Chapter 69
It’s difficult for all of us to maintain our animosity while our long-lost omegas sob in a five-minute embrace.
Eventually, we all gather closer, forming a loose circle around the women while they rock back and forth, gasping apologies and explanations to one another.
After a moment, I can’t help the deep purr that wants to fill my chest. It starts a chain reaction—and within moments, even Cillian Blackwood is rumbling for his mate.
When the sisters’ hug ends, they each keep one hand extended, clinging to each other as they turn to us. Briar goes right to her pack leader, ducking her face into his neck while she sniffles.
And Violet comes to me.
I hold her close, cupping the back of her head and rubbing my lips along her brow. I want nothing more than to comfort her, but my Alpha remains crouched at the ready. Over her crown, I slant my gaze toward the Blackwoods, scanning for any hint of a threat.
But Cillian Blackwood is staring back at me. Doing the exact same thing.
Assessing risk.
Guarding the woman he loves.
Looking at me.
Not Gideon.
My prince tenses, swallowing audibly when Cillian flicks a glance his way before snapping his frigid blue eyes back to mine.
Wordlessly asking whether what he’s sensing is true. If the man he’s known his whole life is, in fact, not an alpha… but an omega. My omega.
I fold Violet into me with one arm and reach for Gideon with the other. Giving a small-but-definite nod.
Cillian may be many things I don’t approve of, but he’s also quite brilliant. I watch him snap the situation together in a matter of seconds. His glacial gaze shifts. Flickering from wary disdain to something almost like… respect.
When Briar leans away and blinks up at him, his focus shifts. Every fleck of doubt disappears, leaving his expression intense but full of reverence. He roughly thumbs his omega’s lower lip, exhaling with a nod of his own.
Briar flashes a wide smile, then turns on her heel. “Guys? Meet Violet. My big sister.”
Given the hour, I wanted to serve tea—but Finn insisted on a proper cocktail hour.
Thankfully.
Turns out, Cillian Blackwood is mildly mollified by a glass of decent scotch. Finn shoots me a smug look from the other side of the parlor, where he expertly maintains his air of false casualness, chatting with Rhys about our champagne’s vintage. You’re welcome, Daddy.
Normally, Gideon and Violet would chime in about anyone using their name for me. At the moment, though, they’re clustered in a different corner with Briar.
She has her big alpha, Dane, behind her—the same way Ryker’s stationed himself at his daisy’s other side. It doesn’t escape my notice that Cillian and I have both positioned our strongest packmates beside them. Further proof that our packs are equally protective of our omegas.
I’ve kept a beat on their conversation this whole time. Gideon just finished apologizing to Briar for their many misunderstandings last year. He also took full responsibility for the weeks Violet waited to contact her.
I assume Cillian is eavesdropping as well. Our conversation winds to a halt while we listen, tuned in to our respective pack bonds. We both jolt with surprise when Gideon suddenly reaches into the pocket of his slacks and produces—
A friendship bracelet.
My omega shows Briar the beads on Violet’s wrist, then the strand he wears every day. Settled directly over Violet’s claim mark.
For a moment, Briar looks as stunned as my mate. Then she straightens her shoulders and lifts her arm. Allowing Gideon to place his gift beside her ruby watch.
Violet’s happiness has a deeply wistful note. It swells to fill our bond just before she sniffles. Gideon and Ryker immediately close in on her, brushing scent-marks wherever they can while Briar smiles and holds up her wrist, showing Dane her new trinket.
A proud grin splits my features. Cillian eyes me over the rim of his crystal tumbler. Prior to the interruption, I had just finished a no-frills version of the story Violet and Briar are currently hashing out across the room.
Now, the other pack alpha openly assesses me. Battering his dominance against mine. Looking for cracks.
When he doesn’t find any, his eyes narrow. I flex my underlying strength—the true, undiluted version—back at him, and his brows actually twitch up. Surprised.
“You hid this?” he asks slowly. “For ten years? For him?”
I glance at Gideon, noting the loose set of his shoulders and the sly smirk on his face. “I would have done it for fifty,” I admit. “If that was what he needed to survive your company. Your family.”
Cillian hears the mocking edge of my tone and flexes his jaw, tracing my gaze to his cousin. His voice drops low, losing its sharp corners. “I had no idea. I never would have—”
In truth, I often suspected Cillian would not have been so ruthless toward Gideon if he’d known the whole story. It doesn’t change the fact that both of our packs went too far—and people got hurt because of it.
Because of us.
Their pack leaders.
I let the weight of that settle between us, inclining my head as I acknowledge, “I know.”
