Chapter 6 #2
“I mean it. Fuck this. I want to fight back. Half the guards in the facility were scared shitless of us when we weren’t collared.
Saints, I could blow their heads off with a glance.
We have affinities. More power than they have.
Not all of us know magic or even how to use our affinities yet, but we’re powerful. Or we could be. Especially together.”
“I never got to learn magic,” Aimee chimes in.
“I was supposed to get packed up, so I never got to go to an academy. I want to learn. Blair’s right.
I want to fight back. Fuck this and fuck those guys.
Teach us how to take them down. Teach us magic and teach us how to use our affinities.
You’re the most knowledgeable among us. We know that. You can help us.”
I can.
Though their affinities differ, the omegas in the castle aren’t the only omegas who want to fight back.
I want to fight tooth and nail beside them, especially against the growing threat of my father and Baphomet’s Prince.
I can cut another Rose puppet string by helping these omegas learn to harness their affinities and stand up against their oppressors. I can and need to fight by their sides.
But as for teaching them the basics of magic? I know just the person.
In a rare moment of calm, I’m curled up with Ian in the big, cozy chair in his study.
He rakes his fingers through my hair, a contented sigh escaping him as I breathe in his cedar-and-bergamot scent.
I nuzzle into him and sigh myself. After the strain of the past two weeks, catching a moment alone together is a blessing.
“Ian?” I say, my voice muzzy with satisfaction.
“You told me you wanted to teach the omegas magic. Is that something you still want? Would you do it for me? I can’t think of anyone more perfect for the role.
You’re the best teacher I’ve ever had, and the omegas know you as my mate.
They want to learn, and you could teach them. ”
He’s thoughtful and hesitant for a moment. “I don’t like the thought of being away from you all day. It’ll be long hours without you, my darling.”
“We’re already separated when I’m in class. I hate the thought of it too, but if you come home to me every night…”
“I hate knowing I won’t be able to protect you. I won’t be able to get to you quickly if something happens.”
“I won’t be alone.” No matter how conflicted I feel about him, Marcus is my constant shadow while I’m on campus. I do feel conflicted, but now isn’t the time for such thoughts, not while I’m curled up with my mate, asking the world of him.
“Cassian and Simon are going to graduate soon.”
“I’ll still have Marcus protecting me, and Luca will still be on campus next school year.”
“I still don’t like the idea of leaving you without your full pack’s protection, even for a moment.”
“You can’t be with me on campus anymore,” I remind him gently.
“You’ve taught me to protect myself so well, you and Cassian both.
This is so much bigger than me. Than us.
You need to do this for you, and I need you to do it for them.
Ian, you thrive when you teach. And you can teach me to teach them, too.
I want to help them learn their affinities. ”
He’s quiet for a moment. “I won’t stop at basic spellcasting and shields. The omegas need to be prepared, just like you are. They need to know how to defend themselves, and how to strike back.”
I smile against him. “Good, because they want to learn. Ian, I want to teach them to escape omega traps, too. And that’ll require seeing if I can do it again, myself.
Escaping Rad’s trap could have been a one-off, but there has to be a way other than blood magic to escape an omega trap. There has to be. The spell I used…”
He sighs. “You ask so much of me when you ask me to hurt you, my darling.”
“I know,” I say quietly. “But I only ask you because I trust you implicitly. With my life, my being, my heart.”
“I can’t deny you anything,” he mumbles into my hair. “If we’re going to do this, and I suppose we are, you’re right, there can be no half measures. We’ll teach them to escape omega traps if we can. You and I can start this weekend if I can get Mai to support us and heal you from the thorns.”
I nod against his firm, muscled chest, listening to the strong, steady beat of his heart. My mate is giving me and the omegas a gift I can’t fully fathom: the gift of fighting back.
I’m eager to tell them, but I’m just as eager to cuddle up against Ian and enjoy these few moments of peace with him.
Ian isn’t the only one helping the omegas.
Though the castle is safer than the omegas’ previous accommodations, Graeme and Jack are still vigilant the first few weeks, taking shifts to watch over the omegas.
