53 Turner
Imade sure everyone found their way into the meeting room again to guide the news we gathered.
Now that Kit had rested for a few days following her heat, she appeared a little more human to discuss the business side to everything.
She entered in her heels and tight purple dress, showing everyone that she came back.
Her eyes still slanted to check behind her occasionally, and it hurt to see that fear. We could also sense it in our bond to her. She wouldn’t be fully better for the rest of her life, but she mastered learning to put other things first.
I was just happy to see the pink tint back in her cheeks.
Her glow might’ve come from the new bonds that settled within us, but her own strength played a part too.
Kit might end up pregnant from her heat cycle, so we had to keep an eye on her for any early signs that might come up.
Of course, that wouldn’t stop her from being the powerhouse with badassery she had become.
Now that she was out of her room, she had paid all the Alphas personal visits to check on them.
I was surprised to see her and Darius discussing things in private out of everyone.
Not liking that one, she just tossed me a wink, saying it she did it for another business arrangement.
Whatever transaction occurred, it earned him a seat in the room we were all gathered in now.
Darius sat in his spot with this trusted second as our two packs fanned around him.
Castiel and Damien were speaking in the corner amongst themselves about something, and that something told me it had to do with whatever Kit brought Darius in for.
Kit took her place at the front of the room where everyone could see her.
I loved the glow she had now that she felt more like herself.
God, she looked perfect being back in action, but that perfection came from her now being mine.
I’d never tire of sniffing our scent along her, even if it had a tang of Damien’s sandalwood with it.
Seeing her get what she wanted was worth now having ties to Saul’s old crew.
Though, these men weren’t too bad now that we vetted them.
They weren’t lying when they said they were onboard with burning Saul’s empire to the ground, but Castiel needed something else before we could strike the match.
Damien also mentioned Ryatt’s dad, so we had that to figure out.
“I thought Saul was dead,” Darius said, breaking the quieter conversations for the real meeting to begin.
Kit smirked and nodded her head for Damien to join her up front.
Once he did, she met the random Alpha’s gaze.
I still wanted to know why he was here. “Darius, you’re one of few I feel like can be trusted with this information.
” She straightened her shoulders. “Damien wasn’t my Alpha until shit hit the fan.
I ran this place on my own under the guise of having a secret Alpha, but I now belong to Ryatt and Damien, so none of the others need to know. ”
“What?” his eyes widened.
“You only get to be privy because we require your assistance. I need an outside pack’s help to assist us for what needs done, so welcome to the secret circle of the inner circle where Saul’s son now rules his empire, discreetly working with us to take it down.”
“What the fuck needs done for him to know?” I asked, wondering why we had so many in the room, sniffing into our personal business. Luckily, the other outside packs didn’t know Kit was ours, and she still masked her scent to hide it.
“Castiel tipped Damien off about his father’s empire expanding into something new, so Damien made sure to take over to have control.” Kit stopped talking for Damien to step into whatever role they were doing.
Pressing a button, he showed us a warehouse downtown that wouldn’t be too far from here.
Just like Kit’s place, this warehouse looked like it needed to be condemned.
The next picture slid into place, and we found it mirrored Kit’s home more than we thought.
The whole inside had been rebuilt below ground for a stadium to fill the edges, and in the center sat something none of us were prepared for. “Is that?”
“Yes, Turner, it’s a fighting cage. Apparently, my father was in cahoots with Randall, rebuilding the underground fighting ring. I am now the partner in place of my father, so I have all access to their fuckery,” Damien nearly growled out.
“But it was outlawed. Mayor Goodwin declared his stance on such matters and won’t change his mind.” Darius was right, but I could see how Kit fidgeted.
“The election is in a few short months. Their hope was to put Mandy in office to make their change,” Kit informed him of what we already knew after finding the wretched hag. She’d been behind Kit being taken both times.
“But Mandy is dead. Castiel killed her,” I pointed out.
Damien pushed the next button for us all to see a face we recognized and despised. Randall now had a poster made for himself, placing him to race against Goodwin. Kayos hissed. “Bloody hell. What’s he thinking?”
“That he lost his empire to his sons, so he wants an upgrade,” Kit deadpanned. I had to cough in order to hide my laugh. She bit back her own grin, looking in my direction.
“Who’s to say he’ll win?” Darius crossed his arms. “No one likes Randall.”
“A favor owed…” Castiel trailed off for Darius to catch on.
“Is a favor due.” Sighing, he closed his eyes and let his elbows rest on the table to scrub his face. “All of us Alphas owe him one. He had a conniving way to weasel them out of us.”
“He’ll use them for the election, and he’ll have access to see if anyone double-crosses him,” Damien shared his input. “Without Randall’s help, I wouldn’t have been able to claim my father’s kingdom, so I owe him as well.”
“Why are you acting like my father being the mayor wouldn’t end the world?” Ryatt picked up on their behavior.
“When everything first happened with needing to get word out about Kit’s location, Castiel asked me to do something for him. A favor in exchange for killing my father.” Damien met the eyes of Castiel. The man with an eye patch released his arms that were crossed, a flash of hope soon revealed.
