Page 49 of Ondine: Vol. 2

I shake my head. “Stay here for now. Watch the cat?”

“Of course.”

He takes her from me and I hop out, shut the door, and stride up to the entrance.

There’s a reception area, but it’s empty. I walk around to the entrance and am greeted by a great hall. There’s a sunken area in the middle, and a second-floor balcony that winds around overlooking the sunken floor. Students sit on the steps and all around. The ceiling is glass, so the place is brightly lit.

There are no adults.

There’s about fifty alpha boys ranging in age from 12 to 18. They look so young. They all wear the uniform. Red ties, white button up shirts with dark slacks.

It’s late in the day. After dinner. I walk down into the center of the hall. More boys shuffle into the room. They exit what looks to be a cafeteria.

All of them watch me with keen interest. They know I shouldn’t be here.

Some of the older boys stand and walk towards me, in a protective stance in front of the younger boys.

“Where is Man-ho?” I call out. My voice carries through the space. I decide I don’t need to be so loud with the next thing I say.

A tall alpha boy with three other alphas flanking him walks up to me. He’s confident. He’s clearly going to be the spokesman.

“What do you want here, Alpha?” He asks with a threatening tone.

“My name is Freddie Wong. I’m here to talk about something important.”

“To us,” the boy asks, “Or to the master?”

The word ‘master’ makes me shiver.

“Where is he?” I ask again, my tone softer. They still have their baby fat on their cheeks, and despite their clenched fists, they are children.

“It’s only us. And you should leave before we demonstrate what Master Man-ho teaches us here at this school.”

A great sadness comes over me at this baby-alpha’s threat.

I adjust my stance, to be less aggressive. Man-ho has done such a good job he leaves them here all on their own.

“Can I tell you something?” I say to him, but loud enough for the whole room. I leave the tail end of my question open for him to offer me his name. Which he does.

“Simon.”

“Nice to meet you, Simon. I’ve discovered that the Alpha-Omega Placement Institute is barring any former student of this school from ever being accepted for omega consideration.”

These boys may not care yet for omegas, but they still understand what that means. They will never have the same opportunities as other alphas.

“So, what? The master will find us scent matches.”

I nod my head, showing him I’m listening.

“Scent matches are rare, little alpha. And fickle.”

He knows this. So he is silent.

Suddenly, Killer comes barreling in to the room. Fucking Sebastian. How did the little menace get out? One of the kids manages to grab her, and when he pulls her into his arms, there are only smiles from the alpha’s faces.

“There seems to be an awful lot of arm slings. And bandages on you boys.”

Quickly, Simon tells me, “We train. And things can get rough. But we are strong and heal fast.”