The Omega Eclipse (Book Two of the Omega Game Series)

Chapter 8

Noctis

    I’d already been walking for a couple of months when I followed her scent to Talon’s private chambers. I didn’t know much then. My memories are still blurry about that time but I remember knowing I had to find from where that perfect scent was coming from. It was terribly sweet, tantalizing and it made me develop an appetite of its own class. I wanted it. Whatever it was, it needed to be mine. I walked to her cribb and looked at her. The soft light of the morning sun brightened her pearly skin.

    I knew she was mine the very first time I looked at the small bundle sleeping by the middle of the small crib. Katala was so small that I remember being afraid of touching her, so I only blinked, trying to understand how something so small could own me completely. Her head was covered in silver hair and when she opened her eyes I saw the violet gems staring back at me; I thought I want to look at her eyes every day of my life. 

    When she first started talking I would listen to her in amazement, finding every little gesture and expression to be magnificent. The sound of her voice calmed me and gave me peace. I would listen to her every move, the things she said, the different types of laughter that she gave to different people. By the time she was four years old she started talking about the voices she heard. I knew that it was my duty to protect her. I couldn’t care less if Talon was her father and sworn to protect her, or if there were guards surrounding her room. I would cover myself in darkness and sleep at the roof of her room, listening to Katala sleep. When she tried to jump over the balcony I was the one who caught her and took her back to Silvana, demanding everyone around to check Katala and tell me if she was hurt. She wasn’t, but I never again trusted the voices and I grew used to sleeping by her roof every time I visited the palace.

    Little by little I saw her grow. The light she exuded was like a beacon in the sea of my darkness. My powers were more dangerous to control with every single day and still Katala grew purer and brighter, the moon to my eternal night. Until my soul started to twist and darken in the most violent way.

     I started dreaming with all the things I wanted to do to Katala. Horrible things, fantasies of making her mine in the darkest ways. Of punishing her and claiming her with an obsessive need that bordered in madness. The more I wanted her the more my powers grew until I couldn’t touch anything with my skin without killing it. At first I only needed the gloves to contain my shadows. Then I started using more clothes so I couldn’t touch anybody by accident. Only once I grew forgetful and touched Aros by mistake. The flesh I touched turned black and started rotting. Only my father was able to reverse my powers and heal the skin back to his usual luster. 

    After that I’d never again touched another person with my bare flesh. My brothers would bed women all the time and would ask me why I didn’t want to. They joked I was saving myself for Katala and pitied her for the hungry monster she would get once I finally bedded her. The truth was not that simple. I didn’t dare to touch Katala. I wanted to hurt her in the sweetest way, but I couldn’t see her in real pain. I couldn’t live with the idea of her ever looking at me in fear of the monster I was. And then again I wanted her fear. It was the most cruel contradiction, one that was slowly getting me insane. At the end I would jerk off imagining her. I would grow angry and violent wanting to mate her until Baltus had to send me away in the most dangerous missions to keep me busy.

    And now there she was, eating like a starving cat inside of my tent. Her clothes were still drying so I’d given her one of my shirts. I was enjoying the sight of her lithe, little body under my clothes. It calmed the Alpha Instinct to feel her inside my territory, surrounded by my smell and eating the food I’ve provided for her. I had one ear up, listening to the camp usual sounds and monitoring that the orders I’d given had been followed. I’ve sent a messenger to Naccara to let my uncle know I’ve found Katala and Valnira. Against my best judgement I’ve also informed Talon of the entire situation. It was for the best. 

    He was just three days away by the southern border of the Dark Desert, close enough to our current camp that if by chance he sent a messenger asking for a report he would end up hearing about the current presence of two young Omegas that weren’t supposed to be here. I gathered it would be better if Talon heard what had happened from me, even if I have no interest in letting him ruin this opportunity to be with Katala. I’d asked the messenger to make as many stops on his way to the southern border as he could and then to take his time before marching to the military unit and giving his report to Talon.

    I blinked and watched Katala eat for a moment. She looked right where she was supposed to be. I’d been sporting a painful erection since I’d walked into my tent and had seen her seated on my furs, dressed in one of my black shirts. Her long, wavy hair reached her backside when she got up and looked at me with hungry, violet eyes. I’d given her a plate full of her favorite assortment of foods and watched her eat since then. She licked her lips, the gesture one of innocent ignorance, and then she looked at me from under her thick eyelashes.

    “You are not going to eat?” 

    “I don’t have an appetite for food,” I growled back at her and Katala winced. It hadn’t been my intention to snap at her, I’d just reacted to the violent need to get her on fours and mate her. My self-control was already precarious on a normal day, but knowing she had been in danger and having missed her for so long I was a comment away from going mad. I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to calm the growl vibrating on my chest, “you are smarter than this Katala. What were you thinking getting in a stranger’s wagon?”

    “I was taking care of Nira the best way…” I stopped her with a snarl and shook my head at her.

