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

Chapter 3

The Wolf 

    Even after opening every single window, door and entryway of the men’s bath I could still smell Noctis’s menacing scent coming in waves from him. His black eyes were now back to normal, but for a moment there...I thought….I thought I’d seen the God in his vessel trying to take control over him. I didn’t know his control over the God’s power was slipping until then. Noctis had always been so controlled and balanced that I never imagined he could also be battling against the constant need for control between his Instinct and the God living inside of him. How could I’ve missed this? I scowled and pinched the bridge of my nose while I heard Baltus talking to the boys.

    We were all seated inside the pool that connected with Leukos’s private bathroom. I usually used this pool when I returned home covered in blood or a menacing scent like the one Noctis’s was exuding. I never wanted my Omega to be scared around me and if I had to guess Noctis was also feeling the guilt of having to expose Katala and Valnira to his aggressive scent. Omegas could grow easily scared and they needed time to build trust over their Alphas. A mistake that now Noctis would have to fix by himself.

     I knew all about that. I smirked about the fond memories of those first months before bonding to Leukos. I’d made a lot of mistakes back then but mercifully my mate had forgiven me. At the warmth expanding in my chest I felt Leukos’s pulling in response through our mating bond. I felt her love, her constant desire and over everything else her worry for Noctis. I tried to reassure her the best I could and focused my eyes on my firstborn.

    His black eyes were fixed on the water that covered all of us to our chests. I knew he wasn’t listening to Baltus’s reprimand. His entire body was turned to the right and if I had to speculate I was betting that my son was currently trying to listen to what Leukos and Silvana were telling to Katala and Valnira in the upper room. I sighed and knowing that I would regret this I focused on the sound of my mate talking.

     For an Alpha it was easy to hear the sound of an eagle flapping his wings by the Gilmesh Forrest when standing all the way in the middle of the Dark Desert. Hearing voices across a wall? That was child’s play. I couldn’t even blame my son for eavesdropping a conversation that was so easy to hear.

    “...there’s no need to tell your father about this. I’m sure Baltus and your uncle are already giving the boys a tongue-lashing. Nobody was hurt and I think it is quite normal for Alphas that age to act like that,” said Silvana and Noctis’s lips curled a little up, thinking himself saved. Not so fast. He still had a lot to learn if he thought Omegas would be so easy to appease.

    “I’m so sorry Katala. I guess it is all this military training that made Noctis react so violently. And Nira I really don’t know why Aros responds like that around you,” at the sound of his name Aros’s left ear seem to rise up in attention. Now officially my two sons were not listening to their “tongue-lashing”, “I’m so embarrassed on their behalf. I thought I taught them better than this.”  

    The boys winced in unison and I had to use all of my willpower not to laugh at the twin guilty looks that crossed over their faces. If I didn’t know better I would say Leukos was using the opportunity to deliver the real “tongue-lashing” in here. At this point Baltus sighed and finally understood everyone was listening to the women upstairs.  We shared a knowing look and let the boys have it, they were already feeling bad enough about losing their control around their Omegas.

    “I wasn’t afraid of Noctis. I could never be afraid of him,” said Katala and my boy smiled one of his rare smiles. He was like me in that sense. Our smiles were counted and usually tend to happen around the Omegas that made us happy. Somewhere by Katala’s left I heard Valnira scoff.

    “I wish I could say the same about Aros. Did you know he cursed in front of me Auntie Leukos?” At that Noctis slapped the back of Aros’s head in reproach and Aros just let him. The younger boy shook his head and looked at the surface of the water in shame, “not to mention he bad-mouthed my Basbousa! Who doesn’t like Basbousa? They taste like oranges!”

    “I will personally talk with Aros about cursing in front of women,” warned Leukos and Aros sighed, running his fingers through his hair like he always did when he grew anxious about something.

    “But at least you girls saw the boys before leaving for Naccanash, right? It will be a long time until you all see each other so it was a...great opportunity to reconnect, “ said Silvana trying to amend the mess. At her words Noctis looked up at me, the black of his eyes expanding fast to the white, until they were completely covered by the inky texture of his power. 

    “Katala is leaving for Naccanash?” he asked at once. By his side Aros looked equally angry.

    “So this is why you let us take a break from our training,” he said, narrowing his eyes and scowling at Baltus, “so we could see them one last time before they left. For how long this time, huh? The entire summer? More?”

    “There’s no f*****g way I’m letting Katala out of my sight for a year,” growled Noctis and he mean it. I just wished Mako and Talon would be as understanding to my sons’ possessive personalities as I was. 

