My Mate Is An Omega
Chapter 56

Lancaster POV

What the hell did this crazy bear mean?

As the man held my head back, gripping my hair so tightly it was painful, I showed him my canines in a low growl. He didn't seem the least intimidated as he continued to stare into my eyes. It made sense; a chained up wolf with blood running down his face probably didn't look too menacing. Still, my poor condition didn't stop me from staring right back at him.

Maybe it was due to the wolfsbane, or the fact that I had had too many blows to my head in the past hours, but his words made no sense to me. Of course, I was a werewolf! If it wasn't obvious enough by me having a wolf counterpart, Alpha Dario had our pack doctor perform a blood test on me when I was still a pup. The results proved I was the same species of shifter as everyone else in Diamond Tempest - it even stated I was of Omega bloodline, which defined my position in the pack. Did everyone here spend so much time with Caleb that they had become just as delusional as he was?

"What do you mean?" From the corner of my eye, I noticed the former Gamma had a look of confusion on his face.

The leader scoffed, finally releasing me. "He's a hybrid," he finally revealed, turning to the only other wolf in the dungeon. "The bastard son of an Omega wolf and a female Alpha bear." "What?!" Caleb and I replied in unison. I was so disgusted by our similar reaction that I remained quiet as he went on. "How would you even know that?"

"Because he's my missing nephew." A smirk lit up the man's face. "My sister should have stayed and ruled by my side, but she refused to reject her disgraceful mate. She was supposed to marry my Beta, but everything changed when she met the stupid mutt. She chose love over family. It's a shame she didn't live to tell this story; I'm not a huge fan of betrayal," he growled, clenching his fists. "I knew she had had a baby, but I couldn't replace him anywhere. I thought he would die in the cold winter, so I didn't bother wasting my time with him." He turned back to me. "It seems you're one lucky little bastard."

I almost threw up at his outrageous insinuation. How dare he suggest we were related? Maybe it was a trick to get me to trust him. He was truly stupid if he thought making up a crazy lie about him being the only family I had left would change the hatred I had for him, but then again, bears weren't the brightest creatures. I was about to laugh at him when Atlas' voice inside my head made me freeze.

"It's true," he whispered shamefully.

I needed a minute to process what he was saying. Was he high on wolfsbane? That was the only plausible explanation.

"What?"

"It's true, Lance," he repeated a little louder. "We are half wolf, and half bear."

"If you're playing with me right now-"

"I'm not!" he insisted, soon lowering his ears. "I'm sorry I never told you."

Atlas had never lied to me before, but I wanted to believe he was lying now. Unfortunately, we were one and the same; I could feel that he was telling me the truth. My world seemed to be crumbling beneath my feet, but as confused as I was, I held onto my anger. "And why the hell didn't you?!"

He sighed guiltily. "When our connection was established on your eighteenth birthday, you were already convinced there was no place in the world for someone like us. You wanted to die because we didn't have a surname. I didn't want to make you feel like you didn't belong in Diamond Tempest, the only home you have ever known, by telling you we are a hybrid."

"Oh, right! It was much better for me to replace out from the man who's supposedly my uncle. The one whose Beta killed the only father I ever had, by the way!" I snapped at him, and he finally went silent. This was too much to take in.

My head was spinning. I wanted to scream. I had been taken away from my pack, my mate, my pup. I had no idea if they were safe, or if I would ever see them again. To top it all off, I just found out that my entire life had been a lie, and that my whole existence was nothing but a mistake. They had just dropped a bomb, but of course I wouldn't have any time to think about it.

"If he's not The Original, then who is it?!" Caleb's annoying voice caught my attention, forcing me out of my existential crisis and into the living hell I was in.

"That's what I was hoping you would tell me!" the Alpha yelled. In the blink of an eye he was towering over the pathetic Gamma, holding him by his neck. "But it seems you aren't as useful as I thought you would be. I should just get rid of you, dumb fleabag." The fear in Caleb's wide eyes was quite a sight to see. In the middle of this mess, it brought me some amusement. After all the pain he had caused me and my mate, I wanted to kill him with my own hands. However, it didn't seem like a bad alternative to watch him being mauled by a bear. Whatever he thought he would accomplish by joining these filthy creatures, he certainly regretted the decision now. I had to admit it would be quite gratifying to witness him die due to his own stupidity.

Sadly, it seemed I wouldn't get that satisfaction yet.

The Alpha soon lowered the fucker, and the sound of him gasping for air was music to my ears. "Lucky for you, the prisoner you brought me still has some value." The older man turned to me with a wicked smile that made me sick. "At least you can be more useful than your mother. We'll use you to lure your Luna here and kill her."

My eyes widened with fear as I realized he was talking about my mate. My sweet Caitlyn... just the thought of her being hurt tore at my heart, especially when she was pregnant with our pup. I couldn't afford to put them in harm's way; I would take my own life to prevent it if needed.

These people had taken everything from me. When were they going to stop?

