The Alpha's forbidden omega mate - Chapter 90: Chapter 90

Derek's POV
My heart pounded like a drum in my chest, each beat echoing the urgency through me.
Rowan had given me with the Luna's Breath, a tiny vial holding the hope for our pack’s future.
My future.
I had to get it to Uncle Jarrett, fast.
Every second counted. Every second my father spent under the influence of the Kezrach Larva, the harder it would be to break its hold.
Bursting through the doors of the Magnus Hotel, I was met with a creepy silence.
The lobby, usually bustling with pack members and guests, was empty.
An uneasy feeling, a prickling at the back of my neck, told me something was wrong.
"Jarrett!" I called out, my voice echoing off the marble floors. “Uncle Jarrett, where are you?”
A wave of sound, angry and desperate, drew my attention towards my father’s office.
It was him, his voice – usually so commanding, so reassuringly Alpha – twisted into a guttural snarl.
I didn't hesitate. This was it.
As I neared the office, I could hear my father's words, each one like a slap in the face.
“How dare you, boy!” he roared. “You’d betray your own blood, your Alpha, for that… that omega and her mutt?”
Mutt? He’d called Rowan’s son a mutt. A mere pup, not worthy of respect?
The rage that surged through me was hot, primal.
It was one thing for my father to be consumed by the Larva, to lash out against those he perceived as threats.
But to speak of an innocent child this way…
I pushed open the door, my hands clenched into fists.
The sight that greeted me sent a chill down my spine.
Jarrett stood in the middle of the office, his expression grim, facing off against my father, who paced like a caged animal.
“Marcus, you have to stop this,” Jarrett pleaded, his voice calm, steady.
But I could see the tension in his shoulders. “The Larva, it’s destroying you, destroying our pack. We need to end this, for everyone’s sake.”
My father threw back his head and laughed. It wasn't the laugh of a man, but something broken, something possessed.
“End it?” he spat, his eyes wild.
“No. The Larva is mine, Jarrett. It’s power. It’s control. And I won't let you take that from me!”
I couldn't stay silent anymore. This was madness.
“Father, please!”
I stepped into the room, my voice shaking, not with fear, but with a desperate hope that some part of him, the father I knew, the Alpha he used to be, still remained.
“This isn’t you. Let us help you. Let’s find a cure, bring the pack back together.”
He whirled around, his eyes landing on me.
The love I’d always seen in his eyes, the pride… it was gone, replaced by a burning hatred that made my breath catch in my throat.
"You, too, Derek?" he snarled, his voice dripping with betrayal. "My own son, siding with them?”
He lunged.
One minute, I was standing there, the vial of Luna's Breath clutched in my hand, a fragile hope in my chest.
The next, I was pinned against the wall, my father’s hands wrapped around my throat, his grip like iron.
“ You let go of that bastard, don't you?” he roared, his face inches from mine.
I struggled, but he was too strong, the Larva’s power lending him an unnatural strength.
My vision started to blur, black spots dancing at the edges.
“Marcus, stop this!” Jarrett’s voice was sharp, edged with command.
“You’re hurting him! This isn’t the way!”
My father hesitated, his eyes flickering between me and Jarrett.
It was the opening Jarrett needed.
He moved with a speed that belied his age, his hands closing around my father's wrists, forcing him to loosen his grip.
“Enough, Marcus,” Jarrett growled. “You’re losing yourself. Don’t make me do this.”
But it was already too late. The Larva had sunk its claws too deep.
My father snarled, his fangs lengthening, eyes blazing with a feral glint.
“This is my pack!”
He roared, shoving Jarrett back with a strength that made the older wolf stumble.
“And you… you’re both traitors!”
He lashed out, claws extended, catching Jarrett across the chest.
I winced as blood poured up, staining Uncle Jarrett’s shirt.
This was bad. This was very, very bad.
“Father, please,” I rasped, my voice hoarse, my throat raw.
“This isn’t you. Don't do this. Let us help you.”
But he wasn’t listening. He couldn't.
He turned on me, his eyes burning with a cold fire that chilled me to the bone.
And I knew. I had to act. Now.
With a swiftness born of desperation, I uncorked the vial, the Luna’s Breath shimmering like liquid moonlight in my hand.
