Page 215 of Harley & Her Ferals

My shoulders relax.

I trust them too. But I don’t trust Dad.

I know Dad better than anyone here. I also know what he’s capable of.

And it terrifies me.

Everything that I’ve always wanted is just on the other side of this iron door, within touching distance.

Standing here needing to wait is shaking me apart.

All of a sudden, I hear noise down a tunnel on the right.

“I hear something,” I whisper, excitedly.

I drop into a fighting crouch at the same time as Feral does just to be careful.

The next moment, however, Lionzio bursts out of the tunnel, weighed down with a box of files.

It appears that my brother wasn’t joking about the secret paperwork that he’d been copying over the years. In those boxes, we’ll have what we need to get Dad, Vinnie, and everyone who stands with them arrested.

Lionzio is leading a gang of Alphas and their bonded packs. Studying them, I realize that they’re members of the Battles.

Lionzio appears to have persuaded most of the Battles to follow him.

Dad looks down on my brother because he’s at the bottom of the hierarchy. Lionzio not taking part in the cage fights means that Dad doesn’t see him as worthy. Dad has deliberately set his adopted son up to be humiliated within the pack, over and over.

Yet when it comes down to it, Lionzio is respected by the other pack members.

He’s been running the business on a day to day basis for years.

And the Battles have chosen to follow him.

I grin, rushing forward at the same time as Feral does.

Lionzio flinches on instinct, when both Feral and I hug him.

Then he laughs.

Behind him, the Battles are watching us, shocked.

“We all recognizeyouas the Head Alpha now, Harley,” Lionzio declares, loudly. He takes a step back in front of the Battles. “I mean,Head Omega. It doesn’t matter. Why can’t there be a Head Omega anyway? We stand with you.”

Warmth floods through me, as I look over the Alphas, Betas, and Omegas who are looking at me —an Omega— to lead them.

It’s a big responsibility.

A duty that I never truly wanted. Yet this is huge.

Has there been a Head Omega before?

I’m not someone who seeks power. But if it’s the power to do good and grant people freedom, then I’ll take it.

On the other hand, I need them to understand that once we’re out of here, they can make their own choices. They’re not exchanging one tyrant for another.

I draw back. “Thank you for putting your trust in me. Once we’re in the Above, we’ll arrange safehouses for you in the mountains. You can start working out how you want to livefor yourself. I’ll always help my pack but I won’t control or own you like Dad did. You’ll be free to make your own decisions. I’m going to officially emancipate everyone who wants that.”

Excited whispers start up, before bonded packs hug each other or start dancing.

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