Alpha and Luna University

0003 -Run, Hide, Repeat

I managed to avoid Shade and his friends for the rest of the day. I knew he wouldn't go anywhere near the dining hall, nor would he make a scene in front of everyone. I was safe if I stayed in crowds. So, I took another shift in the cafeteria.

The intercom clicked on.

"Pennington Lake Academy is proud to implement a new housing structure designed to foster unity across ranks and ease the transition for all students. Dorm assignments have been updated to reflect this initiative. Please consult the bulletin outside the administrative wing to locate your reassigned housing placement."

I disposed of my rag and shoved through the panicking crowd. My name was right where I expected it.

Hall B. Floor Two. Room 211. A Luna wing.

I was a demoted Omega, not a Luna. Pennington Lake was pretending this was for my benefit, but I knew better. They suspected what I was. Crimson Oak definitely knew. This wasn't random. They were working together.

I didn't see Dalia's name anywhere near mine. She'd been placed on the opposite side of campus in an Alpha wing, stuck with a younger female Alpha named Harley who already had a reputation for breaking rules and ignoring boundaries. That wasn't a coincidence either.

She found me before I could look for her. Her cheeks were flushed, and her ponytail had half fallen out.

"They split us. I checked twice."

I grabbed her elbow and pulled her toward the vending machine. "Maybe we can talk to the dean. Ask for a swap. You always save him the best donuts at the staff meetings, right?"

She shook her head. "Zia, they won't listen to us. They barely remember we exist."

She wasn't wrong, and Pennington Lake University wasn’t a place I could stay any longer. I had to get my records and transcript, either burn them, or get the hell out of here before I was caught.

I shoved my clothes into the only duffel bag I owned. Dalia folded hers like she was trying to make the moment last.

When she left, I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the photo wedged in my mirror's frame. My mother and I, arms around each other, moonlight bright on the lake behind us. I touched the edge of the moon. Mom used to say it gave us strength, that our bloodline came from something the Moon Goddess didn't give to just anyone. Something sacred.

I didn't feel sacred. I felt tired. So damn tired.

I was fighting the exhaustion by the time I made it to my new dorm. This entire wing had been condemned just days before. No way this wing got flipped overnight without someone dumping a fortune into it. Crimson Oak kind of money.

I unlocked the door. The first thing I saw was a suitcase on the bed and a high-pitched laugh echoing from the open balcony door.

My new roommate leaned over the railing, tossing her hair at the Alpha beside her. He stood too close, all swagger and bleach-white teeth, tattoo trailing down his neck. His dark spiked hair and green eyes stood out against her bright blonde locks.

She turned mid-laugh, head tilting as she flashed a fake smile my way. "Hey, you must be Zia! I'm Rhea." She kicked her foot up against the bedframe. "Don't worry, we already claimed beds. That one's yours. Hope that's okay. I'm technically a Beta. Female betas aren't exactly common where I'm from. Most act like we don't exist. Pennington didn't know what to do with me, so they threw me in the Luna program instead. Said it made things easier."

When I didn't respond right away, she held up her hands in mock surrender. "I won't go all 'Beta' on you though, if that's what you're worried about. Not here to act like you're some lowly omega or whatever."

She didn't seem to have any idea who I was. Maybe not all of this had been planned. Perhaps some of it really was just sloppiness and cover-your-ass politics.

Alpha-boy looked me over slowly. "You smell different. What pack you from?"

"None." I dropped my bag on the mattress and said nothing.

Rhea giggled and turned back to her phone.

He stepped in closer. "You should be in the Alpha dorm. We got room. It's coed. Male Alphas, female Alphas, all packed in together. Some of 'em already got omega roommates, unofficial pets basically."

Dalia had been assigned to a female Alpha. Probably in the exact building he was talking about.

I looked him straight in the eye. "I'm not interested."

That should've been the end of it. He leaned in toward Rhea, clearly trying to steal a kiss. She turned her head. He huffed and moved on, brushing past me.

"Hope I see you in the Alpha dorm soon." His giant boots tracked mud behind him. "We've got space for girls like you."

She finally looked up once the door clicked shut. "Sorry about him. He's literally a d**k. Real name's Richard, but no one calls him that. He's been trying to get in my pants for months. The only reason he's still hanging around is because I keep saying no."

I kept my eyes on the floor. "So what, you trying to make him fall in love before you sleep with him or something?"

Rhea laughed hard. "f**k, no. I just like the game. He chases, I stall. He gets mad, I pretend I might cave next time. Keeps him manageable." She smirked at the door. "Guess it's just the Beta in me needing to keep control somewhere."

She grabbed a towel from her bag. "I'm gonna shower. Don't bother tidying up or anything. We both know you're probably itching to."

She smirked like she already had me figured out. Quiet, obedient, probably already fighting the urge to fold her socks by color and clean up after her messy boyfriend. Just the poor little omega girl she was given to manage.

As soon as she entered the bathroom, I grabbed my phone and sent a message to Dalia. “Meet me at the admin building where they keep the records. We're fixing this.”

The admin building was three structures over, past the old library and the outdoor pool that hadn't been filled in three years. I kept to the side paths, scanning windows, doors, treetops. I didn't need to get caught. I just needed to get in, find the records room, and get out.

I made it without being spotted. The windows were dark. The side path was clear. I slid into the shadow of the east stairwell and waited.

