Page 50 of Omega in Love
Hero makes a sound that might be a suppressed laugh, his eyes crinkling at the corners. From my peripheral vision, I catch Dante's lips twitch suspiciously as he studies the city lights beyond the window, suddenly very interested in the skyline.
"Pack Daniels makes sense, I don't think the three of us would be okay with using one of ours. We're evolving," Levi says diplomatically, his deep voice a rumble beside me. His warm vanilla scent wraps around me and I resist the urge to lean further into his solid presence.
Charlotte's eyebrows shoot up, her smile widening. "Evolving, I like that. So mature. So, no Alpha-hole posturing. I'm loving you three. You're perfect for my Brookie." She raises her glass in their direction, a toast and an approval all at once.
I groan, dropping my head back against the plush sofa cushions, staring up at the ceiling. The champagne sloshes dangerously close to the rim of my flute. "Can we not do this tonight? I just walked in six different outfits without tripping, survived a political protestor screaming in the middle of my show, and tomorrow I have to stare down the man who—" I stop abruptly, the words catching in my throat like thorns. The room suddenly feels too warm, too close, the memory of hands and pain and terror threatening to surface.
The playfulness vanishes from Charlotte's face, replaced by immediate concern. Her eyes soften, and she sets her glass down on the coffee table with a gentle clink. "I'm sorry. You're right." Her voice has lost all its teasing edge, now carrying nothing but genuine remorse.
Levi's hand settles on my shoulder, warm and steady. I lean into it without thinking.
"It's fine," I sigh. "I'm just tired. And maybe a little on edge about tomorrow."
"That's understandable." Dante moves from the window to sit in the armchair across from me, his green eyes intent. "Facing him again won't be easy."
"But you won't be facing him alone," Hero adds quietly.
I look around at the four of them, Charlotte, who survived her own hell and came back stronger. Dante, whose quiet strength has become my cornerstone. Hero, whose watchful protection makes me feel seen rather than scrutinized; and Levi, whose gentle heart belies his powerful frame.
A year ago, I was alone, terrified, battered in ways both visible and not. Now I have this. Them.
"I know," I say softly. "That's the only reason I can do it."
Charlotte reaches over and squeezes my hand, her touch familiar and grounding. "Together, Brookes. A united front." Her eyes hold mine with that fierce loyalty I've come to rely on. The same look she gave me years ago when we were just two Omegas trying to survive in Houston.
I nod, feeling the tension gradually release from my shoulders like a slowly exhaled breath. The knots that have been building there for weeks loosen incrementally. Tomorrow will come with its own gauntlet of challenges—cameras flashing, whispers following, but tonight I'm safe. I'm surrounded by people who care about me. The broken pieces and the healing ones.
"Now," Charlotte says, her expression brightening as she reaches for the champagne bottle with elegant fingers, the diamond on her wrist catching the soft lamplight. "Shall we properly toast your triumphant return to the New York fashion scene?"
I laugh, the sound surprising me with its authenticity as I hold out my glass. The crystal catches the light, sending tinyrainbows dancing across the coffee table. "You just want an excuse to finish this bottle, you lush."
"It's Dom Pérignon, darling," she replies with mock offense, filling my glass with practiced precision. "One does not need an excuse. One simply requires the appropriate appreciation for life's finer offerings. Okay, I'm channeling Beaux's crazy ass." She winks, the familiar gesture making my heart swell with affection.
As the night unfolds around us, soft with laughter and warm with companionship, I find myself watching my three Alphas more than usual. Dante, ever vigilant by the window, his profile strong against the city lights. Hero, quiet but attentive, his hazel eyes missing nothing. Levi, his smile creating those dimples that make something flutter in my chest every time. I thought I would never find this, this sense of belonging, of safety after what happened. Here I am with three wonderful men who love me. Not the face on billboards or the body in designer clothes, but me. The real Brookes Daniels who cries at commercials and burns toast and sometimes wakes up screaming.
Evolving, Levi had said earlier, his deep voice rumbling through me like a caress. The word settles in my chest like a promise, taking root where fear once dominated.
Whatever tomorrow brings, the cameras, the questions, the memories, we'll face it together. After that? Well, maybe it's time to let this evolution take its natural course aiming us toward forever. Forever. The concept no longer terrifies me the way it once did. I catch Dante's eye across the room, and his subtle smile makes my heart race. I can't wait.
Chapter 23
Hero
The courtroom is colder than I expected. Not in temperature, but in atmosphere.
From my seat behind the prosecution's table, I can see everything. Senator Blaine sits in his tailored three-piece suit, navy, crisp, expensive. No matter how sharp the lines of his jacket are, he looks haggard. The arrogance he wore like armor during the pretrial hearings has eroded. His skin is sallow beneath the harsh fluorescent courtroom lights, yellowish and drawn. His jaw twitches every time a new witness steps up, a nervous tic betraying his composure. He knows he's going down.
He just doesn't know how hard the fall is going to be.
Charlotte was called first.
Teagan's hand was on her back when she took the stand, a gentle pressure of reassurance. She didn't look at Blaine. Not once. Her voice only shook once, early on, when she said the words,"I thought I was going to die. There were so many Omegas. My only goal was to get us free."She didn't cry. She didn't flinch. She didn't let him take her dignity with him. Her spine remained ramrod straight, shoulders squared against the weight of her testimony.
She spoke about the room they kept her in. The walls, concrete and barren. The restraints and the invasive medical examinations. The forced heat and the multiple sexual assaults that followed. The cameras, always watching. The men, nameless faces who came and went like ghosts.
Even knowing most of it, hearing it out loud nearly undid all of us. Teagan's jaw clenched so tightly I heard the crack, the sound of teeth grinding together in barely contained rage. Beaux stared straight ahead, eyes only for Charlotte, his gaze never wavering from her face. Josiah fidgeted nervously, fingers tapping against his thigh, but Teagan held his hand, soothing him with gentle circles of his thumb. Moses looked like he was about five seconds from throwing his chair at the defendant, his knuckles white, body coiled like a spring.
We all felt it. Every word, every memory, every horror laid bare under the sterile courtroom lights.
