Whispers

The pack had always whispered.

Kyrian had learned long ago how to ignore it. the soft murmurs behind his back, the sideways glances, the way conversations shifted when he entered a room. Omegas learned early that silence was safer than curiosity.

But this time, the whispers were different. They followed him openly now.

Kyrian felt it the moment he stepped into the lower halls that morning. Conversations paused. Eyes tracked him. Even the air felt heavier, thick with unspoken judgment.

“Did you feel that?”

“No omega smells like that unless..”

“Impossible. The Alpha’s...”

Kyrian kept his head down, fingers clenched around the basket of herbs he carried. His chest ached with every step, the bond dull but wounded, like something alive that had learned to stop screaming because no one listened.

He passed a group of omegas near the washing basins. They fell silent as he approached.

One of them young, barely more than a boy looked at him with something like awe.

And fear.

Kyrian’s stomach twisted.

By midday, the rumors reached the elders.

By evening, they reached Hannah. She found him in the herb room.

Kyrian sensed her before he saw her, the sharp controlled dominance of a female warrior pressing against the space like an unsheathed blade. He stiffened, heart racing, but did not turn immediately. He focused on sorting dried roots, hands trembling only slightly.

“You carry his scent,” Hannah said coolly.

Kyrian froze.

“I don’t mean accidentally,” she continued, stepping closer. “I mean recently.”

Kyrian swallowed. “I haven’t touched him.”

Hannah’s gaze sharpened. “You don’t need to lie to me. The bond leaves traces.”

Kyrian finally turned, forcing himself to meet her eyes. “I didn’t ask for this.”

For a moment just one something unreadable crossed Hannah’s face. Then it hardened.

“You think that matters?” she asked. “The pack is already questioning me. Questioning him.” She barks.

Kyrian’s hands curled into fists. “Then maybe he shouldn’t have touched me.” He regretted his words immediately they left his mouth. Fear creeping it.

Silence cracked between them.

Hannah studied him differently now. Not as something fragile. Not as something insignificant.

As a threat.

“You are dangerous without meaning to be,” she said quietly. “And dangerous things get removed.”

Kyrian’s breath hitched. “Removed… how?”

Hannah stepped back, smoothing imaginary dust from her sleeve. “The elders are discussing relocation. Omegas with… complications don’t remain near the Alpha.”

Kyrian felt the floor tilt.

“They’re sending me away?”

“They’re deciding,” Hannah corrected. “And Damon will not stop them.” The look on Kyrians face was pleasing to her, she looked at him satisfied and mockingly.

That hurt more than Kyrian expected.

After she left, Kyrian sat on the cold stone floor and pressed his hand to his chest. The bond flickered weakly in response, not pleading anymore just tired.

That night, Damon stood before the council. The council hall had never felt so cold.

Stone walls loomed high and unforgiving, etched with the history of alphas who had ruled Blackwood before Damon Belloti, strong men, ruthless men, men who had never bent. The air was heavy with dominance and judgment, pressing down like an unseen weight.

Damon stood at the center of it all.

Tall. Controlled. Silent.

Across from him, the elders sat in a half-circle, their expressions carved from stone. Some were old enough to remember the last great war. Others had helped raise Damon himself. None of that mattered now.

“What you are asking us to accept,” Elder Marcus said, his voice sharp and unwavering, “is impossible.”

Damon’s jaw tightened. “I am not asking.”

A murmur rippled through the hall.

Elder Elijah rose slowly, leaning on his staff. His gaze was stern, disappointed. “An omega mate is unacceptable for an Alpha of Blackwood.”

Damon’s eyes darkened. “The moon chose him.” You can’t send him away it would weaken me. I won’t allow it. He hated the words that left his mouth, it’s the bond making me talk this way, act this way, feel this way. He hated weekness and the last thing he would ever do is accept an Omega as his mate but the mate bond had a strong hold on him and his wolf. “I dont…don’t understand this feeling.” Damon whispered to himself so the council could not hear it.

“The moon has never chosen an omega for an Alpha,” Elijah snapped. “Not once in our history.”

“And never,” Elder Rowan added coldly, “a male omega.”

The words landed like blades. Damon felt the bond recoil sharply in his chest.

“Blackwood leads through strength,” Marcus continued. “Through dominance. Through tradition. An omega mate would shatter the balance. A male omega mate would invite ridicule, rebellion, and war.”

