Jade's expression didn't change, but something flickered in his silver eyes. Recognition, maybe. Or just cataloging information.
"Your father was a councillor," Jade said flatly. Not a question. A statement of fact recalled from memory " Executed for helping his son escape". "You're that bastard". He added.
"My father was innocent !" Varen's voice cracked, and real tears—not manufactured ones, but genuine rage and grief—streamed down his bloodshot face. "He was innocent, and you—you and the Governor—you executed him! You tore apart my entire family for crimes you didn't even understand!"
His hand continued its slow, careful movement toward the syringe hidden in his pocket. Just a little further. Just a bit more time.
"He was all I had!," Varen continued, his words tumbling out in a desperate rush, his emotions real even if his intent was manipulation. "Protected me. Gave me everything. He was the only person who ever cared about me, and you took him away !. Dragged him to that platform in front of the whole city and—and—"
His voice broke completely, dissolving into sobs that were half genuine grief and half calculated performance.
"I've waited four years!" he screamed, the words torn from his throat along with blood and spittle. "Four years in the dark! Four years of planning, of preparing, of living in filth and darkness and waiting for the chance to make you feel what I felt when they killed him!"
Varen's fingers finally closed around the syringe. The needle glinted in the low light of the workshop as he began to press it against his thigh, the motion hidden from Jade's view by his own body, by the angle, by the shadows that still clung to him like a second skin.
"You destroyed everything!" he continued ranting, his voice ascending into something unhinged and wild. "My life, my future, my family—all gone! Ripped away! And you just walk around like some hero, like you 'saved' people! You're a murderer! You killed my father and you don't even care!"
The needle pierced his thigh.
Varen injected the Berserker's Blood in one desperate motion, his thumb pressing the plunger down, emptying the entire contents into his system. His hand withdrew the syringe quickly and slid it back into his pocket, the entire action taking less than two seconds while his words kept pouring out.
"And I'm going to make you understand what loss really means," he gasped, his voice still riding the wave of emotion even as the drug began to work. "I'm going to take everything from you the way you took everything from—"
The drug hit his system like a sledgehammer to the chest.
His entire body convulsed. His aura and pheromones, already aggressive from months of drug use, exploded outward in waves so powerful that the very air seemed to vibrate with predatory force. The scent was overwhelming; an alpha pushed beyond natural limits, chemically enhanced into something that bypassed rational thought and struck directly at biological imperatives.
The workshop filled with it. Thick and oppressive.
And deep within Jade's body, something shifted in response.
His omega pheromones flared involuntarily—a biological answer to the aggressive alpha threat that his body couldn't suppress, even weakened by approaching heat. It was pure instinct, bypassing conscious control entirely, as automatic as breathing.
The scent filled the workshop like an explosion of winter itself.
It smelled like frost-kissed winter honey—sweet and complex and impossibly pure. Like night-blooming jasmine, delicate and intoxicating. As refreshing as snow under starlight, clean, sharp and ethereal.
The combination was devastating. Impossibly alluring. A scent that demanded attention, that called to every alpha instinct, that promised fertility and compatibility and perfection.
The revelation crashed into Varen's consciousness like a physical blow.
An omega.
The most powerful person in the city, the person who'd just destroyed him with a single punch, was an 'omega'.
For a moment, his mind simply couldn't process it. The contradiction was too extreme. Omegas didn't exist at this power level. Couldn't exist. They were weak, submissive, meant for bearing children and supporting alphas. They awakened support talents, not combat abilities. They certainly didn't have god-tier power that could shatter bodies with casual strikes.
But the pheromones didn't lie. Biology didn't lie.
This boy—this terrifying, overwhelming force of nature—was an omega.
And then understanding hit, and with it came something that broke what remained of Varen's sanity.
He laughed.
The sound was maniacal, unhinged—a broken man finding dark humor in cosmic irony. His body was shattered, his organs failing from the drug overdose, his ribs screaming with every breath, blood pooling in his lungs, and yet he laughed. The sound echoed through the workshop, bouncing off walls and equipment, carrying notes of madness and triumph and something darker than hate.
"The heavens..." he gasped between fits of laughter, blood bubbling on his lips. "The heavens are laughing at you, boy. The universe itself is mocking you!"
Jade barely heard him.
Because his entire world had just collapsed into sensation and horror.
Heat exploded through his body like wildfire, starting deep in his core and radiating outward in waves that made his vision blur. His temperature spiked so rapidly he felt dizzy, his skin suddenly too hot, too sensitive, every nerve ending screaming with awareness.
And then the arousal hit.
Jade's knees buckled.
It wasn't gradual. It wasn't subtle. It was a tidal wave of need that crashed over him with devastating force, drowning every rational thought beneath primal biological imperative.
His body responded to the alpha pheromones flooding the workshop—Varen's chemically-enhanced scent triggering the heat that had been building for days, pushing him from pre-heat into full biological crisis in seconds.
No.
The thought came from somewhere deep in his mind—the part that remembered being 'normal', being in control of his own body.
No no no this isn't happening this CAN'T be happening—
But it was.
Heat coursed through his veins like molten metal. His heart pounded so hard it felt like it would burst from his chest. His breathing came in rapid, shallow gasps that did nothing to satisfy the burning need for oxygen. Every inch of his skin felt hypersensitive—the brush of his clothes against his body almost painful in its intensity.
And worse—so much worse—was the dampness he felt suddenly spreading, the slickness his body was producing without his permission, without his consent, preparing him for something his mind absolutely rejected but his biology demanded.
His omega nature was responding to the alpha pheromones. Calling out. 'Wanting'.
Jade collapsed to his hands and knees, his body trembling violently. Sweat broke out across his skin instantly, soaking through his clothes. His silver hair fell forward, curtaining his face as he struggled to breathe through the overwhelming sensations.
