The Alpha's Omega Mate-Chapter 178: Return to him…

~Dahlia’s POV~

"No." I snapped, my tone final. "There is a reason I left Shadowfang pack— my safety, and I am not jeopardizing that for anything... especially by going back."

And as soon as the words left my mouth, the atmosphere shifted drastically. Orion turned to look at me, his expression a mixture of desperation and worry.

He dropped his head. "I know that what I am asking for is a lot... I know I have no right to even ask, but..." as his voice trailed off, I felt Kai tense up beside me.

He bared his teeth at Orion, his face a stony mask of rage. "Can you not hear her?" He snarled, "she said she’s not going, and I think it’s only reasonable that you do not try to force her!"

"But I am not trying to force her

"Oh you were!" Now Kai sounded pretty pissed, like it was taking everything in him not to shift. "What are you doing here then if it isn’t trying to force her to return?"

Orion opened his mouth, to argue, but as soon as his lips parted, he clamped them shut, shaking his head.

"I thought as much." Kai seethed menacingly. "First you manage to convince my sister to remain in that godforsaken pack that nearly killed her... and then you’re here for Dahlia too? Why?"

"Because Zarek is sick!" Orion yelled, his voice breaking. "Because I don’t know what to do and I cannot stand by idly while I watch him rot away!"

A deafening silence settled between us, one that was occasionally interrupted by the sound of my heart thumping wildly against my chest.

I gulped down the bike rising in my throat, my eyes burning at the edges as the implications of his words began to dawn on me.

Zarek was sick.

He was rotting away...

I glanced up at Beta Orion, hoping to see the faintest trace of mischief on his face... or lies.. or an indication that this was a joke. But there were none. His face was hard, his eyes red; even his hands were trembling uncontrollably as he brought them up to wipe his face.

This wasn’t a lie.

This wasn’t a joke.

I stepped forward, coming out from behind my human shield which was Kai. When Kai noticed this, a look of betrayal fleeted across his face before it disappeared. He murmured; "Don’t listen to him... he’s only trying to get under your skin."

"But what if he isn’t?" I couldn’t help but ask. "You should know if he is lying or not, won’t you?"

"He isn’t lying." Now, it was my father who spoke up from behind us, from where he’d been casually lounging on a chair with Amara still secured firmly on his laps. Now she was playing with his beards and nose, and he looked so satisfied, one would think she was serotonin.

Orion briefly turned to him then cocked his eyebrows. He grunted; "who are you?"

"That should be none of your business," I snapped, interrupting him, and forcing his gaze back on me. "You said Alpha Zarek is sick. What happened to him?"

That was enough to pull Orion’s attention away from my father. He breathed deeply through his mouth, momentarily looking about a decade older than he was due to the worry lines spread across his face. "He’s not sick sick."

"I said it, you’re a bloody liar." KAI snapped, forcing me to roll my eyes as I turned to him.

"Really?"

"He’s lying... we all know that. We all know that he’s saying all of these just to try to get you to go with him!"

"Zarek is going feral!" Orion snapped exasperatedly, causing another round of deafening silence to settle between us. "He’s been acting unhinged these past few days... doesn’t react to anyone or anything but reacts strongly when Dahlia’s name is mentioned... too strongly if you ask me."

His words made my heart feel heavy. I sighed, blinking back tears. "How?"

"He threatened to hurt me... terribly."

"That doesn’t mean he’s going feral."

"He’s been acting strangely... really strangely. He even almost killed Jennifer."

I froze. "He what?"

"He threw caution into the wind yesterday, wrapped his hands around her neck when she was throwing one of her usual tantrums... and I know... I saw it in his eyes, he would’ve killed her." Orion said then sighed. "And as if that wasn’t enough, he ended the day by torturing some of the criminals in the dungeons in the most gruesome way imaginable."

I gasped. "But... oh my goodness."

"All I am saying in essence is he’s unpredictable and wild... and maniacal. I think I should add ferocious too. And I am scared of what he could do."

I went silent, my mind spinning as I mulled over the things Orion was saying to me. However, I was just about to make a decision when Kai wrapped his arm around my shoulders protectively, his voice soft as he whispered; "Don’t let him get to you."

"Or—"

"He could be making this up."

Involuntarily, I turned to my father again, silently hoping that he would agree with Kai but he shook his head at me. "This strange boy is still not lying."

"Now, are you a soothsayer or something?" Orion scoffed in irritation. "Or do you just possess the ability to see through people like a mirror?"

I turned to Orion, my face hard. I growled; "Do you want me to come with you or not?"

"Why will I be here if I do not want you to come?"

"Then don’t you dare raise your voice at him!" I seethed.

That had Beta Orion’s eyes widening in surprise. I saw the moment he turned to regard my father one more time, a look of confusion creasing his brows. He turned to me next and nodded, looking everywhere but my face. "Okay."

"So will you?" He continued when still no one spoke up. "Will you come with me now?"

"I won’t come with you now." I answered, noticing the way he turned to glare at me like I was a traitor. "I’ll come later when I want you... but not now, with you."

"Ahh." He drawled, and further surprised me by dropping the case, not bothering to say anything else about it.

Then he turned to Kai. "Thank you for allowing me into your house. I am so grateful. So I’d like to take my leave now."

Orion didn’t wait for anyone to say anything. He simply turned and walked over to the door. However, he had just arrived by the door when he suddenly stopped and turned to me. He drawled; "if you must come back then I need to let you know that you ought to be wary of Jennifer."

"I’ve always been wary of her..."

"No... okay I understand but I want you to be extra wary this time. Because she would stop at nothing to make sure..."

"And that’s enough reason why you should remain here." Kai interrupted in irritation. "I don’t know why I need to explain that to you."

This time, Orion didn’t try to argue with him. He didn’t even say a word. He simply turned and left, leaving me staring at his retreating frame, my mind a conundrum of conflicting emotions. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

—

It wasn’t until four hours later that Kai finally found it in him to talk about it.

About Zarek and his impending spiral into madness.

We were having dinner by the time he brought up the topic and with a voice barely above a whisper, he said; "I know you will go to him."

It wasn’t a question or an accusation. It was simply a statement. One he already knew was true— one I already knew was true.

I nodded whilst taking a spoonful of white rice into my mouth, and as soon as I did that, he squeezed his eyes shut, looking away.

"He’s also your mate right?"

That was also not a question but I decided to nod my head in response, but he didn’t ask ’how’ like I had expected. He simply nodded and continued eating like he hadn’t just asked me two extremely difficult questions.

"You’re not going to say anything else?" I couldn’t help but ask. And I was even more surprised when he shook his head. "What’s there to ask? I don’t want to be the one to stand between a mate bond."

"But we’re mates too!"

"And I expect that Zarek doesn’t stand between us when there will be times when I would need you as well."

My father who had been watching the entire exchange quietly set his fork down. He looked up at me with a smile and muttered; "So... is this Zarek Amara’s father?"

I balked, my eyes widening as intense heat crept up my face.

I didn’t even get to reply when Amara leaned into my father, her bright smile momentarily blinding me. He exclaimed; "Yes, Zareeq is my daddy!"

"No, he’s not!"

I was burning up... I am even sure that my face now was as bright as a beetroot.

"Yes, he’s my daddy!" She shouted enraged. "I don’t care what you say!"