To ruin an Omega

Chapter 220: Teeth 2

HAZEL

“I’m the reason you’re still alive.” His voice was light, almost cheerful, but there was steel underneath. He moved further into the room, hands in his pockets. “So I suggest you fix your tone and stop looking at me like that. Be grateful instead.”

Grateful? Did this fool just imply I be thankful?

The word twisted something in my chest. I sat up straighter, ignoring the way my body protested. “How the fuck am I supposed to be grateful when I’m powerless?”

He tilted his head, studying me like I was a puzzle he’d already solved. “Powerless is better than dead.”

“Is it?” I shot back. “Is it really?”

“Ask your mother or your grandmother. See what they say.”

I didn’t need to ask. I could see the answer in the way Mother’s shoulders tensed, in the way she wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“Why would you even help her?” The question scraped out of me. “Everything already worked out. I got what I wanted. The betrothal. The alliance. I would have gotten out of that with being a Gamma. Why side with her at all?”

He smiled then. It was small, strange and completely genuine. “Your grandmother’s request to my father was that he use me to save you. That was all. Whether you kept your rank or not was unimportant.”

The casual cruelty of it stole my breath.

“But,” he continued, walking closer to my bed, “considering we’ll be sharing a last name and a roof soon, it’s best we get to know each other.”

He stopped at the foot of the bed and extended his hand.

“I’m Lysander. Lysander Asker.”

I stared at his hand. At his face. At the easy confidence that radiated off him like heat.

Instead of taking his hand, I looked at Mother then at Grandmother.

“Can we be left alone?”

Nobody moved.

“I’m sure you both heard me.”

Pauline’s jaw tightened. “I was certain my silence spoke enough. I do not trust you not to say something foolish. The Askers are not forgiving.” She glanced at Lysander. “And Lysander can be just as ruthless as his father.”

Lysander chuckled. The sound was warm, inviting and wrong. “Please. Do not put me in the same basket as that man.” He met Grandmother’s gaze without flinching. “I won’t take any offense with anything she might say. She is my betrothed after all.”

“I think it’s best I stay here,” Grandmother said.

Lysander’s smile didn’t waver. But something in his eyes shifted and hardened.

“I’m sure I made myself clear, Luna Pauline.” His voice was still pleasant. Still light. But the threat underneath was unmistakable. “She wants to talk alone. I’ll allow it.”

Mother moved toward Grandmother, hand outstretched.

Grandmother shrugged her off. “Whatever.”

They then left and the door clicked shut.

Silence pressed in. I watched Lysander, and he watched me back. There was something manic in the brightness of his eyes. Something that made my skin prickle with warning.

“I’m sure you can get it off your chest now,” he said.

I didn’t waste time. “If you accepted the betrothal, you must want something. What do you want?”

“What do you or Silvercreek have to give me?” He spread his hands. “You don’t have to answer. Because we both know the answer to that. Nothing.”

My fingers curled into the sheets. “So I’m supposed to believe you just accepted out of the goodness of your heart?”

“I’m not the only son of my father.” He pulled over a chair, sat down like he belonged there. “But I am the only heir. If I had refused, my father would have put any of my brothers to it. Even my sisters, if none of the boys decided they were up for the challenge.” He leaned back. “But I accepted. Because I have no prospect. Marriage hasn’t always been at the forefront of my mind. The one girl I was so sure I wanted…” He paused. His smile turned wistful. “I never saw her for the longest time. Until today.”

Dread pooled in my stomach like ice water.

“Until today?” My voice came out too small.

“Yes.” His expression softened in a way that made me want to scream. “Your sister. Fia.”

The room tilted.

“I don’t understand.” I gripped the sheets tighter. “You love Fia? What does that even mean? When would you even have met?”

“It was a long, long time ago.” His voice took on a dreamy quality. Distant. “We met in a neutral territory meadow. I was a stubborn teenager who loved to go swimming, and she seemed to be a tree climber who attempted something far beyond her pay grade.”

I saw it in his eyes. The way they lit up. The way his whole face changed when he talked about her.

Love.

Real, genuine, consuming love.

My stomach twisted.

“You know that evil monster is married, right?” The words came out harsh and desperate. “To a pack even stronger than yours by eight ranks.”

“I know that.”

“Then what—”

“I was just being honest with you because we will be united as one at the end of the day, and I appreciate honesty.” He straightened. “An added bonus, and the strongest reason my father managed to convince me completely to take your hand, was also the fact that your grandparents promised us a powerful healer.”

I blinked. “What does that mean? What is so special about healers?”

“I’m not entirely sure myself. But if my father wants it badly, then I’m sure it’s worth it.”

He stood in a smooth and casual manner. Like he hadn’t just upended my entire world for the second time in as many days.

“Would that be all?”

“Are you still in love with Fia?” I asked without preamble.

He paused and then turned back to me. “Why do you care? It’s not like this is a union of love.”

“I am certain you must see the relationship I have with my sister.” My voice shook. “So I ask again. Are you in love with her?”

“Would the answer bring you peace?”

“Yes.”

He smiled. That same small, unsettling smile. “Yes. I do.”

The confirmation shouldn’t have hurt. I knew it already. But hearing it out loud made it real.

“So is that why you helped her when she suggested I be demoted?”

“Yes.”

My hands clenched into fists.

“Is that all?” he asked.

“Yes. That is all. For now.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. It was a deep dark green with gold lettering thing that caught the light. He placed it on the bedside table.

“Call me.”

Then he left.

I stared at the closed door. At the card. At the white walls that felt like they were closing in.

Fia.

Fia.

Fia.

Her name pounded in my head like a heartbeat. Like a curse. Like the only word that mattered anymore.

What the fuck was this life?

I’d lost my wolf. Lost my rank. And now I was engaged to a man who looked at my sister the way stories talked about soulmates.

I reached for the card. The edges bit into my palm.

Outside, I heard voices. Mother and Grandmother, probably discussing what to do with me now.

I lay back against the pillows and closed my eyes.

The darkness had teeth. And it seemed even in reality, I was still falling.