The more I thought about it all, the angrier I got. The bears were the reason why I lost my biological parents, my adoptive father, and now they wanted to take the most important she-wolf in my life. It didn't take long for my concerns to be replaced by my ever- growing rage. A powerful growl erupted from my chest, echoing through the walls of the small dungeon and easily catching the attention of the three men.

"I will never let you lay your dirty paws on her!" I vowed, staring into the leader's eyes. He frowned, but didn't seem too concerned. Again, a wolf in chains could hardly cause him any trouble - which is why I needed to replace a way to break free. "We'll see about that." He shrugged, completely ignoring me. He was about to turn around to leave when Caleb spoke again; only then I noticed the despair in his semblance.

"Why?" The Gamma's voice cracked, but he cleared his throat and straightened his posture. "I mean, why do you want her... dead?"

"Once both leaders of Diamond Tempest are gone, the pack will be more vulnerable, thus making it easier for us to search for The Original hiding among its members." The bear was so full of himself he didn't even consider the dangers of revealing his strategy. "How do you even know the one you want is in that pack?" Caleb insisted, failing miserably at hiding his worry. Hopefully, the bears would be too stupid to notice.

"I didn't in the beginning," the leader confessed. The shadow of a smile played on his lips. He was so proud of the plan he created; so proud he didn't bother hiding his excitement to share his accomplishments. "When I decided to continue my father's mission and look for The Original, I knew I needed a powerful army. Diamond Tempest happened to be located not too far from our sleuth, so I started attacking them to both weaken them and test the strength of my warriors. Even if the wolf I was looking for wasn't there, taking their territory and resources would offer us more room to thrive. I was quite surprised when the warlock I hired tracked The Original wolf to that pack after using a locator spell. To me, it was proof that the old Gods had chosen me to replace it." Everything finally made sense to me - why there were only a few bears during the first attacks, and why there were so many of them on the night Dario perished. By then, they had already figured out that whoever they wanted was living in our lands. It made me wonder who this wolf was, but that was far from being the most important question on my mind.

"You attacked my pack recklessly, and killed my people!" I recalled, seething with rage. "How can you know the one you're looking for is even still alive?" I didn't even know if he would answer me, but the words simply slipped out of my mouth; I could only hope he was so eager to brag about his "genius" that he wouldn't mind sharing a detail or two with me.

"You underestimate us too much, little wolf." He chuckled. It seemed I was right. "I paid the warlock to make me a special amulet. It had a stone that was supposed to glow in the presence of the original. My Beta was carrying it in the attack in which he killed your Alpha, so he would know if the original approached him. It was broken during the battle, but coincidently, this rogue joined us soon after." He waved his hand towards the former Gamma, who was still pale as a ghost. "I was going to have another amulet done for the next attack, but the mutt claimed to know who The Original was, thus saving us a lot of money. I thought it would be worth a shot." And again, their stupidity showed. He sighed before turning around again. "Anyway, we're done for now. Mutt, make yourself useful and make sure my nephew won't escape. You better not fail me again," he hissed. "Come on, Ronan." The Beta flashed us both one last glance as he followed his leader.

And once the door closed, we were back in complete darkness.

For another minute or so, Caleb just stared at the exit with a horrified expression, utterly speechless. It was dawning on him that whatever plan he had to get rid of me and claim my mate had backfired. Goddess! My life had just been turned upside down for the second time in the span of a few months, and I couldn't concentrate on anything other than my desire to kill this motherfucker.

If Caitlyn hadn't stopped me from finishing him off back when he challenged me, none of this would be happening. Of course I would never blame her for being so sweet and caring, but I doubt she would try to stop me a second time.

"Are you happy now, dumbass?!" I yelled at him. As long as I was restrained, it was the only thing I could do, but hopefully, I wouldn't remain helpless for too long. If anything, my disgraceful bloodline probably made me more resistant to silver, which meant I should be able to break free as soon as the wolfsbane was out of my system and Atlas was back at full strength.

He started pacing around, but didn't even look at me. When he didn't reply, I continued, "Why couldn't you just accept the consequences of your own stupid actions? It's all your f*****g fault! She's in danger because of you!"

His anxiety was visible, and it only made me more angry. If he wanted to get her back so badly, the least he could have done was make sure the one he sought wouldn't be harmed. I doubt Caitlyn would let him get anywhere near her, especially if he succeeded in killing me, but still, he didn't think this through. How could he possibly have been a Gamma? He was beyond dumb! But then again, he didn't seem to be in his right mind.

"No... I'll fix it. I'll fix everything," he whispered repeatedly. Judging by how insane he sounded, I wondered if he had finally lost all of his senses. "She will be fine. She won't get hurt."

"You're damn right she won't!" I growled, finally catching his attention. His eyes were still wide when they locked on mine. "I will tear the world apart to protect her. I don't care who has to die." Not too long ago, he acted so bravely as he punched and kicked me, but the truth behind my words made him stiffen. There was nothing but hatred in my voice as I concluded, "And you surely won't be as lucky as to survive this time."