To ruin an Omega

Chapter 87: Cottonwood 1

CIAN

The alarm ripped through the quiet of my study. Sharp. Piercing. I reached out and slammed my hand down on it. The sound died.

My body ached everywhere. The chair I had spent the night in was not designed for sleeping. My neck was stiff. My back protested when I tried to sit up. Every muscle felt tight and wrong.

I pushed myself to my feet. My joints cracked. The room spun for a second before settling. I rubbed my face with both hands and looked at the time. Six in the morning. The sun would be rising soon.

I walked to the door and pulled it open. The hallway was empty except for one person. Ronan was walking toward me. His steps were purposeful and as direct as the Beta he has grown to be.

“So you avoided her,” he said when he reached me.

“Priorities, Ronan,” I said.

He shook his head but did not argue. “A small army is ready,” he said instead. “The best and most ruthless sentinels we have.”

“Good.”

“They are loading up the vehicles now.”

I nodded. My mind was already moving ahead. Planning. Calculating. But there was something I needed to do first.

“I want to see my mother before we go,” I said.

Ronan’s expression softened. “Of course, Alpha.”

We walked through the corridors together. The pack house was waking up. Sentinels changed shifts at their posts. Staff moved through the halls carrying trays and supplies. Everyone moved with purpose. Everyone knew something big was happening.

The infirmary was quiet when we entered. The smell of antiseptic hung in the air. Clean and sharp. Maren was at the monitoring station. She looked up when we walked in.

“How is she?” I asked.

“Stabilized,” Maren said. She stood and gestured toward the room where my mother lay. “Still not conscious. But her vitals are holding steady.”

I walked to the doorway and looked in. My mother was exactly where I had left her. Pale. Still. The oxygen mask over her face. Tubes running from her arms. Machines beeping in steady rhythm.

She looked so small in that bed. So fragile. Nothing like the strong woman who had raised me. Who had led this pack with grace and strength. To know she was fighting fucking poison instead of some godforsaken disease made me even angrier. I needed that anger.

“I’ll get the antidote,” I said. My voice came out rough.

“We’ll be waiting,” Maren said behind me.

I stood there for another moment. Just looking at her. Memorizing every detail. The way her hair spread across the pillow. The rise and fall of her chest. The pale color of her skin.

I would fix this. I would bring her back.

I turned away from the door but something propped in my mind before I could leave and I looked at Maren.

“Can you do me a favor?” I asked.

“Of course,” she said without hesitation.

“Could you be by Fia’s side?” I asked.

Maren blinked. “Oh.”

“What?”

“We aren’t really close,” she said slowly. Her tone was careful.

“But you are both women,” I said.

Maren’s eyebrows rose. She crossed her arms and stared at me. “We are both women?”

I realized how that sounded now that she said it. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Then what way did you mean it?”

I rubbed the back of my neck. This was not going the way I had planned. “Just be by her side,” I said. “We will be attending Alpha Julius Knight’s wedding soon enough. And I am sure her wardrobe is beautiful. But it is not anything grand. You are a fashion girl. Go shopping with her and have fun.”

I pulled out my wallet and withdrew my Amex black card. Held it out to her. “Go wild even.”

Maren looked at the card. Then at me. Then back at the card. A slow smile spread across her face.

“Now you’re talking,” she said. She took the card from my hand and examined it like it was a precious gem.

“We will have the wildest time,” she said. Her eyes were already distant. Planning. Plotting whatever shopping adventure she was going to drag Fia on.

“Good,” I said. “Take care of her.”

“Oh, I will do.”

I nodded and left the infirmary. Ronan fell into step beside me. We walked in silence through the corridors. Down the stairs. Out through the main entrance.

The front courtyard was full of activity. Ten black vehicles were lined up. Sentinels loaded weapons into the trunks. Checked ammunition. Strapped on protective gear. Every face was hard. Focused. Ready for violence if it came to that.

I recognized most of them. Warriors who had proven themselves time and again. People I trusted with my life. With the pack’s future.

The lead car door was open. Waiting for me. I walked toward it. Ronan grabbed my arm.

“When we get to the witch’s shop, I think I should get in there first,” he said.

I looked at him. “We can do that together.”

“I don’t know,” Ronan said. His grip tightened slightly.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“You tend to be rash.”

