2. Opal
Chapter two
Opal
I t's hopeless. Utterly, utterly hopeless.
They are going to kill me.
I saw the look on the governor’s face when he found me sneaking around his office. My days are finally numbered, and how bittersweet.
Just after I gained back my freedom, too, yet here I am, facing off with death.
Now, I am literally in shackles as I tug on my manacles and chains—the only sound in the dreary cell.
Life’s just not fair.
But what else did I expect? Happy ever after was never in the cards for me. I’m a Rogue, a puppet.
Well, an ex -puppet. The warden cut my strings. He can no longer bend me to his will.
A door slams somewhere in the building, yet I barely flinch when it echoes down the grim hall. The echo only reminds me of the hollowness that lives rent-free inside me.
Now, I am a mere husk of a girl.
The facade finally cracked to reveal the true decay beneath. The rotten apple core.
Footsteps follow after the slamming door, but I keep my head bent low as I hunch in the far corner, far away from the bars of the cell.
These bars aren’t gilded like my last cage, and it seems I really have regressed.
It can’t get much lower than this.
What irony. I was the star Omega of the Academy. The one most likely to succeed and find her dream pack.
But look at me now.
Felicia. Poor, sweet, deluded Felicia…
She will be so disappointed.
Maybe she will even lose her position after this. She failed to make me perfect, and thus, the faculty will cut her strings just as the warden cut mine.
That Beta deserves better.
I just let everyone down.
Even the warden; I didn’t even succeed in killing the governor.
Absentmindedly, Ireach up to rub at his old bite mark at the base of my skull. No longer do I feel him on the other end of our forced bond.
A shudder rushes through my spine.
They really are powerful, Alphas. The way they have so much control over us Omegas.
They can force and end a bond like it’s nothing, and I feel hollow again in that moment.
An empty well.
He was with me for so long, and now that he's gone…
I don’t know what to do.
The footsteps stop outside my cell, and I lift my eyes long enough to spy that silhouette of an Alpha.
In the dim light, I spy those burgundy eyes, and they burn red with anger.
The governor.
Has he come to finish the job and kill me?
“Open the door."
He barks the order to someone beyond my field of vision, and when the veiled guard appears to unlock the cell door, the one armed to the teeth with weapons, I tense.
So much power in that bark alone. It’s no surprise he’s the one in charge.
The warden deemed Gryphon a threat. And it was for that reason why he wanted him removed from power.
It's just a shame he had to put all his faith in a failure like me.
I don’t take my eyes off Gryphon’s boots as he steps into the cell, keeping a safe distance away from me as he stands with his arms crossed.
The Alpha stares me down as I hold my breath.
Even with shackles, he doesn’t trust me.
I’m dangerous. Unpredictable.
How long has it been since he found me sneaking around his office? A day? Two days? I’m still in the stealth suit.
“Look at me, Rogue.”
Rogue.
That is what I am, after all; it’s just been some years since I heard someone direct that moniker at me.
For a while, I was Opal. A fake Opal, but I was still something other than a filthy, good-for-nothing Rogue.
“Look at me. That is an order, Omega.”
Omega?
That gets my attention, not just because he is a dominant Alpha who used his Alpha bark. I’m just shocked he decided to refer to me as Omega rather than Rogue.
Finally, I find those burgundy eyes, and it’s no surprise the warden sees this Alpha as a threat.
Not only powerful but devastatingly handsome, too.
What a jawline.
That jaw now ticks as he grinds his teeth, never taking those flaming eyes off me.
That’s a nice eye color. One that matches his auburn hair brilliantly.
“Who sent you?”
I guess I should have expected this question. Someone wants him dead, and he is determined to find out who.
However, I'd have thought it fairly obvious at this point.
He scoffs when I don’t respond. “You’re lucky my Omega suspected you from the get-go, Opal.”
Oh, so it's Opal now. It beats Omega and Rogue , I suppose.
“Which Omega? You have two,” I ask out of turn.
As I said, I’m an empty shell. Whether my words turn him into a blazing inferno or not, it makes no difference to me.
Either way, I'm dead.
“Watch your tone. I have been lenient thus far.”
Yes. That explains the chains.
“You can thank Oliver for the reason why you're still breathing. And my ever-loving sweet sister…”
Sister?
That gets my attention, and I meet his flaming eyes again.
Belle. Of course.
I’ve been so absorbed in Zayden and the pack that I failed to remember my friends.
I let them down, too.
Belle was nothing but kind to me, and I tried to kill her brother’s Alpha.
I bet she wants me to die.
And Ella… I wonder if she will fulfill her promise and hunt me down for hurting Zayden.
She told me that she could tell that I was good, but damn, she was wrong.
So very wrong.
“However, your future is still uncertain. I’m sorry. An assassination attempt on a head of state is quite a serious offense. People will not take it lightly."
So. He is obligated to lock me up and question me just to satisfy the masses?
Gryphon continues, “My advisors tell me I should sentence you. But if you're willing to work with us, we may just pardon your crimes, Opal. After all… I know you were forced by the one they call the warden.”
So, he does know who I’m working for. Or worked for since the warden cut my strings.
I wonder how much he knows about the Alpha. He has Belle and Ella for information too, but there is only so much they know.
The warden was bonded to me. I saw his thoughts for brief moments.
“Well, what do you say, Opal? Are you willing to work with us?”
Gryphon’s eyes flash to punctuate his point.
Wow. When was the last time I had a choice in anything?
Nothing was ever my decision.
The Alpha sighs, turning his back on me. “I will give you two days to think, Opal. Remember, the choice is yours. You can rot away in here and meet your maker… or work for the greater good.”
The greater good.
Sometimes, I can’t tell who is wrong and who is right.
Who is the villain in this tale?
The warden or Gryphon.
I mean, was Gryphon not power-hungry when he defeated Lily and took her position?
Lily…
Maybe there is something I can share.
“Lily was his daughter.”
Gryphon stops, turning my way. “What did you say?”
I inhale air. “Lily, your predecessor, was the warden’s daughter. Estranged daughter…”
The Alpha doesn’t move as he seems frozen in time, his mind no doubt transporting him back to the night he defeated the woman in a duel.
The warden didn’t give two shits after she died since he was a heartless bastard who didn’t care about anyone.
As I said, estranged daughter. She was born within the city lines to an Omega mother.He was an absentee father for her entire life.
She thought she could win her father’s love and approval by climbing the ranks and becoming the most powerful Alpha in the country.
Yet her actions only distanced the warden further. That had always been his lifelong goal. So, of course, he was pissed when he found out his bastard daughter achieved his ambitions before he ever could.
Probably why he was glad to let her perish.
Finally, Gryphon blows a sigh from his nose, opening the door. “I appreciate your candor, Opal.”
He leaves, taking his guards with him.
Now all I am left with are my morose thoughts.
Just maybe, things will look up.
I’m free now. All my choices are mine to make from this point on.
Maybe… I can see him again.
Zayden. And the pack.
One can dream.