Page 19 of The Omega Switch: Part 2

I should have been happy that she hadn’t filed a restraining order. And I was happy that she found some peace from all the horrific things her family had done. But I could never face her unless she asked me to. Out of our whole pack, I’d done the most damage.

Barking at her and forcing her away from us when she’d tried to tell us the truth was unforgivable. And I’d even listened to Arabella’s frantic, manipulative pleas to bond her, though the moment I’d sent Ivy away it felt like I blew a hole into my chest. She shouldn’t forgive me. I didn’t deserve it.

It was why I was working alone in my office at night, trying to distract myself from my pain. I rubbed both hands over my face, seeing my reflection in the darkened window. I looked like shit. I'd lost weight, and there were permanent shadows beneath my eyes. I'd always been pretty good about my appearance, not out of vanity so much as discipline. Everything had its place. My schedule, my clothes, my company, my pack. Control had been the foundation of my entire adult life. Now, I didn’t even have that. I was spiraling.

My phone rang, pulling me out of my thoughts. I glanced at the screen, and my exhaustion disappeared. Now, I was just angry.

It was Phillip Carrington.

Of all the people I was angriest at, he was at the top of my list. I answered the phone, unable to hold back the feral growl in my voice.

"What?"

A brief silence followed, then I heard him take a breath.

"Mr. Vale,” he said, sounding even more beaten down than I was. I couldn’t help but smile a little bit. I wanted him to suffer, and he was going to for as long as I wanted. “I know it’s late, but we were hoping we could discuss the current situation," Phillip began. I sat back in my seat.

“You mean the lawsuits?” I asked, looking at the stack of documents covering my desk. We had sued them for everything our attorneys could think of. Fraud, misrepresentation, and breach of contract. We calculated the damages from the falsification of Bond profile records, and how Arabella lying to the world publicly had now tarnished our company. We’d severed all ties with them. But the discovery process had also uncovered a goldmine of financial misconduct within Nestwell, which had opened doors even I hadn't anticipated.

"What about them?" I asked, a half-smile on my face. Watching this family try to manipulate their way out of something yet again was almost embarrassing. They were out of their depth, and not used to dealing with consequences. I relished their scrambling efforts to get out of something, knowing they would fail.

"We think this has gone far enough. It’s time to let bygones be bygones." Aaron said, and I realized they had me on speakerphone.

I laughed bitterly.

"You think it's gone far enough?" I asked, flexing my hand and making a fist as I spoke. “I told you I’d take everything from you. I don’t make idle threats. Are you calling me a liar?”

George's voice came through next. "Hunter, we're trying to be reasonable."

That made me laugh again. Reasonable. My entire life was falling apart. They were lucky I wasn’t insane at this point. I could picture them gathered around a conference table, trying to decide which combination of flattery might still work on me. Nothing would, because nothing would ever give me back what they took from me.

Clara spoke next. "We understand that mistakes were made," she started, and I gripped the phone in anger.

"What mistake are you referring to, Clara?" I asked. She hesitated.

"Everything that happened with Arabella." It sounded like she didn’t even want to speak about it. So I made her talk more.

"Everything? Please explain. I want to hear you say it." Clara went silent, but I waited.

Eventually Phillip exhaled sharply. "Arabella shouldn't have submitted Ivy's compatibility information. But you can’t blame her. She’s a young omega. They are prone to jealousy and fitful behavior."

“She stole,” I said in a sharp tone. “Not only our pack’s mate, but Ivy’s own truth. You abandoned your daughter, my mate, and treated her so poorly that she left your house and you didn’t even realize it. I’ve never been more disgusted with a family in my life.” My words were cold and heartless, but I didn’t have a heart anymore.

Phillip's irritation grew. "What do you want us to say?"

"Nothing. You called me." I snapped at him.

George cut in before Phillip could continue. "We wanted to make sure we were on the same page about what the public will hear about Vale Labs. As far as our agreement,” he said. I wanted to roll my eyes. They were worried about the word getting out about Arabella switching the lab results.

“It’s not Vale Labs that will be hurt. It’s Arabella’s reputation.” I snorted.

"Well, it looks bad for both parties," Clara said. "People know Arabella isn't courting Pack Vale anymore. Everyone saw how serious the relationship was becoming, and then suddenly no one was seen together. People are asking questions. It can make your lab results look inaccurate.” She said.

“No, nothing about the results was inaccurate. They were right. Ivy was our match, and Arabella ruined it. That doesn’t reflect on our company at all.” I said with a shrug.

“We just want to make sure we can keep this under wraps until all is settled,” George said. I had already used Arabella’s lie as leverage to get them to play nice during the lawsuits. I was going to take them for everything they had. I stood and walked toward the window.

"Stop asking me for favors. You’re lucky that I don’t show everyone Arabella’s real profile.” I snapped. “Or did she not tell you? Her bond profile scored so poorly that she was banned from entering it into the match system. Yeah, we looked it up.” I said. I heard Clara sniffle.