The words hit me wrong. My jaw tightened. “I disagree.”

Ronan held my gaze for a long moment. Then he let go of my arm and shrugged. “Whatever you say then, boss.”

I climbed into the car. The leather seat was cold. The interior smelled like polish and steel. Ronan got in beside me. The driver was already in position. Engine running.

“Move out,” I said.

The driver put the car in gear. We rolled forward. The other nine vehicles fell in behind us. A convoy of violence heading south.

We passed through the gates of Skollrend. The guards saluted as we went by. The road stretched out ahead of us. Empty in the early morning light. The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. Painting the sky in shades of pink and gold.

I watched the landscape pass. Trees gave way to open fields. Fields gave way to hills. The neutral zone was two hours away. Two hours of driving and thinking and planning.

My wolf was restless. It paced inside my mind. Eager. Ready to tear into anyone who stood between us and the witch. Between us and the antidote.

“You really think we can do this without violence?” I asked.

Ronan was looking out his window. “I think we should try.”

“And if she refuses?”

“Then we stop trying and you can do what you plan to do.”

I nodded. That was fair. Reasonable. But I already knew how this was going to go. The witch had worked with Gabriel. Had poisoned my mother. Had taken money from traitors. She was not going to hand over the antidote out of the goodness of her heart. Maybe money was her master and she would be easy to convince. I hoped that was it.

“What if she does not have it?” I asked. It made no sense really. The creator of the mess would definitely have the means to undo it. But my head was an echo chamber of what ifs.

Ronan turned to look at me. “Then we make her create it.”

“And if she cannot?”

“Then we find another witch who can.”

I leaned back in my seat. My body still ached from the terrible night in the study chair. My neck was stiff. My back was tight. But the discomfort kept me sharp. Kept me focused.

The convoy drove on. We passed through small towns. Shadow villages that barely registered on any map. Underneath places where humans lived their simple lives. Unaware of the supernatural world that existed alongside theirs.

The sun climbed higher. Morning turned to mid morning. The landscape changed again. I saw more trees and denser forest. We were getting close to the neutral zone.

I could feel it. That subtle shift in the air. That sense of crossing from pack territory into unclaimed land. Into space where no alpha held dominion. Where the laws were looser and the dangers were greater.

“Five minutes,” the driver said.

I sat up straighter. Rolled my shoulders. Cracked my knuckles. The wolf inside me surged forward. Ready.

The trees grew thicker. The road became rougher. We were deep in the forest now. Deep in territory that belonged to no one and everyone.

Then I saw it. A small cottage. Tucked back from the road. Smoke curled from the chimney. Herbs hung drying from the eaves. A garden sprawled in front. Wild and untamed.

“There,” I said.

The driver slowed. The convoy came to a stop on the side of the road. Doors opened. Sentinels poured out. Silent. Efficient. They fanned out around the cottage. Creating a perimeter. Blocking all exits.

I got out of the car. My boots hit the dirt road. Ronan was beside me in an instant.

“Let me go first,” he said again.

“Together,” I said.

He sighed but did not argue. We walked up the narrow path to the cottage. The garden was full of plants I did not recognize. Strange flowers. Twisted vines. Things that probably had magical properties.

The door opened before we reached it.

A woman stood in the doorway. She was older than I expected. Gray hair pulled back in a loose bun. Sharp eyes that missed nothing. She wore a simple dress. An apron. She looked like someone’s grandmother.

But I knew better.

“Ophelia Cottonwood?” I asked.

“Depends on who’s asking,” she said. Her voice was rough. Like gravel.

“I am Alpha Cian of Skollrend,” I said. “This is my Beta, Ronan.”

She looked us over. Her gaze was calculating. Assessing. “I know who you are.”

“Then you know why we are here.”

“I can guess.” She leaned against the doorframe. Completely at ease despite the armed sentinels surrounding her home. “You want something from me.”

“My mother was poisoned,” I said. “You made the poison. Now you are going to give me the antidote.”

Ophelia smiled. It was not a kind expression. “And if I refuse?”

My wolf snarled. I felt my control slip just slightly. Just enough. “Then this becomes unpleasant for everyone.”

She studied me for another long moment. Then she pushed off the doorframe and stepped back. “You better come in then.”