33. Theo

Chapter 33

Theo

H er words have a profound effect on the pack.

Brody rises, his distress and alarm ringing clear as Kellen rushes to his side to comfort him.

Ella tries her hardest not to rush to his side as she keeps her blue eyes on me.

Damn, they’re practically glowing, and is she sure she’s not secretly an Alpha?

“Ella…” Brody whispers.

The Omega smirks at me. “If Sour Milk wants me, then he can have me. Well, he can have my steel.”

Her gaze lands on Kellen, and he purrs in approval. Brody looks around at him irritated, and now the Alpha stops purring.

I square up my shoulders, adopting the stance I used when I barred her access to Brody’s nest.

I'm not pack lead at the moment. Right now, Alastor is in charge as he never handed it back to Kellen since our camping trip ended.

Kellen hasn’t shown any eagerness to have it back, and it seems he wasn’t a fan of the headaches in the end.

The headaches were a pain in the ass.

But for this mission, I'm the one in charge now.

“You want to use yourself as bait.” It’s more of a statement than a question, and honestly, I am prepared to hear her out.

I just wish Brody didn’t look at me so scandalized, and honestly, this may just be the step I need to earn back her trust.

By treating her like an equal rather than an inferior.

She’s just as strong as any of us.

Ella raises her chin. “That’s right. That way, you can draw them out. Get them to confess. I’ll get them to spill. Trust me.”

It's actually a sound plan, but when I spy Brody shaking his head, I sigh.

I don’t want to anger him again; I still need to earn his trust after all.

“Ella, you can’t be serious,” Brody whispers.

She looks at him. “I am. Look, it may be some time before I can get my revenge on the warden, but if I can get my revenge on these three at least, then I can die happy.”

Though there won’t be any dying on her half. I will make sure of that.

I will be watching her closely.

I just wish it didn’t involve those bastards putting their hands on her again. Now that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

“Puppy, no…” Kellen whimpers and I cock a brow.

Puppy?

Alastor doesn’t protest, and he watches me carefully, gauging me for a reaction.

“It’s a sound plan…” he says in my head.

“Sure is… I just wish they didn’t have to touch her again. But it’s the only way this can work.”

Kellen can hear us, of course, and now he bares his teeth with a growl. “You both can’t be serious!”

Brody looks at him. “What… what are they saying?”

Kellen rumbles, stepping toward me. “No. I refuse to let her use herself as bait.”

Yet I don’t look at him. I only look at her.

After all, it’s her choice, and we need to remember that she isn’t a typical damsel. She wasn’t ever a damsel in the first place.

Have Kellen and Brody forgotten the time we found her crouched over the dead body of a puma?

I still have nightmares over that. Even if I do wake up with the world’s biggest hard-on.

Brody is by Kellen’s side. “Theo… please don’t do this…”

I meet his eyes. “Do what?”

He struggles with his words next, and I know what he’s getting at. He thinks this is my ploy to get her to leave the pack for good.

Trust me, it’s not.

I think this may be what brings us all together again.

I’d sooner leave before I made Ella go anywhere again, and he knows that.

I spy the guilt in his eyes as he hates accusing me of this, especially this far into our journey together, but it’s fine.

He loves her and he’s just scared for her.

But if I can trust her to carry out our mission, then I can trust him, too.

I’d be a hypocrite if I accepted her proposal, especially after I rebuked his moments ago.

“I have a proposition of my own, Brody. You join her. Nothing more tempting than two Omegas after all…”

Brody’s eyes widen, and there’s no missing the wicked smirk on his face. He’s always saying how he wants to fight for her and protect her, and this can be his chance.

He's still new with a gun, sure, but I have to put my trust in him.

It may just be the final step I need to take in order to earn back his forgiveness.

He and Ella are my equals.

Now it’s Ella’s turn to protest. “No, Brody…”

Kellen’s right there with her. “You can’t, Omega.”

Brody regards her then peers at Kellen, then sighs. “Look, I know I am not much of a fighter, but I will still protect her.”

Ella’s lip wobbles, and then she looks at me. She has mixed feelings. While she’s happy to use herself as bait, she doesn’t want Brody to put himself in danger either.

But we can’t refuse him.

He just wants to protect her.

So, I choose my next words wisely. She’s just as much my Omega as Brody is now, but I still see the doubt in her eyes.

She thinks I still regard her as an outsider.

“I trust you to take care of my Omega, little Rogue. Just as much as I trust him to take care of you… You’re both my Omegas now.”

I haven’t called her Rogue for a while. Back then, I meant it as a slur. Now, I use it affectionately.

I hope she sees it that way.

Damn right, she’s rogue.

Pack Rock will be sorry they ever fucked with her.

“I will take care of him, Alpha. You can trust me,” she whispers.

I nod and then look at Brody. He concedes, taking her hand. “And I will take care of her too, Alpha.”

It seems it’s settled. They will both use themselves as bait.

Kellen is the only one who doesn’t look pleased with the plan, but Alastor is all for it.

That’s why I’m surprised when he says next, “I believe I have something of yours, Theo.”

I raise a brow.

When he plants his feet far apart and looks me straight in the eye, I finally realize.

He is giving me back the position of pack lead. I shake my head.

“No. Not after I fucked up the last time.”

Both Omegas are watching me, and I feel my skin prickling all over.

Alastor sighs. “Look, it’s time to put all that behind us now. We’ve got bigger problems to deal with. These pricks are planning to assassinate the governor, and we can’t have that now.”

“I didn’t know you even cared about our governor, Alastor,” I reply.

He shrugs. “I don’t, but I’ll be damned if they think they can kill him so easily. He’s the best governor we’ve had in years. Without him, we wouldn’t have met Ella.”

My eyes find Ella again, and I can see she is having the same thoughts.

We owe Gryphon.

I roll my eyes. “Fine. Then give it to me. I will lead us through this mission.”

Alastor smirks when I concede to him at last, and now I match his stance as he begins the transfer.

It's a strange feeling to have so much power again and quite frankly, terrifying. It seems these past few weeks have humbled me indeed.

One Alpha should never hold all this power. At least not one like me.

I will give it back to Alastor again. When our mission is through and we manage to kill these fuckers.

Or maybe Kellen would like to give it another shot.

I am willing to share this power with the two of them now, and I truly believe we can do this.

All five members of Pack Titan can become the pack they were destined to be all along.

It's time to weed out our enemies.