    “You two calm down,” I said at once and both boys only started shaking their heads, trying to hear me through their Alpha Instincts. I wanted to say I understood them, but I didn’t. I’ve come across my Omega and fated mate after I was a grown Alpha, fully in control of my Alpha Instinct. For my boys it was different. They had it harder. I knew right away they had found their Omegas in Katala and Valnira when I saw them react to their nearness. Problem was their father’s didn’t and I had some lengthy experience dealing with very territorial, Omega’s fathers, “Listen boys, Silvana and your mother are heavily pregnant as you might know. Silvana is having a very delicate pregnancy and needs her Alpha by her side, giving her all of his attention. I’m experiencing the same situation with your mother. Talon doesn’t like this and personally I hate letting Katala -whom I love like a child of mine - leave for Naccanash, but it’s for the best. She and Valnira would be well protected at Naccara, under Mako’s watchful eye.”

    “And all the other thousands of Alpha’s eyes,” quipped Aros and both boys started growling at the idea. I couldn’t blame them. I would be mad and  out of my mind if I had to let Leukos be away from me. I’d already been there actually and nobody liked to talk about that time.

    “You will be busy with your military training either way and time passes fast,” said Baltus and I nodded in approval to his meddling positivity.

    At the end there was nothing we could say or do to help them accept the news. Aros looked genuinely mortified. He hated when Nira had to return to Naccara. And Noctis...I’d never seen my son look so threatening. I waited until we had all bathed and Baltus had started walking out of the pool to give him a sign I needed to talk with Noctis. Baltus nodded infimisely and turned to Aros.

    “Come on Aros, I promised some ladies that I would teach them how to fight. The least you can do is serve as my model to illustrate some points, don’t you think?” Aros’s blue eyes gleamed interested at the idea but he remained quiet and didn’t make a comment on his way out. I saw them walk out of the pool and retreat in their towels. Once they were out of range I focused my attention on Noctis. He had stayed seated by his spot at the end of the pool, his head resting back and his black eyes still inky black. His scent was still aggressive, but not as strong as before. I took a deep breath and started moving to my son.

    “It’s never easy to be in control. I know that better than anyone,” I said, reaching the end of the pool and sitting on the bench by his side. I followed the direction of his eyes. Noctis was staring at the dark shadows curling by the corners of the room, the same darkness that had always lurked around him, even when he was a newborn. I shook my head and looked back at my son, “but you are not defined by this darkness Noctis. That’s not who you are. I’ve always seen you battling that God inside of you and come out a winner. Tonight has been the only time I’ve seen you feeding rage to the God and letting him win.”

    “It’s not that simple,” he said slowly, dropping his stare. His chest expanded in a deep intake of air and then he raised his hand and pushed his fingers up. The darkness coiling in the corners started to gain a more physical body, like small grains of sand moving in spirals. It started climbing the walls and corroding the foundations of the room with hunger, as if the darkness had an appetite on its own and reclaimed morsels of food out of anything and everything. I’ve never seen such an incredible display of destruction. Even the powers of Ulfr, the God that lived inside of me, were more inclined to build things rather than destroy them. 

    Noctis black eyes focused on me, “The God is not battling against me any longer. He submitted to me, but it now feeds from everything I touch, see or feel. It feels as if the older I get, the stronger we become.”

    “What do you mean?” I asked worriedly. It had taken a long time for me to finally merge with Ulfr. His power had taken me a little time to get used to. Noctis had been born to this world at the same time as the God that chose him as his vessel. The Gods were dying in Heaven and had now started to migrate to Earth, living inside of us Alphas, as their vessels. I have always suspected that Noctis had control over the God, but now I wondered how much of the darkness in his soul belonged to Noctis and how much belonged to the God.

    “We have an appetite for destruction,” said Noctis, tucking his chin in and watching the reflection of his face on the water. The mirroring mirage seemed to darken the longer my son studied his own blackened eyes, “ the other day during dueling practice I was fighting against this soldier. I was winning fairly, hadn’t even tapped on my powers. Then the soldier cheated to win. He threw sand to my face, blinding me for a moment. Right then the darkness overpowered me. I felt it wanting to destroy the soldier, to corrode his flesh like a sickness and devour his bones from the inside out. Baltus had to push me away so I didn’t kill him. I had to use gloves to control the darkness from destroying the soldier” when Noctis looked at me his eyes were back to normal and they glinted with desolation, “The darkness inside of me wants to touch and feel, but I know it will turn everything into ashes if I let it have its way. The impulse only grows worse around Katala.”

    “It’s impossible for an Alpha to hurt his Omega,” I said slowly, trying to reassure him. Noctis only shook his head at me. He closed his eyes, pushed his head up and when he talked again I only heard the misery of his lonely spirit.

    “You don’t understand,” he said huskily, with a deep voice that betrayed all the feelings that were battling inside of him, “I want to hurt Katala. I want to make her scream and scent her fear. I want to bathe on the smell of her terror as if she was a prey and I were about to eat her. It makes me crazy how much I want to feel her in pain. Today I asked Baltus to take her away because I was going to hurt her. I wanted to hurt her.”

    “I really hope Katala wasn’t lying when she said she could never be afraid of me. I hope she grows strong enough to be my mate because the alternative is one I don’t want to think about. The alternative is one the entire world would be afraid of.”