Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 853: You Did ()

A sense of foreboding churned in Neveah’s gut as a man stepped into the light. He was clad in a gray, weathered robe, sporting more than a few rips and stains, and he looked like he’d missed more than a few weeks worth of beard trims.

He moved with a wobbling gait, like he’d broken a few bones in his lower limbs that hadn’t quite healed. He dragged behind him a long chain that accounted for the grating sound. It was attached to a cuff clasped tightly around his wrists, and the length of it kept him restricted to a few metres from the wall, as it only allowed limited movement.

At first glance, it was difficult to tell his age, but on closer look, Neveah guessed he was somewhere in his early to late forties. But she couldn’t be sure.

His face was haggard and his eyes were sunken. His skin looked waxy, and grayish-yellow, Neveah assumed he’d been imprisoned here for at least a month and being exposed to the ice for that long was taking its toll on him.

The fact that he wasn’t in a worse state than this was proof that he, like Alessio was a wolf shifter.

That, and the smell of burning flesh that permeated the air as he drew closer. The silver cuffs around his wrists emitted a sizzling sound, burning into his flesh as the chain length reached its limit.

He stopped, and just stared at her. There was a look in his eyes that stirred an ominous feeling deep in Neveah’s gut and if she wasn’t already backed against the platform, she might have retreated some more to put some distance between them.

He was still across the room, but even this felt too close. Even with his physical state, Neveah was struck with a strong sense of familiarity, but the feeling was devoid of any warmth. It was a replica of what she had felt when she first regained consciousness and found Alessio sat by her bed.

Neveah shook off the initial shock, turning to face him squarely, "Who are you?" She demanded, her tone devoid of the turmoil of emotions coursing through her.

He bared his teeth, a sinister half smile, half grin that looked more threatening than amused.

"You know who I am." He replied, his eyes bore into Neveah’s like he was intent on staring into her soul and wearing it down.

"You’re not my father." The conviction in her tone was absolute. She couldn’t tell why, but she was more certain of this than she was of anything else.

His grin dropped by a measure. "I see you must have met him."

"Well... I always knew you would, at some point. Fate is silly like that..." He muttered, more to himself than to Neveah.

His eyes flashed, and he seemed to be having some vocalized internal conflict because he continued his muttering, pacing about the same axis.

Neveah frowned. There was something unusual with this man beyond his appearance. He must have been imprisoned for long enough, it had begun to mess with his head.

Or perhaps he was just an eccentric personality.

"So? Is he a better father than I was?" He finally asked, his gaze returned to Neveah.

Their eyes met and for a moment, something flashed through her mind. It was faster than she could grasp, and it left Neveah clutching her head as a sharp ache tore through her skull.

She gasped quietly, ’What was that? A memory?’ Neveah wondered, nursing her aching temple.

Her vision grew hazy for a moment, the cavern spun around her and Neveah clutched the edge of the platform to keep her balance.

"Never mind. Don’t answer that." The strange man cackled to himself like he’d just made the funniest joke.

It displeased Neveah. For some reason, it strongly irked her that he was amused at this moment, about a topic she didn’t particularly recall but it felt... personal.

She could think of a thousand ways to wipe that silly grin off his lips, and if none of them worked, she would simply rip him a new mouth.

"But then, there is one thing I don’t understand." He finally continued, tilting his head. "Why did you return?"

"Return...?" Neveah asked uncertainly,

"Well, yes." He confirmed, "You may find this hard to believe, especially now...so long after, but letting you go was the hardest thing I’ve had to do."

"I mean, I held you in my arms after your birth and raised you for nearly nineteen years. Selling you off for gold?" He scoffed, "That’s a losing deal."

He glanced up at Neveah, taking a step closer. The cuff restricted him and the sizzling sound returned again. "But they started sniffing around Eclipse territory, and no one else could tell why those myths would be drawn here, halfway across the world to lands far beneath them."

"But I knew, I always did. I knew they were drawn...to you."

He turned, wobbling back over to lean against the wall. "You are the only thing of their blood here, after all."

He exhaled heavily, like the brief movement exhausted him greatly.

"If I didn’t give you up, they would keep coming. And if they kept coming, they would eventually discover the truth... and I couldn’t have that! If I had to give up one of you...it could only be you." His eyes met Neveah’s, as though imploring her to understand his reasons.

While she could barely make sense of anything he was saying. One thing was for certain. This man...he knew the truth about her past, and he had no knowledge of her memory loss.

Neveah bit down on her bottom lip to keep from speaking. She couldn’t afford to let it on. Not yet. Not while there was still so much he could possibly say.

"You see, I loved her with everything in me... everything! While she... she wouldn’t even acknowledge me! She looked down on me... detested me..." He smiled, almost painfully.

"But all I did was because I had to! If I didn’t kill to become King, I would be one of the corpses forging another’s path to the Eclipse throne. This has always been the way of the Raul’s!"

"I didn’t make the rules... I simply owned them." He paused, letting out a slow exhale like the words weighed on his tongue.

"I hoped if I waited long enough, she would eventually... give me a chance. And even if fate were to find her a bond like it did me, so long as it wasn’t another Alpha King... I could simply reclaim what’s mine by ancient duel."

"But fate played me...cruelly..." His chuckle converted to a coughing fit, and it took him a moment to regain his composure.

"It bound her to a literal god! The only creature all my power, wealth and armies stood no chance against! Duel? I would be crushed in an instant. Isn’t it...a big joke?"

Was he talking about...Eira? Neveah wondered.

"How could I ever accept it? How?! In what way was I lacking? I killed here or there, but who hasn’t?!"

"What did I ever do so wrong... that I wasn’t worthy of even a chance?" His eyes found Neveah’s again, as though seeking the answers in them.

But Neveah didn’t have them... she didn’t even have the answers to her own doubts.

"When she came to me, seeking the methods to transfer the creator’s mark without the natural inheritance path, I knew then that she had made up her mind...to leave everything behind, for him." He scrunched his nose, like the mere thought of it disgusted him.

"And so, I took my chance." He murmured, "I couldn’t let her make such a grave mistake. We two bound in a union...we could rule all four domains."

"So, you left her in this state to bind her to you?" Neveah couldn’t help the fury burning through her veins. "What exactly did this achieve? For either of you?"

"Omega..." He shook his head in denial. "I didn’t leave her in this state. You did."

"Wh... what?.." Neveah stuttered, shaking her head in disbelief.

"In our world, two Alpha Kings meeting in the same location attracts all kinds of attention." He recounted, "Eira kept our meeting a secret, as did I. But somehow, word spread and we were attacked by rogues."

"Eira was gravely injured and went into labor preterm. Her travails were abnormally difficult and extended, I’d never seen anything like it."

"She suffered from severe blood loss as there was no physician within our proximity. While she birthed a healthy girl, her life hung on a balance..."

"I... I...no..." Neveah’s eyes widened, her hands trembled and her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach.

"It was up to me to save her... and thankfully, the Southern Covens owed me a favor." He paused, his eyes held Neveah’s gaze.

"Putting your mother in this state, was the only way to save her...it wasn’t I who brought about this result, it was you. You doomed Eira the very night you came into this world!" He snarled.