Page 24 of Clawless

His gaze touched on my collar, then jerked away so quickly the other guard gave a sympathetic curse. “Over you testing the boundaries of your containment collar.”

“My what?” I screeched.

“Step back, Omega, before we lock you in your room until classes in the morning.”

I scuttled away, the cupcakes lost somewhere in the rush. The girls were watching me with enormous eyes, but when I heard the guards muttering behind me, I whirled to face them. I had a brief moment to glimpse Reed’s stony profile before he was striding past us all, and barking, “Marshall Pack Omegas. Briefing in the breakroom. Now.”

Nadia and Jasmine scrambled to their feet, but I was rooted to the spot. Until I heard one of the guards mutter to the other, “Poor fucker. Imagine being her alphason? Arras should just breed her ass and put the rest of us out of his misery.”

***

Put the rest of us out of his misery.

Somehow, that was almost worse than hearing them urge Jasper to breed my ass. I got that bit. Shifters saw omegas as brood mates. Sometimes they felt a stronger bond and claimed them as permanent mates, but other times it was for the sole purpose of breeding pups. The concept seemed pretty shitty until you acknowledged how many more male wolves there were than females.

But breeding wasn’t on Jasper’s mind. I’d let him tie me up and strip me down, and even that hadn’t tempted him. All he’d cared about was punishing me. By containing me. I felt nausea pool in my belly at that word. Those guards were doubly wrong, because Jasper hadn’t looked miserable when he’d snapped the collar around my neck. If anything, he’d looked as radiant as the fucking sun.

I buttoned my shirt all the way – and made a mental note to pick up some nice turtlenecks if I ever got an off-campus pass – before slipping into the breakroom. Nadia was standing at the front beside Reed, but Jasmine had kept a seat for me towards the back. I gave her a grateful smile, just as Reed opened a folder and said, “I have some updates from the Clan Alpha. They relate to the announcements he made at the recent assembly. Firstly, the campus security upgrades are already in effect. You might have noticed the usual pack guards have been replaced with a private company. They are highly trained and bring with them some enhancements to the school’s existing surveillance system. As a result, the plan to administer omegas with tracking devices has been postponed. This will be reviewed in a month’s time, unless there is another security breach.” There was a wave of relieved whispers at this news, but all I could feel was the cold press of the containment collar. My guess was Jasper was feeling more secure now, and didn’t need to go to the trouble or expense of tagging the other girls. Even as I ground my teeth, I tried to gauge Reed’s reaction, but his face was a complete blank.

“There has been a change to Den Night, however,” he went on. “Instead of the usual campout, we will be holding it indoors. The new location is Omega House.” There was now a ripple of disappointment, but it stopped when Reed glanced up from his notes. “There was the strong possibility it was going to be canceled altogether, so I’m sure you’ll make the most of this new arrangement. There’s still a bunch of pups who are very excited about having a sleepover with you all.”

Faces softened all across the room, and even I felt a twinge of excitement at seeing the pups. But Reed was back to business. “The last announcement relates to the self-defense sessions. These will occur twice a week, in place of your regular gym class. They will be one-on-one, and you’ve been automatically paired with one of the beta guards. All the details are on this sheet, which I’ll leave on the notice board.” He looked up from his notes. “Any questions?”

A couple braver girls offered a few, and Reed calmly answered them where he could. Nadia finally stepped in to go over a few housekeeping updates, and when Reed headed to the back of the room, I slipped out of my chair. Jasmine gave we a wide-eyed look, but I ignored her, reaching Reed just as he stepped into the hall. I grabbed his arm before I lost my nerve. “Reed, I wanted to say I’m really sorry about last night. It was so rude to go off like that. But I want you to know it wasn’t for a celebration. I would have stayed at the dance, but I just couldn’t do the whole speech thing. I freaked out.” I winced at how feeble my excuses sounded to my own ears. “Would you please tell your parents I’m sorry?”

I swallowed back more garbled words as he reached out and thumbed open my top button. I expected the wince, but not the anger blooming in his eyes. “Fucking hell. He really did it.”

