To ruin an Omega

Chapter 234: Hairline Cracks

CIAN

The estate gates came into view, and relief crashed through me so hard my knees nearly buckled. Home. We’d made it.

Thorne stood waiting at the entrance, his weathered face lined with concern. Maren flanked him, her medical bag already in hand. Behind them, three more Omegas whose specialties lay in healing wheeled a stretcher forward.

They were born ready.

Ronan brought the car to a stop. I didn’t wait for it to fully settle before I was moving, shouldering the door open with Fia still cradled in my arms.

“Alpha.” Thorne’s voice carried decades of calm authority. “Let us take her.”

Every instinct in my body screamed to refuse. To keep holding her. To not let her go even for a second. But I forced myself to lower her onto the stretcher, my hands lingering on her shoulders until the last possible moment.

Maren immediately moved in, her fingers finding Fia’s wrist to check her pulse. Her dark eyes flicked to the blood soaking through Fia’s sweater, the shirt underneath was completely ruined. “Where’s the wound?”

“There isn’t one.” The words felt surreal coming out of my mouth.

Maren’s gaze snapped to mine. That look crossed her face. The one that said ’you’re seeing this too, right?’ I gave her a slight nod.

They wheeled Fia toward the infirmary. I followed close enough that my shadow fell across the stretcher. The hallways blurred past. Stone walls. Flickering sconces. The familiar path I’d walked a thousand times before but never with this kind of weight pressing down on my chest.

The infirmary doors swung open. Antiseptic and herbs hit my nose. They transferred Fia to one of the beds, the white sheets a stark contrast against her pale skin and blood-stained clothing. Maren worked quickly, cutting away the ruined sweater and shirt to expose Fia’s torso.

There was nothing there. Not a single mark or even a slight bruise.

Thorne moved to the other side of the bed. His gnarled fingers pressed gently along Fia’s ribs, her stomach, checking for breaks or internal damage. He lifted one of her eyelids, examining the pupil beneath. Then the other.

“Her vitals are stable.” Maren’s voice held a note of confusion. “Heart rate is good. Blood pressure is normal. Breathing is clear.”

Thorne straightened, his expression thoughtful. “Her energy levels are quite low. Depleted, I would say. But otherwise…” He trailed off, glancing at Maren.

“She seems fine,” Maren finished. She didn’t sound convinced.

Neither was I. “Check even deeper for internal bleeding.”

Thorne raised an eyebrow.

“Just do it.” I couldn’t keep the edge from my voice. “Please. Her healing factor isn’t as strong as ours. Hidden wounds kill faster.”

Maren nodded, already reaching for the equipment she’d need. Thorne moved to prepare an herbal infusion, something to help restore Fia’s depleted energy.

I should have felt relief. They’d said she was fine. But my mind kept circling back to what I’d felt. That moment when the bond had gone silent. When I’d been certain she was dying.

Garrett stood near the doorway. Still covered in blood. Still looking shell-shocked. His hands trembled slightly at his sides.

I turned to face him fully. “I think we need to talk.”

He straightened immediately, bowing his head. “Of course, Alpha.”

We left the infirmary. Ronan fell into step behind us without being asked. I led them down the corridor to one of the private meeting rooms, pushing the door open and gesturing for them to enter.

The door clicked shut behind us. The three of us stood there in the dim light filtering through the narrow window.

Garrett wouldn’t meet my eyes. His usual composure had cracked completely. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, his jaw working like he was chewing on words he couldn’t quite spit out.

“You can speak.” I kept my voice level. “What exactly did Fia see?”

“Like I said before.” Garrett’s voice came out rough. “She saw a woman I couldn’t see. Standing in the middle of the road.”

I waited. There had to be more.

“She mentioned smelling something strange.” He finally looked up. “A strong perfume. Cloying and unnatural.”

My ears twitched. Every nerve in my body went on alert. “A strong smell?”

Ronan leaned forward slightly. “That sounds like magic.”

The word hung in the air between us. Magic… Which meant this hadn’t been an accident at all.

“So this is the work of Silver Creek.” I said it like a statement, not a question.

“I don’t know.” Garrett’s hands clenched into fists. “Luna Fia is still their daughter and technically, they would have no reason to come after us. Hazel Hughes survived the trial.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Heat crawled up my spine. “It’s definitely something her stepmother could do.”

