Chapter Forty-Six
Halley
I’m a coward and don’t tell the others about the trip until the next morning as I slip my arms through the loops of my backpack.
I sway in front of them with my boots laced up and ponytail secured tight.
“You can’t go,” Shade says with a firm shake of his head. He’s standing with his arms crossed over his chest, his nostrils flared in outrage. “It’s too dangerous.”
“It’s the right thing to do,” I counter.
Viper’s face is a mask of cold fury. His jaw clenched and eyes narrowed. He refuses to look me in the eye and, as if he is incapable of sentences due to rage, he simply repeats the same word down our connection again and again.
‘No. No. No.’
"Our people are in trouble. If I can help, I have to," I say, trying to explain, but they’re having none of it.
Knox snarls, pacing back and forth, fists curling and uncurling. “Who the fuck does Zero think he is? You’re our Omega, not his soldier. You’re not going.”
The retort burns on my tongue. I want to tell him I am not anyone’s possession and I do not need his permission. Instead, I swallow the words and my shoulders sink.
I get it. They’re scared.
I hate that I am the cause, but I can’t change who I am. My instincts will not let me turn away from the vulnerable any more than theirs will let them stop guarding me. I am built to protect the vulnerable. They are built to protect me. None of us can change what we are.
“It's only a few hours’ walk away and I'll be with Blaze the whole time."
This trip is quick and easy, a chance to help the cause without taking a real risk. I’m excited to have the opportunity to save lives today. Besides, if I do get into a scrape, Blaze will end the threat before I even see it coming.
Prime Alpha Zero's patrols have reported a small camp of reluctant citizens half a day's walk away. The patrols have not been successful in convincing them to move. If they linger for even a few more days, they'll undoubtedly die.
I can save them.
I am not just a pretty face. I am not a fragile thing meant to be tucked away.
I am not useless.
“Also, it will be the perfect chance to test the range of my powers. A real field trial. How far apart can we get before they weaken? Will I still hear you in my head? Will my Command work without you close? These are things we need to know.”
Shade tilts his head, and I know I’ve got him. Or at least swayed his opinion slightly.
The Pack grumbles, eyes locked on each other. Their silent conversation hums just beyond my reach. I hate being shut out, but I keep quiet.
The silence stretches, filled with low growls and the snap of teeth. Knox finally exhales, thumb brushing his lower lip.
"Answer this, princess, is there anything we can say which will stop you from going?"
"No."
Shade throws his hands up and begins pacing, muttering "too stubborn for her own good."
I bite my lip, guilty but not sorry. I am needed. I am important. Lives are at risk.
Knox finally nods, and his lips curl as if the words on his tongue taste foul. "Blaze will keep you safe. Listen to him. He's a fucking cockwomble but the best there is for a reason. He has good instincts. If he tells you to run, you run. Copy?"
My heart stutters in relief and surprise. I was expecting more of a fight. "Copy."
Viper slams his fist into the breakfast table and the wood cracks, splitting in two. He stands, points a thick finger at Blaze and snarls, "If she comes back with a hair out of place, I promise even you won't like the consequences."
Blaze just grins, showing all his teeth. "Don't worry, LT. Sparkles and I are going to have lots of fun on our date."
I internally cringe. Sometimes I think he's sharp, cheeky, and almost himself. Other times he's one sandwich short of a picnic.
Shade pulls me into a tight embrace, his face buried in the crook of my neck.
"If I can't convince you to stay, then you'd better keep yourself safe, baby girl.
We promised we'd support you in achieving your goals. If this is one of them, and you need us to wait for you to come back, then that's what we’ll do. We will wait and trust that you’ll be clever enough to come back unharmed. "
Something catches in my throat as I swallow.
So that is what they decided in their silent little meeting. To support my dreams.
They listened. They heard me.
My Pack vowed to trust, believe, and support me. And now they are keeping that vow at great cost to themselves.
Blaze’s fingers lace with mine as we walk, his hand warm and steady. He swings our joined hands between us like we are a love-struck couple out for a lazy afternoon stroll. When he told Viper we were going on a date, I thought it was a joke. It turns out he meant every word.
A quiet thrill washes through me.
My first date.
I steal a glance at him through my lashes, wondering if this is his first too.
The sun catches in the white streak of his hair, turning it into a silver ribbon, and his pale eyes gleam with a light that feels almost otherworldly.
