Page 5 of The Omega Switch: Part 2

"Dramatic?" I laughed, though the sound came out strained and almost broken. "She could have become dangerously dehydrated, or even assaulted. She could have died! And now, she’s missing, and no one knows where she is!" I was practically screaming at them.

But one thing I noticed was that not one of them looked remorseful. They only looked scared. George stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"Look, I still don't understand why you're all so upset. Yes, Arabella wanted her file to match with yours. Think about it - any omega in her position would. And she fits with your pack! Together, we were making great progress. Can you take a few days to calm down, and we can revisit this? We’ll find Ivy and make sure she’s alright.” He said, as if this was somehow fixable. As if it were just some small oversight, not the biggest mistake of our lives.

“But let’s be real here, it’s just Ivy. Is she really worth all this?” He asked, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Ronan’s hand move so fast I barely registered it before a crater formed in the wall. Everyone visibly flinched.

“Excuse me?” Hunter asked, his voice low and almost calm. The scariest tone I’d heard. “That’s our mate that you’re talking about.” George seemed confused, then held his hands out.

“Your mate? Come on. Alpha to alpha…Why would you want Ivy anyway? She's awkward, embarrassing, and frankly not a particularly attractive omega. She takes after her mom. We did you a favor, honestly.” The words made me more horrified than seeing Ivy’s room. I stood there in shock, unable to process what I was hearing.

Clara nodded immediately, as though he had said something perfectly reasonable, all of them oblivious to the rising fury in our pack.

"Arabella is obviously the better fit for your pack. She's beautiful, confident, and knows how to behave around people. She’s the one who will keep the company in the spotlight long term. Ivy has always been plain, and honestly... having her on your arm would only embarrass men like you." Clara said, unaware of what she’d just done.

My mates went silent. I had never felt anything like what I was feeling through our bonds at this moment. A growl rumbled from Ronan's chest, primal enough that the windows seemed to vibrate with the force of it, while Hunter remained perfectly still beside me. Somehow his silence frightened me more than Ronan's anger ever could, because I recognized the look in his eyes. He wasn't simply furious anymore. He wanted vengeance. So did I.

Every apology Ivy had offered us, every time she'd flinched when someone praised her, every instinct she had to shrink into the background or make herself smaller suddenly made perfect, heartbreaking sense. She had been taught that she was an inconvenience. And the one time she tried to break free and tell us, we’d spurned her. Standing there in that hotel suite, surrounded by the very people who should have loved and protected her most, I realized with painful clarity that Ivy had never truly had a family. Not anymore.

Hunter spoke softly, so quiet that I strained to hear him.

“You let your daughter lie to us. About the most important decision we will ever make.” He said, his eyes closed. “You took away Ivy’s place in our pack. And then you spent months convincing us that she was unstable whenever she tried to tell the truth." For the first time since we'd arrived, Hunter's control slipped just enough for the raw hurt beneath it to become visible. "She begged us to listen. And because of what all of you had done to her, I didn't."

The silence in the suite became unbearable. When Hunter spoke again, every trace of emotion had disappeared.

"Our business dealings are officially over. I will be going after every cent you own. I’ll be pressing charges against you for fraud. I’m going to make sure the world knows exactly what kind of family the Carringtons are." He said, and Clara looked back at her mates with wide eyes. "You committed a crime by falsifying compatibility records and attempting to induce a permanent bond under false pretenses." He looked at each one of them. "You knowingly supported the deception. And every one of you participated in concealing it because Ivy's happiness, her life, was apparently worth less to you than Arabella's ambitions."

Aaron stepped forward, his face ashen. “Wait, let’s not get rash; we can talk about this-” His words were cut off by a growl from Ronan that nearly shook the room.

Hunter straightened his jacket with calm precision. "The lawsuits won’t just be about recovering money, of course. I’m going to make certain that no pack, no laboratory, no omega, and no company ever trusts the Carrington name again. I will be letting everyone know exactly how psychopathic you and Arabella are. There will be no pack that will ever want to associate with you again." His eyes became impossibly cold. “And that’s just the warm-up. Please know that I will stop at nothing to make you feel the pain that you made Ivy feel. I never forgive, and I never forget.” Pack Carrington’s fear was now so palpable that their scent was tinged with it, filling the room with a sour smell as Clara looked at her mates, her mouth open as she stuttered to them, gripping them in horror at Hunter’s threats.

"You stole the one thing my pack considers sacred. Our mate." He walked over, his fists clenched. I could feel how close he was to hurting them. But at the last second, he turned, storming out of the suite. Ronan gave the darkest glare I’d ever seen, and turned to follow. We left the room, leaving the Carringtons to deal with what came next. We’d get our revenge on them. But first, we needed to find Ivy. And until we did, nothing would ever be okay.

Chapter 4

Ivy

5 months later

Five months ago, I had nothing. I’d left the only home I knew with a few scant belongings, a small amount of cash, and went into the world with no job, no family, and nothing to my name. My entire world had collapsed around me, and I realized that no one believed me. But I also realized I had something I never realized before - I had myself.

Some mornings, I still woke up expecting to find myself back in my tiny bedroom, waiting for Clara to criticize the way I breathed or Arabella to mock something I'd created. For a few disorienting seconds, I'd brace myself for another day of waking early to make breakfast for everyone, until reality slowly settled over me. Then I'd remember that I was free. I had escaped, and that in itself felt miraculous.

I unlocked the front door of my boutique as the first rays of sunlight reached through the trees, and smiled as the bell chimed over the door. The scent that greeted me as I stepped into my store was a mixture of everything I had been working on in the month that I had been open. The initial scent was a blend of dried lavender, chamomile, and fresh linen, all blending together into something warm and cozy. It smelled exactly like I always wanted a home to smell like.

I just stood there, taking it all in. The shelves lining the walls were filled with bath salts in glass jars, teas meant to soothe a pack post-heat, natural perfumes, soft nesting blankets, and comfortable lounge clothes that one omega customer said felt like wearing a cloud.

A corner near the window was my workshop space, where I hosted small classes teaching young omegas how to blend calming oils, create personalized perfumes, or teach people how to use any of my self-care products.

The sign overhead summed up the store perfectly -

The Gentle Nest.

Natural Comforts for Every Omega.

I’d come up with the name myself - it was something I’d always wanted, but never was able to have - a gentle nest. And now, I could share my ideas and help other omegas who needed comfort. I never imagined I'd own my own store, not so soon anyway.

The first few weeks after I left were nerve-wracking. Mara helped me escape, her grandmother giving me refuge until I’d had time to heal from the horrendous heat I’d experienced. Every morning she had a pot of tea ready for me and talked to me in a soothing, calming voice, telling me stories from her childhood. She never pried or pushed me, letting my body and mind heal from what I’d been through. Not just the heat - but the years that I’d been neglected by my own family. It took a few weeks, but eventually I did something so unnatural for me that it felt odd to do it - I asked for help.