To ruin an Omega

Chapter 397: Your Power 2

HAZEL

“And you still let me come here?”

“You will survive it, Hazel. You survived worse.”

I wanted to argue. Wanted to scream that this was different. That surviving was not the same as living.

But I did not.

Instead, I said quietly, “My husband-to-be does not like me one bit. I do not think I will survive it if he grows a spine against his father.”

Pauline was quiet for a moment.

Then she said, “I did not think that would be a problem for you.”

I frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“You seemed like you’ve always been adaptable. Resourceful. You do not need him to like you. You just need him to marry you.”

“It would not be a problem,” I said. “If the rules were not so strange. If everyone here did not seem to be repressing their sexuality as if it were something shameful.”

I could hear Pauline exhale slowly.

“My husband and I tolerate ourselves,” she said. “That is all marriage requires. Just do what you need to secure your position and have his kids. Heat season is coming soon. Use that.”

I felt something twist in my chest.

“Well, that would be easy for you.”

The words came out sharper than I intended.

“Excuse me?”

“Everyone knows how Grandfather moves. Anything with a feminine face would do.”

The silence on the other end of the line was cold.

“Watch your tongue, Hazel.”

I closed my eyes.

“I apologize.”

Pauline did not respond immediately.

When she finally spoke again, her voice was measured and controlled.

“Is there anything else you need?”

I hesitated.

Then I said, “Actually, yes. I need external help so the heat season goes right.”

“What kind of help?”

“The most potent aphrodisiac you can get.”

There was a pause.

“You want an aphrodisiac.”

“Yes.”

“For Lysander.”

“Well… Yes. You make it sound like I don’t need it. But trust me. I do. More than anything.”

“It is heat season, Hazel. Look at your own history. You will find out it is the one time men do not have restraint. Even if he seems like the most uptight prick.”

“Not this one, grandmother Pauline.”

Pauline let out a breath that sounded almost like a laugh. But there was no humor in it.

“You are that worried he will not perform?”

“I am worried he will not want to.”

I looked at the locked door.

“But I need this to work. I need to get pregnant. I need to secure my position here so they do not have a reason to send me back to Silvercreek in case anything goes wrong. Because I know Fia will not let the second opportunity to behead me go to waste.”

Pauline was quiet for a long moment.

“I can get you something,” she said finally. “But it will take time. A week at least.”

“Heat season is not that far away, and depending on the moon cycle, it could be earlier. Please garndmother. This benefits everybody.”

“Then I will try my best to have it to you before then.”

Relief washed over me again.

“Thank you.”

“Do not thank me yet. These things are not without risk. You will need to be careful with the dosage. Too much and it could hurt you. Or him.”

“I will be careful.”

“You had better be. I did not save you from one mess just to watch you create another.”

I nodded even though she could not see me.

“I understand.”

“Good. I will send it through a courier. Someone discreet. Do not let anyone see you receive it.”

“I do not know grandmother. This pack is a strange place. Let me visit you instead. It will be safer. Even if I will be chaperoned like a fucking child..”

“If it pleases you.”

“It does,” I replied.

“And Hazel?”

“Yes?”

“Stop worrying about Aldric. He is gone. Focus on surviving where you are now.”

“I will.”

She hung up without saying goodbye.

I lowered the phone and stared at the blank screen.

Aldric was dead.

Or dying.

Either way, he was not a threat anymore.

I should have felt relief. Should have felt safe.

But I did not.

Because Aldric being gone did not change where I was. Did not change the fact that I was trapped in this place with rules that felt like chains and a husband-to-be who looked at me like I was an inconvenience.

I set the phone down on the bed and walked to the window.

The view outside was the same as always. Manicured gardens. High stone walls. Guards posted at every entrance.

It looked beautiful from a distance.

But up close, it felt like a prison.

I had traded one death sentence for another.

At Silvercreek, I would have been beheaded for what I did.

Here, I would just be suffocated slowly. Year after year. Until there was nothing left of who I used to be.

I pressed my forehead against the cool glass and closed my eyes.

Heat season was coming.

I would take the aphrodisiac Pauline sent. I would do whatever I needed to do to make Wenzel have me.

I would get pregnant. Secure the best position for myself nd continue to prove my worth.

And maybe after that, things would get easier.

Maybe after that, I would have more freedom. More choices.

I mean… if Alpha Wenzel’s dead wife was a royal, there was no way she suffered the treatment he thrust on this pack. It would never have worked. I could be that. I had to be that.

Or maybe I would just keep surviving.

One day at a time.

One rule at a time.

One indignity at a time.

Until I forgot what it felt like to be anything other than this.

I opened my eyes and looked out at the gardens again.

Fia was not living like this. Somewhere beyond those walls, Fia was living her life. She had freedom. She had love. She was protected.

She had a mate who adored her. A pack that was not supposed to respect her but for some reason now did. A future that was hers to shape.

And I had this.

A policed room. A reluctant husband. A grandmother who saw me as a tool to be used.

I wondered if Fia even thought about me anymore.

If she remembered that we were sisters.

If she cared.

Probably not.

Why would she?

I had never been anything to her but a complication. A reminder of her hellish past.

And now I was gone. Not even in the way she wanted.

Still… Out of sight, out of mind, right?

I turned away from the window and walked back to the bed.

My phone was still sitting there. Screen dark.

I picked it up and opened the messages from Aldric one last time.

Then I deleted the entire thread.

Every message. Every threat. Every demand.

Gone.

If he were dead, there was no reason to keep them.

And if he was not dead yet, then he would be soon.

Either way, I was done answering to him.

I was done answering to anyone who thought they could control me.

Even the rules of this pack, and the only way out of that, is to soar above it.

A knock on the door tore me out of my fantasies.

“Miss Hazel, I do not hear water.”

Yeah… this rubbish had to go.