside the door to be collected. Failure to comply will result in punishment."
I shivered not wanting to know what the punishment for anything was here.
They weren't trying to impress any packs, so there would be no limit to the pain they could give me.
Now my entire being was property of the heat den.
It made me want to curl up and cry, but I forced myself to stand stoicly as he continued with the many, many rules I had to follow.
"And finally, you are not permitted clothing while in your nest."
Staring at the man, I wrapped my arms around myself. My uniform was still crisp against my skin.
"Remove it now," he ordered and, not wanting to be punished, I stripped down. Without waiting for questions, the man snatched my uniform and left the room.
I stood there, completely overwhelmed, naked, and wishing one of my men would burst through the door to rescue me. It was a ridiculous fantasy, though.
Finally, after a few minutes, I explored the room, what little there was of it.
The bed was comfortable enough, with several blankets on top of a plastic covered mattress and the room was warm enough to be comfortable, though it was still on the cool side.
The bathroom area left a lot to be desired, but it was functional.
Scent scrubbers hummed away in the wall, keeping the room cleansed of smells, even my own.
There was movement at the door and I turned, expecting breakfast or something, but this time a small alpha stepped through the door. His scent, sour olives and cilantro, hit me hard and I stepped back toward the mirror.
"Hey, baby. You're a sight for sore eyes." He immediately began to strip off his clothes, hanging his things on a hook on the door. His body was nothing like the alphas I'd already had and it was impossible not to compare the two.
His cock was hard already, but it looked puny compared to Orion, Archer, and Kade. I wanted nothing to do with it. This time, there were no hormones and zero attraction, but I knew they were watching, so I couldn't react. This was my life now.
It was all over in a few minutes, and I had to lie there on my back, staring at the ceiling while the alpha's knot deflated.
He picked up the phone he'd left on the bedside table and started tapping away on it.
His knot shrunk and slipped out of me at last, and I shifted away from him.
The man made me feel ill, just from his scent alone.
Without a thank you, he dressed and left.
I rushed to the shower, pulling the curtain around the bathroom area and turning the water as hot as possible, trying to scrub the strange alpha's pheromones off me. If one disgusted me this much, I wondered how long I could actually keep this up without cracking.