Page 63 of Omega Inked

I'm about to retort when the door bursts open. I can hear gunshots erupt all over the yacht and in the marina, and then the door bursts open to reveal Phoenix.

My heart pounds.

My father looks at them with disdain, his lips curling back in a sneer.

"You look familiar," he says to Phoenix.

And I realize with horror that my father must have been, in some way, responsible for what happened to Phoenix when he was in ACB custody.

Oh no.

Phoenix snarls and leaps on my father without a moment's hesitation. I'm frozen in fear, watching as Phoenix and my father grapple on the ground. Phoenix is stronger than my father, but my dad is cunning. He manages to twist out of Phoenix's grip and stands up, pulling out a knife from his pocket. I reach for my gun, but it's too late. My father lunges at Phoenix with the knife, and I hear a sickening thud as the blade pierces through Phoenix's chest.

"No!" I scream, rushing over and flinging myself over him as a shield.

My father looks at me with a twisted smile. "I told you, Olivia. You don't want to be on the wrong side of me."

"Don't let him take you," Phoenix grits out. "Don't..."

I'm shaking with rage and grief as I hold Phoenix's hand. But amidst the pain, there's something else stirring within me. A fire that's been burning inside me since I left my father's grasp. It's a fierce determination, a will to fight back and protect what's mine.

I stand up, my eyes blazing with fury. My father takes a step back, sensing my power. He should be scared--he should be very scared. I'm not that naive girl he used to control.

"You're right," I say, my voice low and dangerous. "I don't want to be on the wrong side of you. But you made that choice for me a long time ago."

I raise my gun and aim it at him, my finger poised on the trigger.

"Olivia, don't," my father says, his eyes wide with fear.

But I'm past the point of no return. I squeeze the trigger, and the gunshot echoes through the room. My father crumples to the ground, blood pooling around him.

I should feel guilty--I should feel something. But all I feel is relief.

Relief that my father will never hurt anyone again.

Relief that I'm finally free.

I turn to Phoenix, tears streaming down my cheeks. A second later, Mercer and Liam burst through the door after him, and they're both at his side in an instant.

"He got...he got hurt," I wrench out. "Help him!"

"It's okay," Mercer says, pressing his hand to Phoenix's chest to stem the bleeding. "We'll get him back to the Raft and they'll fix him up. He'll be okay."

Phoenix looks up at me with a strained smile. "We'llbe okay," he says.

The yacht sways under us, and I glance out the window to see the marina in chaos. There are way more people here than there were before...and I can't figure out how.

"Where is everyone?" I ask. "Who are all these people?"

Mercer chuckles. "Fucking Rafe followed us out here with a bunch of Enclave operatives. It's full-on warfare in the marina...but we've got to escape before more ACB troops show up."

"You know how to drive this thing?" Liam asks.

I nod. "I used to go on my dad's business trips when I was younger. I know how to get us out of here."

I rush to the controls and switch on the engine. Then I push us off from the dock and steer us out into the water. It's chaos on the marina, ACB security lights in the distance. I steer us to the harbor, and we sail out toward the open ocean.

I've never felt so powerful. I'm not that meek girl my father used to control. I'm Olivia, leader of an Enclave pack, and my home is with my pack--especially when they need me most.

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