To ruin an Omega - Chapter 444: Unravel 1

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.

“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?”

I did not answer. I could not trust my voice. Nor did I want to provoke him with an answer that would displease him.

“There’s nothing to fear,” he said. His grip on my hand tightened just enough to make his point. “As long as you follow the rules.”

I nodded.

He let go and took a step back.

“That aside,” he said. “I came because I need your help.”

I looked up at him. Confusion replaced fear for a moment.

“Oh. What help could you possibly need?”

Wenzel’s smile widened.

“We’re about to be family, right?”

I could not answer. So I just nodded my head.

“Family helps each other, do they not?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but another movement at the door cut me off.

Lysander stood in the doorway now. His expression was unreadable. His posture was tense.

I looked back at Wenzel.

“What is this about?”

Wenzel tilted his head slightly. His smile never wavered.

“I know you and your sister are not on good terms right now,” he said. “But I need your help.”

My chest tightened.

Fia. Fucking hell! Why the fuck… Why was I even kidding myself?

Of course, this was about Fia.

Wenzel took another step closer. His presence filled the space between us until there was nowhere else to look but at him.

“Would you be able to help me, Hazel?”

The question sat heavy in the air. It was not really a question. Not when it came from a man like Wenzel. Not when I had no power to refuse.

I glanced at Lysander again. He had not moved from the doorway. His eyes were fixed on his father, and something dark flickered across his face before he buried it under that same blank expression he always wore.

“Help you with what?” I asked.

My voice came out steadier than I felt. That was something at least.

Wenzel pulled out the chair across from me and sat down. He folded his hands on the table and leaned forward slightly.

“Your sister is Luna of Skollrend now,” he said. “That makes her important. Influential and connected.”

I waited.

“I’ve received some information,” Wenzel continued. “Information that concerns her directly. And I need to verify it before I take any further action.”

“What kind of information?”

Wenzel’s smile faded. His expression shifted into something colder. More calculating.

“The kind that could reshape the political landscape if it’s true. The kind that could destroy reputations and bloodlines if handled correctly.”

My stomach dropped.

“And you want me to… what? Spy on her?”

Wenzel laughed again. This time it was sharper.

“Spy is such an ugly word. I prefer the term ’gather intelligence.’”

“It’s the same thing.”

“Perhaps. But the semantics matter less than the outcome.”

I looked at Lysander again. He still had not said anything. He just stood there watching the scene unfold like he was waiting for something to break.

“I don’t have contact with Fia,” I said. “We haven’t spoken since the trial. She hates me. She wouldn’t trust me with anything, let alone information you could use against her.”

Wenzel waved a hand dismissively.

“You underestimate yourself. Blood is blood. Even when it’s strained. Even when it’s broken. There are ways to rebuild bridges when the need arises.”

“She tried to have me executed.”

“And yet here you are. Alive. Betrothed to my son. Living under my protection.”

He leaned back in his chair.

“I’m not asking you to betray her trust, Hazel. I’m asking you to confirm something. That’s all. A simple conversation. A few careful questions. Nothing that would raise suspicion.”

I wanted to laugh. The absurdity of it pressed against my ribs until I thought I might crack.

Nothing that would raise suspicion.

Fia would see through me in seconds. She would know the moment I started asking questions that I was working for someone else.

And then she would have another reason to want me dead.

“What happens if I say no?” I asked.

The room went quiet.

Wenzel’s smile returned, but it was different now. Colder. Sharper.

“You won’t say no.”

It was not a threat. It was a certainty. A fact delivered with the same calm confidence that men like Wenzel used when they knew they held all the cards.

“You need this family after all.”