CHAPTER 159: WAIT FOR ME ( TOM’S POV )

"Let me get this straight— you got Emiliano Sanchez out of prison. Then he went out to weaken Lucrezia’s reputation on national television with an omega that is going to bring Luther Wilkers back into the political scene?"

"Yes."

"Why did Lucrezia go on a campaign to prove that Luther is innocent and should be absolved of all charges of crime?"

"..."

"I am not scolding you. I am just curious."

"Emiliano miscalculated Luther’s feelings."

"Could Luther be double-playing?"

"I doubt it. Too risky."

"Hah. So much for my campaign, huh?"

"Why would you say that, Mister Alpin?"

Thymoth leaned back in his chair, fingers tapping the armrest.

"Because I don’t like playing in someone else’s game."

"You’re not."

"Tom, you just told me Lucrezia managed to flip Luther Wilkers to her side. That means she’s playing everyone — Emiliano, the omegas, the public, and now probably the presidency itself."

"I wouldn’t say she flipped him. I’d say she offered him something he wanted."

"Which is?"

"Freedom. Maybe revenge. He is the number one outlaw these days after all."

Thymoth’s jaw clenched.

"You think he’d sell out the entire lower class just to breathe freely?"

"No. But he might compromise if he thinks it’s the only way to protect the people he cares about. Or he has a plan I can’t foresee yet."

"And Emiliano? He didn’t see that coming?"

"He thought Luther still hated her. That he was looking for a way out. But feelings... they’re not that clean."

"Let me guess. They had more than a history."

"They had everything but a marriage certificate. Emiliano left him to rot after collecting what he needed from him. Lucrezia didn’t."

"Because she needed him."

"Exactly. And Luther is not a fool. He knows how to use every single advantage."

Thymoth stood up, walked over to the minibar, and poured himself a glass of something gold.

"So now Lucrezia has the most influential omega of the decade defending her on every public screen."

"She played it well."

"She always does.

"

I didn’t respond. There was nothing to add. The facts were lined up like knives.

Thymoth turned back to face me.

"Let me paint the picture for you, Tom. You’ve got Emiliano Sanchez — the most influential underlord and the only person reckless enough to challenge Lucrezia publicly — now looking like a fool because his ex sided with her. The public is confused. The press is divided. And me? I’m standing in the middle of a battlefield with no clear enemy."

"You still have me."

He smirked.

"Yeah. The ex-boy toy with a grudge."

"I’m not the one sleeping with the enemy."

Thymoth raised a brow.

"Not anymore."

"Touché."

He sipped his drink and sat back down.

"Alright. Let’s stop dancing. What’s the real plan?"

"Expose the cracks. Lucrezia built her new image on the idea that she’s saving omegas. We show the public that it’s a lie."

"How?"

"Cut her illegal connections."

"That won’t be enough to stop her."

"But it would be enough to distract her."

"From what?"

"From me. I’ve told you I know who killed the Prime Minister and how."

"Yeah, sure, but what proof do you really have?"

"You know Barbara disappeared at one point, right?"

"The Prime Minister’s wife?"

"Widow, yes."

"Hah."

I smiled at the dry chuckle of Tymoth dry chuckling.

"I have helped her escape. I know where she is and I can’t convince her to film a tape where she exposes Lucrezia."

"That won’t be enough. She would argue that it’s the jealousy of the widow. Everybody knows that she and Prime Minister Cassian had a thing back in the day."

"An omega poisoning scandal, an accusation of murder, no back connections and the accusation of the new in-law of her family? A bit too much trouble to not ruin the trust of the general public in her."

"In-law? That pregnant omega she wants to marry her nephew to?"

"Yes."

"Why would he betray her?"

"Because the baby he carries won’t ever be born."

"This is ridiculous."

Thymoth got up from his chair and started pacing the room.

His steps were steady, measured, like he was sorting through each thought with every movement.

The space, once still, filled with the soft rhythm of his shoes against the floor. He moved from one end to the other, turning sharply at each wall, his hands occasionally brushing against his sides.

