Chapter 11 #2
The fact he could speak so clearly through his heat confirmed what Sarang had thought he’d picked up in the man’s scent.
He wasn’t just an omega, he was a dominant one. That made him top tier. The fact that he was of legal age, looked the way he did, and yet was unmated was a miracle. It made sense that he was running from alphas trying to claim him, but the theory fell apart when he factored in the gunshot wound.
What alpha in his right mind would shoot a prize like this one? Especially with such a killing blow?
A slow, and agonizing one?
They must have figured they could track him down and get him medical attention before the injury got to that point, only, this omega had been better at running than they’d thought, and Sarang had gotten to him first.
Technically, as an alpha himself, it was his legal right to lay claim. He could take this unmated omega as his own, tie them together and—
“Your eyes are glowing,” the omega stated, smirking slightly. “You won’t be able to hold out for much longer. If I wasn’t so seriously injured, my pheromones would have been strong enough to have you mounting me within seconds.”
Sarang pulled away quickly, trying to put space between them. It was impossible to escape the scent of pheromones, however, and all distance did was call to the possessiveness that awakened instinctively in the face of a potential mate.
He’d felt these urges before, of course, but he’d never been drawn to someone the way he was drawn to this person. It’d been five years since he’d presented as alpha. If the omega was to be believed, they weren’t too far apart in age.
If his glabrio was damaged, he’d never make it to twenty-one like Sarang had.
Not being like his father was one thing.
Could Sarang really stand by and allow someone to die like this?
“Oh.” The omega frowned, some of the heat wafting off his body dissipating. His heat should last at least a day, which meant… “Looks like you’ll get out of this after all.”
“What?”
“I’m out of time.” He fell onto his side, bouncing on the mattress, hand pressed against the hole on the right side of his belly button.
A dark chuckle passed his lips, and his eyes closed.
“The heat was too much for my body to handle. Word of advice, bury me somewhere no one will find me. You don’t want my family as an enemy. ”
“Hey.” Sarang tried to get him to sit up again, but the omega felt like deadweight. “Don’t fall asleep.”
“I’m not,” the omega’s words began to slur. “I’m dying. Not the same thing.”
“Stay with me.”
He grunted, seemingly finding that hilarious, but unable to muster the energy to laugh. “Thanks for trying to take care of me. No one’s ever done that without a motive before. It’s upsetting though.”
“What is?”
“That I won’t get to experience your knot.”
“It’s your heat talking.” Even though his body was shutting down, he was still hard, the scent of slick still permeating the air.
“I’ve been omega since I was sixteen,” the man stated dryly.
“I’ve gone through plenty of heats, all on my own.
Trusting someone to fuck me, to get that close…
For someone like me, that isn’t easy. But now I sort of regret it.
I never thought I’d die before I got to experience what taking an alpha would feel like.
I wish I could try it with you. I think you could make waiting to give it up worth it. ”
“I’m nothing special.” The omega had been dressed in designer clothes, whereas Sarang’s jeans were torn and there were stains all over his shirt.
“Ever heard of a trauma connection?” He chuckled.
“When two people undergo a traumatic experience together and bond over it? You aren’t the one dying, but having a stranger expire in your bed can’t be easy.
Maybe that’s what this is. Maybe the reason I feel safe with you is because you’ve rescued me. ”
“I haven’t.”
“Don’t sound so guilty. It’s not like you shot me. Bringing me here and allowing me to die with some dignity is more than enough.”
What the hell had this poor omega been through?!
All these years, ever since their dad had left them, Sarang had done his best to be a good person. He’d ended up with a mountain of debt, a sick mother, and a little sister to basically raise.
And now he was going to sit back and watch a dominant omega die when there was something he could do to stop it? How far was he willing to protect himself? When it came at the expense of another, was it really worth it?
Could he live with himself if he did nothing?
No.
No, he couldn’t.
Sarang wasn’t like his father, and this wasn’t the same situation.
He wouldn’t save this omega just to keep him for himself. He’d do it because it was the right thing to do, and no other reason but.
“You asked about my type.” Sarang lifted onto the edge of the mattress, rolling the omega onto his back again. “Apparently, it’s vulnerable omegas who need protecting.”
“That so?” The omega’s eyes slipped shut once more. “Wrong omega then.”
“I don’t think that’s true.” He placed his palm over the gaping hole and inhaled, gathering himself. A sense of urgency spiked through him when he felt the smaller man’s body go lax.
The omega had just lost consciousness.
“Whether that is true or not,” Sarang said, even though the omega was no longer listening, “you definitely picked the right alpha.”
Everything in the universe shared one common factor.
Qi.
A vital energy, or life force, that flowed through and sustained all living beings. Gray’s straddled the line between life and death, containing the power to channel qi through themselves and others, using it to heal or destroy.
As a people, the Gray were considered just. They stuck by strong principles and often took to fields where their abilities could help the majority.
Most of the family on his father’s side were doctors, with his father being the black sheep.
Not only had he chosen farming, he’d also moved three galaxies away and fallen for an alpha female.
