Omega's Truth - Nora Phoenix Page 0,76

one left. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the old leaders are all gone. The prime minister, the cabinet members, there’s no one left. Even the entire board of the AWC has been taken out. The general’s got all the power…and he can do whatever the fuck he wants. Ain’t nobody left to stop him.”

Gable lowered his voice. “You really think that’s what he’s after?”

“I’m absolutely convinced that’s what he wants. He doesn’t want to eradicate the shifters. He wants to be able to shift himself, and after that, the alphas he deems worthy. But that’s also where he’s making his mistake. Shifting is more than science. It’s magic. It’s not a right but a privilege, gifted to you. It can’t be demanded or forced, and it sure as hell can’t be manipulated and used for evil. Lidon Hayes is no ordinary man. He is the most powerful alpha you’ve ever met, and he carries the blessing of the gods. He’s the True Alpha and can’t be beaten. Armitage is playing with powers he doesn’t comprehend and that he’ll never be able to control.”

Gable whistled softly between his teeth. “You’d better hope the general will never ask you to fight Hayes or his men, then, because it sounds like you’d have a problem with that.”

Pierson’s answer came fast. “My great-grandfather was a member of the Hayes pack. He swore an oath of loyalty that cannot be broken. You can threaten to court-martial me or even kill me, but I cannot and will not take up arms against Lidon Hayes.”

26

Sando’s mouth dropped open when he took his grandfather in. The man looked like he’d aged ten years since the last time he’d laid eyes on him.

“Sando!” his grandfather cried out, clearly happy to see him. “How was your trip?”

His trip? He must be confused again. Yitro had said it was best to play along. “It was wonderful, Papa, thank you.”

The word papa had slipped out automatically. How could he call him anything else when he’d been calling him that for twenty-five years? Besides, it could lead to questions and arguments, and Sando just wanted to get through this.

“I brought a friend, Papa.” He pointed at Naran, who wheeled himself into the cottage. The hallway was a tight fit for his wheelchair, but he’d be okay in the living room. “This is Naran.”

His grandfather darted his eyes from Sando to Naran and back. “I don’t approve of you socializing with alphas, Allessandro.”

He should’ve seen that one coming. What did he say now?

“No worries, Professor Melloni. Sando is safe with me. I’m already mated,” Naran said easily, then extended his hand. “Naran Watkins. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

His grandfather might not like it, but he couldn’t refuse an alpha’s gesture, and he took Naran’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

They settled in the living room, which looked surprisingly clean and tidy. Someone must have done a thorough cleaning, and for a second, Sando felt ashamed that he hadn’t dusted and mopped. But no, he shouldn’t be. Lucan had made that crystal clear. He’d said that just because he was an omega didn’t mean Sando’s job was to do all household chores. In fact, Lucan usually cooked, and Maz cleaned. Sando’s task was doing the laundry, which he didn’t mind at all.

“Sando, make us some coffee,” his grandfather said, and Sando automatically got up. Naran looked at him apologetically, but he smiled at him. If that was the worst his grandfather would do tonight, order him around, he’d take it and call it a resounding success.

When he got back into the living room with the coffee, his grandfather was telling Naran about a science fair Sando had won when he’d been eight or so. The public elementary school had also accepted entries from homeschooled students, and so Sando had been entered. Whereas most of the other kids had done experiments at the making-electricity-from-a-potato level, Sando had demonstrated a homebuilt solar panel and had blown them all away.

“My Allessandro will become a famous scientist.” Pride rang in his grandfather’s voice, and Sando had to swallow the tightness in his throat away. How had they gotten to this point when his grandfather had once been so supportive and proud of Sando?

“I’m sure he will,” Naran said amicably. “He’s very smart.”

“That, he is. I just hope he doesn’t lose his focus.”

Sando couldn’t hold back his wince. Yitro had warned him that his grandfather’s mental inhibitions were low and that his self-censoring was degrading, which resulted in