Omega's Truth - Nora Phoenix Page 0,94

“Heed his call. Follow his lead. He will bring freedom and justice.”

“For Lidon Hayes!” a chorus cried out. “For freedom and justice!”

Lucan’s eyes teared up as the omegas rose to their feet and streamed out of the hall. “For Lidon Hayes! For freedom and justice!”

32

For a second, Palani feared the general would keel over on the spot from a heart attack when Lidon shifted. He choked on his own breath, his eyes bulging in his head as the massive alpha wolf turned into a man. Even Palani, who should be used to it by now, always had to take a moment to appreciate the beauty of a powerful wolf transforming into an even more powerful man.

He was stark naked, of course, but he stood without shame…as he should. Palani wasn’t even pretending to be objective, but Lidon was stunning. His body, his cock, his face…but above all, his eyes. More than anything else, those spoke to Palani about the man himself. They could be strict and cold, but most of the time, they were warm and kind. Always sharp, always probing and searching but so loving and accepting. Magnetic, that word fitted his alpha. He drew people to him, whether he wanted to or not.

“Rhene, can you find him a pair of pants or something?” Palani asked his brother. “For Bray as well, should he want to shift back. And see if you can find something to eat for him. He looks famished. Take Lars with you.”

Rhene nodded, and the two of them walked out without protest.

“He should be ashamed to take orders from his beta brother,” Armitage said, but his words missed the venom they’d had before. Was he starting to see he was losing? Because he was. Palani had no doubts about that anymore. This man was going down. Right fucking now.

“You should be ashamed for illegally grabbing the power, for abusing omegas and arresting betas, and for installing a reign of terror, and yet here we are,” Palani said. “Remember what they say about glass houses, General.”

Armitage raised his chin. “I’m not ashamed of anything. Everything I did was for the good of the country.”

Palani sighed. “You know, a few weeks ago, when we first heard about what you’d done, I would’ve believed that. We both know York won the elections through voter fraud, so rectifying that wouldn’t even have bothered me that much. But everything you did afterward has proved that you’re not acting in the best interest of the country. Hell, you’re not even acting in the best interests of alphas. Just your own.”

“I gave the alphas exactly what they wanted!”

“Maybe you did, and maybe they were just so stupid they wouldn’t realize that getting what they wanted turned out to be a bad thing. But a good leader would have saved them from themselves. There’s literally nothing good about you.”

Armitage cocked his head as he looked at Lidon. “The police were corrupt to the very core. I abolished the police. I would think that you of all people would appreciate that.”

“Not much of an improvement if you replace it with your soldiers who are equally corrupt.” Palani wasn’t deterred in the least that Armitage was avoiding looking at him.

“I took down all your enemies, every single leader of the AWC,” Armitage said, sounding proud.

“Bragging about killing people is not quite the accomplishment you think it is,” Palani countered again. A muscle in the general’s jaw ticked, but he kept ignoring Palani.

“I have left you and your men alone when I could’ve killed you with one single order.”

“Note to self. Be grateful for not being killed for no reason. Maybe you’d like us to write you a thank-you note?”

Lidon’s mouth twitched, and behind him, Kean coughed in his hand. Just then, Rhene and Lars came back with two pairs of army pants. “This is the best I could do, alpha.” Rhene gave one to Lidon while Lars threw the other to Kean, who caught it one-handed. “It’s either this or walking around naked and making us all feel inadequate and inferior.”

“I vote for the second option, by the way,” Lars quipped, and Palani couldn’t hold back a snicker. He’d have to make sure to report that remark back to Grayson because Lars was pretty much begging for a spanking, but damn if it wasn’t hilarious.

“I’ll take the pants for now, but thanks for the compliment,” Lidon said dryly. “I wouldn’t want the general to be able to claim he’d been distracted by my…assets.”

Palani had never