THE OMEGA WHO KNEW WHY THE ALPHA’S WIVES DIED

Chapter 5

Camilla's pov

The heavy footsteps stopped right behind me. The hallway was completely dark now, except for the pale moonlight filtering through a high stained-glass window.

I spun around, pressing my back flat against the wall beneath the six portraits. My heart pounded furiously against my ribs.

A tall figure stepped out from the shadows.

Alpha Lucian Simons was thirty-one years old, and his presence alone seemed to make the massive hall feel small. He was huge, with broad shoulders and a powerful, athletic frame. He wore a dark, tailored coat that fell past his knees. His dark hair was brushed back, and his sharp jaw looked as if it were carved out of pale granite.

He was strikingly handsome, but his face was utterly lifeless. His deep gray eyes were colder than the ice on the Frostbridge river.

He did not speak. He just stood there, staring down at me with an unreadable look.

I needed to know if he was going to kill me tonight. I needed to see if he was the monster everyone said he was.

I closed my eyes slightly and focused my power. I pushed my mind forward, reaching out for his thoughts just as I had done with my father, Isabella, and Ethan. I prepared myself to hear his inner voice, his dark secrets, or his cruel intentions.

*Clang.*

My mind slammed headfirst into a solid barrier.

I gasped softly. It felt as if I had run at full speed straight into a thick steel wall.

I squeezed my eyes shut and pushed harder, trying to find a c***k, a gap, or even a tiny whisper of a surface thought but I got nothing. There was no noise, no jumbled voices, no dark plans. There was only an absolute, terrifying silence.

Lucian’s mind was a vault of complete steel.

The physical strain of trying to breach his head hit me like a sudden fever.

A sharp, burning pain shot through my temples causing my vision to swim, and sweat to break out on the back of my neck as I forced my mental energy against his impenetrable barrier. It was like trying to push down a mountain with my bare hands.

"Ah," I whimpered quietly, my knees trembling under my dress.

Lucian took two slow, silent steps toward me. The air around him smelled of rain, cedar, and dangerous power.

He reached out his large, warm hand. I flinched, expecting a blow, but his fingers were surprisingly light as he gently caught my chin. He tilted my face upward, forcing me to look directly into his storm-gray eyes.

My glowing silver eyes reflected in his dark pupils.

"Stop trying to breach my head, Camilla," Lucian said. His voice was a low, deep rumble that vibrated straight through my chest. "I know what you are."

My breath caught in my throat. My mind went blank.

"He knows?!'

No one in Frostbridge knew. My own family thought I was just a broken, wolfless Omega. But this man, a total stranger, knew my secret before I even said a word.

"How..." I whispered, my voice shaking terribly. "How do you..."

"Your eyes give you away," Lucian said smoothly, letting his hand drop from my chin. The warmth of his touch vanished instantly, leaving my skin cold again. "And the blood rushing to your face while you strain against my mind."

I swallowed hard, backing up until my shoulder hit the gold frame of a portrait behind me. "Are you going to kill me?"

Lucian looked at me, his gray eyes sweeping over my plain dress, my small suitcase, and my pale, terrified face. His face did not change. Not a single muscle moved.

"I have no reason to kill you, Lady Camilla," he said coldly. "Unless you give me one."

He turned his back on me and walked toward the grand staircase that led to the upper floors of the manor.

"This estate is vast," Lucian said without looking back. His heavy boots echoed against the marble steps as he climbed. "You are free to go anywhere you like. You may walk the gardens, use the library, and explore the grounds. You are not a prisoner here."

He paused on the top step, turning his head just enough for me to see his sharp profile in the moonlight.

"You have total freedom," he added, his voice dropping into a stern, absolute command that made my skin prickle with fear. "With only one rule. Stay out of the West Wing. If you step foot behind those black iron doors, not even I will save you.”