What the fuck is this what the FUCK—
In his previous life, Dorian had never experienced anything remotely like this. He'd been a normal man. Straight. Attracted to women in the normal, manageable way humans experienced attraction. Sex had been something he controlled, something he chose, something he could ignore if he wanted to.
This was the opposite of control.
This was his body staging a coup, overriding every shred of rational thought and autonomy he possessed. This was being reduced to base lifeform, to instinct, to needs he didn't want and couldn't suppress.
His body was screaming for an alpha. For mating. For breeding. His stomach knotting in want. He felt empty, excruciatingly empty like something was missing from within.
And the absolute horror—the thing that made bile rise in his throat even through the haze of heat—was that his body was responding to Varen.
That vile, disgusting man who'd trafficked , abused and done unspeakable things to children for entertainment!. Who had attacked Niamh. Who'd come here to hurt him. Who Jade wanted to rip apart with his bare hands.
But his omega body didn't care. It sensed alpha pheromones and responded accordingly, arousal building despite his disgust, his rage, his absolute rejection of everything happening to him.
Astratea, Jade thought with venom so pure it burned. You fucking BITCH.
The goddess who'd reincarnated him. Who'd put him in this body. Who'd condemned him to this existence as a male omega in a world that viewed omegas as breeding stock.
He'd carried quiet resentment for fourteen years—managed it, controlled it, accepted his circumstances because dwelling on what couldn't be changed was pointless.
But this. This !.
This was beyond resentment. This was pure, incandescent rage.
Another wave of heat crashed over him, and he cried out despite himself—a sound of desperate need that he immediately hated. His hips moved involuntarily, his body seeking friction, seeking relief, seeking 'something' to ease the burning demand.
Jade tried to reach for his bloodline—tried to cool his body, to freeze the heat away, to do 'something' with the power he'd cultivated so carefully.
Nothing happened.
The ice wouldn't form. His usually effortless control over frost and cold was just... gone. Like trying to grasp smoke. His concentration kept shattering, his thoughts scattering the moment he tried to focus, his mind melting under the assault of sensation and need, like his body wanted to be there, needed to be ther.
He reached for his Void Belgusari bloodline next—tried to pull shadows, to use Seed of Darkness, to teleport away from here, away from the alpha pheromones driving him insane.
His teleportation stuttered and failed. The familiar sensation of space bending around him flickered weakly and then collapsed. Even his god-tier void abilities were short-circuiting because his mind couldn't maintain the focus required to activate them properly.
No no NO—
Fourteen years. Fourteen years he'd been in perfect control.Carefully preparing and cultivating himself so that he would never succumb to any fate. He had pushed himself to become stronger, to become powerful enough that nothing could threaten him.
And in the span of seconds, his own biology had reduced him to a writhing mess on the floor, powerless and vulnerable and 'craving'.
It wasn't fair. It wasn't !.
He was Jade. Level 90. Dual bloodlines. EX-rank talent. He'd saved fifteen children from trafficking. He'd killed corrupt officials. He'd built a reputation that made criminals flee at the mention of his name.
And yet , none of it mattered.
Because his body had decided it needed to be bred, and everything else—his power, his control, his 'self'—was secondary to that biological imperative.
Distantly, through the haze of heat and horror and rage, Jade heard laughter.
Varen's unhinged, maniacal laughter echoing through the workshop.
And then movement. The sound of something dragging across the floor.
.....
Varen began to crawl.
Each movement was agony—his broken ribs grinding against each other, his damaged organs protesting, blood filling his lungs with every labored breath. But desperation and obsession and the chemical fury of Berserker's Blood drove him forward.
His eyes were fixed on Jade with an intensity that transcended hate. This was possession. Ownership. Obsession.
The universe had given him this gift. This perfect revenge.
"You," Varen snarled, dragging himself across the floor inch by agonizing inch. Each word was thick with blood and venom. "You who preached about justice. You who killed to save people. You're nothing but an omega."
He inhaled deeply, drawing in Jade's pheromone-saturated air like it was the finest wine. The scent made his alpha instincts roar with need despite his broken body.
"Weak," he continued, crawling closer. "Submissive. Meant to be 'used'. All that power, all that strength, and you're just a breeding bitch in heat."
Jade tried to move—tried to stand, to fight, to do anything—but his body wouldn't obey. His limbs felt like lead. His muscles trembled uselessly. The heat had taken everything from him, reduced him to sensation without action.
Varen laughed again, the sound wet and rattling.
"I'm going to make you understand what powerlessness really means," he said, his voice carrying twisted satisfaction. "I'm going to humiliate you the way you humiliated my father. Take everything from you, piece by piece. And you're going to feel every moment of it."
He paused to catch his breath, his broken body barely functioning, and stared at Jade with eyes that held nothing human.
"And the best part?" His voice dropped to something intimate and vile. "You want it. Your body is screaming for it. That sweet scent pouring off you, calling to me—your omega nature begging for an alpha to claim you."
Varen continued crawling, each movement leaving a smear of blood on the floor behind him.
"All that power, all that reputation, and you're reduced to this. Writhing in heat. Desperate. Completely at my mercy." He reached out a trembling hand toward Jade, his broken body still driven forward by obsession and chemical-fueled madness.
"They'll know what you are now. The whole city will know. The powerful ice mage, the prodigy alchemist—just an omega in heat. Weak. Breakable. A toy for alphas like me to use however we want."
His hand stretched closer, fingers grasping.
"And you're going to experience every moment of what I have planned for you. Every. Single. Moment."
Jade lay there, his body trembling, his mind screaming, watching in horror as Varen crawled toward him....
...