Their relationship might have been considered an oddity, but his mother had been welcomed into the family with open arms. Still, since it was a rare occurrence, there wasn’t much knowledge about how a Gray and Syn’s biology might interact.
Which parts of their nature would take root in offspring between the two.
Since balance was the most important thing in all beings, Gray’s presented in much the same way alphas and omegas did.
Their ability to siphon and filter qi began around the ages of ten and twelve.
Their coming of age was traditionally spent with the parents in seclusion, learning how to safely use their power.
There were two main reasons for this. The first, was to ensure they didn’t accidentally drain the life force from someone, inadvertently killing them.
Murder was a serious offense to their kind.
The second, was to ensure they didn’t unwittingly form a life-bond, another serious matter, one that, arguably, was even more so than killing.
Normally, a Gray could heal, and then feed off the qi of another to replenish their sources.
This exchange was safe for all parties involved; a give and take that ensured everyone survived.
Some species had stronger qi, could afford to give more, or took more to heal.
Any time a Gray used their ability outside of their own kind, they took greater risks.
Life-bonds were an ancient solution to this matter, initially introduced during the Great War by their oppressors, but later turned into an act of love.
Life-bonds were meant to link the qi between two Grays, enabling them to keep the ebb and flow of qi without fear of running out. Whenever the life force dipped in one, the other supplied theirs to balance it.
The bond was sacred, only given once, and tied two people together forever. Bonded partners could latch onto the other’s qi from miles away, so there was a high level of trust needed for a bond to be accepted.
And, typically, the bond did need to be accepted, the same as a claiming mark did, and like with a claiming mark, there was nothing to stop one party from changing their mind and harming the other.
Alphas used to openly beat their omegas, though laws had been put into place to prevent domestic violence.
That didn’t mean it didn’t still happen.
The fear of his mother one day changing her mind, rejecting or neglecting the bond, was too unsettling for his father to accept.
That, plus the fact there was no known knowledge on how a bond between their two kinds would even work, meant neither pushed for it.
His father was free to stabilize as usual, gathering qi from neighbors and friends, all without their knowledge.
But his mother…As an unmated alpha, she suffered during her ruts.
Even with a partner to help her through them, the lack of answering pheromones caused hers to become unstable the longer they were together. Birthing two children hadn’t helped.
To make matters worse, the thing his father feared most—that she would one day turn her back on him—ended up being his own doing instead.
Shortly after Yuna’s birth, Sarang’s grandmother passed.
His father returned home for the funeral on his own, since they hadn’t wanted to risk traveling so far with a newborn.
During his stay, he got into a bad car accident, and in his desperation not to become a murderer, had used his lifeforce to heal the woman he’d run off the road.
This on its own wouldn’t have been an issue.
He’d stayed with her at the hospital during her recovery, and had developed mutual feelings for her. When her vitals had spiked dangerously, he’d made the choice to form the life-bond to protect her.
In doing so, he’d stabilized her qi and ensured her survival.
But had damned his family in the process.
Sarang hadn’t seen or heard from him since, and he’d carried this resentment day after day, watching as his mother suffered and struggled to maintain a farm she’d never wanted. Aching for a sister who grew up with the knowledge she’d been abandoned.
One warm afternoon, seated on the back porch in the low light of the setting sun, Sarang had cradled his baby sister and sworn to never form the life-bond with anyone. To deny that half of himself forever, and never risk becoming anything like their dad.
To completely ignore his Gray half.
It’d been relatively simple to accomplish, since he’d come of age after his father had already left.
Everything he’d learned about his abilities, about how to control qi, he’d done through old textbooks the man had left behind.
Since he’d been too frightened of losing control, he’d been forced to at least learn enough to keep himself steady.
But he’d only ever exercised his power on plants, never once daring to use it on a person.
Yet here he was.
Summoning that hidden well of power within himself.
It wasn’t nearly as difficult as he’d imagined it would be. As simple as when he’d presented and his alpha instincts had kicked in and he’d just known he needed to knot.
Sarang knew exactly what to do here, where to find the buried, invisible thread of qi within the omega, and how to tap into it.
Golden coils of energy appeared, visible only to him, some spilling from his body, others from the omega’s.
They twisted and wrapped together, flowing toward the injured area.
Beneath his palm, flesh began to knit, the searing pain the omega had been experiencing all this while, transferring to Sarang, who grit his teeth and fought to subdue it. It was nothing compared to the tearing in his chest as his lifeforce was unraveled and sheared in two.
That part felt…wrong. Doubt crept in, but if he stopped now, if he gave into his personal fears, the omega would die. Sweat prickled at his brow and he endured the excruciating pain, slumping forward some as their lifeforces continued to tangle and spill into the smaller man’s body.
This was a million times more taxing than saving a plant.
Vaguely, Sarang wondered how his coward of a father had endured it, but then the agony swept him up, becoming too great to hold conscious thought.
It was hours before the pain stopped. Before he blinked and became present in his own body once more.
When he finally opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the sleeping omega, stuck on his knot, fully healed. Alive.
Now his.
In the one way he’d sworn he would never take another.