To ruin an Omega-Chapter 400: The question "why" 1

CIAN

I did not rush when I left the room.

Every step down the corridor felt heavier than it should have, like something in me was trying to hold me back, like if I delayed long enough, I could stay in that space with Fia just a little longer. The warmth of her body was still on my skin. I could still feel the imprint of her hands, the way she had moved with me, the way she had said my name like it meant something more than just sound.

But Gabriel was awake.

That thought settled in my chest and refused to move. It pushed everything else aside, even the frustration still coiled low in my body.

By the time I reached the infirmary doors, I had forced myself into place. I was Alpha first. Everything else later.

I pushed the door open.

The scent hit me first. The smell of herbs were everywhere. There was also a signature of dried moss in the air and something bitter underneath it all that always lingered in spaces like this. The kind of smell that clung to sickness and healing both.

My eyes landed on him immediately.

He was sitting upright on one of the cots, with blanket draped loosely over his lap.

Maren was standing beside him with a cloth in her hand. She was checking his pulse, her fingers pressed lightly against his wrist, her focus sharp in that quiet way she always had when she was working.

But he wasn’t looking at her.

He was looking at me.

And the moment our eyes met, something in his face shifted.

It lit up.

It was not subtle. Neither was it restrained. It was immediate. It was clear something had snapped into place inside him. He pushed himself up before Maren could even stop him, the blanket slipping off as he stood.

"Cian."

My name came out rough, but there was something behind it that made my chest tighten.

"Uncle."

I closed the distance between us quickly. The space didn’t feel real, like I was walking through something that hadn’t fully settled yet.

He reached me first.

His hand came down hard against my back, firm, as it was grounding.

"We did it," he said.

The words hit me harder than I expected.

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding and nodded, my hand coming up to grip his shoulder.

"We did," I said. "We really did it."

For a second, I just looked at him.

He looked fine. He looked better than he was when I first saw him again after all these years.

There was color all over him. I wondered if it was the sight of the sun and freedom again or Fia’s powers did just that.

"How are you?" I asked, the question coming out quieter than I intended. "Really."

He didn’t answer right away.

Instead, he reached up and touched his throat, fingers dragging slowly across the skin. Then he turned slightly, angling himself so I could see it clearly.

I got the message that he was passing. He was fine. Better than fine even. The attack that Aldric had made was now non-existent.

"There’s nothing there," he said.

I leaned in without thinking.

He was right.

There was no scar or mark. Not even the slightest sign that anything had ever happened to him and he was very proud of that truth. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"I don’t know how it’s even possible," he continued, his voice low, like he was still trying to understand it himself. "But she healed me."

His eyes flicked back to mine.

"Your Fia healed me."

Something tightened in my chest at the way he said her name.

"She’s a healer," he added, like he was testing the words out loud. "Is she not?"

I exhaled slowly.

It didn’t matter.

That was the truth I had settled on. It didn’t matter what she was, what she could do, what it meant in the grand scheme of everything we were dealing with.

"She’s Fia," I said. "And she is my mate. That’s what matters."

His brows pulled together slightly.

"That doesn’t matter?" he asked.

There was something in his tone. Not disbelief exactly. More like... insistence.

"We don’t have true healers anymore," he went on. "Not like that. They disappeared long ago. This... this matters."

I held his gaze.

Maybe it did.

Maybe it mattered more than I was willing to admit.

But right now, none of that felt as important as the fact that she was rooms away and exhausted because of what she had done for him.

"She’s resting," I said. "Healing you took a lot out of her."

His eyes shifted past me, like he expected to see her standing somewhere behind my shoulder.

"I need to thank her," he said.

"You will," I replied. "Later."

I let that settle for a second before I spoke again.

"But we need to talk."

Something in his expression changed.

Not completely. Not enough for anyone else to notice, maybe. But I saw it. A small shift. A tightening around his eyes. A pause that lasted just a fraction too long.

Then it was gone.

"Of course," he said.

I gestured toward the bed.

"Please, sit."

He did.

I remained standing for a moment, watching him, then pulled a chair closer and sat down across from him. The space between us felt smaller now.

"You said something before," I started. "About Aldric."

His gaze sharpened.

"You said he was responsible for my father’s death."

The words felt strange in my mouth.

Because that wasn’t the story I had grown up with.

"Last I remembered," I continued, "my father was killed by rogues following the orders of the Alpha King."

I leaned forward slightly.

"So how is that even possible?"

He held my gaze for a second.

Then he sighed.

"Sit properly," he said, nodding toward the chair like I hadn’t already taken it. "This isn’t something you rush through."

I didn’t move.

"I’m listening."

He studied me for a moment, then nodded once, like he had decided something.

"Your father wasn’t supposed to die like that," he began.

My jaw tightened.

"Explain."

He leaned back slightly, his hands resting loosely on his thighs.

"The mission was simple on paper," he said. "The King ordered Skollrend and Nocturne to deal with the rogue factions. Clean it up. End it."

I already knew that part.

"But it wasn’t clean," he continued. "It wasn’t simple."

Something in his tone made my chest tighten.

"What happened?"

He glanced down briefly, then back up.

"Nocturne’s Alpha lost his nerve."

My fingers curled against my palm.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," Gabriel said slowly, "when things got difficult, when it became clear the rogues weren’t as disorganized as we thought, and that they might have gotten information beforehand, he chose himself over the fight."

The words settled heavy in the room.

"He pulled back," Gabriel added. "and, left the field."

My stomach dropped.

"And my father?"

Gabriel’s gaze didn’t waver.

"You know your father. He stayed. He stayed until the bitter end."

Of course he did.

I could see it clearly without needing more explanation. My father standing his ground, refusing to retreat, refusing to abandon the mission.

Refusing to be anything less than what he believed an Alpha should be.

"He fought," Gabriel said. "Against both the rogues and the situation he’d been left in."

My hand clenched into a fist.

"And Nocturne?" I asked.

"They lied," Gabriel said simply.

The words hit like a slap.

"They reported it as a brutal clash," he continued. "Said both sides tore each other apart. That your father and the rogue leader killed each other in the chaos."

I let out a slow breath.

"That’s what we were told too."

"Yes. I know. I was there."

Silence stretched between us.

"They can’t get away with this," I said, my voice low but sharp. "They can’t just—"

"They didn’t do it alone," Gabriel cut in.

I stilled.

"What?"

He held my gaze.

"Sure... Nocturne did not directly plan it. But eventually, they allied themselves with Aldric."

The name sat heavy in the air.

"To keep their secret," he added. "To ensure their Alpha’s failure and his incompetence did not spill out when I started digging."