To ruin an Omega novel Chapter 500

Chapter 500: The Victor takes it all 1

FIA

The pounding on my door dragged me from sleep.

My eyes cracked open to darkness. The room felt wrong. Too quiet. The kind of silence that preceded violence.

"Luna Fia! Luna Fia!"

I threw off the covers and stumbled toward the door. My hand found the knob before my brain fully caught up to my body. The hinges gave way, revealing an Omega I vaguely recognized from the kitchens. Her chest heaved like she’d sprinted the entire length of the keep.

"What’s happening?"

"Rogues." The word came out breathless. "They’re attacking. We have to run."

My stomach dropped. "What?"

Her hand shot out and grabbed mine. The grip bordered on painful. "We have to go now."

"What about Cian?" I tried to pull back, but she held firm. "The Grand Luna—"

A loud pop echoed through the hallway.

Every light blazed to life at once at that same moment, too.

"Surprise!"

I blinked against the sudden brightness. My vision adjusted slowly, too slowly, and the scene that materialized made my thoughts grind to a halt.

Sentinels lined the walls. Omegas clustered near doorways wearing expressions that didn’t match an emergency. Grand Luna Morrigan stood near the staircase in a gown far too elegant for a crisis. Elder Thorne leaned against the banister. Doctor Maren held what looked like a champagne flute.

"What the hell is going on?" My voice cracked. The Omega who’d dragged me from bed released my hand and stepped back with a grin I couldn’t quite process. "I thought—"

Footsteps sounded behind me.

I turned.

Cian emerged from the other side carrying a cake. Candles flickered across the frosting, casting warm light across his face. The smile he wore was sultry and knowing and impossibly smug.

"Happy birthday, Fi."

The words hit me like a physical blow.

Tears formed without permission. They burned behind my eyes and blurred my vision until Cian became a watercolor version of himself.

"Oh." The sound barely qualified as speech. "You remembered."

"Of course." He walked closer. Each step was measured and careful, like he thought I might bolt. "It’s your birthday."

The tears spilled over. They tracked hot paths down my cheeks while the assembled pack broke into song. The melody wrapped around me, familiar and foreign at the same time. I’d heard this tune before, years ago, when Mother had still been alive and birthdays meant something other than another day to survive.

Because the moment that she died... Silvercreek had cleared this day out of their mind, and I allowed it because it had hurt less than holding a grudge.

Cian reached me. The cake sat between us, candles still burning, wax beginning to drip onto the frosting.

"I hope those are happy tears."

I nodded. More tears followed the first. They came faster now, harder, until I could barely see the flames dancing in front of me.

The song ended. Silence settled over the hallway, broken only by the occasional sniffle I couldn’t quite suppress.

Cian raised the cake higher. "Happy birthday. Make a wish."

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