To ruin an Omega novel Chapter 444

Chapter 444: Unravel 1

HAZEL

The absence of Alpha Wenzel at breakfast turned the dining room into something I had never seen before.

Alive.

Sofiane slouched deeper into his chair and propped his feet on the seat next to him. His sisters relaxed their shoulders. One of them actually smiled. Another reached for a second pastry without hesitation.

I watched them transform in real time. The tension that usually strangled this room had loosened its grip, and they breathed easier for it.

"Two days," Sofiane said. He waved his fork in the air like he was conducting an invisible orchestra. "That’s what I heard. Heat season in two days."

One of his sisters looked up from her plate. Her name was apparently Celeste. I had learned that much. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Two days? That’s early."

Sofiane shrugged. "It’s not certain. Moon cycles are unpredictable. But the scout reports say the signs are there. Temperature shifts. Behavioral changes in some of the lower ranks. All the usual pre-heat indicators."

"Still," Celeste said. "Two days feels rushed."

"I don’t care if it’s rushed." Sofiane grinned. "I get an opportunity to get out of here. I’m taking it."

His other sister snorted. "You mean you get an opportunity to bed someone without Father breathing down your neck."

"That too."

They laughed. The sound was strange in this space. Foreign almost.

Celeste turned toward me. Her eyes were curious but not unkind.

"What are your plans?" she asked. "Did our brother say anything about the two of you?"

I blinked.

"I don’t know. I didn’t even know heat season was that close."

Both sisters exchanged a look. Something passed between them that I could not decipher... or rather... I refused to.

"Oh," Celeste said. "Really."

Sofiane leaned forward. His grin widened into something sharper.

"Yeah. Because the stories we heard about you, I was so sure you’d be keeping the date."

Celeste shot him a look. "Hush."

But it was already out there. Hanging in the air between us like smoke.

I looked at Sofiane. Disgust crawled up my throat, but I swallowed it down and kept my face neutral. In another life, I would have made him pay for that disrespect. I would have torn him apart with words or worse. But what power did I have now?

None.

So I stayed silent. I cut my food into smaller pieces and chewed slowly. I let the conversation drift away from me and focused on the texture of the eggs. The weight of the fork in my hand. The way the light from the window hit the edge of my plate.

Anything but the humiliation burning under my skin.

They finished eating eventually. One by one, they stood and left the room. Sofiane went first. Then Celeste. Then the others whose names I still had not learned.

The door closed behind them.

I sat alone in the silence.

Laslo could not infiltrate this space. He stood outside the door like always, but he could not enter without explicit permission. That much I had learned about the dining room. It was one of the few places in this estate where I had a sliver of privacy.

I pulled my phone from the pocket of my dress and unlocked the screen.

Grandmother Pauline’s contact stared back at me.

I pressed call.

The phone rang once.

Twice.

Three times.

Then it cut to voicemail.

I hung up and tried again, only to get the same result.

I tried a third time. Then a fourth.

Each attempt ended the same way. No answer. Just the hollow sound of ringing followed by the automated voice telling me to leave a message.

Frustration crawled under my skin and settled in my chest like a stone.

I was about to try again when the door opened.

I nearly dropped my phone.

My head snapped up, and my pulse spiked so fast I felt dizzy.

Alpha Wenzel stood in the doorway.

He was all smiles. The kind that did not reach his eyes.

"Oh please," he said. "I hope I did not interrupt anything."

I did not know if I had broken a rule. I did not know if using my phone during meals was allowed or if it counted as one of the invisible infractions that this place seemed to collect like trophies.

Terror seized me by the throat.

I put my head down immediately.

"I’m sorry. I know it’s wrong to use my phone while I’m eating. These are privileges. I know I’m not supposed to take them for granted."

Wenzel approached the table. His footsteps were slow and deliberate. He stopped next to my chair and reached for my hand.

I flinched, but he did not seem to notice. Or maybe he did and just did not care.

He laughed. The sound was light and almost pleasant.

"You’re literally shaking. Are you that afraid?"

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