No Safe Place

The emergency alarm continued to howl through Blackthorn Academy, drowning out the confusion that erupted in the corridors. Students shouted questions as security officers hurried from one end of the building to the other, trying to determine which doors had been sealed and why. The red emergency lights continued flashing overhead, making the academy look less like a school and more like a prison.

Rei stood beside Dominic, staring at the locked security doors.

"What does lockdown mean?"

"It means nobody gets in or out until security lifts it."

Her stomach tightened. "So we're trapped."

"For the moment."

She turned toward him. "That's not comforting."

"I wasn't trying to comfort you."

"You're terrible at it."

"I've noticed."

Despite everything happening around them, Rei almost smiled.

Almost.

Then the pain returned.

It began as a dull pressure beneath her ribs before spreading through her entire body. Rei grabbed the edge of the desk beside her and forced herself to breathe. She had experienced the beginning stages of heat before, but suppressants had always kept the symptoms manageable. This was different. Without them, her body was responding with frightening speed.

Dominic noticed immediately.

"How long?"

Rei knew what he meant.

"I don't know."

"Guess."

She swallowed. "Hours. Maybe less."

His expression became grim.

"We need to get you somewhere private."

"I already have a room."

"They know where your room is."

Rei looked toward the hallway where the intruder had entered.

"Right."

Dominic glanced at the unconscious man being examined by security.

"We're not staying here."

A professor stepped toward them.

"Captain Vale, you need to report to the headmaster."

Dominic didn't move.

"She stays with me."

The professor's gaze shifted toward Rei.

"Miss Anderson needs to be taken to the infirmary."

"No."

Rei answered before Dominic could.

The professor looked surprised.

"I think the infirmary is the safest place."

Rei shook her head.

"Everyone knows where it is."

Dominic looked at her.

She continued, "If someone accessed my medical records, they could know exactly where I'd be taken."

The professor's face tightened.

"That's speculation."

"It doesn't matter."

Dominic stepped between them.

"She's right."

The professor frowned. "Then where do you intend to take her?"

Dominic looked toward the far end of the corridor.

"The old arena."

Rei stared at him.

"The abandoned one?"

"Nobody uses it anymore."

"Why would that be safer?"

"Because no one expects us to go there."

The professor immediately objected.

"Absolutely not."

Dominic turned toward him.

"Why?"

The professor hesitated.

"That building has been closed for years."

"Which is exactly why it's useful."

The professor's expression became strangely uncomfortable.

Rei noticed.

"So you've been there."

"No."

The answer came too quickly.

Dominic noticed it too.

"Then you won't mind if we use it."

The professor said nothing.

Dominic took Rei's backpack from the floor.

"Come on."

Rei followed him.

They made it halfway down the corridor before the lights suddenly went out.

Darkness swallowed the academy.

Rei stopped.

"Dominic?"

"I'm here."

She heard him move closer.

Then a sound came from somewhere behind them.

Footsteps.

Slow.

Measured.

Dominic immediately turned.

"Stay behind me."

This time Rei didn't argue.

A shadow moved at the end of the hallway.

Dominic's wolf surfaced beneath his skin.

"Who's there?"

No answer.

Then the emergency lights flickered back on.

The hallway was empty.

Dominic looked toward the security cameras.

Every one of them had gone dark.

Rei's stomach twisted.

"They're watching us."

"I know."

"How?"

He looked at the cameras.

"Because someone just disabled them."

Rei's pulse quickened.

They started moving again.

This time, Dominic stayed beside her instead of walking ahead.

Neither spoke until they reached the side entrance.

Dominic tried the door.

Locked.

He pulled out his phone.

"No signal."

Rei stared at him.

"Again?"

"Again."

She suddenly understood.

The communication blackout wasn't limited to her dormitory.

Someone had disabled the academy's internal systems.

They were isolated.

Someone wanted them isolated.

Dominic looked at her.

"Stay close."

Rei nodded.

They headed toward the underground maintenance passage.

---

The passage beneath Blackthorn was narrow and poorly lit. Rei had never known it existed, but Dominic seemed familiar with the layout.

"How do you know where you're going?"

"My father made me train here."

Rei glanced at him.

"Here?"

"Years ago."

"What kind of training?"

Dominic didn't answer immediately.

"Survival."

She frowned.

"Survival from what?"

