Chapter 27
27
Hazel
It only took two days for my uncle to agree to speak with me. Once Crew called a contact at the FBI, they brought the offer to Henry’s attorney. It didn’t take long to figure out a deal. I wasn’t surprised since my uncle had proven that he was, at any cost, going to look out for himself.
Rhett and I oversaw the furniture being moved into the house, and seeing the house transformed back into a home settled some ragged piece of my omega soul.
Now, standing in my dad’s old office—which had been converted into an office for Crew and the guys—I was struck by how much things had changed.
Warm hands settled on my shoulders. “We can change it back.”
Shaking my head, I leaned back against Crew and smiled when his arms wrapped around me. “No. I love that we’re making this house our home. It feels right, and I think my parents would have approved.”
He nuzzled my neck. “I know they would’ve, baby girl. I just wish they were here to see how incredible their daughter is.”
I turned in his arms, my hands coming up to rest on his strong chest as I tipped my head back to look into his eyes. “I’m scared.”
His lips pressed together. “You don’t have to do this, Haze.”
“Yeah, but I think there are questions Henry can answer,” I admitted. “So, that makes it worth it.”
He nodded slowly. “He can’t hurt you anymore.”
“Can you stay with me?”
One of Henry’s conditions was that he would only speak with me and not my pack, but I didn’t want to be alone. If I sat at the desk, Crew could sit in the overstuffed cream couch near the wall of bookshelves without anyone seeing him.
His mouth curved. “Why do you think I’m here? You think we’d let you do this alone? The others are just pissed I pulled rank to be the one with you.”
I rolled to my tiptoes to press my mouth to his. “In case I haven’t mentioned it lately, I love you.”
“You have, but I still love hearing it,” he replied before fusing his mouth to mine once again.
I was squirming by the time he pulled away, a little whine crawling out of my throat as he broke our physical connection with a smirk. “Tease,” I pouted.
His hands tightened on my hips. “I promise that as soon as you’re done with this call, I’ll make sure my pretty omega is completely satisfied.”
Heat settled low in my belly, and, for a second, I panicked thinking it was another flare. But no, this was just the usual world-rocking arousal that my pack seemed to bring out of me.
Behind me, a muted ringing sound came from the open laptop on the desk, signaling the start of my call.
Icy fear washed away the slow burn of attraction as reality crashed over me.
“You can do this,” Crew assured me, his tone confident and firm. Even if he hadn’t been on board with this idea, now that it was happening, I had his absolute support. It meant more than he could ever know.
But it wasn’t just Crew.
My pack bonds lit up as each of my guys checked in, letting me know they were there.
Learning to navigate the bonds had been easier than I’d expected, and only a few days after bonding, it felt like they’d been there forever. I’d learned how to turn off my side of the bond by accident—sending Kellan into a spiral that had him ripping the house apart until he found me cleaning out the pool house.
Leaning on them now was like having a brick wall of support. No matter how hard I leaned, I knew it wouldn’t bend.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped out of the circle of Crew’s embrace and walked to the desk. My knees trembled as I sat in the black chair. My gaze flickered to where Crew was making himself comfortable on the sofa, and then I answered the call.
I expelled a sigh of relief when the face on the screen wasn’t my uncle. It was a woman I’d never met before. “Um, hi.”
“Hazel Jones?” The woman was dressed in a crisp white shirt with her dark hair cut in a stylish bob.
“Hazel Dutton, actually,” I corrected, unable to stop my smile.
“I apologize,” she replied. “My name is Agent Watts. I’ve been working with the Montana State Attorney’s office on your uncle’s case. I wanted to go over a few things prior to connecting you with your uncle.”
“Okay,” I agreed, once again lifting my gaze to Crew.
“Hey, Lucy,” Crew called, raising his voice to be heard.
Lucy—Agent Watts—smiled in response. “Office is lonely without your pack of hellions, Dutton.”
Crew chuckled, but I scowled. Those were my hellions she was talking about.
“I’ve known Crew since the academy,” Agent Watts told me. “He was at my pack bonding ceremony a few years ago.”
Why did it relieve me to know that this pretty woman had her own pack that wasn’t mine?
“I’ve always wanted to visit the west coast,” Agent Watts added. “ Let me know when your bonding ceremony is.”
I gulped because we hadn’t discussed it. Pack bonding ceremonies were the equivalent of weddings for most betas, but they were over-the-top affairs. I inwardly cringed a little, not wanting to be the center of attention in a room.
Been there, done that. All that was missing was my ‘I survived the cult’ shirt.