    “Don't speak,” I growled and then started pacing the tent, trying to control the wild need to make her submit. She watched me in silence, not eating. I halted and studied her with a frown, “you are starving. Eat.”

    “Stop giving me orders,” she said with an obstinate tuck of her chin. I stopped walking. The shadows inside of me curled and purred at the challenge in her voice. I could only look at her trying to decide the best approach to give her a lesson and not scar her for life. I could be cruel tonight. She deserved it. I felt the need arising. I imagined it.

    Bending her over, spanking her lovely sweet ass until she cried in pain. The scent of her fear would be like sweet honey on my tongue.

    I don’t know what kind of terrible promises she saw in my face, but Katala slowly got up and came to me. She kept her eyes lowered in submission and stopped slowly by my front with her head bent downwards. Standing in front of me I remembered how young she was. Only fifteen. Too young. Too damn young for all the depraved things that I wanted to do to her. I was a monster for thinking the way I did. I took a step back, trying to clear my head from the chaos that Katala’s presence originated in my mind. To my surprise she stopped me, taking my hand and interlacing her tiny fingers across my gloved ones.

    “Please don’t go,” she asked fast, glimpsing up and giving me an insight into her beautiful mind through the violet doors that were her eyes. I stilled. The Alpha Instinct stepped back and the voice of the God started talking. Mine. Mate. Claim her. Bite her little neck and drink her blood until we can taste her coming...My erection only throbbed in need, making me growl. I was dying to squeeze the crown of my c**k and relieve some of the pain she had me in, but then Katala moved closer. Her scent of sweet honey froze me in place and hypnotized me. I watched her smile at me, “can you tell me a night time story?”

    “A night time story?” I repeated with a frown. I had a very different idea of what I wanted us to be doing, but then again she looked so tiny standing there that I refused to let my thoughts stray in that other direction. She was only fifteen. She was only fifteen. Maybe if I repeated those words enough times I could remember them. I took a deep breath and nodded. Katala’s smile was so big that it rendered me stupid for a moment. The little Omega took my hand and walked back to my furs. Softly she lay down and got comfortable, waiting for her story. I sat on a bench by her side and lifted an eyebrow at her, “why do you want a story? You are not a little kid anymore Katala.”

    Her brows knitted while she played with the soft strands of the furs, “I was scared today. I know you think I’m probably stupid for being afraid of those Dogars after defeating all the types of beasts you have, but I was scared. I remembered those stories that Auntie Leukos liked to tell us before we went to bed and wanted to hear one suddenly. Maybe because night time stories remind me about home.”

    I felt like the true monster I was. Here I’d been, imagining myself doing all sorts of twisted things to her, and she had just admitted how afraid and lost she had felt today. I crossed my arms and stretched my long legs trying to remember about a story sweet enough to comfort her. How long has it been since I’ve last heard a night time story? A decade? More? Either way, I’ve never paid attention to the sweet stories my mother liked to tell. I preferred the ones with lots of gore and death on them. But there was this one story Katala used to love. She always asked my mother for that story. 

    Slowly I covered her with one of my furs, making sure she was warm and then I started telling her the story she wanted, “there was this little girl once. She was so little that the other children at her village didn’t want to play with her. You cry too much. You are too weak. You are too slow. They made fun of her and called her names. The little girl was sad because nobody wanted to play with her. One day she followed the other children to the mountains, where they liked to play at a large cave. Since she wasn’t allowed to play with them, the little girl stood outside the cave, hearing the others play.”

    “What happened then?” asked Katala with a smile, knowing very well what was supposed to happen in the story. Against any logic I smiled back at her, loving the way she looked resting in my furs. She blushed and looked away, a submissive instinct that begged for me  to dominate her. I controlled the impulse and focused on finishing the story.

    “While she was waiting outside she saw a big lion going inside. Its body was tensed, its step ready to sprint in a hunting spree. She knew the lion had heard her friends and was going to try to eat them. The little girl ran to the mouth of the cave and hid herself close to tall stones. She waited until the lion jumped in front of her friends and before it could attack them she cupped her mouth with her little hands and screamed ``don't eat the children.”

    “And then?”

    “Her voice echoed like a roar inside the cave, scaring the lion away and earning the respect of the other children. They understood that courage doesn’t always come with a big roar. They understood that courage comes sometimes in the shape of a little voice, a spark of bravery and a bit of stupidity.”

    When I looked at her Katala was already fast asleep. Her dark eyelashes fanned her cheeks, making her look like a temptress. I knew better than to rest by her side, but like a magnet I was attracted to her and was impatient to feel her nearness. I lowered my body close to hers, making sure her skin was covered and I was far enough that it was impossible for her to touch my face or neck. Then I closed my eyes and breathed her in, marveling at the feeling of rightness that settled in my chest. 

    And for the first time since I could remember I was able to sleep in peace.