To ruin an Omega

Chapter 201: Hold that hammer

FIA

I stood slowly, the words leaving my mouth before I could second-guess them.

“I do not think so.”

The room shifted. Every head turned toward me. The elders. Father and stepmother. The strange woman and man. Even the sentinels by the door straightened, their attention pulled in my direction.

My father’s voice cut through the sudden quiet. “Fia.”

It was a sharp warning. But the man didn’t have that kind of power ovee me anymore.

I didn’t look at him. My eyes stayed locked on the lead elder’s face. On the furrow between his brows. On the way his mouth had pressed into a thin line.

“Milo’s family would be here today,” I said. My voice carried farther than I expected. Steadier. “But they feared for their lives.”

The whispers started immediately. Low murmurs that rippled through the room like wind through grass.

My father stood. I felt the movement more than saw it. The scrape of his chair. The rustle of fabric.

“Fia,” he said again.

I kept my gaze forward.

“They believed somebody wanted to assassinate them.” I let the words hang there. I let them settle into the minds of everyone listening. “I’m not pointing fingers when I say somebody.”

My eyes drifted then. Just for a moment. Just long enough to find her.

Isobel.

She sat rigid in her seat. Her face had gone gaunt. Pale. The color had drained from her skin so completely she looked like a ghost. Her lips parted slightly but no sound came out.

I turned back to the elders.

“But they sought asylum with me,” I said. “And I got evidence. Milo’s words himself.”

The lead elder leaned forward. His fingers steepled beneath his chin. The other elders exchanged glances. Quick. Uncertain.

“If you have evidence,” the lead elder said slowly, “then play it.”

My hand moved to my pocket. My fingers closed around my phone. The weight of it felt heavier than it should have. I pulled it up. Unlocked the screen. Opened the audio app.

The file was right there. Waiting.

I pressed play.

Static crackled first. Then breathing. Heavy and uneven. Like someone trying to steady themselves before speaking.

Then Milo’s voice filled the room.

“Man, I don’t even know where to start with this.”

The words were thick. Tired. Like he’d been carrying something too heavy for too long.

“I was used. I know that now. I was used by a girl I thought loved me. A girl who said she cared for me at the time. And because of that love, because I believed it, I betrayed my mate. I put her in a position where she was seen as the traitor of the pack.”

He paused. The silence stretched. I watched the elders lean in closer.

“But she doesn’t love me,” Milo continued. His voice cracked slightly. “She just used me. To hurt her sister. To sell her story even more. And I’m scared, man. I’m scared all that betrayal was for nothing. I don’t know how to make this shit right.”

There was another pause on the voicemail. It was longer this time.

“But I’m going to,” he said. His voice firmed up. “Because it’s what a man should do. It’s what I should have done from the start.”

He exhaled. Long and shaky.

“I love you, Barry. I know you hate that nickname. But just… just… Take care of grandmother. Because I might not see her for a while.”

The recording ended.

Silence crashed down like a wave. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke.

Then the whispers started again. Louder this time. More urgent.

I looked at the elders. “That’s Milo saying he betrayed me because he thought my sister loved him. And when he realized he’d been used, he wanted to make things right. Confess. But he couldn’t.”

I let my gaze drift to Hazel. She stared at me with wide eyes. Her face had gone pale too but in a different way than Isobel’s. Hers was the pallor of someone cornered. Trapped.

“Because all of a sudden,” I said, “he was accused of rape. And put to death.”

I paused. Let the implication sink in.

“Makes you wonder.”

The laugh started small. A hollow sound that didn’t quite reach Hazel’s eyes. Then it grew. Louder. Sharper. Until it turned into something manic. Something unhinged.

“You psychotic evil bitch!” The words tore out of her. “Wow. I didn’t think you had it in you. But you want me dead.”

She pushed herself up. Her movements were jerky. Uncontrolled.

“If I just die,” she screamed, “I’ll take you with me!”

She lunged forward. Her body twisted as she tried to jump toward the semicircle of tables where the elders sat. Where I stood.

The front doors burst open. Sentinels poured through. Four of them. They grabbed Hazel before she made it two steps. Their hands locked around her arms. Her waist. She thrashed against them. Screaming. Clawing.

“Let me go! Let me go!”

I stood perfectly still. My expression didn’t change.

“If that isn’t a confession,” I said quietly, “I don’t know what is.”

The lead elder’s face had gone hard. His jaw set. He looked at Hazel struggling in the sentinels’ grip. Then back to me.

“We all listened to the evidence,” he said. His voice carried the weight of judgment. “It makes sense why the Ashfords disappeared from the face of the earth when we looked for them.”

Movement caught my eye. A woman stood. It was the strange lady from before who had called me Athena.

“This gathering feels biased,” she said.

The lead elder’s head snapped toward her. “What?”

“I said it feels biased.” Her voice was cool. Clinical and detached in a way that made you feel sick to the stomach. “That recording could have been doctored for all we know.”

My fingers tightened around my phone.

“Why does she even have to speak?” the woman continued. “This matter concerns the Ashfords.”

I met her gaze directly. “I was his ex-mate. I have as much standing here as anyone. The reason he was killed was because of me.”

My voice didn’t waver. Neither did it shake.

“Who are you,” I asked, “to even have a say at this table?”

She smiled. It didn’t reach her eyes.

“I am Isobel’s mother,” she said. “Pauline Strati.”

The name hit the room like a stone dropped in still water. Ripples spread outward. There were more whispers. More sidelong glances.

I looked at the elders. “The recording can be scanned. There’s time.” I gestured toward where Hazel still struggled against the sentinels. “Even if Hazel’s outburst is more than enough, there’s time. And I have nothing to hide.”

Pauline’s smile didn’t falter. But something flickered behind her eyes. Something cold and calculating.

The lead elder looked between us. Between me and Pauline. Between the phone in my hand and Hazel being restrained by four grown men.

“We will have the recording examined,” he said finally. “But the accused’s reaction speaks volumes on its own.”

Hazel’s screaming had turned to sobs. The broken and desperate type. She sagged in the sentinels’ grip. Isobel on the other hand, still looked like death itself had touched her shoulder.

I slipped my phone back into my pocket. My heart hammered against my ribs but I kept my breathing even. And I kept my face calm.

Baruch stood behind me still. I felt his presence like a steady weight at my back. Grounding me.

The lead elder stood. The other elders followed suit.

“This council will reconvene after the evidence has been properly examined,” he said. “Until then, Hazel Hughes will remain in custody.”

Hazel’s head snapped up. “No. No, you can’t do this!”

The sentinels dragged Hazel toward the side door. Her protests echoed off the walls until the door slammed shut behind them.

Then silence fell again.

I turned slowly. My eyes found my father. He looked at me with an expression I could read as clear as day.

Pure unadulterated disgust.

Then I looked back at the other woman. Pauline Strati.

It was odd to see a Strati here because everyone knew that stepmother’s parents practically disowned her the second she took my father’s hand.

Was this also the doing of Gabriel?