All Chapters of Rogue's Omega: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Orin stepped out of the trees with a bag of supplies and a sealed council document. "I'm not here to arrest you," he said. "I'm here to help."The camp was barely a camp. A shallow cave tucked into a cliff face, a small fire that spat and smoked with wet wood, and five people huddled around it while the northern wind cut through the trees like a blade. Bastian sat with his back against the stone, his wounded leg stretched out in front of him. The silver burn was healing slower than it should, and I could feel the ache of it through the bond like a tooth that wouldn't stop throbbing. Archer was beside him, checking the bandages with his new gold eyes. He kept flexing his hands, testing the strength in them, and I knew he was still adjusting. Still reeling from the transformation that had remade his body and his wolf in the space of a scream.Kellan stood at the cave mouth, staring south toward Silver Hollow. He hadn't spoken much since we fled the manor. The second bond hummed with his

Voss raised his hands to the crowd. "We gather tonight to honor purity. To celebrate tradition." His smile was serene. "And to begin a cleansing."The main clearing of Silver Hollow was packed with wolves. Torches lined the perimeter, and the full moon hung overhead like a white eye, fat and heavy and waiting. Every member of the pack was present, from the oldest elders to the youngest pups, their faces turned toward the raised stone platform where Voss stood in his dark robes. The council flanked him in a semicircle. Halden Crowe was not among them. Neither was Elara.I stood at the edge of the clearing with Bastian's shoulder pressed against mine. The three bonds hummed in my chest, a constant vibration of ferocity and calculation and steadiness. Kellan was positioned near the enforcer barracks with Sera's resistance fighters hidden in the shadows behind him. Archer was at the medic tent with the vaccine kit, his new gold eyes scanning the crowd. Rook and Orin were near the northern

I stood at the center of the council hall, three alphas at my back, and spoke to wolves who once would have spat on me. "The old way is over. We govern together now—alphas, betas, omegas. All of us." The hall was full. Spring sunlight streamed through the high windows, and the stone walls that had once felt like a tomb now felt like something else. A foundation. The council table had been rebuilt longer and wider, with chairs for wolves who had never been allowed to sit at it before. Maren Holt stood at the head of the enforcer contingent with her scarred face solemn and her dark eyes steady. Sera Darnell sat beside her, commanding her independent unit with the same cold efficiency she had once aimed at me. Elara Crowe occupied the elder advisor's chair, her silver braid restored and her bruised face healed, though she still moved a little slower than before. Halden stood behind Elara with his hand on her shoulder, and he didn't try to hide it anymore. Orin Mercer stood at my left,

I'd spent my whole life being told where to go, what to do, who to be. And now, with three alphas telling me to rest, I wanted to tear the walls down.The room was beautiful. That was the worst part. A private chamber with a real bed and a window that looked out over the eastern forest, with glass panes that Archer had installed himself because he said natural light was good for the pup. A fireplace that Kellan kept stocked with dry wood. A chair by the hearth where Bastian sat every night, sharpening his knife and watching the door like someone might try to take this away from us.I hated it.I paced from the window to the door and back again, my hand pressed to the small swell of my belly. The pup was a warm pulse under my palm, barely visible beneath my tunic but growing every day. My wolf paced with me, restless and caged, and the bond web hummed with three distinct flavors of worry. Bastian's fierce protectiveness, a hot wire of constant vigilance. Kellan's strategic concern, a c

Kellan took the map. His face went pale. "The Ironwood Pack is on this list. They've been our trading partners for thirty years."Maelis didn't blink. "Ironwood has been playing friendly with Silver Hollow while actively funding the hunt for Moon-Wolves for two centuries. The beta you fought months ago wasn't just a challenger. He was a scout, testing your abilities. The moment he scented your multi-bond signature, he sent word north. Ironwood has known about you since the day you stepped into that fighting pit."The silence in the hall was heavy and cold. Kellan stared at the map, and I felt his shock through the second bond. The careful architecture of his political alliances, the treaties and trade routes and diplomatic visits he had maintained for years, all built on a foundation of lies."Stonefall and Black River are smaller packs," Maelis continued, her gnarled finger tapping each red territory in turn. "They follow Ironwood's lead. Widow's Peak and Thornhaven are farther north