“We haven’t really talked about one,” Crew answered for me, “but we’ll let you know.”
“Sounds good.” Agent Watts turned serious. “Okay, Hazel—may I call you that?”
I nodded. “Of course.”
“In a few minutes, we’ll send you the link to join the video chat with your uncle. I need to remind you that everything said is being recorded and may be used in criminal proceedings. Do you consent to this conversation being recorded?”
I nodded again.
Agent Watts gave me a soft smile. “I need a verbal confirmation.”
“Oh, um, yeah. Yes . I consent.” I tripped over the words.
“Your uncle has stipulated that only you be involved in the conversation, so I’m going to assume that your pack has left the room.” The wry lilt in her tone let me know she knew damn well Crew wasn’t going anywhere.
“My pack is aware of that concession,” I agreed, playing along as Crew winked at me.
Agent Watts hesitated, and then leaned in. “Hazel, we’re all aware of what your uncle has done. While he’s looking at multiple life sentences for domestic terrorism, we also want to put him away for what he’s done to you, if we can.”
I inwardly winced because Rhett had gone through this with me. Technically my uncle hadn’t done anything illegal when it came to me.
I’d been his ward, so there was no kidnapping. And, since I was an omega, my care was ultimately left to either my pack or family. The fact that my uncle handed me over to a psychotic alpha to be bred like a dog while chained up didn’t actually matter in the eyes of the law.
No, the only crime he’d committed was not reporting me to the national Omega Registry and Omega Services, but that crime was barely worth a three year stint in a minimum security prison.
Talk about fucking injustice.
“But he is going to prison.” I needed to hear it for myself.
Agent Watts nodded. “Part of the plea deal we worked out includes three life sentences to be served consecutively. In exchange for his cooperation in speaking with you and helping us understand the depth of the APA’s hooks into the Bureau, we’re letting him serve his sentences in a mid-level security prison in Florida.” Her lips twisted into a grimace. “He wanted something with sunshine.”
I snorted because there were plenty of times when I was locked in that freaking shack that I’d wanted sunshine, too.
But at least he’d be on the other side of the country.
“That being said, he has agreed to answer your questions and we will be weighing the validity of his statements along with any information he may have for other fringe benefits.”
“Fringe benefits?” I repeated, my brow furrowing.
The agent smirked. “Extra time in the yard, a monthly commissary stipend…”
When she put it like that, it sounded pathetic.
And that made me smile because fuck my uncle for thinking he could hand me off like a pet.
“Ready?” Agent Watts asked.
No .
“Yeah,” I answered, wiping my palms on my jeans as a message popped up in the corner with the link for the chat.
“Good luck, Hazel,” Agent Watts told me, and then disconnected our call.
I stared at the link for a solid minute.
Crew cleared his throat, causing me to look up. His blue eyes were bright and full of love. “I’m right here, baby. We all are.” He inclined his head toward the closed door. Under the small gap, I could make out shadows from the rest of our pack crowding around.
Inhaling deeply, I pulled all of their scents into me, wrapping the threads of their bonds around my heart and shoring up my strength, before clicking the link.
The screen was dark for a moment, and then Uncle Henry appeared. His already thin features looked skeletal. His brown and gray hair was a greasy mess, flattened to the top and sides of his head with a scraggly, unkempt beard to match.
But it was the hatred in his hazel eyes—eyes that reminded me of my mother’s—that had me recoiling in my chair.
From the corner of my eye, I caught Crew’s body lurch forward, like he was about to get up and come slam the screen shut.
I took a slow, steadying breath. “Hello, Uncle.”
“Niece,” he spat, his lip curling in derision. “Or should I say Omega Dutton ? Heard a pack was stupid enough to take you in.”
My spine straightened as steel hardened around my bones. “And I heard you’re going to prison for the rest of your life.”
Henry leaned forward, but was quickly restrained by a hand on his shoulder. “We talked about this, Henry. Stay calm.”
Henry shot a baleful look at the man off-screen, presumably his attorney. Then he turned back to me and hunched his shoulders, the bright yellow of the prison-issued clothes making his skin appear even more sickly. “They said you had questions.”
I did. So many that picking one was almost impossible. Finally, it all boiled down to one word.
“Why?” I hated the note of raw vulnerability that made my voice shake.
He snorted. “Why? Because your parents died with more money than most people could ever use in ten lifetimes, and my High Alpha deserved those funds to further his cause. Because it was your duty as an omega to serve him.”
“But you didn’t know I was an omega when you took me,” I countered.
