Chapter 217

Sarah POV

To my surprise, Zane wanted to come with me to the airport to pick up Matthew Kro, the representative from Omega, Inc., who had finally given us his name, or at least a name we could call him. The girls were in school, or they would have wanted to come along too.

We were having Matthew stay with us overnight for the livestream Saturday morning, and I’d tried to find out through Melissa what we could do to accommodate him, such as finding out what he’d like to eat, which he said didn’t matter, or if he preferred a room on the first or second floor, which he also said didn’t matter. The only thing he did take an interest in was security.

I explained, again through Melissa, that Zane and I traveled with personal security, Melissa would meet us at the private lakefront airport with her own bodyguard, and Zane had assigned him his own two security personnel who had been thoroughly vetted. Of course, we were flying him in on Zane’s private jet, and there would be extra security at the villa.

Frankly, the whole thing was beginning to feel like a military operation. Ollie drove us in the limo, which I knew had bullet-proof windows, with a security car following us, and he would occasionally talk with them on the radio. At the gates of the one-hangar airport, we spotted two members of the paparazzi who had evidently heard something was happening. They kept their distance with their zoom-lens cameras.

I hadn’t been to this airport before, and the short length of the runway surprised me. It stretched out into Lake Ranches on a sort of half-land pier. There was a short air-control tower, what looked like a closed coffee stand, and that was it.

Ollie and the car behind us pulled into the hangar, and Zane and I waited while security checked everything out. Another car pulled in, and Melissa stepped out. We joined her.

“They’re about five minutes out,” Ollie told us all.

“Good,” Zane said.

“Do we know if he’s traveling alone?” I asked Melissa.

“No, he’s got a traveling companion, but he didn’t say much about them.” She pulled out her phone. “I saw the paps on the way in.”

“Any idea where they heard something was going on?” I asked.

Melissa looked sheepish. “I announced on the site we were having a livestream with a special guest tomorrow. It generated more traffic than I anticipated.”

“It’s all right,” I said. “I thought the press would be consumed with rumors about the Luna Temple to worry about us as well.”

“We’ll be releasing a statement at the new moon,” Zane said, looking out the open hangar door at the cloudy sky.

“Have they picked their next head Oracle?” Melissa asked.

“Evidently, that’s not to be done until the new moon, but I believe they have two candidates coming in from temples outside the city. I’ve told them to clean house.”

“I still can’t believe what you went through,” she told me.

“Frankly, they kept me drugged up pretty good. The whole thing’s hazy,” I said.

Zane’s chin went up, and we turned to follow his gaze. Soon, the Gulfstream G650ER appeared, descended, landed, and then taxied into the hangar. We waited patiently, and the two-member ground crew helped the plane get into position and then helped with opening the door and setting up the steps.

A gray wolf appeared first, the largest omega I had ever seen—and almost the largest wolf, period—standing at least three feet at the shoulder with a massive and very serious-looking head on a thick neck.

“Heck of a bodyguard,” I muttered.

The omega seemed to hear me and gazed at us all impassively. With a nod of that large head, he trotted down the stairs and stood at the bottom. Another figure, an untransformed male omega in jeans and a T-shirt, appeared in the doorway, looked down at us unsmilingly, and then walked down the steps to join the wolf.

He was incredibly beautiful. Thick black hair curled away from a pale face with sharp cheekbones and brilliant blue eyes. He was slender but wiry, and I could easily see him pounding grommets into leather with efficiency and precision. For a moment, I think we all just had to adjust to his attractiveness.

Zane gently stepped forward. “Alpha Zane Cavendish.”

Somewhat defiantly, the omega held out his hand, which Zane shook without hesitation. “Matthew Kro.”

“Melissa Thibodaux,” my friend said next, shaking his hand as well.

I stepped forward and held out my hand next. “Sarah Astor.” He took my hand firmly, and I felt a combination of soft skin and callouses.

Matthew nodded to the wolf standing there so still at his side. “Sergi. He has a last name, but we never use it.”

“We? The members of the cooperative?” I asked.

“Yes, he’s a member of our security detail.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Sergi,” I said, which seemed to surprise everyone, though they didn’t comment.

“How was your flight?” Zane asked.

“Seamless and smooth. You have excellent pilots and an impressive Gulfstream.”

“Thank you.” Zane looked over to where the ground crew was putting suitcases into the trunk of our car while Ollie watched closely. “Shall we go?”

Melissa returned to her car as Zane, Matthew, and I got into the backseats of the limo. As Ollie pulled out of the hangar, I saw the photographers raise their cameras, though all they were going to get was photos of two cars, and I said as much.

“They’ll have their photos online in ten minutes with captions like, ‘Who’s the Mystery Guest?’” Matthew said, the first hint of humor from him.

“I know Melissa has already expressed my gratitude,” I said, “but thank you so much for doing this.”

“I want to say the same. Melissa Thibodeaux has been espousing wolf equality for years, but she didn’t include omegas until she met you.”

“Is that your ultimate goal here?” Zane asked. “Omega equality?”

“You sound skeptical.”

Zane shrugged just slightly. “It’s something I’d very much to see, but people’s prejudices run very deep.”

Matthew shrugged back. “Are you familiar with the Untouchables castes of South Asia?

Zane looked grim. “I am.”

Matthew looked at me.

“Yes, the practice of taking a minority and ostracizing them with various social practices such as assigning them with undesirable jobs, forbidding them from marriage to those of other castes, not being allowed to eat with or even hold an umbrella when they’re ‘outranked’ by those around them.”

The omega nodded. “I heard about your actions at Sheerain Secondary. I couldn’t help thinking that the wolves there were treating humans the way they usually treat omegas.”

I frowned. “I suppose.”

“There will always be those in society who need to be assured they are better than some other group of people. As bad as their lives become, they can tell themselves at least they aren’t an Untouchable or an omega. There were no omegas at that school, so the humans took their place.”

I nodded. “That’s a depressing thought, but I can’t argue against it.”

“But you are arguing against it,” he said with a small smile. “You’re going to livestream an omega who doesn’t hide in shame. As determined as I am to do this with you, I wonder if you’ve really thought about it.”

“About what?”

“How the world will argue back.”