Contract Marriage To Alpha Elias: An Omega’s Fate

CHAPTER 003

Rowan’s POV

The silence that followed my question felt heavy enough to press the air out of my lungs, and for a moment no one moved, no one spoke, as if the whole pack had forgotten how.

Elder Marcus did not look surprised, and that scared me more than anything because his calm smile told me he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

Elias moved in front of me, his body tense and ready, his scent sharp with warning as it rolled through the room like thunder about to break.

“You will answer him,” Elias said, his voice low and dangerous. “Now.”

Marcus tilted his head, studying Elias with eyes that had seen many Alphas rise and fall, and then his eyes slid past him to me, slow and careful, as though I was something weak and dangerous at the same time.

“Child,” Marcus said gently, and the word made my skin crawl, “what you feel is not harm.”

“Then why am I feeling like this?” I asked, my hands shaking as I pressed them against my chest, trying to hold myself together as that deep pull grew stronger, spreading out in waves I couldn't stop.

The wolves closest to me shifted again, some took a step back, others lowered their heads without meaning to, and the sight made my stomach twist with fear and confusion.

“This was never meant to awaken so soon,” Marcus said, his voice quieter now, and I saw Elias tensed up at the words.

“What was never meant to awaken?” Elias demanded, his control thinning like ice under heat.

Marcus sighed, as if he was disappointed that the truth had come out too soon, and folded his hands in front of him.

“The balance,” he said simply.

I stared at him, my heart pounding so hard enough to hurt, because the word meant nothing to me and everything at the same time, like I had been missing a puzzle piece.

“You speak in riddles,” Elias snapped. “Explain.”

Marcus looked back at me, and when he spoke again, his voice was slow and careful, as if each word were more important than the last.

“Some Omegas are born to soften Alphas,” he said. “Some are born to bear heirs. And some are born to steady what cannot be controlled.”

Suddenly, the room felt too small, the walls too close, and I shook my head slowly, not wanting to hear what he was saying because I already knew it would change everything.

“That can't be me,” I said, though my voice wavered. “My scent is weak. Everyone knows that.”

Marcus’s smile faded, replaced by something almost like pity.

“No,” he said. “Your scent is not weak. It was divided.”

The word hit me like a blow, and I staggered slightly and almost fell. Elias' strong hand wrapped around my arm kept me from falling.

“Divided?” Elias repeated, his voice sharp with disbelief.

“Yes,” Marcus replied. “Bound and sealed, long before you could understand what you were.”

The pull in my chest surged at his words, stronger than before. I let out a sharp gasp as something inside me pushed against walls I couldn't see.

Elias cursed under his breath, pulling me closer as his wolf pushed forward, furious and afraid at the same time.

“Who did this?” he demanded.

Marcus did not answer right away, and that silence told me more than words ever could.

“You did,” Marcus said at last, meeting Elias’s stare without fear. “When you signed the contract.”

The world tilted.

Elias froze, his grip on me tightening just enough to tell me he was barely keeping himself together, and I felt the shock ripple through him as if it were my own.

“That’s impossible,” Elias said slowly. “The contract was meant to protect him.”

“And it did,” Marcus replied calmly. “But not the way you thought."

I looked between them, my head spinning as pieces began to slide into place, memories suddenly sharp with new meaning, the faint scent, the strange reactions, the way the pack felt different around me.

“You chose him because he looked like Lucas,” Marcus continued, his voice steady. “But we allowed it because Rowan could do what Lucas could not.”

My chest tightened painfully at my brother’s name, and I whispered, “What do you mean?”

Marcus’s eyes softened slightly as he answered me.

“Lucas was a mate,” he said. “You are a counterweight.”

The word echoed through me, heavy and cold, and before I could stop myself, fear came out in a broken whisper.

“A counterweight to what?”

“To Alphas,” Marcus said.

The room erupted.

Voices rose, and wolves growled and moved around. Confusion and fear crashed together as the truth spread like wildfire through the pack. Elias turned fully toward me, and his face was torn between shock and regret

“They used you against me,” he said hoarsely, his thumb brushing my wrist without thinking.

“I have no idea,” I whispered, tears burning my eyes as the pull inside me surged again, responding to the chaos around us.

“I know,” Elias said, and for the first time since I met him, I heard raw emotion break through his control.

Marcus raised his hand, and slowly, the room quieted, the wolves responding to a force that was no longer Elias’s alone.

“This is why the contract cannot be broken easily,” Marcus said. “This is why his scent was kept faint. This is why he was bound to you.”

“To control me?” I asked, my voice shaking.

“To protect the pack,” Marcus corrected gently.

Elias stepped forward, his body stiff with anger. “You will release him,” he said. “Now.”

Marcus shook his head. “It is too late,” he said softly. “The bond is active.”

The pull in my chest rippled violently then, knocking the breath out of my lungs as the air around us seemed to bend, wolves dropping to their knees without knowing why.

Elias caught me before I hit the ground, his arms tight around me as his own wolf roared so loud I felt it in my bones.

He whirled on Marcus, voice raw, breaking with rage and something deeper—guilt, horror, betrayal:

“What in the gods’ name did you bind my wife to?!