Page 35 of Knot All Is Ruined: Part 2

He didn’t put it on speaker, so I couldn’t hear who it was. They certainly had him surprised, in any case. After my meltdown, he’s been careful not to have phone or video conversations where I could hear them. I didn’t blame him the last few times; those we spoke to were less than kind regarding topics about Omegas. It was the nature of the country and one area that I hoped to encourage change. There was no reason to see Omegas in such a black-and-white view. We were just as diverse as every other kind of designation.

“Head Speaker, it’s an unexpected honor to talk to you directly,” Sorin said, filling us in on who precisely he was speaking to. “Yes, I can do that one moment.”

Dropping the phone from his ear, he turned the speakerphone on and looked directly at me. “She’s sitting across the table from me, sir, but just to make you aware that my whole pack is also present.”

“Thank you for your honesty, Major Sorin, but I would assume whatever I said would be relayed back to them once we hung up. It seems to me this would be a more efficient approach to get the information from the source, so there’s no questioning what I meant,” Head Speaker Marius replied. His voice was calm, even, and gave off an aristocratic air that fits his status.

It had taken a moment for my brain to catch up and realize what Sorin had said. Pointing to myself, I mouthed, ‘he wants to talk to me?’ Sorin nodded, and a grin was tugging at his lips as if my amazement was funny to him. What the hell would the Head Speaker of Oscad want to say to me?

“Danella,” Speaker Marius called.

I gulped down my nerves and answered. “Yes.”

It came out more like a squeak than an actual word, so I cleared my throat and tried again as I felt Victor laughing silently. “Yes, Head Speaker?”

“Please call me Marius. While I might be the leader of Oscad during the day, right now I’m at home and making a personal call. In fact, I’m sitting here with my Omega Cambrie, who wants a chance to speak with you as well, if you don’t mind,” Marius requested.

“Hello, Danella,” a sweet voice chimed in. “I’m sorry to spring this interaction on you so suddenly. I just wasn’t sure how else to make it happen. You see Savo, one of my other Alphas you spoke to the other day, and I run the Omega Recovery Project. Our goal is to find as many of the Omegas that got sent to Asturg and Shearia as possible to offer them the chance to come home. Savo shared that you and the other two girls are friends. Is that right?”

“Yes, we’ve been close friends since we met in the Care Center,” I answered.

“How fortunate to have had them with you this whole time. I know what it feels like to be all alone in the world and believe if you disappeared, no one would notice,” Cambrie shared, her voice full of the sadness of that time in her life. “Thankfully, I was blessed to be rescued more than once by people who care greatly about me. Lord, I’m pretty sure if I stepped off the sidewalk when I wasn’t supposed to, I’d have them all swarming around me.”

“Don’t act like you don’t love that about us,” Marius scolded, laughing. “Danella, what we would genuinely like to understand from you is: are your friends in the same situation as you, now bonded to a pack, or are they indeed seeking to return home?”

“No, they are not attached to anyone. The North doesn’t believe in having a pack structure,” I shared. “Tori and Violet both desperately want to go home to Oscad. They’ve suffered enough, and I think they’ll only begin to heal if they are somewhere they believe to be safe. I’m not sure there’s any place in the world truly safe for Omegas, but Oscad is the best choice.”

“You might be right, but in the past three years, a lot has changed here for the better. We still have a long way to go, but I see so much improvement from where we started. There are no more Care Centers. Omegas may now live at home with their families. That being said, all Omegas that we bring back do stay at a halfway house of sorts. Just to ensure they get the best help we can provide the way each individual Omega needs it. I know what’s going on in Northern Asturg. How Omegas are being treated like cattle, and if your pack is going to try and put an end to this, we want in,” Cambrie announced.

“Keski,“ Savo said with a warning tone that I knew all too well and sounded so much like Lucian.

My gaze drifted to him, and he sat up a little straighter at hearing his half-brother’s voice. I knew he blamed Savo for leaving and forcing him into this position. Yet, if the two of them were similar at all, I could understand why Savo left, unable to handle the horror of it all. The difference was Lucian felt so strongly for his people that he could never abandon them.

“What?” Cambrie challenged. “Was I wrong?”