“No, but I knew I’d receive fifty thousand dollars a month from your parents’ estate to raise you,” he retorted. “And besides, once I’d met you, I knew there would be a place for you in our society. We’re always looking for more breeders.”
My nose wrinkled. “You’re disgusting.”
He rolled his eyes. “Typical female, thinking she’s more valuable than she is.”
“You literally just said I was worth fifty thousand a month. Sounds pretty valuable to me,” I snapped, balling my hands into fists on my lap.
Baring his teeth, Henry leaned toward the screen. “A woman’s place is on her knees or on her back. You were chosen to bear the son of the prophet. The one who would lead us into a new dawn. Instead, you’ve destroyed us.”
I shook my head. “I wish I could take credit for destroying the APA, but I really wish Donovan was alive so you could know exactly what he told me. About how he used weak-willed betas like you to line his pockets. He made up every single prophecy , and idiots like you gobbled it up like gospel.”
Henry’s chest heaved as he glared at me. “You lie.”
“No, I don’t,” I replied, feeling an unexpected wave of remorse for him. He planned his whole life around a lie. “You’re a fool. A stupid, pathetic fool who’s going to spend the rest of his life in a cell.”
“I won’t take the word of a whore over that of my sacred prophet,” he snarled.
Crew was on his feet now, eyes blazing.
“Your prophet is dead,” I replied flatly. “Your cause is finished, and I’m going to live the rest of my life with men who love and respect me.”
Henry glowered as he threw himself back in his seat. “You were never going to deliver us into the promised future. You’re nothing but a vile succubus. I should have sold you off when I’d had the chance. Let you be their problem.”
Awareness prickled in my mind. “ Whose problem?”
Henry glanced at the man off screen. “The deal is good, right? They can’t go back on it?”
“Yes, but?—”
With a triumphant smile, my uncle turned to me. Cruelty glittered in his eyes. “I want her to know it was me. You hear that, you little omega bitch? It was me .”
Time seemed to slow, and my brain was too sluggish to catch up. “What?—”
Smiling like a madman, Henry met my gaze through the computer screen. “Five years ago, I was offered half a million dollars to take custody of my niece.”
The world spun. “F-five years ago?” My parents had only been dead for four years, so that made zero sense. The math wasn’t mathing. Lifting my eyes, I shot Crew a confused look, but he seemed as surprised as I was.
Henry nodded, his smile smug. “Yes.”
Crew hissed a breath and came around to stand beside me. “What the fuck are you talking about, Reed?”
“Should’ve known the little bitch couldn’t function without a man holding her up,” Henry scoffed.
I leaned back, like I could put physical distance between myself and the screen to lessen the acidity of his tone.
Henry’s gaze narrowed. “You must be one of those Duttons. Fine, you want the truth? I’ll give it to you because I think it’s time she knew.”
“Knew what ?” Crew demanded.
“That she’s the reason her parents died,” Henry answered.
“You’re a fucking liar,” Crew growled.
Henry’s gloating smile was all the confirmation I needed. From off screen, his attorney was trying to reel his client back in, but it was too late.
“Five years ago, a man approached me about taking custody of my niece when her parents died. He gave me a timeframe of roughly seven months. The deal was I hand over Hazel when she turned eighteen for half a million dollars,” Henry explained.
Crew’s hand clamped on my shoulder, and I could feel the bonds in my chest going crazy as my pack felt the tremors rippling through me.
“I agreed. Seven and a half months later, my sister and her husband died in a car accident. I came and collected my little paycheck, but then the most unexpected thing happened—she presented as a fucking omega. And an omega is worth more than half a million dollars, especially to my High Alpha. Plus, the funds I was able to liquidate from your parents’ estate was worth more than ten times that.” Henry couldn’t have looked more pleased if he’d said checkmate .
But I was drowning while he was taking a victory lap.
My parents’ death hadn’t been a random car accident.
They’d been… murdered.
Bile burned up my throat as my vision went blurry.
“Who offered you the money?” Crew was furious, his neck flushed as his hands shook.
Henry shrugged. “I don’t know, we never exchanged names. But I wanted my sweet little niece to know she is the reason her family is dead. She killed us all, and now she can live with the consequences.”
My heart was still breaking when my uncle lunged off screen. There were several shouts and then he came back into focus just in time for me to watch him plunge a pen into his eye socket.
I stumbled away from the desk as Crew closed the lid and shoved the computer off the desk, but it was too late. I heard the scream and saw my uncle slump over, dead.
He was right.
I’d killed my entire family, and now I was the only one left.