Cillian flips back to wariness—though, this time, it’s more like doubtful curiosity. “And you’re… tied to both of them? Equally? In the same bond?”
I can’t help but smile. “Yes. Your mate’s sister is a very special omega.”
Violet and I have discussed the idea of publishing a paper on her special bonding technique. I believe there are many packs in the world with situations similar to ours; she believes it’s our duty to help them if we can.
Perhaps, if we share our story, and others’ attempts to replicate our dynamic prove successful, omegas like Gideon won’t have to live in fear that the alphas they love might meet a mate and leave them behind.
Cillian and I turn our watchful gazes to our girls.
Their heads are bent together over their phones, the contrast of light hair and dark hair striking.
The more I see their physical differences, the more I see why Violet was so quick to accept that their captor wasn’t really their biological father.
I’m sure she was old enough to notice how different they looked long before she was ripped from Briar’s side.
I also see how little their lack of shared blood matters to them. They’re true sisters in every way that counts.
I tune into Violet’s tether, listening to her reactions as Briar scrolls through pictures of the Blackwoods’ Gothic mansion.
“Oh my,” Violet murmurs, her voice only slightly pinched. “It’s very… uh…”
Addam’s Family? Finn interjects.
Violet bites on the corner of her lip, swallowing a snort as she concludes, “Stately.”
Good save, honey, Finn chimes back. We’ll make a criminal mastermind of you yet.
Cillian shifts on his feet, drawing my attention back to him. I brace for some sort of censure or a veiled threat. Instead, he sighs. And looks at Gideon.
“I had a business proposal for my cousin,” he admits. “But now I’m not sure…”
Gideon must feel the beat of shock that jumps in my chest. He quietly excuses himself and walks over, sailing straight into my side.
“Tell him,” I determine out loud. “He should be the one who decides.”
Gideon’s gray eyes darken dubiously. “Decides what?” ‘
Cillian exhales again, peering into his tumbler of liquor for a long second. “I was telling Atlas I had a business proposal for you. A philanthropic one, actually.”
Gideon’s posture tweaks tighter, but the fear in his scent burns off almost instantly. “…oh?”
Cillian pins him in place with an unyielding stare. “I have the money from my portion of Blackwood Corp. And I want to use it to help omegas like ours.”
My mind turns to charities and outreach programs. But there’s a reason Gideon was so successful for so long. Like it or not: Blackwood ice runs in his veins—and makes him a ferocious force.
“We could dismantle all of those facilities,” he thinks out loud. “Buy them one by one and tear them to pieces.”
Cillian is clearly on the same page. He nods. “Prosecute anyone working there to the fullest extent. Provide law enforcement with all the details… Perhaps send Dane and Ryker after anyone who slips through the cracks.”
Gideon’s scent brightens with excitement. “I could work with my contacts in Washington, try to get some legislation moving. If I had the money for a few well-placed campaign donations…”
I cast him a scolding look. Bribery?
My little prince smirks internally. Incentivization, he corrects, then throws in a bratty, indolent shrug. Sorry, Daddy.
I flash Gideon an image of my hand around his throat as Cillian continues nodding. Because, God help us, the bastard has already had the same thoughts.
Before they begin plotting a government coup, I interject, “I have a lot of ideas regarding care for the survivors. Proper therapies and rehabilitation.”
It’s a test. One Cillian passes when he earnestly agrees, “Yes. That will be a crucial component. I’d appreciate you taking point on it, Atlas, if you’re amenable.”
I gaze at Violet again. Remembering how I found her. What was done to her before I could protect her. The thought of righting some of those wrongs, even retroactively, unclenches something in my chest.“It would be my honor.”
Gideon’s bond vibrates with relief and pride. He hugs my torso, scent-marking my collar before he peers at Cillian once again. “So, instead of the Blackwood Corp, we would be… the Blackwood Foundation?”
“Yes,” Cillian says. “And we’ll use every last cent of Grandfather’s money to advance the interests of omegas. Without turning a profit.”
Gideon’s grin turns wicked. “You know he would have hated that.”
Cillian cops a sharp smile in return. “Precisely.”
The two of them begin launching ideas at one another. Gideon gives me a warm squeeze over our tether. Go to Violet, babe, he whispers. I… I think I’m good here.
It’s a big deal for him to feel this way—and perhaps an even larger one for me to force myself to honor it. With a parting kiss, I push past my concern and slide from his grasp.
Violet greets me with her shyest, loveliest smile. They seem to be getting along, she thinks. What did the trick?
I gaze down at her for a long moment. The woman who fought her way past every conceivable demon to make it to me. To us. And bring us this peace.
You, I whisper, pulling her in for a kiss. Just you.