Page 98 of The Wronged Omega

“There were innocent people in there. What have you done?” Ellie’s eyes were filled with tears as she punched Sloane in the face, then turned to Arthur. “You’re lucky you’re old.”

“Wait a second!” Sloane yelled through the chaos of everyone else joining on Ellie’s tirade. Even I was signing up a storm, cussing him out for the bullshit he pulled. “No one that didn’t deserve to die died! Arthur, please?”

Arthur stepped forward, effectively shutting us all up. “I warned the council members I knew wanted a new regime to take over, cleared out our dungeon, and even sent out a notice during the meeting to all the staff that wasn’t on their side to remove themselves from the premises. I have worked years at earning their trust, and I trust that they all escaped. If not, I am sorry for their loss, but I did what I could to prevent unnecessary casualties.”

My jaw dropped open. Did he think “oh, I tried” dissolved him of any wrongdoing?

Before Ellie or anyone else could step forward, I took matters into my own hands, old man or not, and punched Arthur in the face.

Thanks for saving us and fucking them over, but that’s messed up. And Sloane. I thought I could trust you.

I was being unfair, and I also wasn’t. The council needed to be taken down, and realistically, I knew that even if we lost some innocent lives in this, it was a fair trade. Actually, far more than a fair trade. The entire staff could have been in there, and it still might have evened out, but emotionally and morally, I hated the chance they took.

“Who’s to say none of the council was tipped off and escaped before this? You told some, but what if the others managed to figure it out? What then? We’d be more fucked than before,” Odie rambled as Leona and Iker stood near the back with dumbfounded looks on their faces, Cy backed up Odie with the meanest glare I had ever seen on her, and Ellie and Gerard fumed from beside me.

“It was a chance we had to take. You don’t have to like this. You don’t have to agree with any part of it. That’s part of why you weren’t told. This ending was inevitable. They had to be taken out. There was no other option, and we had to work fast. No other plan would have worked. The long play wasn’t viable. They would snuff us out and end us. Acting now and fast with no remorse was the only way.” Sloane’s voice was nearly to the point of a whine, and it was odd seeing an Alpha behave in such a way.

The rest of us glanced at each other, various looks of horror and acceptance gracing our features. We understood why they did it. It was a great plan in all honesty, but they were right. We also didn’t like it. For some of us, I thought it had more to do with being left out of the plan. For Odie, Cy, Leona, and Iker, I figured that was the main issue because the objective was complete and the people they cared about were safe. For Gerard, Ellie, and I, it was more. Despite fighting the instincts that Omegas had at times, they were always right there ready to burst out at a moment’s notice. They forced us to care a little more, which is why Bernard and the others were so strange to me. They might call me a mutant, but they were far more gone than I would ever be. Alastor was the odd man out. I couldn’t read him quite yet, but with his eyes flicking to Ellie over and over, I figured he was more on team one. As long as Ellie was safe, who gave a fuck?

“So now what?” Ellie’s voice was small, and I chuckled, watching Alastor’s hand twitch before he prevented himself from comforting her. “What’s so funny?” she snapped at me, and I raised a brow.

You know what.

She pinched her lips together and didn’t say anything. No one else got what I meant, which was even more amusing, so my chuckle turned into laughter.

Despite not knowing why I was laughing, it was contagious, and everyone soon joined in, letting off a little of the steam and anxiety from the last twelve hours. That’s all it had been, or maybe a little more since the sun sat high in the sky and beamed down on the remaining rubble of the estate and the deceased council members within it.

The laughter died down, and I reiterated Ellie’s previous question. Now what?

“Now we take a minute, clean ourselves up, and let Sloane and Arthur deal with the mess we created. Tomorrow, we will help finish the fight and begin rebuilding what they destroyed.” Odie stepped forward and held out her hand to Sloane, then Arthur who both took it and shook.

“Agreed?”

“As long as you’re not hell bent on punishing me for keeping a secret, yeah, agreed.” Sloane looked sheepish as he smiled at Odie.

“Oh, I’m going to get you back, but thank you for saving what is mine.” With that, Odie turned around and picked me up again, heading down the trail.

Arthur called after us, stating that two SUVs would be waiting for us down at the entrance to the estate, but we should hurry to avoid being caught up with first responders and anyone else who was brought in to deal with this mess.

As we made it down the hill, leaving Sloane and Arthur behind, I finally saw that Alastor had given Ellie a piggyback ride down the hill to prevent more damage to her bare feet, and Leona did the same with Gerard. I couldn’t help thinking they were cute together as well. Maybe they weren’t meant to be together, but a friendship might arise if nothing else.

We walked along, carried or otherwise, until we reached the cars. Our mini team of highly trained security checked every part of the vehicles before deeming them safe. There were no drivers, but the keys were left in the center console for us. Leona took car one with Iker and Gerard. Car two was a little more packed with Odie at the wheel, Alastor in the passenger seat—as demanded by Cy—and Cy, Ellie, and I in the back with me in the middle.

The drive back to the mansion wasn’t long, but I fell asleep on Cy with Ellie falling asleep on me, so I wasn’t quite sure how long it really was. I needed the rest, but what I really needed was a nice long shower, then a soak in the tub, then a massage, then a week of more sleep. Food had to happen somewhere in there along with an entire pitcher of water and maybe some booze.

I didn’t know how they managed to do things like this for their jobs and not want to spend a week in bed due to exhaustion afterward. This was unlike anything I had been through before. Physical damage was one thing, but this was a mental load I never imagined having.

We pulled into the driveway, and everyone hopped out as soon as the cars were parked. The dining room was as we left it. The plates of food were strewn about, blood splatters filled the right corner just inside the doorway where Cy, Leona, and I took turns fucking up Oliver. Our phones were also still on the table as if they never expected us to return.

The house was quiet, and a thought crossed my mind about what they possibly told the staff. Were they still here somewhere, waiting for news, or had they been rushed off away from the mansion?

These, and many others, were questions for tomorrow when the real work began.

The council was gone, and we had one day to sort out our personal affairs before more chaos began, but at least this time, it was the good kind of chaos. The chaos that brought change to the world and a hope for a better future.

For now, I planned to spend the next twenty-four hours with my mates and seal the wound between us for good. I almost lost them, and I wasn’t planning on letting them wander too far anytime soon. I loved them, and they deserved to know just how much.

Chapter 49

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