The Rebellious Omega - Chapter 205: Chapter 205

King Braedon
The ride back home was made in silence, Blair’s body slumped against me, her expression one of tiredness and concern. I stroked her hair absent-mindedly, my thoughts whirling in my head. The others were in a separate car. I could feel my heart racing in my chest the closer we got to my pack and my hands shook slightly. All this time, I hadn’t visited my mother’s grave, not wishing to feel the pain that usually accompanied it, and now, it felt right to do it with Blair by my side. I wondered what had put the thought into my mind. I tried not to think of my mother too much, for the pain of her death was too fresh and too raw, causing me nothing but pain and anguish. She never had to die. She never had to be buried if but for the cowardice and deliberate cruelness of one man. My father. My own flesh and blood and the man who had sired me. Because of him, my world and Sarah’s had been torn apart. How I loathed and despised that man.
Blair stirred slightly as the car pulled to a gentle stop. I steeled myself, turning to Blair and tapping her shoulder gently. “Blair,” I said quietly “we’re here.”
Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled, allowing me to take her hand, the driver opening the door. We were on a single dirt road that led toward the outskirts of the pack. I inhaled the fresh air and felt the warmth of the sun bearing down on Blair and me. My eyes narrowed and Blair squeezed my hand, distracting me from the anger that threatened to overtake me. This path was familiar, untouched by time and I felt my body begin to shake. My stomach churned and the familiar nausea washed over me.
“Lead me to her” Blair whispered, smiling at me encouragingly.
Simple words, but they were enough to make my chest tighten. I began to walk, with my mate by my side, deeper into the forest, my steps sure, even after all this time had passed. It was like I was being pulled to her gravestone. I found the large pine tree that I had buried her ashes beneath, her large gray headstone standing out amongst the wildness of the grass as Blair gasped, my body stiffening as I looked directly at it. It should have been my father buried here, beneath this tree and left to rot, not my precious mother. I felt regret wash over me. Regret that I thought I’d buried within me and was long gone.
“Rose Lyons” Blair read out loud, looking a little confused as she glanced at me, her brow creased.
My voice was hoarse “I put her maiden name on the gravestone. I didn’t want her to have that bastard’s name anywhere near her. I think she would have preferred that.”
Blair nodded thoughtfully. I sighed. Blair looked at me and then sank to her knees, sliding her hand gently over the top of the gravestone.
“You’ve never really told me what happened,” Blair said softly, her eyes glancing upwards at me “and you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but Braedon, sometimes it helps just to talk.” she urged.
I clenched my jaw, fighting back the rage that simmered beneath the surface. “My mother was a lot younger than my father,” I said, looking off into the distance “but she loved him dearly. She loved me and Sarah too. She was a very soft-spoken, gentle woman and we would spend hours together, playing outside, having picnics, painting. She hated it when I started training and sparring with other shifters” I laughed softly remembering, my eyes lighting with amusement “She was always so frightened I would get hurt and she would cover her eyes until I was done sparring.”
Blair smiled, “it sounds like you had a really good relationship with her”
“We did,” I said tightly “but there would be periods where my mother would shut herself up in her bedroom and not come out. She would be sad, crying, upset and low. When I was younger, I didn’t understand and the omegas would do their best to distract me as my mother was too depressed to see me or Sarah. Sarah would visit other packs or family members but I always felt like there was something my mother was trying to hide and I refused to go.”
Blair looked at me sympathetically. “That must have been hard. What did your father do?” she asked.
I snorted “That man did his best to ignore the fact he had a son, let alone give a wits damn about his wife” I added bitterly “It wasn’t until much later when I grew older that I understood what premeditated these so-called depressed moods of my mother. I hated him so much for it. He knew exactly what it was doing to her and he didn’t care” I snarled.
“What was it?” Blair breathed, looking back at the gravestone.
“The bastard was cheating on her. She could feel it through the mate bond every single time he slept with another woman. It must have been excruciating, not just physically but mentally as well, because she loved him so damn much although the bastard didn’t deserve it. Instead of confronting the asshole and giving him what for, she would retreat to her room and cry for a few days, gather herself together, and then come to her senses and go back to her normal self. It became an endless cycle” I said angrily “my father never stopped, if the woman was pretty enough, he pursued her and damn the consequences.”
Blair’s eyes were filled with sorrow as she looked at me, shifting on the grass to make herself more comfortable as I knelt to look at the grave with my throat constricting. “She stayed for your sake.”
It wasn’t a question but a statement. I nodded silently. Mother had stayed for my sake and for Sarah’s. She could have left, could have found sanctuary at another pack that would have appreciated her talents as a Luna, but she remained loyal until the very end. I gritted my teeth, and clenched my hands into fists, my frustration boiling over as the rage began to overtake me.
“She put up with everything that bastard did so that she could remain by my side. He threatened to take custody away from her if she tried to leave so she was stuck. If she ran away or rejected him, he would make sure she never laid eyes on me again. I had no doubts that he had meant it too. My father was not the kind to make empty threats, let alone back down from a fight.”