He thought he’d be with the pack again. Somehow, he really thought his family could reunite.
Family hits him the hardest. He never thought about what it meant to be a father. None of that came into the equation.
To breed is a part of alpha’s drive, inherent in their biology, and doomed to fail only because the urge does stop. The sexual nature of an alpha is like a parasite. It won’t stop until it fills every hole.
That same drive turned omegas into a commodity. Instinct drove them to gather the hunted. That was their life.
None of their parents raised them with dignity. They were taught to follow that drive and see it through to the end, because their fathers and their great sacrifice was virtuous. They were supposed to be the ones on the right path to solving the growing problem of sterility.
The population dwindled. They served and became their own versions of evil.
They gave up.
But Rae was never a commodity. She was someone they could save.
Always needing to be saved... But in the process, she saved everyone else.
She was an angel, but the real kind. The kind of angel that loses feathers and wears her scars. A broken angel.
She just wanted to be loved. To be adored and treasured.
When they fucked, the world connected. The past, the present, and the future collided until seed spilled into her womb. Their fuck was an act of holiness, the consummation of flesh. The triplets are their bond in solid form.
And he left them behind out of his own stubbornness.
Freezing and drowsy from Aiden’s drink, Lucas decides. “I’m turning around. I can’t do this.”
A violent gust of wind knocks Aiden onto his heels. “Don’t be an idiot. We’re almost there. We just need to keep moving.”
Lucas squints his eyes, but it’s impossible to see over ten feet in front of him. It doesn’t matter where he looks. There is no path to follow.
“The dunes are endless,” Lucas says, voice raspy and weak. He feels fearful, and that fear quickly turns to blame. “We’re lost because of you.”
Aiden starts for him. “Because of me?”
Lucas winds back, frantic. Viciously, he hisses, “You were the one who led us here, and now we will die.”
Blame for what he didn’t do to save her. Blame for leaving his children behind. Fear makes an alpha turn on himself and every one around him.
Aiden stares at his partner, and Lucas wonders what he’s thinking. Does he want to kill him?
Aiden reaches into his bag and hands him the leather pouch. Is he going to kill him? Leave him here and find his daughter himself?
He nudges it into his hands. “Go on. Drink. We’re not turning back now. Look how far you’ve come. You’ve conquered nations, brought the first and second Republics to their knees. And now you will
save the world,” he says.
“I can’t do it,” Lucas mutters. “I can’t--”
Aiden’s voice rises. “Shut up,” he says.
Lucas shuts up.
“You’re a good father. There’s no doubt about that,” he says. “You’ve made mistakes, but shit was out of your hands. This fucked up world will turn out to be better than what any of us got. At the end of this is a second chance You’ve got a real shot of starting over. You sure you want to throw that chance away?”
Lucas breathes. If he focuses hard enough, he can still smell her scent. The snow starts to falls around his shoulders, but his courage solidifies.
“Okay,” he says. “Follow me.”