Omega's Truth - Nora Phoenix Page 0,89

for the good of the country. It’s still an illegal, undemocratic power grab…and history has shown nothing good ever comes of those.”

His friend had agreed. Soldiers quietly whispering like that? Mutiny.

They’d passed a house that had once been a villa of some rich person but now lay half in ruins. Still, they’d found people staying there. Four omegas and three betas, all equally terrified of being discovered. Their conversations had been in hushed tones as well, desperate exchanges about the lack of food, of needing a government-issued pass to get groceries, of fear of being arrested and deported. Sean’s heart had stopped when they’d mentioned a camp where tests had been conducted on omegas without their consent.

Even alphas had quietly talked among themselves about how badly things had gone wrong. This wasn’t what they had signed up for, doing all the work themselves that betas and omegas had always done. And were the rumors about the omega camp true?

Not that they’d always cared so much about the omegas. Still, more than a few alphas had been worried sick about omega relatives or partners who had disappeared into thin air. They had questions. Questions that had gone unanswered. They speculated about Armitage’s intentions, and all those agreed on one thing. This man wasn’t about to give up control. He’d have to be forcefully removed from power…but who would dare to stand up against him when he had the army on his side?

“We need our own strong man,” one alpha had murmured. “But who? He’s taken out all his enemies.”

“All but one…” his friend had whispered. “There’s Lidon Hayes…”

“What about Lidon Hayes?” someone else had asked in a similar conversation.

“Our hope is in Lidon Hayes.”

“My great-grandfather was a member of the Hayes pack. As his descendant, I stand with Lidon Hayes.”

“My family belonged to the Hightower pack, and we’ve always been allies with the Hayes pack. When the time comes, we’ll follow him.”

Every time he heard Lidon’s name mentioned in hushed tones, Sean’s skin tingled, and pride filled him. Coming to the ranch had been the best choice he’d ever made.

He assembled his team in a deserted city park, its gates closed—not that that was effective to keep them out. In a dense concentration of bushes, they shifted back, the awkwardness about being naked only lasting a few seconds.

“How is it possible that they’re all talking about Lidon?” Mostyn asked. “How do they even know him?”

It was a fair question and one that Sean had asked himself over and over again as they’d walked through the city.

“Remember what Grayson said? He said that the moon and the earth could whisper his name to those who wanted to hear,” Servas said. “And the old ways are awakening. Old bonds of brotherhood and loyalty are being restored. The AWC may have thought the old beliefs were forgotten, but people remember. Their wolves know the pack they belong to. They know where their loyalty lies.”

Felix nodded. “This can’t be explained with pure logic. There’s old magic involved.”

Sean sent his mate a look of pride. “I agree. But it confirms what we suspected. That the support for Armitage isn’t as wide-spread as he thinks. People fear him, but they’re not happy.”

“The stories about the camps…” Lev shuddered. “If they’re true…”

That big guy had such a soft heart. Sean had a weak spot for him. He was absolutely unsuitable as a guard, but what an amazing human being he was with his kind, loving heart. He squeezed Lev’s shoulder. “Grayson and his team will find out the truth, and if it’s true, they’ll report back, and we’ll fix it. Okay? I promise we won’t stand by and let omegas be abused like that.”

“Can I make a suggestion?” Duer said. The beta was quiet, never saying more than he had to. Sean had met him once when he’d still been a cop, and Duer had been another person then. What he had survived had marked and changed him, and Sean understood. Sean nodded at him.

“I think we should check out the police station, see what the cops are saying. We know they were big AWC supporters back in the day, so I wonder where they stand now.”

Sean couldn’t hold back the shiver that ran down his spine. The police station. It felt like returning to the scene of the crime. Or maybe more like the scene of his shame, of his pain. As happy as he was in the pack, sometimes it still hurt to have lost that