Page 66 of Omega Sanctuary

I arrived at the classroom, a long corridor of hallways to the west of the Temple, and opened the door.

Ten other faces turned to me, and I had flashbacks of my first day at school. At least I'd grown up with those kids.

The class was all girls, and most of them were teenagers. Two of the girls looked a little older, maybe eighteen or so, but the youngest in the class had to be around fourteen.

"Ah, Zara." The priestess stood up. "I am Priestess Merete." This priestess was middle aged, and surprisingly, a beta.

I'd expected every priestess in the temple to be an omega, but I supposed there was no reason we needed an omega to teach us everything.

"Have a seat." Merete gestured at a cushion near the front.

The classroom was large, with hanging plants and a wall of books I itched to touch. I took my seat next to a girl who couldn't be more than sixteen and tried to figure out how my life had come to this.

"How old are you?" the girl next to me asked. "Did you get held back?"

The class giggled at that. Great, just...super great.

Merete frowned. "Giselda. Sometimes an omega switches late in life. There's no shame in it."

Giselda eyed me. "Very late in life."

I raised my eyebrow at her. "I'm twenty one, alright?"

I almost told them I didn't switch late, but stopped. I was tired of talking about the Sanctuary missing me.

Another girl giggled, and Priestess Merete huffed. "Girls. Omegas switch at all ages. That is not important."

She gestured at a large map of the world on the wall. "You will all need to know basic etiquette. Should any of you chose an alpha that requires more diplomacy, we will provide you with more education."

Her tone indicated that in the meantime, we had to focus on what she was going to teach. I tried to focus on the various countries surrounding us. I knew their names—Arrick to the north, and Usharia to the south. The smaller kingdoms of Feldar, Rundania, and Eblon to the east. But history class was a long time ago, and I had only learned the basics. I wasn't noble to need to memorize which country we were currently allies with and which one was considering war.

I forced myself to pay attention. We had a break for lunch. As soon as Priestess Merete left the room, the teenagers descended on me like a pack of rabid wolved.

"When did you switch?" Giselda asked. She had a matter of fact tone that reminded me of Missy from the bakery.

"Don't bother her, Gigi," one of the younger girls said. She wore her blonde hair in elaborate braids. "Remember how scared you were on your first day?"

"But she's an adult, Tilda," Gigi said, looking at me. "Have you bonded with an alpha yet?"

The older girl huffed. She had dark brown skin like Deja, but her eyes were so light brown they looked gold. "Of course, she hasn't. If she did she wouldn't be here."

The entire group of girls looked at me.

"My name's Zara," I said. "And no, I haven't bonded to an alpha yet."

The older girl grinned. "Have you experimented though?"

I blushed. "Uhh, sort of."

"I'm Tilda," the girl with braids said. "This is Gisella, and Rowena, but we call them Gigi and Ro."

Ro, the older girl, shrugged. "I've been here for years. I'm almost eighteen, but they still won't let me bond to an alpha."

"It's a big decision," I said. "You'll be with him for the rest of your life."

Ro sighed and got a wistful look on her face. So she was seeing someone. "I know."

The other girls introduced themselves, and before lunch was over, Tilda conned me into letting her do my hair. She was fond of braids and did it in an uptwist. She was very good at it, since her father was a minor noble and she helped her sisters get dressed for banquets.

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