Page 58 of Daisy (Omega Chosen #3)

"What are you doing down here?" His voice is frightening. Furious. I've never heard him sound like this.

"I heard crying—" My voice is tiny, scared.

"You heard nothing." He drags me back upstairs, his grip bruising my shoulder. I stumble, my feet barely touching the ground. "It's just a bad dream. You're imagining it all."

"But I see ? —"

"You see nothing." He shoves me into my bedroom so hard I fall onto my bed. His face is red with anger, and I'm crying now. "Little girls shouldn't go exploring where they don't belong. Do you understand me?"

I nod, too scared to argue. I've never seen Uncle like this.

"Good. And if you ever mention this dream to anyone you'll be in very serious trouble. Do you understand? I'll have to send you away, just like I sent your last nanny away."

I loved my last nanny. She was kind to me. But one day she just disappeared, and Uncle said she had to leave because she asked too many questions.

"Yes, Uncle." I'm sobbing now, terrified.

"Now go to sleep and forget this nonsense. If I hear one word about this dream, you'll wish you'd never been born."

He slams my door so hard the whole room shakes. I pull my blanket over my head and cry, thinking about the green eyes that begged me for help.

But I'm too little. Too scared. Too weak to do anything.

"Oh my god." The words come out broken. "I saw him. When I was little—" My voice cracks. "I saw him in the basement. A male omega. Uncle told me it was a nightmare, that I was making things up, but I saw him chained to the wall."

The guys go completely still. Even their breathing seems to stop.

"He was so young. So hurt. And Uncle..." I can barely get the words out. "Uncle always said male omegas were abominations. Freaks. But he had one chained up like an animal."

My hands are shaking. I press them to my mouth, trying to hold back the nausea.

All those times Uncle went on and on about male omegas being freaks and abominations. All those speeches about proper breeding and keeping bloodlines pure.

But he's bonded to one of them. Had to be. How else could he stay stable?

The hypocrisy makes me sick.

"Sweet and scared and so alone." Tears start sliding down my cheeks. "And I left him there. I was too scared to do anything."

I'm crying now. Really crying. For that young man. For seven-year-old me who knew something was wrong but was too scared to fight back. For all the years he's been down there while I lived upstairs in comfort.

"Hey." August's voice carries that underlying strength that always steadies me. "You couldn't have done anything. You were just a kid, sunshine."

"But I knew," I sob. "I knew something was wrong, and I let him convince me I was crazy."

"You were seven," Dante says quietly. "He was the adult. The one in power."

Their anger washes over me. Not at me, but at the situation. At my uncle. At a system that puts children in impossible positions. It makes me feel less alone with this horrible knowledge.

I take a shaky breath, wiping my face. "But I'm not a kid anymore."

And that changes everything.

I stand up, and even though my legs feel shaky, I keep going. "There are omegas out there right now trapped like I was. Male omegas hidden in basements. People suffering while we sit here in our safe little life."

"Daisy—" Dante starts.

"No." My voice gets stronger. "Don't tell me it's too dangerous. Don't tell me we can't win. That male omega I heard crying? He's still down there. Still alone. Still being used to keep my uncle stable so he can destroy more lives."

I look around at them. "While we sit here when we could be changing everything. No more Choosing Days. No more elite bloodlines owning people. No more omegas treated like property."

"The system will fight back," Cassian warns. "Hard."

"Then we fight harder."

Silence. I can see them all processing this. The weight of what I'm asking.

"Beautiful," Dante says finally, "the system's got resources we can't even imagine. Private armies. Unlimited money. Government backing."

"So did the old kings," I say. "Until people decided they'd had enough."

Gunner shifts behind me. "You're talking about war, sweetheart."

"I'm talking about justice."

More silence. Heavier this time.

"Can we even do this?" August asks quietly. "Six people against all of that?"

Dante stops pacing. His voice is strained. "Beautiful, I've seen what the elite families are capable of. The resources they have. We're talking about six people against an entire power structure that's been in place for generations."

"Maybe that's exactly why we can do it," I say. "They won't see us coming—six nobodies with nothing to lose."

Silence stretches between us. I can feel doubt creeping in. Not doubt in me, but doubt in whether this is possible. Whether we can actually win.

Gunner speaks up first. "Maybe we can't take down the whole system." His voice sounds rough. "But we can save that omega. We can save some of them."

"Some isn't enough," Cassian says flatly. "Not when we know how many are suffering."

"So what are you saying?" Dante asks, turning on him. "That we should try to destroy everything? Risk all our lives?"

"I'm saying," Cassian stands up slowly, "that some fights are worth the risk."

The room goes quiet. They're all wrestling with it. The safety we have here versus the people we could save. The life we've built versus the war we could start.

I can see the exact moment Dante makes his decision. His shoulders straighten, his face hardening into that tactical mask I know so well.

"If we do this," he says quietly, "we do it smart. We don't just charge in and hope for the best."

Wait. Is he actually?—?

"You're saying yes?" I breathe.

"I'm saying I can't watch you walk into this alone. I never would allow that." His ice-blue eyes meet mine. "And I'm saying you're right. That omega you heard crying? He deserves better than what we're giving him by staying safe."

The guys exchange looks. I can see them making the decision.

"Dante," I say. My words are stronger now. "You know the Omega House guards. How many of them are beta-born alphas who hate the system?"

"Most of them," he admits reluctantly.

"Could you get them on our side?"

His blue eyes study my face for a long moment. "Probably."

I turn to Hawk and Gunner, feeling bolder. "You two know beta-born alphas all over the city. People who've been told their whole lives they're worth less than elite bloodlines."

"Fuck yeah, we do," Hawk grins, and there's something wild in it now. "And princess, they are pissed."

I look at Cassian. "And you know the underground fights. All those people who have nothing left."

