To ruin an Omega novel Chapter 424

Chapter 424: Second 2

CIAN

"Mother," I said, my voice rough. "Can you hear me?"

Her eyes fluttered open, unfocused at first, like she was still somewhere else, then slowly sharpened as they settled on my face. She tried to breathe in, but it caught halfway and turned into a cough. Blood followed, spilling past her lips and trailing down her chin.

"I’m fine," she rasped.

"You’re not." My gaze moved over her again, more carefully this time, taking in every detail whether I wanted to or not. Too many injuries. Too much damage. My jaw tightened. "Who did this to you?"

She coughed again, her whole body jerking with the effort. When she spoke, it came out thin, barely there. "A girl. Young, with dark hair."

The same one.

Something in me snapped into focus. The girl from the tree line. The one who had locked my body in place and left me helpless. She was the same one who had done this...

Heat surged through me, fast and sharp, turning my thoughts into something narrow and dangerous. I lifted my head, eyes catching on the broken window above us. Glass still clung to the frame, jagged edges catching the light. The drop from there was high enough to hurt, high enough to kill if done right.

But my mother had been stronger than that.

My mother’s hand shot out and wrapped around my wrist. The grip wasn’t what it used to be, but it held—enough to stop me from moving.

"Cian," she said, forcing the word out. "Listen to me."

I looked back down at her.

"Aldric is in Gabriel’s body."

The words didn’t settle right away. They hit, then kept going. The feeling could be best described as something crashing through me instead of stopping at the surface.

Everything I had been trying to ignore since the trial came rushing back. That feeling that something was off. The way Gabriel had carried himself. The pauses that lasted a little too long. The way his voice had felt wrong, even when the words made sense.

It all fell into place at once, and I felt it in my chest, tight and heavy.

"Stay here," I told her, already pulling away. "Someone will get you to the infirmary."

Her hand loosened around my wrist, slipping off as I pushed to my feet.

The jump came easily. Too easy. My body coiled on instinct, and I launched myself upward, fingers catching the edge of the window frame. Glass bit into my palms the second I grabbed hold, sharp enough to cut, but I didn’t slow down. I pulled myself up and through, landing hard inside the dining room.

The space was a disaster.

Tables were overturned. Chairs were splintered. Pieces of wood and shattered glass were scattered across the floor, and the air smelled wrong, sharp with blood and dust.

The wolves I had sent in were already there, back in human form now, standing near the far wall. Their bodies were tense, their shoulders tight. Their eyes also moved like they were waiting for something to come at them again.

"Where is my wife?" The question tore out of me before I could stop it, harsher than I intended, but I didn’t care. "She is supposed to be here."

One of them stepped forward, careful, like he didn’t want to say the wrong thing. "We will check the other rooms, Alpha."

"Seal this building," I said, my voice steady in a way I didn’t feel. "No one gets in. No one gets out. I want every exit covered."

They moved right away, breaking off without hesitation, spreading through the room and toward the hallways beyond.

I turned.

Gabriel stood near the overturned table.

For a second, my brain tried to make it normal, to place him where he should have been, but it didn’t fit. His posture was wrong. The way he held himself wasn’t him. Even the look on his face felt off, twisted into something that didn’t belong there.

Blood ran from his nose, smeared across his mouth, and his eyes followed me as I moved. There was nothing familiar in them.

"You bastard."

I didn’t remember crossing the distance. The only thing that stayed was the impact of my fist connecting with his face. His head snapped to the side, his body stumbling back, and I followed before he could recover. My hand fisted in his shirt, dragging him forward before slamming him into the wall hard enough to rattle the frame behind him.

I hit him again.

This time, his jaw took it, and I felt something give under my knuckles.

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