The silence stretched, heavy but not uncomfortable.

Each stride seemed to ease the tension from his shoulders, but his expression remained unreadable.

This was how he thought—through movement, through motion. The room shifted with him, quietly holding its breath.

"Why would she want to terminate that pregnancy?"

"Several reasons. She hates omegas, she wouldn’t marry her precious nephew to a nobody like Damian instead of someone who can give her political gain and that baby is not Killian’s."

"It’s not Killian’s?"

Alpin looked at me, genuinely shocked. His usual composed expression faltered, eyes slightly wider, lips parted like he was about to speak but couldn’t find the words. It wasn’t the usual political mask or forced surprise for effect—this was real.

He blinked once, then again, like trying to make sense of what he’d just heard.

For a moment, he just stared, as if reevaluating everything he thought he knew about me, about the situation.

"How would you know that?"

"I guess you won’t just trust me without proof, huh, Mister Alpin?"

He shook his head.

I couldn’t help but smirk.

"It’s Caleb’s."

"Caleb Plutus?"

"Yes."

"How do you know?"

"Killian told me himself."

"Why would he tell him that?"

"Because he wanted a fair reason for divorce. And I am a lawyer who does divorce cases as well."

Alpin smiled, unexpectedly pleased, and walked over to the bar with a lightness in his step.

He didn’t say anything, just picked up the bottle and poured himself another drink, the liquid catching the light as it filled the glass.

The tension in his shoulders seemed to ease, just slightly, as he lifted the glass and took a slow sip.

It wasn’t a celebratory kind of joy—it was quieter, more calculated.

Like a man who’d just realized the odds weren’t entirely against him. The smile lingered as he set the bottle down, already thinking three moves ahead.

"Where is Luther now?"

"In a cabin in a Northway’s forest."

"How funny. I have a cabin there too."

"I know."

Mister Alpin raised a brow, the smile still playing at the corners of his mouth.

It wasn’t mocking, but it held a certain curiosity—like he was testing the weight of the moment, trying to decide if he should be amused or concerned.

His eyes settled on me, sharp and focused, reading between the lines.

"He broke into my cabin?", he asked mockingly.

"Why would he if he had a key?"

"Impossible. The only ones that had a key were me and my little brother Lych."

I took a moment of silence as he slowly figured it out. His eyes drifted, not quite looking at anything.

"My little brother is helping Luther Wilkers. Why?"

His voice was deep and rough, almost like a growl. It cut through the quiet like a warning—controlled, but barely.

"I have no idea."

"Spill it, Hexlay. Why is my brother with that omega?"

"I don’t know. But I could guess, although I doubt you would be satisfied with the answer."

"Out!"

"What?"

"Get out! I need to think!"

"What about—"

"I said out!"

Mister Alpin hurled his scotch glass at me.

It smashed against the wall just behind my head, shards hitting the floor. I didn’t blink. I stood there for a second, watching the liquid run down the plaster.

He stayed seated, breathing hard, waiting for a reaction. I gave him nothing.

I adjusted my jacket, turned around, and walked to the door.

The room was quiet except for the sound of broken glass shifting under my shoes. I didn’t look back.

Outside, the hallway was cold and empty. I kept walking, calm and steady, like nothing had happened.

All my life, I’ve been surrounded by alphas. A little tantrum like that meant nothing to me.

But Luther coming back was enough to whiten my nights.

F-ck.

The phone rang, and I picked it up without checking the caller ID. As soon as I heard the voice on the other end, I smiled. It was a voice I knew too well—familiar in a way that settled something in me. Warm, natural, easy. They were happy to talk to me. I could hear it in their tone, in the way they said my name like it still meant something.

I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes, just listening for a moment. My legs almost gave up.

Oh God, how I’ve missed him.

"Hello, Tom."

"Hello, my love. How’s life on the run treating you?"

"Not too bad. It’s like college once again."

"But without me."

"With a replacement."

I couldn’t help but chuckle at his childish tease.

"Are you coming home soon?"

"Yeah. Wait for me, would you?"

"I already am."