Page 60 of Bliss & Her Idols (Pack Bonds Omegaverse #10)

“I’m sorry.” Torin meets his brother’s startled gaze.

“I’ve spent so long believing that I was alone in this struggle that I never stopped to talk to you.

I’ve always known how badly you were treated.

I shut myself off from all Alphas, however, after I was left to die in the woods, only feeling safe with Betas.

I do love you, Rory. You’ll always be my brother.

Together, we’re going to topple Mena. We can convince Una to our side.

Then you won’t ever be abused again and nor will the Idols. ”

I tense, watching Rory closely.

Will he accept this coup?

This is the moment of truth.

My insides cramp with anxiety.

Dread is heavy in my stomach, when Rory untangles himself from Immortal.

He shoves himself off the bed, shaking his head. “It’s not going to work.”

“Bit of optimism, yeah?” Jin protests.

Rory twists back with a snarl that startles me.

“Do you think that Una doesn’t know what’s going on in this pack? What’s always gone on? To you?” He points at Torin. “To the Idols? To me?”

He gestures at his own bruised cheek.

Torin looks at him, guardedly. “But she’s been as trapped as we are.”

“Has she?” Rory snorts. “She has a comfortable life with her own bonded pack. Have you noticed how she overworks her bondeds? Her poor Beta runs most of the estate. Una is selfish.”

Torin appears uncertain. “Una’s bonded pack have been kind to me. They’re the reason that I even had clothes or—”

“ Kind ,” Rory sneers. “Yes, Una loves to play at kindness. Ask yourself why she never stepped in to end your neglect or my abuse?”

Torin shifts like he hasn’t been able to face this question.

I’ve thought about it myself.

Una may have had soft doe-eyes, but both Rory and the twins appeared frightened of her at the breakfast table.

They’d also obeyed her.

There was no doubt who was in charge.

I also remember how she ordered Rory to sit next to her, and how reluctant Rory had been. Then the controlling way that she adjusted his tie, while he hadn’t protested but also hadn’t looked at his sister either.

Sometimes a caress or gentle word can be as effective a way to show your power over someone as a fist to their jaw.

Cricket shivers, as if he’s thinking the same thing.

“It doesn’t matter what she did in the past,” Torin insists, “as long as she sides with us against Mena.”

Except, devastation is already racing through me because I can tell what Rory is going to say, before he says it.

I also know that if we can’t trust Una in this coup — can’t trust that we’re not replacing one abusive Head Alpha with another — then Immortal will be sold and Torin will be locked up for the rest of his life.

None of us will come back from that.

“She won’t.” Rory balls his hands into fists.

“She wears a better mask than we do. I approached her on my knees, when I was only a teenager. I couldn’t take what Mena was doing to me.

Una had never hit me. I thought that if I told her…

everything…and begged for help, then she’d do something to make the abuse stop. Do you know what she said?”

Torin carefully pushes me off his lap onto the bed and approaches his brother like Rory may shatter at any moment.

He shakes his head.

“She said,” Rory’s breathing is ragged, “that I needed to learn to take it like an Alpha .”

Torin’s growl reverberates through the bedroom.

This time, when he hugs his brother, there’s no awkwardness.

Then Rory says against Torin’s shoulder, “Una’s mildness is as dangerous as Mena’s fierceness.

Una told Mena that I’d come to her for help, and I was sent to the twins for an entire month of Re-education.

I was never tricked by Una’s kindness again.

But here’s what you need to understand. Una is in on everything that happens in the camps, with the VIPs, and the forced bonds. She runs the camps.”

Torin pushes back from Rory in shock. “Then we’re fucked.”

“Are we?” A sudden excitement rushes through me. We’re taking the biggest risk of our lives here. Why not go big? “Or has our plan simply changed? We’re replacing one Head Alpha with another. We just need to pick a new one.”

Cricket catches my eye and bounces up onto his knees. “Exactly. Una is as bad as her sister. She hides behind being a family Alpha but she’s as complicit in the forced bonds and trafficking, which would mean that she could be sent to the Alpha Center. I mean, if those books were found…”

He’s rambling but he’s right.

Rory gives a sharp nod.

“Then the twins would get a long sentence for their abuses, if we can prove them,” Jin adds.

“And should have their bloody knots cut off,” Immortal adds.

“A court would emancipate the pack,” I muse. “As long as a new Alpha can be found.”

“So, looks like it’s between you and me.” Rory dramatically kneels in front of his stunned younger brother, baring his neck in submission. “I choose you, Torin, as my Head Alpha.”

Cricket and I clap, while Jin and Immortal whistle.

I’m grinning because Torin’s pride and overwhelming joy at finally being accepted is a warm breeze through the bond.

I bask in it.

Torin grasps Rory by the arms and yanks him to his feet. “Never do that again. Kneeling is Mena’s thing.”

“Admit it, you liked it a little.” Rory bumps their shoulders.