Mai’s pack regularly helps out, though I can tell it’s straining the young healer.
Between their guardians and the thoroughly scanned aid shipments that continue to show up, the omegas have everything they need.
And now they have my mate in their corner too, eager to teach them magic.
Many are learning magic for the first time.
They come from all different backgrounds, but the magical education of omegas has never been a priority for many families, rich or poor.
There are language barriers to contend with too.
Some of the omegas were trafficked into the country by my father and Rad’s vile clutches by their own families from their homes in mainland China.
We don’t have the benefit of translating with our phones and are forced to rely on my weak Mandarin and hand gestures.
Mandarin isn’t the only language spoken by the omegas, either, but we do the best we can to limp along with their broken English and a few foreign language dictionaries.
Some barely speak any English, but the omegas are keen to help each other.
They gather around Ian as he passes out scribes, and while I should probably feel jealous seeing my mate surrounded by so many unmated omegas, all I feel is pride. He’s taken the loss of his teaching job and turned it into an opportunity to make a difference.
He spends nights planning lessons in his study at the pack house, and I often join him to work on homework or to read beside him.
One night, he sighs, drumming his pen against his notebook. “I’m not the best to teach them spellcrafting or transmutation circles,” he muses. “I want to give them a well-rounded magical education, but…”
“But what they need are the skills to fight back. I’ve never saved my own skin with a transmutation circle,” I remind him, marking my page in my book and going to him. I lean into him, staring down at his lesson plans with a smile.
“You’re right, of course,” he sighs. “I just want to give them the best education I can.”
“I know you will,” I tell him, stroking his hair and placing a kiss at his temple. “I’ve never doubted you for an instant.”
My faith in Ian wasn’t misplaced. I spend the next Saturday cataloging relics with Sienna and finish just in time to catch him teaching.
I sneak into the back of the great hall where his eager students have gathered, leaning against the cool stone wall.
A rapt class of omegas hang on his every word as he stalks across the front of his makeshift classroom.
He demonstrates a few first order sigils, his golden scribe cutting through the air, leaving magical markings behind.
“These three sigils will be vital for your shield casting,” he explains.
“I want you to memorize them over the next week. Once you’re all reliably calling your magic, we’ll start casting them, so make flashcards and practice together if it’ll help you learn them.
” He gestures to a stack of index cards on the great hall’s long table.
He’s in his element when he returns the class to calling their magic.
Blair raises a hand and volunteers, then makes her way to the front of the class, keeping her distance from Ian.
Though they respect him as a teacher and guardian, many of the omegas have yet to feel safe around him—or any alpha.
But I know he’ll win them over. As for Blair, she barely strays from Nathan’s side as they cling to their corner in the great hall of the castle.
The spell preventing him from speaking about the collars died with Rad, but he still doesn’t say much.
Nor does Blair. Still, we gained confirmation from Nathan that five thousand collars remain at large.
It’s horrific to think about, especially when Simon has lost the ability to track them, but at least they’re not on the necks of the omegas in our care.
At least one’s not around Blair’s neck. She suffered too long as Rad’s personal security.
She raises her scribe and takes a deep breath, squeezing her eyes shut as though it’ll help her call her magic. It must, because she’s able to take a deeper breath and light the tip of her scribe.
Ian beams at her as the class watches on in wonder. “Remarkable. You’re progressing so quickly. You should be immensely proud of yourself.”
I can’t help the way my heart squeezes; it’s a marvel to watch him teaching again. I miss being his student every day, though I’m happier to have him as my mate, but it’s clear he’s making so much more of an impact here with these omegas.
He catches me watching him and spares me a heartbreakingly broad smile, his blue eyes shining with joy.
Five more omegas are able to call their magic that afternoon, and when he finally dismisses his attentive class, I make my way toward him, going against the tide of omegas.
They part around me, some clasping my hand, others touching my shoulders.
I go right into my alpha’s arms, which makes a few of the omegas coo about how cute we are.
He presses his nose into my neck with a contented sigh. “You gave me this, Juniper. The chance to be the alpha I was always meant to be.”