Chapter 24
Idril
It’s evening, and I’m following Lenora across a football field-sized training yard and into one of the largest houses I’ve ever seen.
If you can even call it a house.
It’s even larger than Father’s mansion. A towering structure, with turrets like an honest-to-Fates castle, touching the sky. There’s an actual walk-around battlement surrounding a central structure with arrow slits for archers.
Thick, dark ivy crawls up the side, a splash of color against dark stone that looks like it was mined straight from a mountain.
It looks like a castle.
No, it is a castle. At least four stories tall, its shadow looms ominously the closer we get.
Behind it is a training area that connects to the sprawling single-level compound we came out of. I’m pretty sure that building is full of barracks. A part of the estate, but clearly not connected to the main house—err, castle.
A broad courtyard opens to a wide circle drive that runs all the way to the connecting road.
It’s lined on either side by tall trees that seem to sway, despite the absence of wind.
They continue around the entire perimeter, and the training area backs up to a sea of them.
There must be hundreds of acres of dark forest.
By the time Lenora leads me through a side entrance, my breathing has turned ragged. She enters before me, not bothering to catch the door as it swings shut behind her. It almost hits me in the face.
I catch it at the last second, my palm stinging from the impact. My cheeks heat, and something dark and angry twists in my chest.
She didn’t even look back.
I’m right here. I’m a person!
I dig my teeth into my lower lip and swallow the words.
I’m starting to realize that years being the perfect Omega daughter while living in constant fear of my abusive father, only to be stolen away, brought here, and treated like a criminal, may have broken something inside of me.
There are new desires surfacing, fighting against the instinct to stay submissive, silent, and obedient. I had to learn those instincts early, to stay safe. I had to ingrain them so deeply that they became a part of me. Without them, there was nothing but pain.
But now, the flame flickering in my chest grows larger and hotter with each indignity I face.
Now there are two sets of instincts. One set wants to snap back, but the other reminds me that staying silent is all that stands between me and more pain.
It should be easy to ignore that flame.
It’s not.
I find myself wanting to ignore the very instincts that have kept me alive for two decades. The flame points out that I’ve spent my entire life making myself small for my father. How long can I continue to do the same for this new threat? How long will I keep choking on my words to stay safe?
As long as it takes to stay near your Mate.
And that’s the answer. That’s the line I have to draw.
I made Caelan a promise, and I know he wouldn’t abandon me if our roles were switched. He’s already proven as much.
Three days. He came back, and now he’s hurt.
Besides, what other choice do I have? I have no family. No friends. No money, transportation, or clothes.
And, Caelan’s my Fated Mate. These are his friends.
His family. I have to believe there’s good in them.
If there’s not, then what kind of male does that make Caelan?
He’s the other half of my soul. I refuse to believe he’s cruel.
I refuse to believe he’d condone his friends throwing his Omega in a cell for hours with only bread, an apple, water, and very little medical attention.
“Keep up, Omega,” Lenora snaps over her shoulder.
That’s not my name. My name is Idril.
The flame intensifies, urging me to correct her. And Fates, I want to. I want to grab the Beta by the shoulders and force her to look at me. Force her to see me.
Instead, I do nothing.
I speed up, trying to take everything in as she marches me through the castle.
We pass through an industrial kitchen and a dining room that houses a table so large it could easily seat twenty people.
Beautiful hardwood floors run throughout the entire place, starting in the dining room and flowing into a long hall.
She leads us through another open archway and into what must be a servant’s passage with long, narrow stairs. We take them up two flights before she makes a sharp right turn into another long, dark hallway with sconces on the walls.
I hate sconces.
My father has them on his side of the estate. The way the small flame flickers off the dark wood paneling makes me feel like I’m back there. I wind my arms tighter around my middle and keep my eyes trained on Lenora’s back.
At the end of the hall, she pulls open a door that creaks loudly on its hinges. The sound is a stark contrast to the beauty surrounding us.
By the time I make it up another two narrow flights of stairs, I’m panting, shaking, and terrified I’m about to pass out. It’s been almost two days, and I’ve only had a single meal. If you can even call it that.
I’m not sure how much longer I can stay on my feet.
