Omega's Truth - Nora Phoenix Page 0,21
getting slimmer by the day. Yesterday had been a bad day for his father in terms of his mental health, but he’d had many days like that recently. His mind slipped in and out of lucidity, making him confused and frustrated. That in itself, Sando could imagine because losing control over your own brain had to be terrifying. He’d felt empathy and compassion for his father, and he’d forgiven him for the outbursts and the anger and even for hitting him. All that was understandable with his brain deteriorating.
But secretly mixing Sando’s vitamins with hormones to block his heat and stunt his physical development? That had happened way before his father had gotten that bad. He’d made that decision consciously, with his full faculties, and Sando found it impossible to ignore…and to forgive. Even now, a day later, rage still bubbled inside him, sour and hot.
“We need to get you some food, kitten,” Lucan mumbled sleepily and tightened his arms around Sando.
Sando gave in to the urge to snuggle even closer with him and crawled pretty much on top of him, sighing with contentment. That whole hugging and cuddling thing was amazing. Why hadn’t he discovered it sooner?
“How are you feeling other than hungry?” Lucan asked.
“Better. Rested.”
Lucan’s warm hand stroked his back in soothing circles. “That’s good, kitten. Sleep always helps.”
“I didn’t even know I was that exhausted.”
“You looked like death warmed over yesterday,” Lucan said softly.
“Who’s with my father now?” Sando asked more out of a sense of obligation than anything else.
“Sivney has taken charge. He’s setting up shifts so there’s always someone with him.”
“That’s good. But I probably have to do a shift a day as well, right?” He cringed.
“No.” The bed moved, and Maz wrapped his arm around them both. “You’re not doing any shifts, kitten. We have it covered.”
“But I’m his son. I’m supposed to take care of him.”
Maz gently ran his fingers through his hair. “And you have, far longer than anyone could’ve expected from you. The pack will take over now. You’re done.”
Sando closed his eyes. “Thank you. I’m not sure how much longer I would’ve been able to handle it. He’s…”
He had to take a deep breath to push down his anger. He’d never even known he was capable of such strong emotions, but god, the rage he was experiencing now was far beyond intense. Lucan squeezed his shoulder while Maz caressed his hair again. Their quiet support and care eased the pain a little bit.
“I think he drugged me with hormones to suppress my physical puberty and thus my heat. He made me take multivitamins every morning, and I think he laced them. I never knew until yesterday.”
Maz and Lucan barely reacted, and Sando let out a sad sigh. “You already suspected this.”
“We did, but all we had were gut instincts and speculation,” Maz said. “Nothing concrete, no proof. And we didn’t want to say anything to you in case we were wrong.”
“I wouldn’t have believed you anyway. Though it might have helped with even considering it.”
“It’s a horrible thing to suspect your own father,” Lucan said.
“If he even is my father… You heard his last remark. I have no idea what he meant by that. If I’d still had access to the lab, I would’ve run a DNA test on us both, but I can’t. And with how fast his memory is declining, I don’t know if I’ll ever get the truth out of him.”
“Sando, kitten, why didn’t you tell us things were getting that bad?” Lucan asked quietly. “Don’t you know we would’ve helped you?”
“I don’t know. I told myself I had to handle it because he was my father, and he would hate it of strangers knew he wasn’t doing well. And then at some point, I became too tired to do anything except survive. And there was so much going on in the pack with one crisis after another…and I wanted the two of you to be happy together. I didn’t want to be another problem you had to solve, the downer in the perfect relationship you two had… You deserve to be happy, and I’m nothing but issues and complications.”
His words hung heavy in the air, and for a moment, Sando feared they’d get angry with him. But then Maz sighed. “Oh, kitten, don’t you realize that we can’t be truly happy without you? You belong with us. You complete us.”
From anyone else, Sando would’ve thought that a polite cliché, empty words spoken only to make him