The Omega and The Arrogant Alpha (by Kylie) novel Chapter 321

The building does not erupt after the extraction team withdraws, which is how I know the damage has already escaped containment, because silence like this only follows when everyone is waiting to see who speaks first.

Ben stays close as we move back toward the operations floor, not touching, not crowding, just present enough that my wolf stays settled instead of pacing, and I focus on the ordinary mechanics of walking to keep my breathing even, heel to toe, steady rhythm, because grounding matters when adrenaline is still riding high.

By the time we reach the main corridor, the atmosphere has shifted.

Not panic.

Awareness.

People are quieter than before, conversations clipped and half-finished, eyes tracking movement with too much interest for coincidence, and when I catch a glimpse of a wall screen out of the corner of my eye, I stop walking.

It is already playing.

Grainy footage, angled wrong, audio imperfect but unmistakable, showing me stepping in front of Ben, showing the extraction leader hesitating, showing the moment when procedure bent and did not snap back into place.

Someone recorded it.

Multiple someones, judging by the angles now rotating through the feed.

“They’re sharing it internally,” Sally says quietly as she joins us, her tablet already in hand, fingers moving fast. “And externally. The first clip just crossed out of containment.”

“How long,” I ask.

“Minutes,” she replies. “Maybe less.”

The clip loops again, and this time I hear my own voice through the distortion, calm and clear as I say no, and I feel a strange detachment settle over me as I realize how different it sounds when it is no longer anchored to context.

Ben watches the screen once, then looks away. “They’re going to frame this.”

“Yes,” I say. “And they already decided how.”

We keep moving, because standing still invites interpretation, and as we pass through the operations floor I notice the way people straighten and then hesitate, unsure whether to address me or pretend they are too busy, which tells me the narrative is already splitting.

Authority does not vanish all at once.

It fractures.

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