Rogue looks between us as he pushes his chair back and stands, pulling his phone from his pocket. “I’ll call Dad now and see what we need to do to get in.”
As he heads towards his office, I’m cautiously hopeful that this might work. I can’t believe it. Maybe we’ll get somewhere this time.
Either that, or it’ll tear the pack apart for good.
ChapterFive
Rogue
Pouring myself a large measure of scotch, I sink down into the welcoming leather of my office chair and run a hand down my face.
Anomega.
Even Devlin has agreed to give this a go. It’s a sign of how bad things have become in the pack that he’d ever agree to something like this. And Gabe had to raise it. Some pack leader I am.
Pushing the negative thoughts away, I take a long swig of my drink for courage and dial my father’s number.
I don’t have a bad relationship with my dad. He’s just distant. When I was a kid, he was the best father anyone could ask for. His booming voice used to echo through the house as he searched for me during our hide and seek games, exaggeratedly ignoring my toes poking out from underneath the curtain. He’d make a point of sitting in his office chair, tapping his feet in patterns whilst I giggled from underneath his desk. He’d dance with my mother around the kitchen, singing in his deep baritone while she laughed and made pancakes every Saturday morning, piling my plate high.
Life was good. But then my mother left.
One day when I was seven, she didn’t pick me up from school. I sat on the steps, waiting, far past the time when everyone else had been collected. It was dark by the time my father arrived, his face pale and stricken. He’d scooped me up and hugged me tight, and in the car, he’d explained that my mother had to go away for a while, and hopefully, she would be back soon. But a week stretched into months, and then years. After a while, I stopped asking my father when she’d be back.
I knew she wasn’t coming back.
Dad turned into a ghost overnight. He went through the motions, and I was always fed and clothed and had everything I needed. But he drifted through the house like a wraith, until one day he told me he had a new job. That was the day I saw the spirit back in his eyes. He seemed more like himself, throwing himself into his work at the Omega Compound. I bounced around from nanny to nanny, seeing him less and less as he progressed through the ranks until he became the Director.
“Rogue?” He picks up the phone quicker than I expected, his voice concerned. Has it been that long since I called him?
“Dad. Have you got a minute?”
“Sure, hang on.” I hear him mumbling apologies as he moves away from whatever he’s doing. “There we go.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
“Don’t be. It was a boring meeting anyway. Are you alright?”
“Yeah, everything… everything’s fine.” There’s silence on the line from my dad. No matter how long since we’ve spoken, he can always tell when I’m hiding something. “I wanted to speak to you about the OC.”
“Oh?” There’s a hint of surprise in his voice. I’ve always shied away from anything to do with the compound. When I was younger, I thought they’d stolen my dad from me, and over recent years it’s had more to do with Devlin’s history. On the rare occasions we have to go there, like today, it’s in and out as soon as possible.
“Yeah,” I clear my throat. “We’ve been talking about bringing in a new female to the pack, and I was wondering if you’d be able to help through the compound.”
Dad goes quiet for a moment. “And Devlin is alright with this?” His dislike of omegas isn’t exactly a state secret.
“He’s agreed to try, trial period only for the time being.”
Dad hesitates, seconds stretching out as he considers my words.
“Well, that’s great news,” he says finally.
“I think we’ll be able to help, and it’ll be good for the pack to have that stability. Can you come in tomorrow?”
After agreeing to meet him at the OC in the morning, I hang up and consider what this might mean for us.
Having a female in the house will be a big change. Having anomegahere will be challenging. Our previous efforts nearly ripped us apart, and Gabe… we nearly lost him.
I wonder if an omega will work better. Heading back into the kitchen, I let the team know and Gabe smiles brightly, nervousness and a hint of excitement I haven’t seen since the incident creasing his cheeks. Ace offers to come to the OC with me, but before I can agree, Dev cuts in abruptly.
