Omega (Alpha & Omega #1)

{Chapter Twenty One}

When I didn't respond, Sage's grip tightened on my arms. Not to the point of hurting, but to the point where I knew if my knees gave way, he'd keep me standing.

I'd always wondered what the face of that man looked like. One that could look at a newly recognized omega and cut her open to remove any sort of possibility of reproduction. I always imagined it'd be a man with cold eyes and an even colder touch.

He'd looked down at me when I was thirteen, cut open my stomach, and ruined any chance I had to have a child. I had no choice. It was all my father.

Sage had kept it a secret that I was an omega. But why? Did daddy dearest pay him off? He didn't look like the type that would take bribe money.

"Please let me go," I said. My voice was much calmer than I thought it would be. It didn't waver or shake. It just came out monotonous and cold.

He dropped his hands.

I looked into his eyes. How many people had he done that to? It couldn't have just been me, could it? How many lives did this man ruin with his hands?

He shook his head. "Phoenix, I'm sorry. I didn't have a choice."

I would have laughed if I felt any emotion at all.

"No," I said, "I'm the one who didn't have a choice."

He and his wife flinched.

Truth hurts.

I tilted my head. "I came to terms with the fact that I'm sterile a long time ago. Even before the wound healed."

He didn't look like he felt any better. And to be honest, I wasn't trying to make him feel better.

"What makes you think you didn't have a choice?" I shook off Keon's hand on my shoulder. I didn't want to be touched. My scar was suddenly pulsing like it had when the stitches were still in. It hurt.

Sage closed his eyes, as if to compose himself. When he opened them, there were tears pooling. "When your father brought you to me, I was a new surgeon. He had dirt on me. I'd been cheating on my last wife with Alexis and they were both pregnant around the same time. If that got out, I would have been done for."

I felt my eyes move slowly to look at Alexis. When my eyes locked with hers, she stiffened.

"So he said either take your uterus out, or he'd ruin my life." Sage's voice brought my attention back to him. "Even after I left Tracy, he held it over my head. That's why I did it, Phoenix."

An alpha male always got his way, even above an alpha female. If he wanted a divorce, he'd get a divorce and everything else he wanted.

I shook my head, astounded. They'd really do anything to keep their fucking title, wouldn't they?

Sage stared up at his sons for help.

No, that wasn't it.

"I get it," I finally said. "I'd do the same."

His green eyes flicked back down to me.

It was true. If I was an alpha, and something was being hung over my head, I'd do anything to keep my status. Cheating on a spouse, even if it wasn't your true mate, was highly frowned upon. Much like an alpha mating with an omega. It was probably still being hung over his head.

No one knew that I had my uterus taken out except for my parents, some of the betas and omegas working for my parents, and the brothers. I'd been told no one needed to know and I never wanted to make my father more angry at me than he usually was. It'd only end in pain.

"I believe that, if I was an alpha, I'd do the same." I was trying to understand them. Trying to open up and learn their ways and accept those who accept me.

If I hated any and all alphas, I'd never give Cayson and Keon a chance. I'd never change. I'd go through the rest of the month with them thinking they were just like other alphas, deep down. As much as I hated to, I needed to open up a little and figure out who to trust on my own.

Sage stared at me in disbelief.

"So," I shrugged one shoulder, "I forgive you."

I'd never seen a grown man crumple before in my life. But he was on his knees, his head on my stomach, and his arms wrapped around me in a matter of seconds. He was shaking, whispering something that I couldn't comprehend.

I looked over at Alexis, who had tears flowing freely from her eyes.

"He's been beating himself up over that for seven years," she said, her glistening eyes meeting mine. "He hasn't done a surgery on a child since."

So I had been the only one. And that day scarred him, much as it had scarred me.

I rested a hand on top of Sage's head. An alpha should not be on their knees for an omega. Ever. If anyone else outside of that room found out, losing his job would be the least of his worries.

He stood up and cleared his throat, simultaneously wiping away nonexistent dirt on the front of his suit jacket.

Cayson and Keon grabbed a hand each and pulled me back to them, wrapping warm arms around my back.

"And I'm sorry to you too, sons." Sage bowed his head. "I took any chance you had to have children with your mate."

"We don't need children," Keon said. "We have her. She's all we need."

My breath caught in my throat.

Sage's eyes widened when he looked down at me. "Oh, wow. She is your true mate, isn't she?"

My heart was beating erratically in my chest, pounding against my ribcage like it wanted out. Like it wanted to go to Cayson and Keon and be nurtured and loved the way it should be.

The pounding of my heart was painful, but it made my stomach curl like there were tiny little butterflies winding their way through.

They didn't care. They actually did not care that I couldn't have kids. I knew they said that at the beginning, but I figured that was all a ploy for my parents. It wasn't though, was it? They didn't care.

I couldn't stop the tears from falling. I couldn't stop my heart either. My damn heart.

"Baby," Cayson whispered.

I bowed my head to try and hide the tears.

I didn't want to hope they were being honest. I didn't want it to be crushed.

Keon and Cayson stepped in front of me. Keon lifted my face up, and the movement drew more tears from my eyes. They both looked at the tears, then into my eyes.

They looked so damn earnest. They looked like they knew love and knew how to love, if it was even possible. Then there was me, a broken shell.

They pulled me to them and embraced me, covering my cold body with their heat. Lips pressed against the top of my head and they rocked me gently, calming me and my tears.

And just like that, a part of my heart was sewed back together.