I’ve always thought him striking, all lean muscle and lithe strength, his movements as fluid and deliberate as a jungle cat.
But here, right now, I find myself struck by his appearance.
He is smiling, really smiling, his mouth curved in a way that smooths every hard edge from his face. Gone are the shadows and sharp lines of exhaustion. There is almost a youthful glow to his cheeks.
It’s hard to reconcile this Alpha with the one who recently pressed a blade to my skin and whispered twisted promises in the dark.
I wonder how long this easy mood will hold. There is no way to know, so I choose to savor it.
I breathe in the warm mid-morning air, grateful for the absence of Blackgate’s icy bite on my cheeks.
After months surrounded by gray stone and cold corridors, this dusty path lined with green bushes and tall trees feels like stepping into another life.
Birds sing above us, and the crunch of gravel under our boots keeps time with our pace.
I'm so glad I insisted we do this. I know the Pack is worried, but this is finally a chance for me to prove to myself that my inner Omega is inherently capable and good.
Back in Rheamont, I saved those civilians with my Omega Command. But it didn’t feel good. It wasn’t right. They were innocent, and I broke their free will over my knee like a twig. I’m ashamed of the twisted, dark compulsions that followed, urging me to do unspeakable things.
I want a do-over.
A chance to use my other abilities instead of my Omega Command.
I shake the dark thoughts off and squeeze Blaze’s hand. I'm looking forward to spending time with him while he's in a good headspace. It’s a heady thing to know that my mere presence has dragged him back from the precipice of insanity.
So… what do people do on first dates?
I think back to the sappy romance novels Flicker adored, each book carefully bartered for and hoarded over the years. What did those couples do when they first started to fall in love?
Awkward hand holding? Check.
A stroll through pretty scenery? Check.
Casual questions about their life?
"Tell me about your childhood," I blurt, and immediately wince. Nice work, Halley. Ask the psychotic Alpha to unpack his childhood trauma. Definitely a first-date no-no.
Blaze doesn't seem upset at the abrupt question. He simply shrugs and answers. "I grew up in The Capital."
I blink. "The Capital?"
That was not what I was expecting.
Alphas from the walled city are groomed for cushy government posts or seats in rich boardrooms, not the front lines. They are pampered, shielded from the ugliness of war.
"Yep, my mother and I had a cozy little apartment on the outskirts of the city, nothing extravagant," he says with a serene expression.
I run my thumb over the back of his hand, silently encouraging and thanking him for sharing a piece of himself.
"Where was your father?"
His smile falters.
"It's okay, you don't have to—"
"He lived with his mate. His Omega."
"Oh." My breath punches out of me. With his mate… who wasn’t Blaze’s mother?
“Yeah, he was the kind of knothead who thought he could have anything he wanted, whenever he wanted it. My mom, who worked for him, was just another thing to him.”
A lump rises in my throat, and I feel foolish.
I hadn’t realized, until this moment, that some naive part of me still believed Alphas only ever wanted one person once they mated. One beautiful, perfect Omega to fill their home with pups, love, and a sweet scent.
That fragile dream, somehow untouched even after all these years, splinters under the truth of Blaze’s conception. An Omega isn’t guaranteed a happily ever after just because she is mated to an Alpha.
“My mother wanted him to acknowledge me as his son so I could have an honorable place in society. My father didn’t agree.”
His tone is light, but his eyes are not. They hold something sharp, a glint of old hurt that makes my stomach knot.
He looks ahead, jaw flexing, and for a few beats the only sound is our boots on gravel. Then his mouth twists into something that might be a smile if it had any warmth at all.
“He taught me a lesson instead.” Blaze’s voice is almost casual, and it somehow makes it worse. “Fire is cleansing. In a single night, it erased everything I loved.”
My breath snags. “W… what? Fire?”
“I really liked our house.” His voice softens, almost fond. “It was sad to see it burn.”
“He burned your house down?”
Blaze shrugs, licking his lips and kicking a stone farther down the path. “Mom didn’t make it.”
The air between us feels thinner. “Frack, Blaze, I’m so sorry. Surely he was caught. Someone had to know.”
He glances at me then, and the smile he gives is almost indulgent. “Sweet Sparkles, you know that isn’t how our world works.”
I sigh, and this time it's my turn to kick the stone in frustration. It skitters off the path and lands in the soft green grass.
He’s right. I know that’s not how our world works. Assholes in power always win.