“Did you find him?”
“I did, but no one is going to like why.” Damien let the next picture come up onto the screen. I didn’t know what we were looking at, but Kit, Anika, and Castiel sure did.
Gasping, Anika studied the small man inside the cage. “Ryan…”
Damien let his gaze fall to the floor because he knew his next words were going to bother them all. “Ryan is the prize for whatever pack’s fighter wins the tournament. He’s a rare male Omega.”
“There’s enough male Omegas out there that one wouldn’t be a prize for a fight,” Darius stated what I thought. When he saw the anger flash over Anika’s face, he was quick to add, “Anika, no offense. Your love for whoever this is does not equate for his true value.”
“So what’s the catch with him?” Ryatt asked. “Why is he so special?”
It wasn’t Damien who opened his mouth. Surprising enough, it was Castiel. “Ryan isn’t just a rare male Omega that can take a knot. He’s also one that can be bred to carry life.”
Another picture appeared where the arm wasn’t covering his torso for us to see the swollen center.
He fell pregnant with a future Omega. Watching Castiel’s fists clench, we knew that changed everything.
It meant this man had heat cycles like Kit, and he could carry life the same way.
A male Omega like him was one a century, and the promise of his conception would be to always produce another Omega, male or female.
In the right hands, he’d be a moneymaker.
Someone would breed him and sell the children off to the highest bidder, continuing the cycle even if it risked his life.
“I thought they were a myth,” Kashmir observed the scrawny man in the cage.
“What Cass said is true,” Anika confirmed. “With this happening, we have to place ourselves in the fight to have a better chance at saving him and the baby.”
“So you want Randall to take over as mayor of the city?” Darius was outraged. “Why not just steal the boy and be done with it?”
“Randall has Ryan at an undisclosed location. He won’t tell me where, but he sends me updates he’s alive. If we don’t intervene this way, Ryan will be bred until it kills him.”
“It’s one man versus the whole city for me. I cannot, on good conscience, agree.” Darius went to stand from the table.
“But you still owe Randall a favor.” Kit caught his attention before he could get too far. Darius paused, seeing more of a plan formulating. “You also still owe me one.”
“You want to use yours to get me to vote for him too?” Darius was appalled.
Kit shook her head. “No. That would be a waste. We know it’s coming, so mine will be for you to enter Anika as your fighter.”
“Me? Why not one of these other packs?” His hand waved between Ryatt and Damien.
“Randall knows everyone in this room. If he saw Anika with me or his sons, he’d know we were up to something.
If he sees her with you, he won’t make the connection.
” Kit silently applauded Anika. Her masculine friend rolled her shoulders to show how much work she put into her form.
Some was natural, but Anika spent more time in the gym than the rest of us. “No one can fight like her.”
Darius let his eyes roam over the Beta, knowing he couldn’t argue.
Betas were made for fighting, and Anika had proven herself by how she ran things here.
Now that we knew about Jericho being trained by her, we got to see her workmanship through him when we raided Saul’s compound. She taught him well.
“You’re the only other Alpha I can let my eggs sit in the basket of,” Kit added, selling her need for him. “And, we will be taking down Randall when the time is right. We’ll just have to plan while everything else is happening. One step at a time.”
“And you’ll keep me in the loop?” Darius arched an eyebrow.
“As long as my secrets don’t get shared,” Kit agreed.
“Then we’re in agreement. By allowing Anika to become my fighter, I no longer owe you a debt, and you will come up with a plan that’ll take out Randall without it involving me.” Darius raised his hand for her to shake. She shook it like a real Alpha, meeting his gaze.
“When the time is right, we’ll be in contact. The election is in three months, so that gives us time to prepare.”
“We’ll also be adding Franco to the ring,” Ryatt butted in. Everyone stared back at him in shock. “Anika will need someone to train with, and it’ll piss off my father to new heights, seeing us in his ring. It’ll also distract him from noticing Anika.”
Smirking, we couldn’t argue the logic. Plus, Franco was a Beta to blend in.
Usually, it came down to him or me getting picked for fist fighting, but I’d been injured and an Alpha.
Everyone around the room easily agreed to the added part of the plan.
It was official, Anika would be fighting in the new underground ring once Randall was elected mayor.
God, I couldn’t believe how crazy this plan sounded, but none of us were normal to begin with.
My mind went to the happier new, seeing my female Omega.
Kit was officially ours, and we had our empire back.
Though, we still had some things to figure out.
The slight tremble in her hand told everyone that noticed she wasn’t in perfect condition from her addiction still fading to a tolerable level.
Her strength made her resilient, but it wouldn’t last long before signs began to show to everyone else.
I hated that for her, and I wished I could take her burden upon myself to free her of it.
For now, I’d love her through it, encourage her to keep striving for the life she had already built.
She thought she was ruined, but she’d been reborn.
Anika called her a phoenix, and I had to agree.
She would always be reborn as something more than she was before, and I loved supporting that.
She regarded me, our connection alerting her of the thoughts I had about her.
She blushed slightly, telling me she wouldn’t ever be used to feeling how much I loved her. Good. I had a lifetime to make up for.