To ruin an Omega-Chapter 392: A reason to stay 1

CIAN

The door to the infirmary opened again.

A sentinel stepped inside. His face had lost its color, his hands clenched tightly at his sides as if he were holding himself together by force.

I looked up from where I sat beside Fia’s bed.

"Alpha Cian," he said, his voice strained. "I need to speak with you."

Something in his tone settled uneasily in my chest.

I rose, slower than I intended, and crossed the room toward him. We stopped near the doorway, just far enough that the others would not overhear.

"What is it?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

The sentinel swallowed, his throat working.

"It is Beta Ronan and his mother, Teagan."

My jaw tightened.

"What about them?"

"They are dead, sir."

The words struck with the force of something physical.

I stared at him, my mind already moving ahead of the explanation.

"What do you mean?" I asked, sharper now. "Was Teagan executed without trial?"

"No, sir," the sentinel said quickly. "That did not happen."

A brief, tense pause followed.

"Then explain."

"We found them in their cell. Ronan was strangled. Teagan hanged herself."

My breath stalled.

The sentinel continued, more controlled now.

"It appears Teagan killed her son first. Then she used her clothes to fashion a rope and hanged herself from a pipe in the ceiling."

For a moment, everything inside me went still.

I could not move. Nor could I speak.

Ronan was dead... Even Teagan was dead.

Gone, both of them, in a way that felt too abrupt to make sense of.

Behind me, Maren let out a quiet gasp. Thorne muttered a curse under his breath.

I turned to look at them. Their expressions mirrored what I felt but could not yet place.

There was shock. A lot of unease and a quiet, creeping disbelief.

"This would have happened anyway," Thorne said after a moment, his voice subdued. "They were sentenced to death. This just happened sooner."

Yeah... Ronan had been sentenced.

Teagan had not.

Her trial had not even begun.

That difference sat heavily in my chest.

This was not how it should have unfolded.

I turned back to the sentinel.

"Where are the bodies now?"

"Still in the cell, sir. We were waiting for your orders."

I drew in a slow breath, then let it out carefully.

"Bury them with respect," I said. "Together. They were traitors, but they were still pack. Give them that much."

The sentinel nodded.

"Yes, Alpha."

He turned and left without another word.

I remained where I was, staring at the doorway long after he was gone, trying to absorb what I had just been told.

I had been ready for this. For Ronan to be gone. But it did sting a little.

Was it because... he was a man I had trusted once? A man who had stood at my side and betrayed it without hesitation.

And now he was gone before I could make him answer for everything he had done the right way. Under the weight of a machete.

Or was it because I had not gotten the deadman switch from him before he died?

The files Aldric had kept, the leverage he had used to control people, especially Valentine. I did hate that all of it was still out there somewhere. Hidden. Waiting.

I had intended to interrogate Ronan for a hot minute to force the truth out of him if I had to. I needed to know where those files were to secure them for myself and future use.

Now that path had been cut off completely.

Frustration stirred, sharp and immediate, but I forced it down before it could take hold.

It did not matter.

Valentine did not know I lacked the files. He would assume I had already secured them, and he would move with caution because of it.

For now, that was enough.

The rest could be dealt with later.

I turned back toward Fia’s bed.

That was when I saw her eyes flutter open.

I crossed the room quickly and sank back into the chair beside her.

"Fia."

Her gaze found me slowly, as though pulling itself into focus. Then she smiled in a faint but real manner.

"Hey."

Relief moved through me in a quiet rush.

I reached for her hand, closing my fingers around it.

"Are you alright?" 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

She gave a small nod.

"I am alright. I am just tired."

"You healed Gabriel. So it is understandable."

"It was strange," she said softly. "I had never been that drained using the gifts before."

Her voice was worn, as though the effort had taken more from her than she was letting on.

I tightened my hold on her hand, careful not to hurt her.

"Well.. Let us get out of here."

Her smile deepened just slightly. "I would not hate that."

I stood and slipped one arm beneath her knees, the other supporting her back, before lifting her carefully.

She felt lighter than I expected, though that might have been the lingering edge of adrenaline still running through me.

Either way, I held her close against my chest as I turned toward the door.

Maren’s voice followed us.

"She should rest. Do not let her overdo it."

"I will not," I replied, not turning back.

I carried Fia into the corridor. The hallway had quieted, most people already gone, returning to their duties or their rooms.

Fia tilted her head, looking up at me.

"What happens now to Skollrend?" she asked. "With all that has happened?"

I considered the question before answering.

"Nothing much, for now," I said. "I will need to dismantle the external alliances Aldric built. I will have to prove, to those watching, that the infiltration of traitors was an isolated breach and that I can still hold this pack together."

I paused, then added,

"The royal family may already be watching. They will want to know if Skollrend is stable, or if it requires intervention."

Fia’s brow furrowed slightly.

"That sounds like a lot of pressure."

"It is. But I can handle it. I can handle a lot, actually."

She smiled.

"I am sure you got this."

I looked down at her. At the trust in her eyes. The certainty.

It made something warm settle in my chest.

We reached my suite, and I pushed the door open with my shoulder. The room was exactly as I had left it this morning. Bed unmade. Clothes draped over a chair.

It felt like a lifetime ago.

I carried Fia to the bed and lowered her gently onto the mattress. She sank into it with a soft sigh.

I sat down beside her.

"You had something to tell me if I am remembering right," I said.

Fia sat up slowly. She adjusted the pillows behind her and then folded her hands in her lap.

"Right."

I moved closer. Something in her expression made my pulse quicken.

Her heart was beating faster. I could feel the nervousness radiating off her in waves.

"It is not a bad thing, right?" I asked carefully.

"No."

She took a slow breath.

"With all that has happened, I would like to think it is a good thing."

She paused.

"I should just let it out. I am... pregnant."

For a moment, I could not move.

Could not breathe.

Could not even process what she had just said.

Pregnant...

She was pregnant?

We were going to have a baby?!

Then something broke loose inside me, and I laughed.

It came out loud, unrestrained, as it managed to break through everything else.

"Really?"

Fia nodded. Her smile was wide now and just as genuine.

"Yeah. I found out today."

"I cannot believe this."

I was still laughing. I could not stop.

"If you have clear pregnancy symptoms now, it would mean it has been a while, and it was not that close to heat season."

"I know. But it happened anyway."