"My father."

The answer was so blunt that Rei didn't know how to respond.

Dominic continued walking.

"He believed Alphas from our family had to be stronger than everyone else. When I failed, he punished me. When I succeeded, he raised the expectations."

Rei watched him carefully.

"That's why you disappeared last year?"

He nodded.

"He sent me away."

"For training?"

"For a year."

"Where?"

"Everywhere."

Rei waited.

Dominic finally glanced at her.

"Mountains. Forests. Fighting camps. Places where nobody cared if you came back."

Her expression softened.

"That's horrible."

"It made me stronger."

"That's not the same thing."

He looked at her.

"No."

For a moment, they walked in silence.

Then Rei said quietly, "My mother used to say the same thing about surviving."

Dominic looked at her.

"Surviving isn't living."

She nodded.

"Exactly."

The passage opened into an old underground garage.

Dominic found a set of keys hanging on a hook.

Rei stared.

"You're telling me the academy keeps emergency vehicles down here?"

"My father does."

"Why?"

"Because my family owns half the property around Blackthorn."

Rei stopped.

"What?"

Dominic sighed.

"I probably should have mentioned that."

"You think?"

He gave her a faint smile.

"I wasn't trying to impress you."

"You have a strange way of proving that."

They reached an old SUV.

Dominic unlocked it.

Rei climbed into the passenger seat.

The moment he started the engine, headlights illuminated the underground garage.

For the first time since the attack, Rei felt a tiny sense of relief.

They had a way out.

Then the garage doors began closing.

Dominic stepped on the accelerator.

The SUV shot forward.

The doors slammed down behind them.

Something struck the back window.

Rei screamed.

Dominic swerved.

Another impact shattered the rear glass.

"They're here!"

"I know."

A vehicle appeared behind them.

Black.

No license plate.

It followed them out of the academy grounds.

Rei looked through the broken window.

"How many?"

"One."

"Can we lose them?"

"Maybe."

"That doesn't sound confident."

"It wasn't meant to."

Dominic accelerated.

The vehicle followed.

Rei's hands shook.

She hated cars.

She hated being trapped.

She hated having no control.

Dominic noticed her breathing.

"Look at me."

"I'm fine."

"Rei."

She turned.

"You're safe."

She almost laughed.

"That's what everyone keeps saying."

"I'm not everyone."

Something about his voice made her believe him.

She looked away.

The pursuing vehicle suddenly accelerated.

Dominic cursed.

"They're trying to force us off the road."

"What do we do?"

"I have an idea."

He turned sharply onto a narrow service road.

The other vehicle followed.

Rei gripped the door.

"Your idea better be good."

"It is."

"That doesn't sound reassuring."

Dominic smiled.

Then he slammed the brakes.

The SUV spun.

The pursuing vehicle shot past them.

Dominic immediately accelerated in the opposite direction.

Rei stared at him.

"You just did that on purpose."

"Yes."

"You're insane."

"Probably."

She couldn't stop herself.

She laughed.

It was brief and frightened, but it was still a laugh.

Dominic glanced at her.

For a moment, the danger disappeared.

Then Rei's expression changed.

Her scent filled the vehicle.

Dominic's hands tightened around the steering wheel.

His wolf surged.

Mate.

He forced it down.

Not now.

Not when she was vulnerable.

Not when she had spent her entire life fearing exactly this kind of loss of control.

He pulled the SUV into an abandoned service building and shut off the engine.

"We're staying here until I know they're gone."

Rei looked around.

The building was dark and dusty.

"Where are we?"

"Old training facility."

"Your father's?"

"Yes."

She looked at him.

"Does everything belong to your family?"

"Unfortunately."

Despite herself, she smiled.

Then pain swept through her again.

She doubled over.

Dominic immediately opened his door.

"Rei."

"I'm okay."

"You aren't."

"I can handle it."

"I know."

He came around the vehicle and opened her door.

This time, he didn't touch her.

He simply crouched beside the vehicle.

"Tell me what you need."

Rei looked at him.

The question caught her off guard.

Nobody ever asked.

They usually decided.

Her mother had decided.

Doctors had decided.

Her stepfather had decided.

Teachers had decided.

The academy had decided.

Even her own body sometimes seemed to decide things without asking her permission.

But Dominic was waiting.

"Water," she whispered.

