I inclined my head, clearing my throat. “That is what I’m here for. We want to build more connections.”
The High Priest nodded eagerly before his eyes slid to Sin again with uncertainty. “And is this…?” He glanced at Sin. “Your… assistant?” He seemed a little too hopeful.
“He’s pack,” I said.
“Ah.” Luke’s eyes darted between us, his jaw clenched. “Well,” he said, voice strained. “We did hear they do things a little differently in those… progressive cities.” He laughed uncomfortably. “But, uh?—”
“Is the bond with your omega—Sinclair—official?” High Priest Anderson asked, waving a hand at his son and not looking at Sin.
“I follow strict rules when it comes to omegas,” I said calmly. “I wouldn’t want to stray from God’s guidance.” I’d watched a few sermons last night. It wasn’t truly necessary—we could pull weapons right now and drag the two out—but I wanted to hear what they had to say.
So did Sin.
I wanted to know what monsters could have hurt an omega like Crescent. A woman who’d mutated herself to be what they wanted—only to be violated and discarded.
And this… was somehow worse than I’d expected.
“It’s why I wanted this meeting in person,” I went on. “I heard some… troubling rumours about why the pack for Luke,” I glanced at him for a moment, “fell apart.”
Luke paled.
This was a strained time for them. I knew the High Priest was looking for a pack for his son, but the Ascendants were in a troubling time right now—thanks to our efforts.
The Convent itself was, unfortunately, a protected place of worship, with far too many connections to destroy. But the Kingsman pack was powerful, and they’d used their leverage to force a full investigation.
With government eyes on them, we believed any foul play or clear abuse of power would be kept at bay for a while, though we intended to keep watch. But it wasn’t like it had been, with corruption blatantly rampant and omegas being offered to packs like cattle to be bought.
With that out of the way, there were a few last loose ends that our pack wanted to handle personally.
“Allow me to straighten out any rumours about my son. Idle talk leads to sin, after all, so I doubt there’s much truth in what you’ve heard.”
“I was told he was caught with an omega without a bond or blessing in place?” I asked, gaze drifting from the High Priest to Luke.
Luke’s face went red. “I was… It was… a mistake. I was entrapped.”
“Entrapped?”
“The devil’s work,” the High Priest added. “We have strict rules when it comes to the omegas in the Convent, but they weren’t well behaved. I think an evil had begun to spread. My son was tricked.”
I’d heard the truth—I’d asked Crescent. She’d recounted it carefully, like each word might bite her, not meeting my eyes while her fingers anxiously ran back and forth over her keys.
My chest tightened at the memory. She’d shut down the bond in a way she never did. She always was open and honest, her feelings on display, so it crushed me when she didn’t feel she could let me in on this pain.
It was more than just pain.
It was shame we were all trying to pry from her, one stubborn thread at a time.
Sin was stiff at my side.
He’d been there, too, eyes tracing each movement of Crescent’s fingers along that key, holding her tight as if he wanted to squeeze her free of the pain.
“Tricked?” The word came stiffly from my mouth, but I forced it out.
I wanted to hear it from them.
Ineededto hear it from them before I broke them. Before I made sure that no omega would ever be a victim of them again.
There were others who were guilty, like Luke’s mother, but they were a misogynistic culture, and it was hard to get her in the room with us. That was okay, though. The High Priest was the lead of a three-alpha pack, and his death would destroy the pack bonds entirely. Upon looking into the tradition of how the Ascendants treated widowed omegas, we’d determined there was no need to push for punishment.