Five minutes. Ten. Nothing.

I sent another message. "Where are you?"

Still nothing. None of the messages were even marked as read. Screw it. I was done waiting.

The archives were kept in the sublevel basement. I jimmied the back door with a broken-off key I'd found weeks ago in the janitor's cart. It clicked open. The door clicked shut behind me. I crouched low and counted to ten. Then twenty. Nothing stirred but the electric hum of the only overhead light and the faint throb in my temple.

The records room was locked at the end of the corridor. I knew the trick with the hinge. I popped it open in less than a minute.

Brand new cabinets lined the back wall, all stacked to the ceiling. Like at Crimson, the folders were now labeled by year and bloodline. I found mine in the O section.

Omega. Subclass: Unknown heritage.

Bullshit, but exactly what had protected me. It didn't seem like Crimson Oak had recognized who I was yet.

I flipped through the drawer until I found another folder in the O section.

Dalia Monroe. Also filed under omega. Correctly.

The page was thinner than mine, barely half a sheet. No subclass. No notes. No emergency contact. Just her name and the word 'transfer' scribbled along the margin.

They hadn't even bothered to fill it out.

I took them and shoved them into my hoodie.

A floorboard creaked just as I locked the records door. The hairs on the back of my neck were already raised as I made my way down the hall, still half expecting Dalia to come stumbling in late with a sorry excuse and a crooked smile.

"Dalia, did you let your phone die again?"

She didn't answer. My eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness in the corridor. Someone was leaning against the access door leading back to the ground floor. The overhead light was swinging back and forth just enough to illuminate dark boots and jeans. Not Dalia. Not even close.

Alpha-boy. d**k. His too bright teeth caught the light. “I knew you'd be out tonight. I could smell it on you.”

I didn't move.

"Look at you. Sneaking around like you're built for it. Not so omega after all, huh?" He looked me over like he was choosing which part to devour first. "You've got an interesting skillset. One we could really use. Alphas like me know how to reward that kind of initiative."

I slipped my hand into my coat and gripped my pocketknife. "I already told you. I'm not interested in your pathetic bullshit excuse for Alpha power."

"Don't pretend you don't want a real place. A real title. You'd be wasted rotting in some Luna cage." He growled. Then lunged.

I yanked the knife out, but he caught my wrist and slammed me back so hard the cabinets behind me groaned. Pain shot through my shoulder and elbow as the rusty metal handle dug into my back. He grabbed the knife and hurled it across the room. It vanished into the dark.

"Just as I thought, a feisty little bitch." He grabbed a fistful of hair and yanked my head back so hard my neck popped. "Mmmm, yeah. That's it. Cry for me, you filthy little w***e. I want to feel it in your throat." He leaned in and pressed his lips to my ear. His stubble scraped my skin like sandpaper. "Bet you've never had a real Alpha make you scream. That's what you want, isn't it?"

I drove my knee into his thigh. He snarled and shoved against me harder. My skull cracked against the edge of the cabinet, and my vision exploded into white lines and flashes.

“Nobody's coming. So keep fighting. I get off on watching pathetic little omegas pretend they've got claws before they submit.”

He clamped a hand around my jaw so hard my lips split. He started clawing at my breasts and then fumbled with the clasp of my bra. I twisted and kicked, but he pressed into me until I couldn't move, couldn't shift, couldn't do anything but hang there choking on my own spit. His hips ground into mine as he licked up the side of my face. There was no mistaking his erection straining against the fabric and pressing hard against my hip.

“Mmm... You taste f*****g amazing. I wonder what the rest tastes like.”

I wanted to scream. I wanted to vomit. I wanted him dead.

I clawed at him. Scratched down his neck. Drove my nails into his shoulder and dug in deeper until something gave. My chest burned, and everything inside screamed for air that wouldn't come. It wasn't long before my vision swam, and my limbs went slack.

"Aww, already? I'd thought you would have more fight than that." His grasp on my neck changed just enough I managed to pull a single breath in. "Good. Now, struggle harder. Maybe I'll make it quick. You may even enjoy it if you stay awake."

Something shifted behind him. The bulb overhead shattered, raining glass as the hallway was plunged into total darkness.

The pressure on my throat vanished. I dropped to the ground fast. I blinked rapidly, trying to force the tears and black spots away.

Something crashed against the wall beside me. The fight was close. Too close.

I managed to stumble to the door and collapsed on the stairwell. I wrapped my arms around my knees and buried my head as the fight continued.

Metal scraped. Wood splintered. Something crashed into the cabinet I'd just been pinned to. Hard enough that one of the drawers burst open and rattled to the floor. The bastard shrieked. Actually shrieked when he hit the ground. I flinched at the sound of bones snapping.

"Alpha power, right?" someone snarled. "That what you were bragging about?"

The asshole choked on a reply. He was slammed against metal again.

"Where is it now?" I barely understood what they said through the snarls and the throbbing in my head. “That power you were so damn proud of?”

A boot hit ribs hard enough to lift him in the air. He hit the ground wheezing.

“You think being Alpha makes you stronger? All it makes guys like you is a coward who picks easy targets to feel big.”

He spat something that might've been a plea. It earned him another hit.

My body was shaking too hard to hear anything else. I couldn't see. Didn't need to. The hits kept coming. One after the other.

Whoever was out there wasn't stopping.

I'm not sure I wanted him to.