I slapped a hand over my throat. “You knew?”

“He sent an email to all the alphas in the school this morning. I just didn’t think he really meant it.”

The churning in my stomach got worse and I realized I’d been hoping to talk to Jasper, and maybe convince him to take it off. But he wasn’t going to give me that option if he’d already broadcast its existence to every male in sight. “And you can’t do anything? Since I’m Marshall pack, I thought he might-.”

“He’s Clan Alpha, Vail. It trumps everything.” He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’ll talk to him, but I think you need to get used to it for a while.” He glanced at my throat and grimaced. I couldn’t tell if it was doing its bug zapper thing, or if the sight of it alone was enough to put the sour expression on his face. Pulling a pen from his pocket, he quickly wrote something on the notepad he was holding. “I’m your new self-defense instructor. First lesson is tomorrow, so wear your sweats to gym class and I’ll meet you there.”

I shifted my weight, uneasy at the thought of putting him out. And subjecting him to the omega cuff for fifty whole minutes. “Are you sure? I know you’re really busy.”

He lifted his shoulder in a casual shrug, but I could see the anger in the tightness around his eyes. “It’s not like I can toss one of my betas into the lion’s den. This way, if the crazy asshole objects, he can bring his bullshit straight to me.”

Nineteen - Reed

I’d always known Jasper was in deep with Vail, but as I headed to the gym the next morning, I had to wonder if his obsession wasn’t tipping him over the edge. Because as I rounded the corner, I saw one of my freshman wolves coming out of the locker room with a shocked look on her face. She tried to turn and head in the other direction, but I nailed her with a look. “What’s going on?”

“Mean girl stuff,” she whispered. When I just stared at her, she flushed and added, “They’re making fun of Vail Marrow’s collar.”

Of course, they were. Because the fact the new Clan Alpha had singled her out was the hottest gossip on campus. Or at least in the female circles, since most of the males were too careful to offer an opinion outside the safety of their dorm rooms. Not so the she-wolves, and their reactions had surprised me. While some of them seemed sympathetic to Vail’s plight, more of them were pissed off. And not because a fellow sister was being punished, but because they were jealous of the attention. As if by making her untouchable to other males, Jasper had elevated her above her omega status. Maybe even thrown her whole pack ranking into question.

“Hey,” I barked, as I entered the locker room to find Pearl and her friends crowding around Vail. She had a bloody lip, but she was holding a cheer baton like it was a baseball bat and looked more than ready to use it. “Back off, Pearl. You got a problem with Jasper’s actions, you should take it up with him.”

The Arras alpha turned and gave me a sneer. “I pity you, Reed. All those nights you complained about how she was messing with pack status. How you wished she’d just grab a clue and get the hell out. Can’t imagine how depressing it was to find the dud runt was a Marshall.” She turned on her heel, brushing against my arm on her way to the door. “Let me know if you want to blow off some steam again. I’m in the rose cottage, but I’m happy to make a house visit for you.”

I shot her an irritated look. Pearl and I had never been anything but friends. Her alpha’s behavior around the Hunter Moon had made us allies, but she knew I didn’t sleep around, and she’d been too hung up on Jay, anyway. But at the wounded look on Vail’s face, it was clear she was prepared to stretch the truth if it meant the omega would take a hit. And I couldn’t really say she was lying about how I’d wished Vail would leave the academy. Not when I’d had an active hand in driving her out.

I waited until Pearl and her friends left the locker room before I said, “Did those girls write that bullshit on your face?”

She looked surprised by the question, but then a kind of weariness settled over her. “I’ve heard worse since the news of my new accessory got out.” Tossing the baton aside, she folded her arms. “But Pearl’s right. You didn’t ask for this bullshit. Now you’ve done your duty, you can go.”

There were a lot of things I could have said to that. Like she was an omega, and telling her alphason what to do with his duty was way out of line. Or even that as much as she felt bad about blowing me off at the dance, I was the one who owed her. Not just for failing to protect her now, but for the other times I’d left her defenseless against Pearl’s bullshit. But all I said was, “We have a class.”

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