Damon said nothing because he knew what the elder said was the truth.

“He is an omega,” Rowan replied. “And low ranking at that.” Silence fell.

Damon’s fists clenched. “Kyrian has done nothing wrong.” He just found out what his mates name was the day before when he overheard some pack members gossiping.

“Kyrian….such a beautiful name.” it sounded right in his mouth. Damon smiled.

“All he needs to do is just exist beside me under my watch, I have no intention of marking or mating with him but I do need him around to ease my wolf and maintain my strength.” Damon’s voice echoed.

“His existence beside you would make the pack vulnerable. Rivals would sense it immediately, words would travel, our enemies would use him as a weekness to get to you and the park.” Elijah said.

“Then let them come,” Damon growled.

Elder Marcus slammed his hand on the stone table. “Do not let instinct cloud your duty, Alpha!”

The word instinct echoed.

Because that was exactly what Damon was fighting.

“The elders have decided,” Elijah said grimly. “The bond must be suppressed permanently. The omega will be removed from Blackwood territory.”

Damon’s head snapped up. “Removed?”

“Relocated,” Rowan corrected. “To the eastern borderlands. Far from the pack. Far from you.”

The bond screamed.

“No,” Damon said flatly.

“You will comply,” Marcus said. “Or you will risk your position as Alpha.”

That was the threat.

Damon realized then that this was not about Kyrian.

It was about control. The elder’s had been looking for a weakness to exploit so they can control him and kyrian provided them with that opportunity. The elders respected and feared Damon, they were proud of his accomplishments, proud to have him as the Alpha but they were also really scared of Damon cus he was like a ticking time bomb with serious anger issues and he always got what he wanted. kyrian was like a gift placed on their laps to use to control and keep Damon in check.

The meeting ended without resolution but decisions had already been made.

And Kyrian heard everything.

He stood frozen in the shadows outside the council hall, heart pounding violently against his ribs. Every word burned itself into his soul.

Unacceptable.

Impossible.

Never happened before.

Removed.

Kyrian pressed a trembling hand to his mouth to keep from making a sound.

So this was how it ended.

Not with a rejection spoken aloud but with exile.

He turned and ran.

Quietly at first. Down the dim corridors of the pack house, past sleeping quarters and empty halls. His heart raced, breath shallow, fear sharp and focused.

He didn’t go to his room.

He went to the forest.

The bond flickered weakly as he crossed the threshold of the pack grounds. Not screaming. Not begging.

Just… fading.

Kyrian didn’t look back.

Not until alarms shattered the night.

“An omega has fled!”

“Border breach!”

Damon felt it instantly.

The bond snapped tight then pulled away.

“No,” Damon breathed.

He didn’t think.

He ran.

Boots thundered across stone as Damon burst from the council hall, alpha power flaring violently. Warriors straightened at his passing, instinctively following.

“Find him!” Damon ordered. “Now!”

The forest swallowed Kyrian whole.

Branches tore at his skin as he ran, lungs burning, legs shaking. He wasn’t fast. He wasn’t strong.

But he was desperate.

Behind him, wolves howled.

Too close.

Kyrian stumbled, nearly falling as roots caught his feet. Panic surged. Tears blurred his vision.

Keep going.

He pushed through pain, through fear, through the crushing certainty that he would be caught.

A massive black wolf burst through the trees ahead.

Kyrian skidded to a halt.

Damon.

Their eyes met.

The bond flared violently, alive despite everything.

For one heartbeat, Damon almost reached for him.

“Kyrian,” Damon said, breathless. “Stop.”

Kyrian took a step back.

Warriors surrounded them, forming a loose circle.

Damon said quietly. “Turn back.”

Kyrian shook his head.

“I won’t be erased,” he said. His voice trembled but it did not break. “I won’t be hidden or locked away so you can stay comfortable.”

Damon stepped forward. “You are my…”

“No,” Kyrian cut in sharply.

Damon turned to one of his warriors. “Lock him up in one of the cells in the basement of the park house.”

“What?” Kyrian’s eyes went wide with shock.

Before he could say anything he was dragged away by two of the warriors back towards the park.

The bond strained painfully.

Far behind him, Alpha Damon just stared at kyrian’s fading form with with a blank look on his face, Deep inside of him his wolf was fighting to be let out, to go after their mate but Damon resisted and turned walking straight towards his office.