“Here we are. This is where Gavran has decided you’ll stay.”
Lenora stops at the top of the stairs and opens another narrow door. This part of the castle clearly isn’t kept up. There are cobwebs in the corners and dust on the door handle.
“Is Gavran the one in charge?”
I inch around her as she holds open the door and gestures for me to go in. “Yes.”
Hope blooms in my chest.
If Gavran’s in charge, there’s a very real chance I can explain everything to him and possibly work things out. Maybe he’ll at least let me see Caelan if he knows he’s my Mate. Surely if he’s the leader, he’s a reasonable man.
Caelan wouldn’t follow a tyrant, would he?
I don’t know. I want to believe he wouldn’t, but I’m running purely on instinct and hope.
So basically, the same fuel as usual.
“May I please speak to him?”
Lenora gives me a searching look, then shrugs. “Perhaps. I’ll see if he’s available.”
My shoulders fall. I already know she won’t help. I can see it in her eyes.
I turn, taking in my new home. I don’t know whether I want to laugh or cry. This is where they’re keeping me? This isn’t even an actual bedroom. It looks more like a storage room.
The ceiling slopes so drastically that anyone over six feet would have to stoop to get through the door. There’s one small window overlooking the back training yard and forest beyond, and the floor is cold, hard stone.
Aside from that, there’s absolutely nothing here. There’s a draft coming in from the window that’s already making me cold, and it’s so dark it feels claustrophobic.
I take a deep breath, reminding myself that this isn’t better or worse than where I was before.
Lenora bends over, collecting something behind the door, and then turns to me and shoves what she’s holding into my chest. I wrap my arms around it instinctively, frowning in confusion. Then my eyes widen in shock.
A blanket and a pillow.
It shouldn’t make me cry, but pressure builds behind my eyes, and before I know it, I’m blinking back tears, embarrassed by my reaction.
This is more than I had when they took me from my father’s.
The blanket is soft, and even though it isn’t nearly enough for my Omega instincts, it’s exactly what I need to keep from breaking completely. The pillow’s a bit flat, but stuffed with feathers.
Best of all, there’s no scent.
I work the fabric of the blanket between my fingers and feel my shoulders relax. “Thank you,” I whisper gratefully.
Lenora looks oddly flustered. “I didn’t leave them, but your thanks are noted. Also, Gavran was insistent you stay on suppressants. I already administered a dose when you passed out after the incident downstairs.”
The incident.
Is that what we’re calling Daxen almost ripping my throat out with his bare hands?
Fantastic.
“I’ll be here every night to administer them before you go to bed. Do not fight us on this. It’s for your protection, as well as the Alphas’.”
“Why do the Alphas need to be protected?”
I guess it’s a stupid question, because Lenora gives me one of the looks I’m starting to understand means she thinks I’m an idiot.
“Your pheromones will affect the Alpha’s protective instincts.
You are an Omega, and they are biologically wired to protect and coddle you.
There are a million different ways you can use your scent and pheromones to get what you want simply by manipulating their instincts with yours.
The suppressant doesn’t just erase your scent, it mutes your most obvious Omega reactions. ”
Manipulate their instincts with mine? She has to be kidding.
“I would never do that,” I insist. “I don’t even know how to do that.”
She hums thoughtfully.
“No, oddly enough, I don’t believe you do.
That doesn’t mean you won’t, though, if you were to figure it out.
And besides,” she shrugs. “What I think doesn’t matter.
Gavran is the one who ordered your Omega suppressed, and quite honestly, I think Daxen would slit your throat if he had to smell you. It’s non-negotiable.”
“Is there anything happening here that is negotiable?” I ask through clenched teeth.
Then I freeze, my eyes widening in panic. Oh gods, why did I say that?
Lenora’s glare could light the stone on fire. “Not when it comes to you.”
She leaves, slamming the door shut behind her.
I exhale in relief at her departure. For a moment there, I was sure she was going to strike me.
I exhale, taking in the small area that’s become my new cell. I tell myself I’m closing my eyes to better concentrate on my Bond, but it’s also because I can’t stand to look at this room, so similar to my room back home.
That onyx wall is still there. Still preventing me from helping him. I groan in frustration.
Alright. This is… not ideal.