CHAPTER 5 — “The Omega Who Should Not Exist”

“We can’t stay here.”

Killian helped Aeris to his feet. The hunters lay dead nearby, still and silent.

“Where are we going?” Aeris’s legs trembled. The glow under his skin was gone, but he could still feel something waiting inside him.

“Somewhere safer. Where the Council’s hunters won’t find us.” Killian wrapped an arm around Aeris’s waist to steady him. “Can you walk?”

“I think so.”

“Good. We move fast.”

They ran through the trees. Aeris was slow, but Killian never left his side or loosened his grip.

The bond between them hummed,a steady, second heartbeat.

At last, the trees opened into a clearing filled with ruins. Old stone pillars wrapped in vines. Crumbling walls. A broken archway leading nowhere.

“What is this place?” Aeris whispered.

“An ancient temple. Older than packs, older than territories.” Killian guided him under the arch. “The magic here hides us. It blocks tracking spells.”

Inside, it was less ruined. Part of the roof still stood. Moonlight shone through cracks.

Symbols covered every wall,strange marks that seemed to move when Aeris looked.

Killian pointed to a mossy stone slab. “Sit. Rest.”

Aeris sank down. His body ached,not from wounds; those were healed. It was fear and exhaustion, from the power inside him waking.

Killian paced, slow then fast, like a caged animal.

“Tell me,” Aeris said softly.

“Tell you what?”

“That you regret this. That claiming me was a mistake.”

Killian stopped and turned. “What?”

“I’m a burden. A target. Everyone close to me gets hurt.” Aeris’s voice broke. “You should reject the bond while you can.”

“No.”

“Killian.”

“No.” Killian came close in three steps and took Aeris’s shoulders. “I am not rejecting you. Not now. Not ever.”

“You don’t know what you’re in for.”

“Then tell me. Tell me everything.” Killian’s grip softened. “About your life. Your pack. How bad it was.”

Aeris looked away. “You don’t want to hear.”

“Yes, I do.”

The bond pulsed,gentle, steady, unbreaking.

Aeris took a shaky breath. “I was born without a scent. The healer thought I was dead,no heartbeat, no breath. Then I gasped and cried.”

Killian stayed silent and listened.

“My mother died giving birth. My father blamed me. Said I killed her. Told me when I was five.” The words stung. “He died in a fight for rank. Everyone said it was my fault.”

“That’s not how luck works.”

“Try telling them.” Aeris laughed bitterly. “After his death, no one wanted me. Passed from family to family. If something broke or someone got sick, they said I cursed them.”

“So they locked you in the shed.”

“When I was nine. They said it was temporary until they figured what to do. I spent eight years there. Eight years in a cold, rotting shed.”

Killian’s hands tightened gently. “What did they feed you?”

“Scraps. When they remembered. Sometimes I went days without food.” The memories stabbed sharp and clear. “I ate bugs. Grass. Anything.”

“Damn.”

“Winter was worst. They poured cold water on me, said it would wash the curse away. I shook for hours, couldn’t get warm.” Aeris met Killian’s eyes. “I tried to be good. But it was never enough.”

“Aeris.”

“They beat me for existing. Starved me for breathing. Told me I should have died with my mother.” Tears ran down his face. “And I believed them. I thought I didn’t deserve to live.”

Killian pulled him close, held him tight, silent.

Aeris broke.

Sobs tore out, raw and long held in.

He cried against Killian’s shoulder. Killian never told him to stop or that it would be okay. He just held him.

“I’m sorry,” Killian whispered at last. “I’m sorry no one protected you.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I know. But I am sorry.” Killian stroked his hair. “You deserved love. Care. Safety. They gave you nothing but pain.”

“I don’t know how to accept kindness. It feels wrong.”

“You’ll learn. I’ll teach you.” Killian looked in his eyes. “You’re not in that shed anymore. You’re not alone. I swear, I’ll never let anyone hurt you again.”

The bond flared, hot and fierce.

Aeris wanted to believe. So much it hurt.

“What if the prophecy is true?” he whispered. “What if I really destroy everything?”

“Then we stop it.”

“How?”

“I don’t know yet. But we’ll figure it out.” Killian cupped Aeris’s face. “You’re not a curse. Not a mistake. You’re mine. And I don’t give up what’s mine.”

Something inside Aeris loosened. Just a little. Enough.

He leaned into Killian’s touch, letting it comfort him.

For the first time, someone had chosen him. Fought for him.

It felt impossible. Like waking to find himself back in the shed.

But the bond said it was real. Warm, steady, beating inside his ribs.

“Thank you,” Aeris whispered.

“For what?”

“For not giving up on me.”

Killian’s face softened. “Never.”

They stood holding each other. The ruins silent around them.

Then Aeris felt it,a pull deep inside the temple.

“Do you feel that?” he asked.

Killian frowned. “Feel what?”

“Something’s calling me.” Aeris stood. The pull grew. “It’s coming from there.”

He moved toward another archway, down crumbling stairs.

“Aeris, wait.” Killian grabbed his arm. “We don’t know what’s down there.”

“I have to see.”

The pull was like a string tied to his soul, tugging him forward.

At the bottom, the stairs opened into a larger room. Walls covered in symbols, floor to ceiling.

A stone pedestal stood in the center, buried in dust.

“What is this?” Aeris whispered.

“A shrine. Or a tomb.” Killian scanned the walls. “The symbols are ancient.”

Aeris stepped closer. The pull became a demand.

He touched the stone.

Light exploded from his fingers.

The symbols flared golden, burning bright.

“Aeris!” Killian tried to pull him back.

But Aeris was frozen, held by the light.

The symbols moved, rearranging into words,a prophecy written in fire:

*When the moon is dark and fear is sown

The scentless one will crack the stone

No wolf, no pack, no home, no kin

The lone omega walks alone within*

*Power sleeps in fragile bones

Waiting for the sacred tones

When old mark meets living breath

The spell will break, the bond will death*

*Beware the one who should not be

The key, the lock, the omega free

When he wakes, all wolves will fall

Mortality will claim them all*

The words burned deep in Aeris’s mind.

“The omega who should not exist,” he breathed. “That’s me.”

“Aeris, step away from the pedestal.”

“I can’t. Something’s happening.”

The ground shook. Lines of light raced across the floor.

More symbols appeared, burning instead of glowing.

Pain exploded in Aeris’s head. He cried out.

Memories came,not his own. Pieces of an older time.

A woman with silver eyes. Standing here. Blood dripping from her hands onto the pedestal.

“I curse you,” she whispered, “all who wear animal skin. May you be bound until the key returns. Until the scentless one awakens.”

The vision shattered.

Aeris gasped. The pain faded, but the shaking did not stop.

The symbols flashed faster.

A voice echoed through the room, everywhere:

“Awaken.”

Fire burst behind Aeris’s eyes.

The glow under his skin flared brighter, fiercer, like flame.

Something shifted inside him, like a wall breaking.

Power surged through him,ancient, wild, terrifying.

“Aeris!” Killian’s voice echoed, distant.

Aeris tried to speak but no sound came.

The power kept rising. Too much. Too fast.

His vision blurred from gold to white, then nothing.

When he opened his eyes, they glowed brighter than any wolf’s eyes could.

The symbols flared brighter in answer.

The ancient prophecy had begun.

And so had he.