Page 71 of Knot All Is Lost: Part 2

“Would you please write your full name where it says Omega? What this is acknowledging is that you are accepting this pack of your own freewill. No one has forced you into this union, and you accept these men to be your Alphas,” Alton informed me.

I took the pen then paused. “I’m sorry sir, but I’m not sure what last name to put down. I’ve always used my mother’s last name but as I’m sure you know, she wasn’t really my mother.”

“Hmm,” Alton pondered, then seemed to decide on an answer. “Cambrie, if it’s your mother’s name you’ve used, then Neenan would be the correct name to use. She was a lovely woman and I’m so sorry you never got to meet her or your grandparents.”

“Thank you, sir,” I said, unsure how else to answer.

It felt odd to write that last name, but in a way I was happy to have the truth of it. My mother had raised me with love and kindness, but knowing she wasn’t the person who gave birth to me changed things slightly. My love for my mother didn’t, but knowing someone else gave me life left me wishing I’d known who she was.

“Excellent, while I have you here, I wanted to also inform you that you are the sole heir to the Neenan estate. Everything that was once your mother’s is now yours to do with as you see fit. A lawyer will get in touch with Marius and set up a time to go over things with you. We know of your past and feel that it’s only fitting that you receive this,” Alton informed me.

My eyes went wide and I looked back at the others, completely unsure what any of this meant but Oscar just signed that we would talk later. I answered him and then faced the men in charge once more. “Is there anything else I need to do?”

“No my dear, that is all we need from you,” Alton said with a smile. “Next, we will need the Alphas of the pack to sign the book.”

They did that and without any further question or fanfare, passing the pen to the next until Marius was the last to write his name.

“With these signatures before witnesses we acknowledge your pack and the benefits that are granted such unions by the law of Oscard. May your pack be fruitful and prosper in the years to come,” Alton announced and snapped the book shut. “Well, now that we’ve gotten that drivel out of the way, shall we make history?”

The change in the man from the formal Official to the casual sweet older man was sudden and incredibly welcome. It set everyone at ease as they stood and shook hands with my men, greeting each other.

“Come Cambrie, I would love to introduce you to my pack,” Alton instructed, gesturing for me to follow him.

I paused but saw that Savo was right at my elbow, ready to accompany me.

“Goodness you big brute, I’m not going to cause any trouble with your Omega. The poor girl has been through quite enough, don’t you think?” Alton huffed as he crossed the room with us trailing after him. “I just thought it would be good for her to meet other pack members who have lived life with someone in the political office. It’s not something that life just prepares you for,” Alton rambled as he entered a room where three men and a woman sat chatting.

“Oh, done already?” one of the men asked, raising to his feet, signaling everyone else to do the same.

“Everyone, I would like you to meet Cambrie, Marius’s Omega. This is Marla, my bonded Beta, our Omega, Phillip, his other bonded Alpha, Eric, and his bonded Beta, Keith,” Alton introduced.

I smiled and greeted them all, but paused when I met Phillip. “I hope this isn’t rude, but I’ve never met a male Omega before.”

“No, it’s not rude at all, we are around but incredibly uncommon here in Oscad. My parents were from Shearia and came to this country to work, then never left,” Phillip explained.

“Well, it is a pleasure to meet you,” I said with a little curtsy, remembering from my time with Arthur this was the proper way to greet people.

“Aren’t you simply charming?” Marla cooed. “Come sit, we have some time, and I’ll bet those two workaholics will disappear to go over last minute things, leaving us to entertain ourselves.” So, we waited and chatted.

Chapter 32

Marlawassurprisinginevery way, and Phillip was the perfect counterbalance to her when she got heated about something, which seemed to be often. My other men chatted with Eric and Keith, who were I learned, renowned scientists as well as doctors who were helping the women Yoram had been experimenting on.

The time flew by and the nerves I had faded as I enjoyed listening to everyone. Then the call came for us to head out to the steps, and the fear came roaring back. All my Alphas snapped to attention and stopped what they were doing to find me.

“What is it, Little One?” Rafael asked, running the back of his hand along my cheek reassuringly.

I licked my lips and tried to swallow. “There’s going to be so many people,” I blurted. Emotions fluttered in my stomach, making me queasy. “What if something happens? Everyone is going to be out there, what if they hate their ideas and come after us?”

Nixon squatted in front of me and took my hands in his. “I know we might have scared you with the need to keep Savo around and keep your ventures outside the house minimal as we were unsure how people would take things. To be honest, I think that was more for our benefit. We lost you and it shook us more than we like to let on, so we used this as an excuse to be overly cautious. People have been incredibly open, if not excited, about the changes. The news likes to make everything out to be doom and gloom, but it isn’t the reality. Our city has always stood behind Alton and he’s put his backing toward Marius, ensuring he’s well received. I can’t promise nothing will happen, no one can, but what I can tell you is they’ve done everything in their power to make us as safe as possible.”

“Okay, I trust you. None of you would let me do this if you didn’t think it was as safe as you could make it,” I said, giving him the best smile I could.

Nixon gave me a quick kiss and stood, still holding my hand. Oscar reached down and took the other while the rest of my pack created a semicircle around me. When we stepped out into the setting sun, the thousands of people before us cheered as Marius and Alton stepped up to the front. The noise was deafening but I was relieved to hear it was excited cheering and not screams of hatred or booing.

“Thank you all for joining us here tonight, as we share the future of our country,” Alton announced into the microphone. “This will be my last act as an elected Official and I couldn’t be more honored to hand over the responsibility to someone younger and smarter. Please know that the choices we made weren’t made lightly. We’ve spent countless hours, days, and sleepless nights going over every inch of this plan. Today is the announcement and the beginning of the plan. Things will change over time, but we hope that in six months everything will be running at full speed. Now, I leave Marius to share with you the vision of our future for Oscad.” Alton stepped back clapping and ginning at Marius, who smiled and gave his thanks.

“Good people of Oscad, our nation has been rocked with a shocking truth and betrayal by those who we voted to lead us,” Marius said, silencing the crowd. “In our efforts to make this new government into something that couldn't be manipulated, we’ve found that might be impossible, but we plan to do our damndest to ensure our people will be protected. We will no longer have the Council of Four but instead we are making way for a role we named Head Speaker. The purpose for the Head Speaker is to speak for the people of Oscad.”

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