To ruin an Omega-Chapter 188: The Inheritance

Chapter 188: The Inheritance
MADELINE
The ringing pierced through my sleep like needles driving into my skull. I groaned and buried my face deeper into the pillow, but the sound kept going. Relentless. Stabbing. My head throbbed with each shrill tone.
"Stop," I mumbled into the fabric.
It didn’t stop.
My hand shot out from under the covers and grabbed the phone. I didn’t open my eyes. Didn’t check the screen. I simply swiped to end the call and held down the power button until the vibration told me it was off.
Silence.
Fucking finally.
I let out a breath and started to sink back into the warmth of sleep.
Then my body lifted.
One second I was horizontal on my mattress, and the next I was flying backward through the air. My back slammed into the wall hard enough to knock the wind out of my lungs. Pain exploded across my shoulder blades and I dropped to the floor in a heap.
"What the—" I gasped, trying to pull air back into my chest.
"How dare you!"
The voice boomed through the room, and I knew that voice. I looked up, still on my hands and knees, and there he was. My father’s apparition shimmered in the middle of my bedroom, translucent but solid enough that I could see every line of fury etched into his face.
"What the fuck!" I pushed myself up, my legs shaking. My shoulder screamed where it had hit the wall.
"Your audacity knows no bounds." His form flickered, making him look even more unhinged. "Cutting me off and switching your device—"
"Like attacking your daughter is any better!" I cut him off, straightening up despite the pain radiating through my back. "I told you to stop using your stupid voodoo with my hair."
"Well, I wouldn’t be here or being a horrible father like you now want to claim if you had just fucking picked up your call!"
I sank back onto the edge of my bed, rubbing my shoulder. Blood roared in my ears. My whole body felt like it had been through a meat grinder, and now I had to deal with this.
"Why did you call?" I asked through gritted teeth.
"What the hell is Aldric doing?" His apparition moved closer, and I could see the veins standing out on his neck even though he wasn’t really there. "When will this noose on her necks loosen?"
I frowned. "He hasn’t done anything."
"He hasn’t—" My father’s laugh was bitter and sharp. "I just got threatened by the Strati household right now because Aldric used the hold he has against me against them as well. That is one of the biggest packs. What the fuck does he think he is doing? Does he believe he is really that invincible?"
The Strati household. I knew the name. Everyone did. They were old blood, old power, and they were definitely the type that wouldn’t take threats lightly.
"In case you haven’t noticed, Father," I said slowly, "he kind of is."
My father’s form flickered again, and for a moment I thought he might disappear entirely. Good riddance. But he solidified again, his jaw tight.
"And what business could you have with the Strati?" I leaned forward, ignoring the protest from my bruised muscles. "What else does Aldric have on you?"
"Not your business."
"Except it is." My voice rose, and I stood up again. "I am here for that sole reason. To save our family. And you tell me there is more?"
His apparition started to fade. In and out. In and out. Like a dying light bulb. When he came back into focus, something in his expression had changed. Not softer, exactly, but different.
"No," he said. "That is not it."
I waited.
"It is still the matter of fleshcraft."
Fleshcraft. The word sat heavy in the air between us. The illegal magic that had gotten him into this mess in the first place. The reason Aldric had leverage over our entire family.
"What could an old werewolf bloodline want one have with fleshcraft?" I asked.
My father was quiet for a long moment. His apparition drifted slightly to the left, then corrected itself. When he spoke, his voice had dropped lower.
"It is better you do not know."
"Father." I took a step toward him even though I knew I couldn’t touch him. "There can be no secrets between us. Not now."
He sighed. The sound was hollow, coming from something that wasn’t quite there. "They helped with my research."
I felt my stomach turn.
"Their pack wanted strengths incomprehensible." He wouldn’t meet my eyes now. "If their goddess thought the age of the healers of legend was done, we could force it back to existence."
No. No, no, no.
"They gave us guinea pigs."
The room tilted. I grabbed the edge of my nightstand to steady myself. Guinea pigs. He said it so casually, like he was talking about lab rats. But I knew what he meant. Who he meant.
"I don’t want to hear more," I said quickly.
"Okay."
I pressed my palm against my forehead. The headache from earlier was nothing compared to what pounded there now. "Why? Why would you even stoop so low?"
"This is the way I am." His apparition shrugged, and the casual gesture made me want to throw up. "You have your quirks too."
"Nothing like this."
"The point is this insanity has to end." He moved closer again, and even though he wasn’t solid, I took a step back. "You have proximity to Aldric right now. Find out who he trusts badly to keep his deadman switch against us."
The deadman switch. The only reason that mad man was still alive if we were being frank. All that mess was set up to release and wreck us all if anything happened to him. It was exactly the kind of precaution someone like him would take.
That and the powerful spell he’d weaved to protect his mind.
"He can be vindictive," I said carefully. "It is better we do not egg him."
"Fuck that." My father’s form blazed brighter for a moment. "This is too much to let go of."
I shook my head. "You don’t understand what he’s capable of—"
"Help save this family." His voice dropped again, but there was something pleading in it now. Something almost human. "Save yourself and your love."
My love. He meant Cian.
But before I could respond, before I could tell him exactly what I thought of his plans and his research and his complete lack of moral boundaries, his apparition vanished. One second he was there, desperate and angry and flickering. The next, just empty air.
I stood in the middle of my bedroom, breathing hard. My shoulder still throbbed. My head still pounded. And now I had information I never wanted.
Guinea pigs. The Strati had given him guinea pigs.
I walked to the bathroom on unsteady legs and turned on the cold water. Splashed it on my face. Looked at myself in the mirror. Dark circles under my eyes. Hair a mess. A bruise already forming on my shoulder where it had hit the wall.
This was my family. This was what I was trying to save.
My father had experimented on people. Omegas maybe. But still living people. He had tried to force some kind of legendary healing magic back into existence through torture and flesh magic. And the Strati, one of the most powerful werewolf packs in existence, had helped him do it.
No wonder Aldric had such a strong hold over him. Over us.
I gripped the edges of the sink and stared at my reflection. Water dripped from my chin. My hands were shaking.
Find out who Aldric trusts with his deadman switch. That was what my father wanted. That was how he thought we would solve this.
But I knew Aldric better than my father did. Aldric didn’t trust anyone badly. He was methodical. Careful. Whatever system he had set up, it would be airtight. And if we went poking around trying to dismantle it, he would know and he would retaliate.
We would all pay the price.
I turned off the water and walked back to my bed. I sat down carefully, testing my shoulder. It hurt, but nothing felt broken. Just bruised. Just another reminder of the kind of family I came from.
The sun was starting to come up outside my window. Gray light filtered through the curtains. A new day.
I lay back down and stared at the ceiling.
There was also the matter of the magical blood test Aldric wanted us to run on Cian’s new Omega mate.
What a day.