My eyes prick. This day will change everything for them. Plans have been made, the Winter pack planning to go to ground with Christian until we know which way the wind is blowing, whether Christian’s words today have made a single iota of difference in the judgemental minds of our society.
Bastien motions us to be quiet.
“On my count,” he says tightly. Christian squares himself, his eyes on the camera.
Crossing my fingers, I close my eyes. Max and Luc are barely breathing on either side of me.
“Five, four, three, two, one…”
Please.
I open my eyes as the red camera light clicks on. At Bastien’s nod, Christian takes a deep breath, pale green eyes focused on the camera.
“My name is Christian Winter, and I am the director of the Omega Compound.”
ChapterFifty-Seven
Max
We sprawl across the couches in the living area, watching the news play shot after shot of Christian’s broadcast.
“All mainstream news channels were interrupted this afternoon by a live broadcast from the Director of the Omega Compound…”
“Winter made some shocking allegations relating to the treatment of omegas under the laws of the Omega Creed…”
“This afternoon, we received video evidence which seems to confirm Winter’s allegations of abuse…”
Nikolai flicks to another station, where two beta broadcasters are in deep discussion.
“Is this really such a surprise, John?” the blonde female beta asks with a challenging expression. “You just have to look at the rules of the creed to know that actually, this whole approach to addressing the issues we’re seeing with birth rates is inhumane. My only question right now is - why has this taken so long to reach public discourse?”
The rules of the omega creed roll across the ticker at the bottom of the screen, and I glance toward Ava. She’s curled up in Bastien’s lap, her bright eyes not moving as she listens intently.
“Look, Julia,” responds the smarmy-looking beta presenter, his tone condescending. “It’s easy to reach a snap judgement, but I don’t believe we have the full picture. By all accounts, omegas actually desire this kind of treatment. Who are we to say otherwise?”
“Well, I’d love to confirm that with one of them, John – except that they all appear to be locked up behind the walls of the omega compound. And these allegations of sexual abuse within the heat nests… this is not what the general public understood to be happening, John. We have received thousands of messages from our viewers, some of whom are highly distressed that this activity appears to be not only sanctioned, but encouraged by our own government, and that the children they adopted in good faith may actually be a result ofrape—,”
Ava flinches as her hands drop to her stomach, and Luc turns off the television, standing and holding out his hand.
“That’s enough,” he growls, his tone furious. “Enough for tonight, love. We’ve been watching this for hours. The message has gotten through.”
Ava frowns up at him. “Luc… next time we sit here, it’s going to be my words they’re discussing. Nothing they can say to me is going to hurt any more than what I’ve already been through. I want to prepare myself as much as I can.”
Luc’s nostrils flare and he runs a hand through his black curls. “I don’t think you need to record another video. This is enough, Ava.”
Ava’s mouth drops open, before she squares her shoulders and pulls herself up to face him. “I’m not leaving Harper alone in this,” she insists. She plants her hands on her hips, the tiny omega facing off against the huge alpha, and Luc groans as he drops his forehead to hers.
“You’ve given so much already,” he says hoarsely. “Everything, Ava. And those vultures will rip you apart just for daring to make them uncomfortable. I don’t think I can stand behind you and watch you go through that. For fuck’s sake, you’re heavily pregnant. Do you realize what they’re going to say?”
Ava’s eyes flash with heat as she meets him head on. “What? That I’m an omega slut? That I begged for it? That I wanted it?Let them, Luc. The only people who will be mad at me for telling the truth are those that are living a lie. And I don’t want our children to grow up in a world built on lies.”
Luc tries to interrupt, but Ava holds her hand up, her voice shaking.
“I’m going to hold up a mirror, and let them see what sort of world they’ve created. Let them look, Luc. I will peel myself open and share my worst memories with them. I will not hold back. I will not hide away. Because I want my children to know that I fought for them. I want Nash to know that I did everyfuckingthing I could to give him a real future.”
She turns to look at Nikolai. “I wantEmeryto know that I did everything I could.”
Nikolai stares at her, his eyes glistening. “She knows, little bird.”