“About that…” Garrett’s voice dropped. “The Strati house was there.”

I stared at him. “What?”

“Pack Nocturne. They were at the trial.”

Ronan’s confusion mirrored my own. “That’s odd. It’s public knowledge that Alpha Joseph’s bride was disowned by her parents. Why would they be there?”

“To help Hazel Hughes survive.” Garrett met my gaze steadily now. “Luna Fia’s goal was to make sure Hazel died. They made sure that wasn’t possible.”

The words took a moment to process. “Hold up. Fia wanted what?”

That didn’t sound like her. Fia could be fierce, protective, even ruthless when she needed to be. But actively seeking someone’s death? That vindictive streak didn’t fit.

“She believed it was for the greater good,” Garrett said quietly.

I turned to Ronan. “Make sure delicates are gotten to the accident scene. I can’t do shit without proof. So I need that proof.”

Ronan’s expression shifted. “The delicates are crazy expensive. And they don’t always find something in materials.”

“Someone just tried to kill my wife.” My voice came out harder than I intended. “Expend whatever we need. I want whoever did this found.”

Ronan nodded slowly. “I’ll make the call.”

He moved to the far corner of the room, pulling out his phone. His voice dropped to a murmur as he spoke to whoever was on the other end.

Garrett grabbed my hand suddenly. His grip was tight enough to hurt. “There are some things I will not be able to answer honestly, and I’m sorry for that, Alpha.”

I frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“There are moths in this tapestry.”

The phrase made no sense. “What does that mean?”

“It means we cannot trust everybody on these grounds.” His eyes were urgent now. Desperate.

Cold settled in my gut. “Are you trying to insinuate that my Beta is—”

Garrett’s grip tightened even more sharply as if to warm me to watch my tongue and then he released my hand like it had burned him, stepping back just as Ronan’s footsteps approached.

“I informed my subordinates.” Ronan slipped his phone back into his pocket. “I’ll keep you updated.”

I nodded, but my mind was spinning. Moths in this tapestry. We cannot trust everybody. Had Garrett just warned me about Ronan? My Beta? The man I’d known for years? The man I trusted with pack business, with sensitive information, with my life?

No. That couldn’t be right. Garrett must have meant something else. Someone else.

But the seed of doubt had been planted.

Ronan turned to Garrett. “There was a blinding blue light when we were coming to you. What was that?”

Garrett blinked. His expression shifted to one of genuine confusion. “What blue light?”

Ronan and I exchanged a glance. The light had been impossible to miss. It had swallowed the entire road, bright enough to force Ronan to swerve off into the ditch.

“The light that nearly caused us to crash,” I said. “It exploded right before I felt the bond between Fia and I come back. You didn’t see it?”

Garrett shook his head slowly. “I didn’t see any light. After the crash, everything was…” He gestured vaguely. “Chaotic. I was trying to help Luna Fia. I wasn’t paying attention to much else.”

That didn’t make sense. The light had been massive. All-consuming. There was no way anyone at that scene could have missed it.

Unless they’d been unconscious.

Unless something else had been happening that had occupied his full attention.

Or unless Garrett was lying.

I studied his face, looking for tells. But his confusion seemed genuine. His body language read as honest bewilderment, not deception.

“Maybe it was some kind of aftereffect,” Ronan suggested. “From whatever magic was used.”

Maybe. But that felt too convenient. Too neat.

My head throbbed. Too many questions. Too many pieces that didn’t fit together properly. Someone had tried to kill Fia. She’d seen something, smelled something, that had warned her just in time. Then the crash had happened. Then she’d been dying. Then that blue light. Then she’d been fine.

And through it all, Garrett had been there. The only other survivor. Covered in blood that was mostly not his own and making cryptic warnings about moths and trust.

I needed answers. Real ones. But first, I needed to make sure Fia was truly safe.

“We’re done here for now,” I said. “Garrett, get yourself checked out. You look like hell.”

He bowed again. “Thank you, Alpha.”

I watched him leave, noting the way his shoulders hunched. The way his steps seemed heavier than usual.

When the door closed behind him, Ronan spoke. “What was that about moths?”

Fuck, he had heard that?

“I don’t know.” The lie tasted bitter. “His head is probably a mess from the accident. Imagine him saying he didn’t see that blinding light. Let us just give him time.”

I wondered though. Why did I lie?