Fated to the Warrior Wolf (The Hunted Omegas #3)

47. Gael

FORTY-SEVEN

Gael

L eigh brought her cat to the meeting. He was curled up in her hands, staring at all of us as if he owned the place and each one of us couldn’t shift and swallow him in a single bite. It was a small thing, but given that she’d looked like she’d been crying, I was reading into every single thing about her.

Also, it might have been a new low point in my life that I was jealous of a fucking kitten .

It was absolutely killing me not to cross the room and wrap her up in my arms and then go den up with her in my room where I knew no one could get to her. I wanted to be the one to comfort her, to wipe her tears away.

Was it the letter? I didn’t think it had been that bad. The one from this morning was something that had come to me spur of the moment, telling her about the time when I was twelve and I fell out of a tree and broke my arm while spying on my older sister. I told her I’d like to introduce her to Galyna. Could that have upset her?

I didn’t know.

I was trying to respect the fact that she’d asked for space, and it was slowly eating away at all my self-control .

But the longer I studied her, the more I thought it looked like more than a letter to have upset her that badly, and it was incredibly hard to keep my mind on what I planned to say about our response to the council.

But when Lucien stormed in, red-faced and pissed off, I had no choice but to concentrate on the matter at hand. He quickly scanned the group to see that we were all here, slammed the door to the suite, and then began to pace the length of the room.

Nobody spoke, nobody moved for a long moment as we all watched the uncharacteristic display of anger. If it were me or Dirge, they probably wouldn’t have blinked. But watching someone as jovial and unserious as Lucien get pissed off? It was like watching a sideshow.

“The bastards threw out the investigation. It was a complete sham!” He shrugged out of the silk-lined suit jacket he wore and chucked it over the nearest empty chair before continuing to pace as he raked his hands through his hair and loosened his tie. “At the risk of questioning my high alpha, Kane, I don’t know why you’ve bothered to assign me this seat. It’s a farce. They don’t give two shits about wolf shifters. The other species all still have axes to grind, and we’re their favorite whetstone. That’s not going to change in the next couple of millennia.”

I shot a quick glance at Kane. His lips were pursed and his fingers steepled, but he was otherwise unbothered by the tirade. So I waited as Lucien burned out his anger.

“These haughty motherfuckers sent a joke of an inquiry force, they only took statements from the ODL enforcers involved in the complaint, and they took their word for gospel. In what universe is that a real investigation? I put together a full list of witnesses. Did they consult any of them? They sure as hell did not.”

He paced for another minute, and as I watched, I noticed he was edging closer and closer to Olivia, who was watching the entire scene with eyes blown wide. When he finally ran out of steam, he was right next to her—far closer than was polite for near strangers, actually—though I don’t think he realized it.

Interesting .

“So, what do we do now?” His posture was tired and deflated as he addressed Kane without all the piss and vinegar this time. “What is our plan B? Or are we going to let this drop because omegas are so rare?”

Reed was the one who stood and spoke up. “We’re definitely not letting it drop. Here.” He grabbed a sheaf of paper off the desk. “I’ve been doing research for a while now on IGC records and precedent. Rudi has actually been helping me since he and his family are staying in the castle now. He’s very grateful that we pulled his entire family out of Hungary before the trial, so he asked if he could assist us with anything. He’s thorough, but I guess that comes with the accountant territory.”

He pressed a few pages into my hands as he made his way around the circle, and I studied it as he continued.

“These are cases where the IGC ruled on interspecies pack governance. I’ve included everything in the last two hundred years that impacted multiple species. The ones that are highlighted are cases where they’ve specifically overturned an existing ruling.”

“Does Rudi know why he’s been doing this research project?” Shay asked, eyebrows raised as she skimmed her own paper.

“No, and he politely chose not to ask. Clearly, he learned a few things about discretion working under an Alpha like Varga for so long.”

Dirge snorted a laugh, waving away Reed’s offered case files. Once everyone who wanted a copy had one, Reed sat back down.

“I know you well enough to know that you’ve already read this, so does this show-and-tell mean you already have a plan in mind?” Kane asked.

Reed smirked, but didn’t deny the accusation. He’d always been ten steps ahead. “I have a few takeaways. First of all, asking for the law to be removed is a fool’s errand. They haven’t removed any single law or restriction since the inception of the IGC. Second, we’re going to need buy-in and support from as many other magical races as we can garner. We might actually need to make a game plan, then split into teams, borrow some of Kosta’s people, and start traveling to see the leaders of those we feel will be most sympathetic to our plight. Finally, they don’t care about anything that impacts a handful of people. We’d be better off focusing on the greater impact to our entire species.”

I rocked back on my heels. He’d done his research. But did what I needed to say fit in with that?

“Is anybody else pissed off just listening to that list?” Leigh muttered, staring with a scrunched brow down at the pages of IGC history.

“I am. Every single one of us matters, and they’re not fit to sit in those seats if they don’t see that,” I said, making sure I kept my tone even and calm. It was hard.

Goddess fuck, it was hard.

But when her eyes flicked up and held mine, I knew she understood exactly which one of us I was talking about.

Our daughter.

I promised her silently, then and there, that if I had to, I’d burn the whole damn council house down around their ears to fix this.

And as I watched a silent tear trail down her cheek, I vowed that I would never make her cry another if it killed me.