Jin is grinning as widely as I am. “You’ve already been Head Alpha to us Idols for years. We trust you, yeah? Only you know and are respected within the music industry, as well as being accepted as family by the Idols. You’re the only one who can change things.”

“Plus, you’ll listen to us Betas.” Immortal smirks. “And we’re basically the brains of the operation.”

“Huh, like that is it?” Torin raises his brow.

“Yeah.”

Suddenly all business, I squirm off the bed.

We only have until tomorrow night to come up with a new plan.

We have Rory on our side, however, and finally, the truth.

With the Idols on our side as well, however, we far outnumber Torin’s remaining four brothers and sisters.

I cross my arms. “We each have talents and contacts. Let’s pool them to make this happen.

We also have the public behind us. That’s a huge advantage.

People often think that they can’t make a difference because there’s only one of them.

But this whole country is made up of a whole lot of one persons .

We can do this because other Omegas and packs have made changes by standing up, and so can we. ”

Immortal and Rory are both staring at me in shock.

I arch my brow. “Questions?”

“Who are you, and do you have a twin?” Immortal murmurs.

Torin casts him a quelling look. “A brother, we’ll set up a date, and hands off if you want to keep them.”

“She’s a journalist.” Rory gives me a shrewd look. “Can you be ready with your article by tomorrow night? There’s no use pretending that your original intention wasn’t to write one. Like I said, I’m protective and I guessed what you were trying to do.”

Well, that explains his hostility from the beginning.

In his own way, Rory was looking out for his brother, as well as his Idols.

To be fair, I did turn up to the concert as an undercover reporter. I have always intended to write a piece exploding the truth of the camps.

It’s just that I’ve realized that the story is so much more important than making a name for myself.

I don’t see why I have to sacrifice proving that Omegas can do journalism as well.

In the same way, I’ve learned that falling in love and bonding isn’t a betrayal of my parents.

I meet Rory’s gaze, challengingly. “Especially if you give me access to as much physical and primary evidence as possible. For example, Una’s books, records of forced bonds, any punishment logs of Idols and their rule books.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Can you get a Sheriff here and a lawyer?” Jin asks. “Also, a letter of emancipation?”

I nod.

Rory blinks. “Wait, aren’t you just a journalist who helps to run a coffee shop? Who are you really?”

“Just someone with powerful friends,” I say smugly, knowing that it makes me sound like part of the mafia but not caring.

After what Rory did to Jin, even if it was when undercover, I’m still enjoying freaking him out.

I’ll contact Chase and have him rally the resistance tomorrow, including Sheriff Dante and Senator Knight. We’ve used them on other cases.

“I haven’t met many security or cameras systems that I couldn’t hack,” Cricket says with a geeky confidence that I love.

“If the abuses were in rooms with cameras, then we’ll have filmed evidence to use.

If we want to keep security out, while we work on things, then that’ll be easy now that we’re not having to pretend to play nice. ”

Now comes the tricky part.

“Are you prepared to testify against your brothers and sisters, Rory? An Alpha’s word in the fucked up court system holds much more weight than every Beta in the camp.

This will only work if you do because your siblings have too much power.

Their high paid lawyers may help them to walk otherwise,” I warn.

“But it’ll ruin your reputation. It’ll be social suicide.

The courts may even choose to charge you as well, since you were employed as a manager and your help to the Idols was in secret.

Are you psychologically prepared for a spell in the Alpha Center? ”

I have to be fair to Rory and be honest about the risks.

I can’t sugarcoat it.

Immortal struggles off the bed to stand in front of Rory, as if to defend him from my words.

Torin’s anguished gaze and burned tea scent makes me stagger.

Yet it’s Jin who says with quiet strength, “It’s fucked up, yeah? If we do this, however, and you don’t back up the Idols who have been brave enough to finally speak up, then they’ll suffer. You may as well have ended their lives yourself. You’ll be killing all of us in this room .”

“I’ll testify and I won’t back out, I swear.” Rory is trembling but he tilts up his chin. “Even if I’m punished as harshly as Mena is.”

“You’re a good man,” Torin says, “I wish that I’d seen it sooner.”

“I didn’t want you to. I just wanted you to be safe.”

“It seems that by trying to keep each other safe, wearing masks and keeping secrets, we’ve actually done the opposite.”

I’m surprised, when a sudden burst of excitement surges through the bond.

I turn to see that Immortal has prowled back to the bed, and Jin has kneeled up on the end of it. They’re whispering to each other, eagerly.

“Care to share with the room?” Torin adjusts his cuff links.

“You always used to tell me not to make a performance out of things.” Immortal rests his hand on Jin’s shoulder with a shrug. “Why don’t we do just that?”

“We have the top singers in America here.” Jin’s dark eyes are lit with a beautiful passion and an even more beautiful hope.

“An entire camp of them. Let’s put on a surprise show tomorrow evening, the most spectacular of my life.

It’ll be a global sensation. My Set Us Free concert for one night only! ”