Page 109 of Two For the Show
She is brave, powerful, strong, and furious, and it is incredible to watch her berate the representatives of the media who came here today.
But when the governor comes striding out of the capital, I can see how her resolve falters. The quiver in her hands, the way her knees bend slightly.
I never met Tripp, but I have no doubt he looks like his father based on her reaction. An aged-up version of her abuser is walking toward her, and the fact that she is still standing is admirable.
I lend her my support, making it look like I’m holding her affectionately, so she doesn’t worry that she looks weak in front of the media.
The governor is a handsome Alpha, with a chiseled jaw and pale blue eyes. His hair is blond in a way that looks odd on an adult, and his mouth is set in a firm line. He holds a hand up as the press begins to shout questions at him.
They fall silent immediately, showing the power this man has over the situation.
“Good afternoon. I am as shocked as you are about today’s revelations. My team and I will meet with Dr. Shields and her pack, and then I will issue a formal statement. That is all.”
He turns on his heel and strides back into the building, his staffers gently and quietly urging us to follow. I would prefer not to, but I know this is what we have to do. What we came here to do.
We brought the fight to them, not waiting for a courtroom to try to enforce the order to return her to those cunts. Alex didn’t just take control of the narrative.
She dominated it.
We have the upper hand now.
How the governor handles this will be the defining moment of his career. He can try to smear an Omega abuse victim, refusing to believe her moving, devastating story, or he can condemn his son and his pack.
There is no middle ground here. It’s a lose-lose for Walter Evans, and I am so excited to see it unfold.
Jude leads us through the building, and the rest of us flank Alex, fitting her protectively in the middle of her pack. She’s keeping her head high, but I can see the way her hands tremble, and how her skin has paled.
No one says a word until the door to a conference room is opened after several turns down long corridors, and we file into the modest room. Governor Evans sits at the head of a long, rectangular table, in a prim charcoal suit, and his staff fans out around him. One of them has a Bluetooth headset in one ear like it’s still the early aughts, and another has a tablet and pen out. I pull out the chair directly opposite him at the other end of the table for Alex,giving her the appropriate place of power amongst our pack, before we take our seats.
There is a long silence before Evans speaks.
“Well, Dr. Shields. That was a dramatic tale.”
Oh, that was the wrong thing to say.
Slowly, I push to my feet and lean against the table, propping myself up with the palms of my hands. “You wanna try that again? Florida’s two-party consent rule for video and audio recording does not apply to public areas of a workplace, such as conference rooms, because there is no reasonable expectation of privacy. I’d love to get a second soundbite of your dismissive statement to my Omega. I don’t think that one is enough. I’m sure your constituents would love to hear more from you.”
I have not been recording.
I may also be talking out of my ass based on a quick internet search, just in case I needed to record something today.
But the governor blanches and clears his throat. “What I mean to say, Dr. Shields, is that I wish you had come to me directly to air your concerns, rather than calling a press conference.”
I roll my eyes but lower myself to my seat, not breaking eye contact with the weasel of a man.
“Could you blame me for not trusting you to do the right thing without public pressure? You had signed an order for me to be given over to my abusers, like a piece of property.” Her leg may be bouncing obsessively under the table, but her words are firm and do not show any indication that she is nervous. “I had the reasonable expectation that you would discount every word I said, chalk it up to me being a Foresaken Omega, and then put me back in your son’s arms.”
In public areas like this, there are typically scentneutralizers pumping through the air ducts, but I can still smell her bitter, burnt chocolate scent despite that. It’s hard to ignore her fear and anguish when she smells like that, and yet she is still a pillar of grace, with no outward sign that she is terrified of the outcome of this meeting.
I don’t know if her scent reaches the other side of the table, but I almost hope it does. They wouldn’t be able to deny her then.
There is no hiding how afraid she is of the potential of being handed over to those monsters when you smell the fear that soaks her pheromones.
“It is abundantly apparent that you are of sound mind. There would have been no question that you could make your own choices,” he says tightly. Such a fucking politician.
Matteo pulls out his phone. “Is that so? I have an email here, forwarded to me from the Designation Director of California, Warner Bradley, in which he informed you that Alex had gone into heat and would be unable to comply with the extradition order. Do you remember what you said to him?” My Beta dismissively waves his hand. “Let’s say you don’t, since I am sure you send hundreds of emails a day. I can remind you. You said, quote, ‘The Omega can be administered suppressants and put on a plane. That is no excuse to deny a lawful order to return an Omega to her rightful caregivers.’”
The governor’s hands clench so hard on the top of the table that his knuckles turn white.
