Chapter 11 #3
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.