Page 63 of The Wronged Omega

“Yes, but we knew I was an Alpha early on, and he wanted me to take the position anyway. The council was against it. He had hoped they would change their minds as the years went on, but they never did.” Odie paused as if things would start clicking into place for Ellie, but she simply stared at her sister. “So when I was nineteen, Dad mated with your mom in hopes of having an Omega heir that could fill the void I had left.”

Ellie’s nostrils flared, but she remained still and silent. Had she figured it out before now, or was this fresh news that would sting for ages?

“Right,” Ellie said, her voice hardened and nearly unrecognizable. “I figured as much. The age difference between us and how hard he had me trained. I’m not an idiot, Odie. What does that have to do with you leaving?”

“Everything. From the moment he decided to have you, Cy and I planned to leave, but you were my little sister, and I couldn’t leave you there alone. We did everything we could to move up in the ranks and gain enough equity to leave it all behind. We had a plan, and everything was working, but getting you away from him was going to be the trickiest part. We didn’t know how to do it. He needs an heir, and after hearing what he had to say that night, there’s more reasons behind it than we thought. I doubt it’s as simple as keeping power. It’s more keeping power away from others who would abuse it more harshly than he did.”

“I don’t get it.”

I held up my notebook which read, I also don’t get it.

“This all made sense at the time, but it sounds more jumbled and misguided now. We got out when we could and were waiting for a time to take Ellie with us that made sense. We didn’t want to get her hopes up and foolishly left her thinking we had abandoned her instead. Everything has slowly worked out in a much worse fashion than we expected, but you’re here now, and you don’t have to go back and follow in his footsteps if you don’t want to.”

“But if I don’t, someone else will.”

“Yes, and we have no idea who that would be. There are obvious front runners, Omega heirs that would make sense, but no proof that any of them would be picked over the others.” Cy looked serious from her spot on the couch, and her blue eyes were stormy.

“This sucks.” Ellie sat back, removing her hand from her sister’s.

“It does. I’d wish I had been able to take his role, but that would mean you’d never exist, so I’m not that sorry about it.”

“Oh ha ha,” Ellie joked. “Can we talk about something else now? I have a few years before I need to make a decision on this, so I will be ignoring it until that gets closer. Okay?”

“If that’s what you want. I just wanted you to know that we never meant to abandon you, that we always meant to have you here and safe with us if that’s what you chose.”

“I get it. Thank you, but next time, don’t lie to me. I would have much rather had my hopes up and lied to Dad about it than be miserable for a whole year without you.”

Odie and Cy dropped their heads, then shared a saddened look. They knew they messed up, and I wished I had been there to set them straight from the beginning.

However, as she said, things were working out on their own, although it was a lot messier than anyone could have predicted.

As long as things stayed calm, I’d say it was a win overall. We could live our lives for the next few years and handle the Omega craziness that came our way until Ellie had to decide which way her future would go.

I sat back with a glass of lemonade in hand, and peace took over. My nest was ready, I was healing, and I was surrounded by my favorite people in the world. Well, my favorite living people. If only my parents were here to see what I had become, and Grandma… she would be so proud of me.

Chapter 31

Odie

We all sat at the table inside, eating blackened salmon and green beans. It was delicious as always, but Ellie dumping hot sauce on her salmon made me a little queasy. Mine didn’t bat an eye and even tried a little bit of it. She didn’t vomit on the table, so I took that as a good sign, but I couldn’t get myself to taste it.

“Come on, Odie, it’s good!” Ellie tried shoving a fork full at me, but I dodged her.

“Never.”

“But it’s just a spicy salmon. You like spicy things.” Ellie pouted, but I was not giving into her this time.

“Nope. I’ll accept a regular spicy salmon with a chipotle sauce or something like that but not salmon slathered in Tabasco.” I scrunched my nose and tried to eat my own salmon without thinking about the abomination she had created.

“It’s chipotle Tabasco. It’s basically the same thing.”

“Not happening.”

“I’ll try it,” Cy said, taking the hot sauce and dabbing some on her plate before dipping some salmon in it and popping it into her mouth. “Oh, that’s not what I was expecting.”

“But it’s good, right?” Ellie said with hope shining on her face.

Mine watched the interactions with a small smile across from me, enjoying the food without disgust.

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