Page 68 of The Omega Lesson

Fuck that.

I activate the video on my phone and push the door open, stepping into the small room. It barely qualifies as an office. There’s a large, spotless desk and an old filing cabinet, but not much else. I glance at the wooden paddle hanging on the wall next to the academy crest, anger burning in my chest. But then I hear a muffled grunt coming through a door at the back of the room. It’s only cracked an inch, but the sour stench that wafts through makes my heart clench. Especially when I realise it’s laced with a crushed-mint scent.

I nudge the door wider with my phone, barely able to swallow back the growl in my throat. Drummond is in his cadet khakis, the sleeves rolled up over his thick forearms. He’s holding a black leather paddle shaped like a spatula, his other hand resting heavily on Mattie’s back. My horrified gaze runs up his body, which is bent over a saddle bench, to where his hands are cuffed to a bullring in the wall. He’s fully clothed, but my hackles flare at the possessive way the other alpha is touching my mate.

Mattie sees me out of the corner of his eye, and he scowls, anger and shame flooding his face. I step towards him right as Drummond turns my way. “You here for your lesson, Miss Novak?” He gives me an ugly grin as he nods towards the rows of paddles, floggers, and crops mounted on the wall. “We were just selecting today’s learning aid. Matthew here picks thin leather over heavy wood every time. Stings more, but bruises less.”

My heart is racing so hard I can barely draw a breath. But I push the words out, my head spinning sickeningly at the force of my command.“Get your fucking hands off him!”

There’s no way Drummond can’t feel the force of my dominance, but the only sign is the careful way he touches the side of the bench. His hand flexes, his eyes narrowing as he looks me over. “This is not your concern, Miss Novak.”

“Everything about this is my concern!” I spit, holding up my phone so he can see the recording. “And if youeverhit Matthew again, this recording will go to the police and I’ll have you up on abuse charges.”

A feral light sparks in Drummond’s eyes, his gaze sliding to my phone. “Give that to me right now.”

There’s dominance in his voice, but it has nothing on the adrenaline flooding my system. “Unlock him and back up against the wall, or I will call the headmaster down right now.”

Drummond’s lip curls. “You think he doesn’t know? Miller’s been in this room more times than he’s had hot lunches.” He flips the paddle in his hand, then takes a ring of keys from his belt. “All you’re doing is delaying the boy’s punishment. And putting a bullseye on your back.”

I ignore him, watching as he unlocks Mattie and steps away. I grab his arm, pulling him back towards the door, but Drummond just sneers at us. “You don’t belong here. Either of you. And I’ll be making that clear at your probation hearing.”

There are so many things I want to hurl at him right now, but I just pocket my phone and slide my fingers through Mattie’s. His arm is stiff, his face averted, but I don’t stop pulling him until we’re around the gym and headed away from the school. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

“He barely got started,” Mattie murmurs, his eyes on his shoes. “How did you know I was there?”

“Darren Fraser told me.” I wave off his startled look. “It doesn’t matter. I’m taking you home, and then we’re calling the headmaster…”

The words are barely out of my mouth when there’s a thundering sound behind me and I whirl around so fast I nearly fall over. I’m half-expecting Drummond to be coming at me with a tank, but it’s the Master of Dressage, charging towards us like a black knight on his stallion. He skids to a halt barely a metre away, his eyes wild as he looks us over. “What the fuck happened? I just felt a punch through the bond that nearly knocked me out of the saddle! And that shit doesnothappen!”

Well, crap.

“It’s nothing,” Mattie scoffs. “I’m fine. You’re both overreacting.”

But Noah is out of his saddle in a flash, striding towards us. He grabs us both, which isn’t easy since I’m still vibrating with tension, and Mattie is as stiff as a board. “Whatever happened, we need to go.”

“What?” I look behind me again, my hackles rising. “Where? Who’s coming?”

“Cliffhanger’s changed his flight plan and is landing in The Wet.”

I gape at him, like he’s speaking in code. Can a plane even land in a swamp?

But Mattie groans. “He’s cominghere? This ismajoroverkill…”

I shoot him an apologetic glance, but Noah just smirks and kisses us both hard on the mouth. “Don’t you know better than to spook a man with a helicopter at his beck and call?”

Ben

Noah texts me that they’re all at Lexi’s cottage, so I tell my pilot to wait while I jog the short distance from The Wet. It wasn’t exactly easy finding a stable place to land, but then, the guy had to pick me up from a superyacht in the middle of the Indian Ocean. He’s learned how to adapt.

Me, not so much. I was planning romantic dates in my head when I got Lexi’s troubling call. And then I felt something in the pack bonds. A quiver, like the same helpless panic I sensed in Mattie when I took him from that squalid flat in Sydney. Fuck me. If Drummond is hurting him – if he’sbreathed wrongon my baby brother – he’s a dead man.

I’m in a suit for the flight home, but I’m sweating so hard I have to lose my jacket before I reach her cottage. I give the old building a baleful look as I leap up the steps to the verandah. As much as I’d like to swing a wrecking ball at it, in a situation like this, I have to admit that at least it’s convenient.

But by the time I reach the tiny living area, I’ve wiped all expression from my face. I can sense tension, but not the crushing sort of emotions they’d be projecting if anything was seriously wrong. “This feels like the teacher student conference I missed. Everything okay?”

They’re all huddled together on Lexi’s old couch, but the contrast with Saturday night is painfully obvious. Lexi leaps to her feet as soon as she sees me, her eyes stark in her pale face. At first, I think it’s fear muddying her scent, but then I realise it’s anger. Like the flash of heat you get after a bushfire has taken out a forest. “It’s okay,” she says shortly. “But we have a bit of a problem with the Master of Discipline.”

I nod, my gaze bouncing from Mattie’s averted face to Noah and back to Lexi. “I know the arsehole. What about him?”

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