When she looked away, I cleared my throat and stepped forward. Every eye except hers turned toward me, and I spoke with conviction. “I propose that we request an amendment to the law to delay ODL action until the age of twenty. If we can’t get it overturned completely, that buys us time. But I also think we should add in a reading of the omega’s powers before action can be taken against them. Narcissa was the only omega to ever have the gift of war. She was a single grain of sand amid an ocean of wolves. It’s possible that if we can get them to agree to give exemptions to any omegas who have gentle gifts, all our problems could be solved.”

I rubbed my jaw, examining my pack mates’ reactions as I continued. “The weight of worry that would be lifted off our pregnant she-wolves alone would save lives. Stress adds to the mortality rate.”

“He’s right,” Brielle said with a nod. “There are plenty of studies on the impact of microaggressions and heightened stress on pregnant humans. It’s one of the few things that isn’t different for wolves. I would be willing to go on record that this has already negatively impacted our pack because of what happened to Gracelyn.” She shot a nervous look at Reed and Dirge, then continued. “She had a uterine tear, and it occurred very shortly after the Omega Defense League enforcers arrived at the great pack gathering. If my wolf hadn’t been able to repair that, we would have lost all three of them that day.”

Silence reigned, and Lucien was the first one to break.

“What do you mean, your wolf repaired it? Aren’t you a doctor?”

Brielle’s eyes went wide as she realized her error. “Umm, well, I…”

Kane stood, stepping in front of her and blocking her from Lucien’s line of sight. “It’s time we told you why this is so important to our pack. If everyone is in agreement?” he asked, looking around the room and waiting for each of us to nod our consent.

I locked eyes with Leigh as I nodded. Seeing the tension fill her baby blues made me want to step in front of her, like Kane had Brielle. But I knew that wouldn’t be welcome, so I held my position across from her.

“Brielle is an omega. The first known to have survived to adulthood in centuries, since the omega wars and the resulting hunt by the ODL. When she says her wolf healed the uterine tear, she means her wolf has innate powers that guided her to magically correct it. Her gift is fertility, and she’s been blessed by the Goddess that no pregnant females will die while she’s present, and no pups will be lost. Her gift is a threat to no one, except those who want to keep wolves oppressed.”

I watched Lucien’s face carefully as he listened, first shock, then awe, then confusion finally winning out. “That’s… incredible. But how did she not get murdered at birth? I thought it wasn’t possible to get past the ODL’s detection.”

Brielle peeked around Kane’s back, giving Lucien a kind smile. Her still-water scent perfumed the room, taking the edge off my mood even before she spoke. “A very powerful curse that drains my wolf’s powers and renders me weak enough to be undetectable.”

He blinked rapidly, and I didn’t envy him trying to process all this in a few minutes when the rest of us had gotten weeks to get through it. But to the man’s credit, he didn’t jump to conclusions.

Like I had .

I shot a regretful look at Brielle, feeling like an ass all over again for ever suggesting we turn her in to the ODL.

Now, my daughter was the next omega. The Goddess had a real sense of humor.

“So, as you can imagine, this isn’t a someday problem. This is a deeply personal issue to Pack Blackwater, and to me as high alpha,” Kane said, still watching Lucien closely.

“I understand, High Alpha. I’ll do my best, and I won’t say a word.”

“Thank you. ”

Tension leaked out of the room like air from a pinhole in a balloon. After a few moments of collective processing, Reed brought us back around to the topic at hand. “I think petitioning for more time and for a test of the omega’s powers are great ideas, Gael. Does anyone else have more to add?”

Leigh was idly rubbing her stomach, her face troubled as she thought. “Is anyone else worried that the more attention we put on the omega issue—to outsiders, seemingly out of nowhere—that we’re actually increasing our risk of Brielle getting caught? She’s under the radar right now, but the more we push, won’t they push back and dig harder to find some kind of leverage on us?”

Shit, she had a point. A point that could bring a firestorm down on our baby too, if more scrutiny fell on our pack. Which was stress Leigh did not need. I dragged a palm over my stubble—I hadn’t shaved in at least two days, and it itched—and racked my brain for alternatives.

“As the high alpha, I have a bit more leeway on bringing issues that affect all wolves to the council without personal scrutiny, but I can’t deny that there’s risk. If we want to operate within and change the laws, though, we don’t have much choice. And Brielle’s training as a doctor makes her uniquely poised to address the effects of that added stress to all our females.” He shot a mournful look at Brielle. I could tell it was killing him to put her in any danger, and I felt that to my damn bones.

If I could lock Leigh and Petal into a tower Rapunzel-style and guarantee the ODL couldn’t get them? I’d do it in a heartbeat. Not that she’d consent to being locked away. But I’d be willing to deal with her hatred if it kept her and our child safe.

“We can keep the focus broad. I think Kane’s right, though, knowing what I do now,” Lucien said. “Does anyone have anything else they want added to the petition?”

“Penalties,” Shay blurted, and all eyes turned to her. “There should be penalties put in place against the ODL and a formal review process to handle things like what happened to Gracelyn at the ODL. They shouldn’t get to harass us with no recourse. Right now, they’re above the law, and that’s not okay.” She lifted her chin even as she stepped closer to Dirge’s side, as if she could hide from the attention.

As everyone discussed the various ways we could and should ask for review or removal of overzealous ODL agents, Leigh excused herself and stepped out of the room.

Everything in me wanted to follow her, but I’d already left her two notes and a credit card. Following her was definitely not giving her space. So, I gritted my teeth and stayed put as my heart walked out the door without me.