Page 23 of Collateral Omega

“I told you this was a bad idea,” Klane mumbled.

“Not the time,” Xaine bit out.

“It never is,” Klane said. He connected with Dr Micha. And an hour later, Xaine was back at the health centre. Sedated and in bed. The pain, a thing of the past. Xaine felt so good, he could sleep forever.

“Is he going to be alright?” Xaine heard Klane asked, worriedly.

“Yes. His body is just reacting to the drug. We’ll keep him here for a few days to make it easy on him. Don’t worry.”

“Okay. I…”

Xaine didn’t hear the rest of what Klane said as he drifted away. The next day, Xaine felt a little better, but his muscles were weak. He could barely pick up a cup to drink water.

Klane gave Xaine worried glances that slowly irritated him as the days went by. Xaine needed to find Klane something. Clearly, running Covus Holding wasn’t enough for the beta. He was making Xaine feel like he’d made the biggest mistake of his life.

It was a mistake that needed to be made, Xaine thought, as he gingerly got out of bed and made his way to the washroom. He did his business and cleaned himself as best as he could without getting into the bathing bot. Though he longed to submerge his body in warm soothing water. He didn’t because he was still weak. He was recovering his strength, though it was taking forever.

He returned to his room and got into bed. He reached for the controller and switched the viewer on. Xaine didn’t watch the viewer much before he came to the health centre, but he was bored out of his mind.

He needed something to keep him entertained before he turned into the annoying patient Dr Micha was trying to avoid. The screen blinked and Maxus Kohle’s face came into view. Xaine couldn’t believe they got rid of Deltta Kohle just like that. The alpha had been a good alpha king.

“Our focus right now is transporting our omegas safely into commune houses and making sure they’re settled. We are aware that we can never replace their homes, but we aim to provide a high standard of living for their wellbeing.”

“That’s a massive undertaking,” the interviewer said.

Fuck, it was. Xaine couldn’t imagine what the council of alphas had to do to get the commune houses up and running within a year. The logistics alone were probably a nightmare. Xaine stared at the screen as an idea popped into his mind.

“Yes, but we are prepared to go above and beyond for our omegas. We…”

Xaine turned off the viewer and reached for his connector. Excitement rushed through him, causing his fingers to tingle. For the next couple of hours, he refined his idea. And by the time Klane visited for the day, Xaine had a concrete plan.

“I’ve been thinking,” Xaine said as Klane walked through the door.

“Hello to you too,” Klane said, walking closer to the bed. “Are you feeling better today?”

Xaine waved him off. “Jailen said the diamonds in the storage room were a gift, right? I think we should put them to good use.”

“How? Do you want to deal with the storage room now?”

“No. Just the diamonds. I want to pledge a hundred commune houses and transport services to assist the council of alphas. The logistics of getting the omegas from their homes to the commune houses must be a challenge. Covus Holdings owns the central station and every shuttle in it. Transportation won’t be a problem for us.”

“True. But it might cost us.”

“I own half the damn planet. I doubt I’ll feel it. Besides, most of the cost will be covered by the credit we make from selling the diamonds,” Xaine said. “Here is the plan. I’m trusting you to put it in effect.”

“Yes, master.” Klane reached for the connector. His eyes widened as he read through it. “You want me to release a statement today?”

“That shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Yes, but…maybe you should wait until you’re out of here.”

“Why wait? Go,” Xaine said impatiently. He lay back down and closed his eyes, feeling a little better. His dad might have taken from the planet, he was going to give back to it. He was going to create his own legacy.

That afternoon, Klane released a statement stating Xaine intentions, and by the next day it was everywhere. The news outlets were talking about it. Xaine’s images popped up on every site along with his dads.

The headlines were vicious.

Xaine sighed when he read them.

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