It might’ve even been nice, like a much-needed vacation.

I don’t think she would’ve minded a little highly illegal, consensual omega kidnapping, but that was just me. You know, the person who’s known her the longest out of this crazy pack.

“Are you getting bitter again?” Liam asked next to me.

“No, I’m getting impatient.”

“I’m done waiting,” I muttered, my leg jumping in place where I stood.

I knew everyone thought it was all alpha and omega dynamics when it came to feeling a pull towards your omega, but that wasn’t true. Or it wasn’t true for me.

These feelings, this need to rush towards Ella were deep in my chest, and felt like they were tearing me apart by disobeying every reason my brain gave me just to go and get here right now.

It wasn't an alpha problem. It was a pack problem.

The rest was bullshit.

This was all bullshit.

Whatever was between Ella and I was meant to be. It was strong. Visceral.

Fated.

My blood simmered between a boil and cooled down with contentment knowing what was going to happen tonight even if I had to watch that prick, Benjamin Davinson, tug Ella, my beautiful girl that looked like she hadn’t slept in days, under his arm.

He scraped his teeth over her neck while she stood rigid.

I clenched my fists.

Liam held onto my elbow. His teeth were grit. “Just hold up. Patience. Patience.”

“I don’t want to be patient.”

For the past few weeks, I’d been telling him that while we fixed together a plan. From the moment Marko spoke up and got Demetri out of his messed-up funk, everything started to fall into place. Even if we hated how it had to be done.

We were not leaving behind Ella.

We were getting our girl back.

We were claiming our omega in a way none of these stupid pretentious alphas in this room tonight could ever understand or know what it was like to fight for.

Everything was just up to tonight.

Because at last, with the help of the stunning woman across the gaudily decorated room with the information she had given us before being taken away, we were going to take down the men we’d been waiting for all this time.

Of course, before we could do that, we had to listen to the woman at the front of the room ramble on about tradition.

Fuck, even her nasally voice was annoying.

“I’m done being patient,” I repeated. “She’s right here.”

“I’m talking to myself,” murmured Liam.

My lip curled up even though nothing about any of this was funny. I gave him a nod.

Not a minute later, the buzz of Marko’s voice and some of his other old friends from the special forces who worked in specialized security now got in our ultimate goal of taking down the high-ranking alpha network overseeing omegas in a way everyone else thought was against the law. And truly, was.

We’d be starting with the Davinsons before the rest of the coup would rise and take people including Senior Prestford down with them all. There were more secrets tangled up with everyone than anyone could’ve imagined. Terrible, awful, disgusting secrets.