He nodded.

"Anything else?"

"My medication."

His expression tightened.

"I'll find it."

She shook her head.

"No."

"What?"

"Don't leave me."

The words escaped before she could stop them.

Dominic stared at her.

Rei looked away, embarrassed.

"I didn't mean—"

"I'll stay."

His voice was quiet.

"I'll stay."

---

They had been inside the old facility for nearly an hour when Dominic discovered the room.

It was hidden behind a false wall.

Inside were shelves filled with old documents, equipment, photographs, and sealed boxes.

Rei stepped inside.

"What's this?"

Dominic looked around.

"My father's records."

Her attention immediately went to the photographs.

There were dozens.

Some were of Dominic as a child.

Others showed his family.

Then Rei saw her.

Elara.

Standing beside Dominic's father.

She moved closer.

"What was my grandmother doing with him?"

Dominic picked up another photograph.

The date was written beneath it.

1974.

Elara looked younger than the woman in the other photograph.

Dominic's father was barely older than a teenager.

Rei studied their faces.

"They knew each other."

"Apparently."

She found another photograph.

This one showed several people standing together.

At the center was Elara.

Around her were members of several powerful Alpha families.

Rei's eyes moved across the photograph.

Then she noticed something.

A young boy stood at the edge.

Dominic's father.

Beside him was another child.

Rei stared.

She knew that face.

She had seen it in her mother's photographs.

Her mother's older brother.

Except her mother had always told her that he died as a baby.

Rei's fingers began trembling.

"Dominic."

He looked at her.

"My mother lied to me."

"About what?"

Rei pointed toward the photograph.

"My uncle."

Dominic studied it.

"Your uncle was alive."

"According to my mother, he died before I was born."

Dominic looked through another file.

Then his expression changed.

"Rei."

"What?"

He handed her a document.

At the top was a medical record.

The patient's name had been blacked out.

But the date of birth remained.

The same date Rei's mother had always given her for her brother.

Below it was one line.

Transferred to Blackthorn Academy — Omega Genetic Research Division.

Rei stared at the words.

"What is the Omega Genetic Research Division?"

Dominic didn't answer.

Because neither of them had heard the door open.

A voice came from behind them.

"I was wondering when you would find that."

Rei turned.

The professor from the academy stood in the doorway.

Dominic immediately moved in front of her.

The professor smiled.

"Your father always did underestimate you, Dominic."

Dominic's eyes flashed silver.

"You knew."

"I knew everything."

Rei's stomach dropped.

"Where is my mother?"

The professor's smile disappeared.

"She's alive."

Rei's heart stopped.

"Where?"

"That depends."

"On what?"

The professor looked directly at her.

"On whether you are willing to learn what your grandmother really was."

Dominic stepped forward.

"You're not taking her anywhere."

The professor laughed.

"That's the difference between you and your father."

Dominic's fists clenched.

"What difference?"

"Your father understands that some bloodlines belong to the academy."

Rei felt a chill.

"And mine?"

The professor looked at her.

"Your bloodline doesn't belong to the academy."

He paused.

"It belongs to whoever controls the first Omega."

Rei stared at him.

"The first Omega?"

The professor smiled.

"You've spent your whole life believing you were the victim of a broken family."

He stepped into the room.

"But your family wasn't broken."

His gaze settled on Rei.

"It was hiding you."

The room seemed to shrink around her.

Dominic looked at Rei.

She could see the same realization forming in his eyes.

Her entire childhood had been built around secrets.

Her mother's silence.

Her grandmother's disappearance.

The mysterious bloodline.

The academy registry.

The stolen suppressants.

And now her uncle.

Nothing had been random.

The professor reached for the door.

"Your grandmother escaped us once."

He looked directly at Rei.

"We won't make that mistake again."

The door slammed shut.

A lock clicked.

Dominic immediately turned toward it.

Rei looked at him.

"What are we going to do?"

Dominic looked back at her.

"We're going to find your mother."

"And then?"

His eyes hardened.

"Then we're going to find out exactly what Blackthorn has been hiding."

Outside the room, footsteps multiplied.

They were no longer alone.

And for the first time, Rei understood the true danger.

The people hunting her weren't trying to kill her.

They wanted her alive.

Because whatever was inside her blood was worth more to them than her life.

And Dominic was standing between them and their prize.