Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 898: Liberating ()

Neveah stared after Lucas as he disappeared through the doors of the hall, her mind swirling with more thoughts than she had the energy to unravel at the moment.

The last living Varleston... family and pack destroyed in this unreasonable power tussle and reign of tyranny.

A bitter taste lingered in the back of her throat. It wasn’t an easy fate to bear.

It wasn’t the kind of fate she would wish on her worst enemy, much less a man like Lucas Varleston... the first genuine man she’d known.

But evil came to all. And it had hit the Varleston’s hard in the past few years since she left the Eclipse domain.

At the moment, he wasn’t much of an Alpha of anything.

His pack had been nearly annihilated. There was barely a few stragglers left that had fled to other packs seeking asylum.

Competing for the title of Alpha King wasn’t just a matter of duty...it was the Varleston’s only chance at making a comeback.

At the same time, with little to no pack prestige, his chances were slim unless the challenges were conducted strictly on strength. And if he emerged the winner, taming the other Alphas to submit under his rule with no warriors of his own, would prove tasking.

Yet if he was successful, the young Varleston would be the first honorable, and perhaps the greatest Alpha King the Eclipse domain had seen in centuries longer than noted.

She wasn’t certain why, but she had absolute faith in Lucas. If anyone could pull it off, it would be him. He’d been raised to challenge Alessio all his life... he’s perhaps the only Alpha heir with equal if not better royal education as Alessio had.

Wasn’t that why Lothaire had been so wary of the Varleston’s? Because their existence was a threat to the dynasty of the Rauls.

But even knowing that, she couldn’t... wouldn’t interfere with the Eclipse domain any further.

’I washed my hands off already. I can only wish him the best.’

She wasn’t certain when Xenon arrived, but he made himself known, emerging from the shadows.

Perhaps he’d always been there. Watching from the shadows, and waiting for Lucas to leave.

He came up to stand beside her, also staring after Lucas. "What did he want?"

The fact that he asked meant he hadn’t already overheard it.

Neveah exhaled a breath she didn’t even realize she had been holding. "Just...a proper farewell."

"A proper farewell..." Xenon repeated, clearly unconvinced. "The way he looks at you... there’s a tenderness in his eyes."

"It’s almost like..." He trailed off and Neveah completed the words he didn’t say.

"Love." She muttered, her tone just audible enough for Xenon to pick up on the word.

He grunted beneath his breath, a sound expressing his dissatisfaction. "You seem to be well aware the young wolf harbors feelings for you."

Neveah didn’t respond immediately, letting the question hang. "He’s bound to another."

"Notwithstanding." Xenon said, "The look in his eyes is true, even if he’d rather believe otherwise. You see it."

Neveah sighed quietly, nodding in admission. "Once, we might have been wed."

"Though fate clearly had other plans for us both." She added.

"But you don’t look at him the same way." Xenon noted, "The look in your eyes...it was something different."

She glanced over at Xenon, a tired smile stretching her lips. "What did you see?"

His eyes searched hers, before he gave his response. "Guilt."

Neveah winced visibly, but nodded her head. "You read me like a book."

"Our souls are irreversibly bound." Xenon reminded, "It would be a tragedy if I was incapable of that much."

"You’ve always been able to read me, Xenon." Neveah said, "Even long before now."

A ghost of a smile made its way to his lips. Neveah returned the smile before her gaze shifted back to the hall.

"Lothaire had always had his eyes on the Varleston’s." She admitted, "He envied their territory, their strength, the unity of their people and the fact that they were the closest thing to royalty after the Rauls." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Well respected by all packs. And Lucas, the young heir of it all, showed promise greater than every Varleston before him, even rivalling Alessio’s." She paused briefly, brushing back a few strands of her hair.

"I was the weakness Lothaire intended to place in the Varleston home. My task was pretty straightforward." Her gaze shifted back to Xenon’s, meeting his curious gaze, "Seduce the young Varleston, claim his heart and bond, infiltrate their home and pack and await the order...to destroy it from the inside."

She smiled bitterly, "And I would have been successful too. In fact, I got this close...to claiming his bond,"

Xenon’s gaze darkened, but he didn’t interrupt.

"But fate interfered." She shrugged, "He found his mate and the plan fell through. All the effort I had put into winning his love was for nothing."

His eyes narrowed. "Did you loathe that ending?"

Neveah tilted her head slightly. "Not a great deal. He was too naive for me anyways, and it was just as well, for the first time, fate fucking me over meant Lothaire got fucked over too."

"Realizing that made it pretty comforting. Although that got me exiled to Eclipse Hunt territory for a year." She smiled sheepishly, "A much needed break from being Lothaire’s evil minion, I suppose."

Her gaze darted to the entrance of the hall once more, "That...is why I have that look in my eyes. To him, I’m the first woman he loved. Even now, he has no idea, that the Varleston’s current fate, would have happened much earlier on had I succeeded..."

"And Lucas Varleston wouldn’t have made it out. Because he was my primary target and my orders...were to kill."

Xenon’s hand snaked around her waist, pulling her into his side, and the warmth of his embrace, "But it didn’t happen. And now, you’re the only reason he survived the execution."

His words eased the knot in Neveah’s chest and she glanced up at him. "Indeed. It feels liberating...to finally repay the debt I owe him."

She hadn’t realized just how much it weighed on her. She hadn’t even thought much about Lucas Varleston until she saw him again.

But now, she felt even lighter than she had when Alessio breathed his last. She only now realized this was the final knot she had to undo here.

"Now, I think it’s time to go home, Xenon." She gazed up at him. "My true home."