The Alpha's forbidden omega mate - Chapter 49: Chapter 49

Catrina POV:
I relaxed into Rowan, feeling safe in his arms. His kiss on my forehead made me feel better.
Part of me wanted to believe everything would be okay, like Isabelle promised. But something felt wrong. It felt like they were hiding something else.
Isabelle looked at me, her eyes sharp. She must have noticed my worried face.
"I know what you're thinking, Catrina," she said.
Her voice was strong but not mean. "You're wondering what other secrets we haven't told you, right?"
I felt tense. I didn't mean to show my feelings so clearly.
Rowan squeezed my hand, letting me know he was there for me.
"You're right," I said, trying to sound calm.
"After everything that’s happened, it's hard not to worry about what else might happen."
Isabelle raised an eyebrow but didn't seem bothered. If anything, she looked like she respected me for speaking up.
"Fair enough. You deserve to know everything now," she said.
She thought for a moment before continuing. "There is...one more thing that could hurt the Magnus pack."
My heart pounded in my chest. Fear and curiosity battled inside me.
Beside me, Rowan stiffened, his jaw tight.
"Isabelle..." he warned, his voice protective.
She shook her head. "No more secrets, Rowan. She needs to know the truth, especially if we need her help."
I frowned, confused and a little hurt by her words. "Help? What do you mean you need me?"
Isabelle looked at me seriously. "Partly. But what’s more important is that we need you because of what you are."
I gasped as I understood. "An omega?"
She nodded. "Exactly. You see, the sickness hurting Marcus, the thing that’s hurting the whole pack…it's an old illness called the Kezrach Larva."
The name sent chills down my spine. I instinctively put a hand on my stomach, wanting to protect my baby.
Isabelle’s face was serious. "It’s an illness that can only be passed from an omega. Through...intimacy."
"Oh my god..." I gasped.
Suddenly, all the secrecy, the way Rowan avoided talking about the illness, made horrible sense.
"Wait, let me get this straight," I said, my brain trying to catch up with everything Rowan and Isabelle were saying.
"You're telling me that your father is sick because of some...spiritual larva that can only be implanted by omegas?"
Rowan's face tightened, but he nodded slowly.
My head spun. This was huge news! All this time, they kept this giant secret from me, something that could mess up the whole pack. I felt hurt and angry.
"Why wouldn't you tell me something so important?" I practically yelled.
My voice shook with all the different emotions bubbling up inside me. "Didn't you think I deserved to know the truth?"
Rowan looked sorry, almost ashamed. He tried to reach for me, but I pulled back, not ready for his touch.
"Catrina," Rowan sighed, his voice heavy.
"I just wanted to keep you safe from this whole mess. I didn't want you to worry about it until I figured out your place in the pack and everything."
I stared at him, completely shocked. "My place? What do you mean by that?"
He ran a hand through his messy hair like he was trying hard to find the right words to say.
"I... I wasn't sure if you were gonna stay with the pack forever. Or if you even wanted to."
His words hit me hard, like a punch to the gut. Did he really think I'd just leave him and our baby behind?
"You thought I'd just run off, like some kind of... of..." I couldn't even say the word, I was so mad.
"Just leave you and the pup and forget about you?"
Rowan's eyes got huge, and he held his hands up like he was trying to calm me down. "No, no! Not at all! I would never think that badly of you."
He stopped for a moment like he was thinking really hard about what to say next. Then, he spoke again, his voice sounding super sorry.
"I thought..." he mumbled, "maybe you'd rather raise our pup away from all this pack, like you grew up. Free from all the pressure and problems we have to deal with."
That didn't make me feel any better. In fact, it made me even madder! He thought I'd just run away from everything?
"So you figured it was better to keep me completely clueless?" I shook my head, totally in disbelief.
"Did you ever stop to think that maybe, I should know what dangers are out there and how they could hurt our pup?"
Everything went quiet after that. The air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Even Isabelle, who had been watching us like a hawk, didn't say a word.
Shame filled Rowan’s face.
"I wanted to protect you from this, Catrina," he said gruffly. "From the awful way it started, how my father must have gotten it."
Anger burned through me, hotter than any hurt I felt before.
"That wasn't your decision!" I snapped, moving away from him like he’d burned me.
"I deserved to know, especially since I’m carrying your heir. What if this...this Larva hurts our baby?"
Rowan's face was full of regret and fear. "No, no! It can’t be passed that way. I swear. Our pup is safe."
That was a small relief. But the main problem remained—he hid a terrifying secret from me, a secret that threatened his family. My family now, too.
Isabelle watched us, her face unreadable. When she spoke again, her voice was calm and steady.
"Catrina...I understand why you're angry. But Rowan wanted to protect you, even if he went about it the wrong way."
Her words cooled my anger a little. As much as I wanted to stay mad at Rowan, to make him pay for not being honest, I knew it wouldn’t help anything.
I took a deep breath and turned back to Rowan, my jaw set.
"Is there...is there any cure for this Kezrach Larva?" I asked, desperate for a solution.
Rowan shook his head, his face grim. "Not that I know of, at least not in our pack. But you..."
He stopped, looking at me curiously. "You looked like you knew something that could help."
I blushed, embarrassed that he’d noticed my reaction. Part of me wanted to stay quiet, still hurt from being left out.
But a bigger part of me, the part that cared more for Rowan and his pack than my own pride, knew I had to try.
"Well..." I began hesitantly. "My parents always warned me about this sickness, even though they never explained much. They said if it ever showed up, I should find the Drakor Clan in the Northern Range."
Rowan frowned. "I've never heard of them. Are they like magical healers?"
"From what I know, they were more like...Seers. They understand spiritual things better than other packs."
Isabelle studied me. "You seem to know a lot about these mystics for someone raised by rogues."
I flushed again, wishing I hadn’t said anything. The last thing I wanted was for them to question my family’s past.
"My parents didn't share much," I said carefully. "Just warnings about old evils we should avoid. I didn't understand until now."
Rowan started to ask for more details, but Isabelle stopped him.
"It doesn't matter where she learned it. Our best bet is to find this Drakhor Clan. If they know about this sickness, maybe they can help us cure it."
I was relieved she’d changed the subject. Rowan, however, still looked troubled.
"Do we even know if this clan still exists?" he asked. "Or where to find them?"
Silence filled the room as we thought about how uncertain things were. The more answers we got, the more questions popped up.
But one thing was clear to me—no matter how hard it got, I would do anything to find a cure and protect Rowan, our baby, and this pack that was quickly becoming mine too.
Looking at Rowan, I said, "We'll find them." I sounded more sure than I felt.
"And if they can help Marcus…if they can protect our family…then it'll be worth any challenge we face."