I Was The Only Omega In The Beast World-Chapter 126: CP: Needs Four Tribe’s Approval

Sally’s eyebrows shot up so high they nearly disappeared into her hairline. "You STOLE their sacred stone?!"

Alex winced at Sally’s shriek.

"Stole is a strong word," he said quickly. "We... negotiated... under... duress? With a dragon involved? It’s complicated."

"YOU STOLE A SACRED STONE FROM LION PEOPLE AND NOW YOU WANT TO WALK BACK IN THERE AND ASK FOR A FAVOR?!" Sally’s voice had reached a pitch that made several nearby dragons look over with interest.

"Kind of," Leo said, his voice carefully measured, "the Golden Stone was umm...taken...willingly. But I was already exiled before the stone. They can’t exile me further."

"They could kill you," Sally pointed out.

"They’ve already tried," Leo said, and there was something in his voice—not pride, not bravado, just quiet certainty—that made Sally’s mouth snap shut. " But failed. "

"Okay," she said after a moment. "Okay, that’s—that’s a lot. But—" She looked at the map, at the glowing point that represented their potential sanctuary. "—you think this place is worth it? Worth going back there?"

"Yes," Alex said, surprising himself with how certain he felt. "It’s not just land. It’s a place where everyone can belong. Where the babies can grow up with all their family around them. Where we’re not just guests in someone else’s territory."

"The Lion Lord will not make it easy," Leo warned.

"No," Alex agreed. "But we’ve done hard things before."

"And the Wolf Lord?" Leo pressed. "He made his feelings clear. He said he would wait for you. That’s not something a pack lord says lightly."

Alex’s stomach tightened. He’d been carefully not thinking about Lucas. About those pale eyes and the quiet promise.

"I’ll handle Lucas," he said. "He’s reasonable. He’ll understand."

"I don’t think so," Leo said flatly. "You rejected him. And then you bonded with a mer-prince. He’s most likely resent Zale and try to prove himself as better choice than him."

Leo’s words hung in the air like a challenge—or a warning. Alex felt the weight of them settle into his chest, cold and heavy.

"You don’t know that," he said, but even to his own ears, the words sounded hollow.

"I know pack lords," Leo replied, golden eyes unblinking. "I know what it costs them to admit interest. To offer themselves. To be rejected." He paused, his voice dropping. "I know because I was one. Not a lord, but I understood the pride of it. The way it carves into you when someone says no."

Alex opened his mouth to argue, but Sally beat him to it.

"Okay but hear me out," she said, holding up her phone like a shield. "Wolf guy—Lucas, right?—wolf guy said he’d WAIT. That’s not a threat. That’s like... a promise? A really intense, should I say kinda romantic promise. If he’s reasonable like you said, then maybe he’ll be cool about the whole ’you have three mates now’ situation."

"He might," Naga allowed, his voice carefully neutral. "Or he might see Zale as a rival. Someone who succeeded where he failed. That kind of resentment doesn’t always stay buried."

Zale shifted in his ocean sphere, the water rippling with his unease.

"I didn’t mean to cause problems," he said quietly. "I bonded with Alex because he needed me. Because the cubs needed me. Not to compete with anyone."

"We know," Alex said, reaching out to touch the sphere’s surface. The cool water rippled against his fingers. "And when we talk to Lucas, we’ll make sure he knows that too."

[INTERESTING PSYCHOLOGICAL DYNAMIC DETECTED] System observed.

[Pack lords are territorial by nature. Lucas’s offer wasn’t just romantic—it was political. By accepting him, you would have strengthened his position, given him heirs, secured his legacy. By refusing and then bonding with Zale—a mer-prince from a completely different species—you may have inadvertently sent the message that you considered him inferior to an outsider.]

"That’s not what I meant—"

[Of course not. But Lucas doesn’t know that. All he knows is that he offered everything and you chose someone else. Someone who, from his perspective, has no claim to you at all.]

"Wonderful," Alex muttered. "So we’re walking into a political minefield with a territorial wolf lord who thinks I rejected him for a fish-person."

"I’m not a fish-person," Zale protested mildly. "I’m mer. There’s a difference."

"To Lucas, there might not be," Leo said.

The silence stretched long enough that Ripple lifted his head from Alex’s lap and tasted the air, sensing the tension.

"Mama is worried," Ripple observed. "Mama smells like when Uncle Granite drops things."

"That’s stress," Sally translated helpfully.

"Your mama is stressed. Which is fair, because we’re planning a diplomatic tour through everyone who might want to kill us."

"Nobody’s going to kill us," Alex said.

"You LITERALLY just said the lion lord might—"

"Nobody’s going to kill us while I’m present,"

Drakar amended, appearing from somewhere in the citadel’s upper reaches with the unhurried certainty of someone who had interrupted conversations for a thousand years and would continue doing so. He lowered himself onto a ledge across from them, wings folding with practiced elegance. "The political calculus changes significantly when a Dragon Lord is standing in the room."

"You’d come with us?" Alex asked.

"I find myself... invested," Drakar said. "In the outcome. In the sanctuary." A pause. "In watching what you’re building."

He said it simply, without ornamentation, which somehow made it land harder than any grand declaration would have.

Sally pointed at him. "See. Final Boss is coming. We’re fine."

"We’re not bringing a Dragon Lord as an intimidation tactic to diplomatic meetings," Alex said.

"Why not?" Sally asked.

"Because it’s rude."

"It’s PRACTICAL—"

"She’s not wrong," Leo said, which earned him a look from Alex and a triumphant gesture from Sally.

[May I suggest a sequencing strategy,]

System interrupted, the holographic map still hovering between them, [rather than everyone arguing about whether diplomatic intimidation counts as diplomacy?]

"Please," Alex said.

[The four faction approvals don’t need to happen simultaneously. They just need to happen before construction begins. ]

[ Suggested order: Serpent Lord first—already done, Naga is literally sitting next to you. Bear ex-tribe chief—Granite’s influence gives you a strong opening. Wolf Alpha third—you know Lucas, you have existing relationship, and addressing him before the lion meeting gives you momentum. Lion Lord last—hardest, save it for when you have the other three already committed.]