I woke up in a blur, unsure of whether it was day or night. The warehouse swallowed everything in darkness, lit only by the faint light that flickered on the cracked concrete floor. My whole body ached and was tired. Every breath felt heavy, every heartbeat a panicked drum that wouldn't stop. I was left alone in that place or so I thought until the sound of someone's footsteps, clear and deliberate, echoed from the dark corner of the warehouse.
Lucas: "Hey," a deep, mocking voice broke the silence. "Early up, huh? Or have you forgotten what day it is? Morning, and night are all the same here."
Erven stiffened. The voice sent a chill down his spine, fear mixed with something else I dared not name. From the shadows, Lucas emerged. Every step he took radiated control, dominance, predatory movement. His gaze pierced the dim, sharp, unblinking light, making Erven feel as if he was being burned from the inside.
Lucas: "Now," Lucas continued, his voice low, "Give me your father's details. I want him on the phone. You're in my hands. Quick."
Erven's lips trembled. His throat was dry and sore but he still said the number. He also mentioned the location where his father often spent his nights, a gambling house that was foul with smoke and bad luck. Lucas didn't wait. He dialed the number. The ringing went beep, beep, beep until finally a hoarse voice that he knew very well answered.
Juan: "Hello? Who is this?"
Lucas laughed low, sharp.
Lucas: "Do you know who I am?"
Juan: "No, who are you?"
Lucas: "I'm the man whose men you murdered last night. Where are you, Juan?"
Silence.
Lucas's eyes narrowed. Without a word, he grabbed the back of Erven's neck and pulled him close to the phone.
Lucas: "You have a child, don't you?"
he whispered, cold and dangerous.
Erven's stomach clenched. His lips parted, almost failing to form the words:
Erven: "Father! please! save me! help me!"
Lucas's hand fell on top of him, silencing him, but the pressure, the warmth of Lucas's body so close, made my body shiver, and not just from fear.
Lucas: "You want him to come?"
Lucas whispered in his ear, his voice low..
Lucas: "Tell him to show up, or your won't mean a thing."
Juan's voice, sharp and uncaring, cut the line.
Juan: "Take him. I don't need him. An omega like that.. useless. Take him, do whatever you want."
The words stabbed Erven like a thousand knives. I froze. His vision blurred. I didn't scream. I didn't plead. Tears just fell on their own, fast, hot, like a river of unstoppable, unstoppable sadness. His father's rejection, the cold tone that denied the value of his life, made his body shiver with shock and shatter.
Lucas watched him. Something flickered in the man's eyes—curiosity, a hint of pity, and something darker… more possessive. He faintly smelled the omega's scent on Erven, weak against the smell of fear and sadness, and his chest tightened with an inexplicable desire. Slowly, he ended the call. A clicking sound filled the air.
His reflections did not escape Erven's empty, sharp, demanding.
Lucas: "What do you want to do now?"
he asked slowly, his voice low, full of authority with a hint of tenderness.
Lucas: "After a father says you're nothing, after the world treats you like you don't exist.. what do you want?"
Erven: "I'm tired of living,"
Erven whispered, his voice fragile and wounded.
Erven: "Do whatever you want. I'll.. I'll accept it."
Lucas's lips curved, a slow, deliberate smile. He stepped closer, the warmth of his body pressing against Erven's, his scent filling the small space between them. Erven's instinct screamed for him to move away, but his own body betrayed him, a subtle shiver appeared under such close proximity, under the silent power that Lucas emitted.
Lucas: "You'll learn,"
Lucas muttered, his fingers trailing along Erven's arm, tracing his weakness and fear.
Lucas: "You'll learn what it feels like to be alive… under me. And Juan?"
He spat out the name with hatred.
Lucas: "He will pay. Every last bit of cruelty. You'll see. I promise you that."
My heart pounded not just with fear, but with a strange mixture of relief, curiosity, and desire I'd never felt before. Lucas's every thought, his every move, pulled him deeper into the exciting, intoxicating danger.
Lucas held him there, judging, calculating, dominating. Then just enough to make Erven feel empty he stepped back into the shadows. The silence dragged on long, heavy, intimate, as if binding an unspoken but clear promise: Erven's life would never be the same again.
And Erven, flooded with grief, fear, and something deeper, finally realized with terrifying clarity:
I was no longer just a small pawn in this world.
I am Lucas's right, his right, his revenge, his desire.
And the dark road ahead promises pain and perhaps, in the cruelest way, resurrection.