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I blink, my retort dying on my lips when I remember how many cameras are in this ballroom right now. Any kind of exchange with her will almost certainly draw the attention of at least one cameraman. Although I’m sure someone has already caught this on film, I absolutely cannot risk a confrontation.
The king, however, rolls his eyes and pats her hand almost patronizingly. “Knock it off, Catherine. The Omega hasn’t done anything wrong.”
With that, he inclines his head at me, smiles again, and then drags his stunned wife away while I’m so shocked, I can’t move for a moment. Antonio, on the other hand, does a gleeful little dance as he squeals softly once they’re gone. “That was epic. I can’t believe I just heard the king tell the queen toknock it off. You’ve really not kept a low profile at all, have you?”
“Unfortunately not,” I say, my voice breathy as shock reverberates through me. “I’m not sureepicis quite the word I’d use to describe that, though.”
Whether he meant to or not, I’m pretty sure the king just signed my death warrant. Or at the very least, the death warrant of my hopes of a relationship with the RP. I need to talk to them. They need to know about this. Something isn’t right. I didn’t like the way she was looking at me.
Like she already won.
Urgency simmers in my gut as I look around, but I don’t see them anywhere. None of them are where they were before. The king clearly isn’t talking to the man he was speaking to anymore, and Wolf was with them last I saw.
Yua has appeared back where she was before she led Tai away, but he’s nowhere to be found. As for Kaz? Well, he’s vanished into thin air as well.
“Excuse me,” I mutter to Antonio as I take off to find them. I don’t know how I know, but I need to find them right away.
I really needed that drink to cool off, but to hell with it. This is more important. It’s so important that it makes my stomach hurt even worse than before when I imagine what the queen might do if she gets to them before I do. If she makes some kind of announcement of her own or does something else designed to keep us apart.
I don’t know if they know what she offered me before, but I have a feeling that woman knows how to put a spin on every conversation. After her husband chastised her in the presence of two Omegas, I have no doubt she’ll want to take vengeance on me.
As I rush out of the ballroom, it feels like a small gremlin with a pickaxe has taken up residence in my brain and is slowly chipping away at my scalp. Strangely, my muscles are aching, but that might be because I’m so tense, and I’m suddenly incredibly cold.
It must be the shock. It has to be shock. Or fear. It’s not fever. It’s not allowed to be fever.
Regardless, I hurry down the hall toward the pack quarters. I don’t know if they’re there, but their scents are strong in the air as I make my way down the corridor leading to their place. When the faint sound of Kaz’s voice reaches my ears, relief sweeps through me until I process the words he’s saying.
“She’s nothing. A worthless, poor Omega with no power and no connections that we’ll tire of eventually, but by then, the mistake will have been made and we’ll have bonded with her.”
For a moment, my lungs seize. I feel like I’m about to faint. My head swims and I blink, but I’m still swaying on my feet and I can’t quite think.
Get away from here, Maddison. Get out. Right now.
I have no idea what changed his mind, but it seems like my paranoia was for good reason. I knew all along that this was too good to be true, and I was right.
Spinning around, I run as fast as my feet can carry me, needing to get outside. Get some air. Get to my parents. Just…something.
But as I reach the corridor leading back to the ballroom, the queen steps out. Though she seems surprised to see me, she smiles as her gaze rakes over whatever expression is on my face. “I tried to warn you, Omega.”
“I’m leaving,” I choke out, fighting back tears as I back away from her like a cornered animal. “You won’t see me again.”
“Farewell, Maddison Darling,” is the final thing I hear as I take off down yet another corridor and find myself near the Omega wing, but maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe it’s fate.
At least I’ll be able to gather my meager possessions before I go. They might not be much, but they’re mine, and apparently, they’re also the only things that ever really will be.
THIRTY-ONE
—
K A Z
As I lookat my packmates, my jaw is clenched so tight that my teeth may just crack. “Okay, so we’re all still on the same page, right?”
“Yes,” Wolf says without hesitation, his voice low as his eyes dart from side to side to make sure we’re still alone. “We’ll choose Maddie at the Final Ceremony, but I think you were right about what you said before.”
“Which part?” Tai asks quietly, also looking around. We’re all on high alert for this impromptu meeting, even if talking about this outside of our quarters is risky, I needed to check with them before I did what I’m going to do when we go back into the ballroom and we don’t have time to go all the way back to our chambers right now.
Wolf gives me a knowing look. “You were going to do it anyway, weren’t you?”