Cassian's amber eyes meet mine, and for the first time, I see something that might be hope. "They'll fight. Every single one of them has been waiting for this."

"August." I look at my gentle beta. The one who anchors all of us. "You know the betas. The support networks."

"I do." His hazel-green eyes hold mine. Warm but determined. "And there are more people ready to help than you might think. People who've been waiting for someone to speak up."

"And me?" I take a breath. My voice shakes a little, but I push through. "I become the face of it. The Governor's niece who chose freedom over power. The omega who said no to the system."

The room goes dead quiet.

"Beautiful," Dante's voice is raw now, "if you do this, everything changes. Everything. We'll never be safe again. Never be able to just... exist like this."

He gestures around our little living room. Our peaceful life. Our safe bubble.

The old fear tries to creep in. That voice in my head that says be good, be quiet, don't make waves.

But then I think about that omega in the basement. About all the omegas who will never get to have what we've had. Who will never get to choose anything.

"I know," I say quietly. "And I can't live with myself if I don't try."

The silence that follows feels like it lasts forever.

Finally, Cassian speaks. "Are you sure?" His voice sounds rough. "Once we start this, there's no stopping. No going back to this." He looks around our little sanctuary. "I've spent my whole life fighting. But this... this isn't just about us anymore. We won't just be risking our own lives."

I know what he's asking. He's asking if I understand that people will die because of my choice. That families will be torn apart. That the war I'm starting will have casualties.

My throat feels tight. "I know people will get hurt. I know we might not survive this." I take a shaky breath. "But I also know that if we do nothing, people are already dying. Already suffering. At least this way, they have a chance."

Cassian studies my face for a long moment. I can see him wrestling with it. The part of him that wants to keep us all safe versus the part that knows I'm right.

Finally, he nods slowly. "Then we do it right. We don't just tear things down. We build something better."

"I'm sure."

The magnitude of what we just decided hits me like a truck. We're not just choosing to fight—we're choosing to become the enemy of everyone in power. We're choosing to put targets on our backs. We're choosing to give up everything safe and good in our lives.

What if I'm wrong? What if I'm leading the people I love most to their deaths?

"Hey." Dante's voice is controlled now. "I can feel your panic through the bond. Breathe, Beautiful."

I hadn't realized I was holding my breath. I let it out shakily.

"Then we die fighting for something that matters," Hawk says with that reckless grin of his. "Instead of hiding and dying anyway when your uncle eventually finds us."

"Second thoughts?" Cassian asks. There's no judgment in his voice. Just understanding.

"Terrified thoughts," I admit. "What if I'm making the wrong choice? What if I get you all killed?"

"Are you kidding?" Hawk stands up. His expression is fierce, but when his hand touches my shoulder, it's soft. Protective. "You think we'd let you do this alone? Princess, I've been watching the system crush people my whole life. If you want to tear it down, I'm with you."

"Sunshine," August says quietly. There's something in his tone—pride mixed with protective concern—that makes my chest warm. "You know we'll follow you anywhere. We've been yours since the moment we found you."

He pauses. Choosing his words with the same care he uses when selecting a book for me to read. "But I need you to understand something. Once we do this, there's no hiding from who you really are anymore. And I think that's exactly what the world needs to see."

Gunner just nods once. But I can feel his absolute commitment through the bond.

Cassian's scarred hands clench into fists. "Burn it down."

"We'll need allies," Dante continues, slipping into that tactical mode I know so well. "Resources. A way to protect ourselves when they come for us… and they will come for us, Beautiful."

"We'll figure it out," I say. And for the first time in my life, I actually believe we can.

Dante crosses the room and comes to stand in front of me. His hands cup my face, and I can feel how proud he is of me. How scared. How completely devoted.

"Do you understand what you're asking us to become, Beautiful?" he asks quietly.

"What?"

"Revolutionaries. Outlaws. The most wanted people in the country."

I reach up and cover his hands with mine. "I understand that I can't live knowing what I know and doing nothing about it. I understand that we have something incredible here, and it's not enough if other people can't have it too."

"And you understand that they'll try to kill us all?"

"Then we make sure they don't succeed."

Something breaks open in his face—all that careful control finally cracking. "God, I love you."

"I love you too. All of you." I look around at my pack. My chosen family. "And that's exactly why we have to do this. Love shouldn't be a privilege for the lucky few."

They move toward me then. All of them. Until I'm surrounded by their warmth and their scents and their absolute devotion.

Gunner's huge arms wrap around me from behind.

August takes my hand. Hawk ruffles my hair with a grin that's equal parts fierce and tender.

Cassian nods at me with something that looks like respect.

And Dante kisses my forehead like a blessing.

"We're really doing this," August says softly. "All of us. Together."

"Pack first," Gunner rumbles against my ear. "Always."

"Revolution second," Cassian adds with a dark smile.

I feel something shift in the air around us. Our scents getting stronger, mixing together until I can't tell where one ends and another begins. It's like we're scent-marking our decision. Making it real.

"Then we better get started," Dante says.

For the first time since we ran away from the city, I feel like I can actually breathe. Not because we're safe—we're about to become the most dangerous people alive. But because we're finally going to stop hiding.

Holy shit. We're really going to do this.

We're going to fight. And somehow, against all odds, we're going to win.

"There's one more thing," I say. My voice is steady now. "The male omega. The one my uncle is hiding. We get him out first. Before we do anything else."

"That's our first mission?" Hawk asks, raising an eyebrow.

"That's our first mission." I look around at them. These incredible men who chose me, who let me choose them. "We save him. Then we save everyone else."

Through the bond, I feel their fierce agreement. Their love. Their absolute commitment to this path we're choosing together.

We're not just a pack anymore. We're a revolution.

And it starts now.