“For the pack,”
I whispered, more to myself than anyone else, and flung the contents towards my father’s face.
The room seemed to hold its breath. For a heartbeat, a single, agonizing heartbeat, I dared to hope.
But it was not meant to be.
My father, his reflexes sharpened by the Larva, punched the vial away.
It hit the wall with a sickening crunch, the precious elixir splattering against the wood.
“No!” The word ripped from my throat, raw and desperate.
My father laughed.
“Foolish boy,” he sneered. “Did you really think you could stop me?”
He advanced, claws glinting under the harsh lights, his intent clear.
I braced myself, ready to fight, even though I knew it was a losing battle.
I wouldn't back down, not now. This was about more than just me. This was about our pack, our future.
But before my father could strike, Jarrett was there, a blur of grey fur and snarling teeth, throwing himself between us.
“Enough, Marcus!” Jarrett roared, his eyes blazing with a fury I’d never witnessed before. “I won’t let you do this anymore!”
The two collided, a whirlwind of fangs and claws, their roars shaking the very foundations of the hotel.
I watched, horrified and heartbroken, as the hope I’d carried, the hope contained in that shattered vial, seeped away like water into the carpet.
Had I been wrong to trust Rowan? Wrong to believe that I could save my father, save our pack?
But then I remembered Rowan’s words, spoken with a conviction that resonated deep in my soul: "Derek, I'm counting on you. You're the only one who can save the pack now."
My brother believed in me. And I wouldn't let him down. I wouldn't let the pack down.
Drawing a deep breath, I surged forward, adrenaline erasing the fear, the doubt.
I had to do this. For my father, for Jarrett, for everyone who called the Magnus pack their own.
I had made my choice.
"Father, please, listen!" My voice cracked, a mix of desperation and determination in my words. "This has to stop. Let us help you break free from this curse, together."
Marcus snarled, his claws slashing out like honed silver blades, aiming straight for me.
"Marcus, I beg of you,” Jarrett urged, his voice steady despite the chaos around us.
“For the sake of our family, for our pack, let us help you. Let us find a way to end this nightmare, once and for all.”
My father froze, his wild, Red-tainted eyes flickering. A flicker of recognition, a spark of the Alpha I used to know, shone through the haze of rage.
“My… my pack,” he rasped, his voice a broken whisper. "My family."
Hope, stirred in my chest. Those words… they were faint, but they were there.
He was still in there, buried beneath the Larva’s corruption.
A wave of relief, so powerful it almost buckled my knees, washed over me. Jarrett believed it. We could beat this.
We stood there for a moment, the three of us, united against a common enemy.
The path ahead wouldn't be easy, that much was clear. The Larva had sunk its claws deep, poisoning our pack from within.
But for the first time since that horrible night, I dared to imagine a future where my father, our pack, could be whole again.
I had made the right choice, I knew it. I had to believe that. Rowan was counting on me. He’d entrusted me with the Luna’s Breath, a symbol of hope, even if…
The memory of the shattered vial, the precious elixir seeping into the carpet, sent a fresh wave of guilt through me.
As the initial shock faded, a heavy silence fell over the room.
Uncle Jarrett, always serious, looks at all the damage, his expression grim.
The office, usually a place of order and command, was in chaos, furniture overturned, claw marks etched deep into the walls. A physical manifestation of the darkness that had consumed our pack.
My father slumped in a chair, his head bowed, the weight of his actions pressing down on him. He looked… smaller, somehow. Defeated.
"What do we do now?" I asked, my voice hushed in the aftermath of the fight.
Jarrett sighed, running a hand over his face.
“We didn’t break the Larva’s hold yet” he said, defeated.
“The curse has burrowed deep.”
I followed his eyes to my father's direction. “He wants to fight it now, doesn't he? I saw it in his eyes, that flicker of… of the Alpha he used to be.”
Hope bloomed again in me. “Rowan… he trusted me to help. There has to be a way. Even without the Luna’s Breath…” My voice trailed off, feeling guilty.
Jarrett placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. “This isn’t on you, Derek. You did what you thought was right. What Rowan asked of you.”
“But if I’d been faster…”
“Derek,” Jarrett interrupted, his voice firm, letting no argument. "You can’t change what’s already done. We have to focus on what we do now, on the next steps.”