“Princess, we agreed that would be the conversation Savo, Sorin, his pack, and myself would have. You requested to have a moment to speak with Danella. Let’s not get distracted trying to help overthrow another government. They seem to have a pretty good handle on that part,” Marius reasoned.

There was a sigh that filtered through the phone before she agreed. “All right, I’ll stick to the matter I wanted to speak to her about in the first place. Dani, can I call you Dani?”

“Sure,” I offered, smiling at the interaction with her men that reminded me a fair amount of mine.

“Lovely. I think Danella is a beautiful name. I’m working on making female friends, which is harder to do than you think. Dani sounds more like something a friend would call you, and after speaking with your mother, I’m confident that we’ll be friends,” Cambrie shared.

My heart leapt to my throat at hearing her talk about my mother. Cris reached out and took my hand, lacing our fingers together before reassuringly squeezing it. Victor wrapped his arms around my middle and hugged me tight, kissing the back of my neck.

“You spoke to my mother?” I ventured, proud that my voice didn’t waver.

“She is a sweet, loving woman, who was elated to hear about you,” Cambrie answered. “I kept things as vague as possible since I don’t truly know your story or how you ended up with your pack, but I tried to give her as much hope as possible. After meeting Edith and seeing her with my own eyes, I don’t think your mother is as terminal as we were led to believe. To be sure, she is not well. However your father ensures me she is getting the best care. Now having gotten word about you, she has even more reason to keep fighting and hold on. It’s my opinion that she will be here waiting for you when you’ve settled things there.”

I couldn’t stop the sob that erupted out of me at this news. My mother was holding on. She would be there waiting for me when I finished what I set out to do. There was no greater gift that anyone could have given me, and I had no idea who to thank.

“I...I don’t even know what to say,” I stammered, furiously wiping away the tears, determined not to fall apart. “What in the world had you going to such lengths to speak to my mother?”

“Well, your pack asked us to on your behalf since you couldn’t make it back at this time,” Cambrie said. “Did you not know?”

Covering my mouth, I shook my head then realized she couldn’t see me. Pulling myself together enough to answer was more challenging than I expected. “No, they did that all on their own.”

“Sounds to me like your pack really loves you, and wow can that be overwhelming sometimes, am I right?” Cambrie teased, laughter ringing in her voice. “Answer me this one thing honestly, Dani. Do you love them? Are you happy being their Omega?”

“That’s two questions,” Lucian pointed out as he stood and walked over to me to let his fingers brush along my jaw. “Two questions I know we all want to hear the answer to.”

While our pack hadn’t been built in the conventional way, nor did they all like and trust each other—yet. I didn’t have to think twice about my answer. “Yes, I love each and every one of them…” I shared, taking a moment to look at each of them. “... and I’m proud to be their Omega. We still have to learn a lot about being a family, but I know we’ll figure it out together.”

Sniffling could be heard from the other end of the phone, breaking the tender moment we were sharing. “I’m sorry, my hormones still haven’t returned to normal yet, and that was just such a perfect answer. Seeing and hearing about other Omegas finding a pack that loves and appreciates them is what keeps me fighting to make this a better world. It’s a concept that has been lost over the years.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” I blurted. “We dream about having a life like this but don’t expect it to ever happen. If we can stop this war and help the people and country heal, I think we can start showing everyone a better way of life. One that’s not pain and suffering, one that can have love or a promise of a future.”

“Yes,” Cambrie shouted into the phone. “See, I knew we’d be friends. So many people don’t see why we need to change and grow. They don’t want to risk the unknown. Yet if people stop growing, learning, and dreaming, then what is the point of living?”

“I hate to interrupt your Omega rally meeting, Cambi, but Dalton is in a mood and none of us will do. Not even Oscar’s piano playing will do the trick,” a new voice interjected.

“It’s about time for him to eat again, so I’m not surprised. I’ll be there in just a moment. Dani, I’m sorry I have to cut our conversation short, but I guess this means we’ll need to meet in person soon,” Cambrie suggested. “Don’t let these men do something stupid. They’re brilliant but sometimes reckless.”

“No promises, though I’ll see what I can do,” I offered. “It was nice to meet you, and I’ll make sure we meet when I come to visit my mother.”