Chapter 108

Ollie’s POV

Professor Hunter leads me to his office, a smallish room on the third floor with his name on the door. The entire space is filled with books and papers covered in notes. Everything from notebooks, to free slips of papers to words hastily scribbled in the margins of books, is strewn about.

The room is messy, with the books and notes stacked high on every available surface. When we enter, he moves a stack of books away from a chair so that I can sit down.

Even after he does so though, there is no place for him to sit down, so I choose to stand as well.

For a moment, we just stand there, looking at each other.

I am surprised I actually managed to find him, and then I am doubly-surprised because he seems to be looking back at me in much the same way, like he can’t believe I am here.

He speaks first, “I firmly believe that Omegas should not be treated as poorly as they are. Many people believe they are the servant class, but that is simply not true. In fact, fundamentally, any differences in Omegas seemed learned, rather than there since birth.”

His words are bold, spoken confidently. Here he is, talking about uprooting a social system that has been in place for hundreds if not thousands of years, like it’s nothing. Or like he is giving a matter-of-fact lecture.

Again, I am endeared to him, to the kind of man he is. Even from his own position of privilege, he would speak for others.

Both his words and his outgoing position spark a renewed hope in me.

“Do you really think we can change anything?” I ask.

His eyes droop down slightly on the outside, giving him a seemingly permanent kind of sad-eye look.

“Things change every single day. The small and the big things,” he says. “Why not this?”

His feelings on omegas makes me want to trust him, as does the earnest expression on his face. In this moment, maybe because I’m so moved by who he is and his words, I find myself wanting to share things with him, secrets that would perhaps be best left unsaid.

But if I’m going to have an ally in someone as powerful and well-spoken as Professor Hunter, then perhaps I need to give a little something of myself back to him as well.

“I’ve found my fated mates,” I say.

“Mates? Plural?” He doesn’t wait for me to answer. “Interesting.”

I press on. “I’ve been keeping my identity a secret. If they find out the truth…”

“Because you are an omega?” Professor Hunter asked.

Because I’m me. But I’m sure being an Omega is part of it. After all, the brothers only labeled me an omega because they perceived an insult against their beloved Sylvia.

Now my whole life is a mess.

I don’t answer the professor’s question. I just continue on.

“To hide myself from them, I’ve been confining my wolf and hiding my scent.”

He perks again. “That’s dangerous,” he says.

“I will do whatever I have to do to keep myself safe,” I say. “I can’t trust my mates, and if they discover the truth…” I lower my head. “I’m scared of what might happen. They’ll likely confine me, when all I really want to do is leave. But I can’t leave the pack because –”

“Because you are an omega,” he finishes for me.

“Yes,” I tell him.

Hunter places his hand under his chin. “I’ve been taking actions to encourage more universities to accept omegas from other packs. So far… I’ve had mixed results. But there is hope for the future. If you could just hang on for a little while… I know it’s not an ideal situation…”

“It isn’t,” I say, “But that’s not your fault. I appreciate your hard work, and maybe in the future things will be different…”

“I’m sure of it,” he says, and then seems somewhat distracted. Looking at me, he tilts his head. “I hate to ask an invasive question, but you are an orphan, aren’t you, Ollie?”

“Yes…” I say, unsure where he’s going with this.

“So you have no idea of your family line or your medical history.”

“No,” I tell him.

He stroked his chin with his fingers. “My latest research involves omega bloodlines. Oftentimes the title is passed down, but I wonder if there is merit to that, or if it is simply the way things are done. If you would permit me, I would like to help you look into your background.”

“You want to know about me?” I ask. Ever since Sylvia’s appearance, any interest in me by anyone, not just the quadruplets, has waned. To hear that Professor Hunter is interested gives me a kind of shock, and I can’t quite believe it even though he doesn’t seem like the kind of person to lie.

“You are something of a blank slate, given that you don’t know much about your past. If we could look into it, if we could discover whether or not you have omegas in your true lineage, or not, as I’m hoping, then we can see if there’s a correlation. Or, as I’m hoping, there is not.”

“And you truly think that I could be someone to help prove or disprove this theory…?”

“Ollie, I think you are the key that could open everything.”

Professor Hunter and I talk for a little while longer, and then he leads me back downstairs to be sure that I don’t get lost on the way. As we say goodbye, he gets back on the elevator.

But then I turn around and walk toward the door.

Sylvia is there, watching. “I see how you spend your time,” she says. “Already fooling around with a professor? I didn’t think you had it in you, but I should have known better. You’ve always been a whore. This is Jake all over again, but worse because this is an actual professor.”

Normally, I would blow her off. She clearly has the wrong idea, but it’s not on me to correct her misconceptions. I don’t think there’s anything I could say anyway to change her mind.

But this? This feels like a new blow.

“He’s a professor,” I say. “We were just talking.”

“You are using your body to get good grades.”

“I’m not even taking his classes!”

“Well, you are preparing for when you do.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“You looked chummy,” she says, placing a hand on her hip.

I hurry toward her, especially as other people enter the hallway. I don’t want anyone to overhear this argument and get the wrong idea about me. But that seems to be Sylvia’s plan. She wants as many people as possible to think the worst about me.

She wants to sabotage my time at this school before I even begin, setting me up for failure. She’s likely been searching for ways, hoping I would do something like this – sneaking off on my own, trying to make a nook in the university for myself.

She wants to ruin this for me, ruin everything.

Right now, short of tackling her and covering her mouth with her hand, I can’t stop what’s about to come.

And to do that would lead to even worse outcomes.

“Ollie,” she says, speaking loudly, to announce to the entire crowded hallway. She’s smirking at me. “I can’t believe you would try to seduce Professor Hunter just so you can get better grades.”