Tauren's POV

Meanwhile, in Elysium...

I couldn't believe it.

My sister and her destined mate and his family were brutally gunned down by Eric, the same one who slaughtered me all because I was an Omega. Even as I joined Anrus, Francis and his family, Adrian, Alex, Carter, Caden, and even Cronus and Rhea in watching the shooting death that was replaying through Anrus' orb; my heart broke in pieces knowing that Anissa and Joel never had the full chance to complete the mating bond and live fruitful lives as I hoped and prayed that they would.

"This never ceases to amaze how such a baboon-brained buffoon like Eric Girbaud still has no regrets for what he's doing," Francis said, shaking his head as we watched Elisse and her dad weep for the murdered victims. "I know that he's going to go through with his rampage and kill off the rest of our friends, but I have to say it: this is a brand-new level of low even for the worst Alpha's standards."

"Definitely," his mother agreed.

"Well, there's always going to be a few who are still stuck in the old ways of the shifter world," Mr. Deveraux pointed out. "Back then, most Alphas would be happy to kill off any Omega who was deemed too weak or seen as flawed to live in a strong pack. Some Omegas would be fortunate enough to live in exile or not turn into a feral rogue. Even now, there are still some packs who use the method of 'culling the flock' to sort out the weak from the strong when it came to the newborn pups. If one happened to be of the latter, then they would have to be under close watch to see if they were able to shift properly before being welcomed into the pack with open arms. But if a pup was too weak...then they would be left into the wilderness to die out."

"I never knew that," Adrian piped up.

"There's a LOT that you, Carter, Caden, and I didn't know since we were only newborns when we died out, bro," Alex replied. "But this is still pretty heavy. I'm only sad that more people will have to die before Dad himself finally gets what's coming to him."

"But it has to be done to see how the mighty will fall," Rhea told him gently as Anrus took his leave with Radixx following suit. "Eric Girbaud doesn't understand the true purpose of Omegas as they are the pillars of the supernatural world. He believes in a world where only the strong will thrive as same-sex partners and mates do not exist. But he fails to realize that without the tenderness of an Omega, an Alpha or a Beta can only go so far without feeling exhaustion or defeat. Without Omegas, the supernatural world would collapse."

"But why does he hate Omegas in the first place?" I couldn't help but ask.

"That's something that neither Rhea nor I nor even our children could ever know ourselves," Cronus intoned. "But Eric Girbaud will soon realize the truth when his ultimate downfall is complete."

Just then, the bright light of Anrus appeared before he emerged in his Elysian glory. But this time, he brought company.

"Tauren!" Anissa shrilled happily as she, in her athletic-tomboy glory, raced over to me.

"Anissa!" I cheered as my sister eagerly wrapped me in a bear hug. "You're actually here?!"

She nodded as she motioned for the other three people- a middle-aged couple and a young man whom I deduced to be known as her mate and his parents- to come over. "Aurora herself personally greeted me alongside Joel and his family after we were gunned down. Not only that, Artemis and Horus themselves gave me high honors to be one of the divine guards for either of them or one of the other guards. Anyway, little brother, I want you to meet my mate Joel Errie and his parents."

"Nice to meet you," the young man named Joel said before he and his parents introduced themselves. "We've been hearing a lot about you and your life story since Mom, Dad, and I met Anissa when she arrived at the pack."

"It's a pity that we couldn't meet under better circumstances," Mr. Errie commented. "If it wasn't for your brutal murder and all, it would've been a real honor to meet you face to face."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Well, we can only accept the good and evil when it comes to how fate deals us the cards," I replied, which elicited a laugh from everyone. Even Cronus and Rhea smiled faintly. "Why don't we get to know each other more?"

"Certainly," Mrs. Errie replied, pointing to the Deveraux family and the two sets of twins. "I especially want to know more about those other people there."

I nodded. Turning to Anissa, "I guess it's time that you meet your nephews, sis. They've been wanting to learn more about you since Trenton told so many lies about you and I since they were only pups when they were alive."

"Figures," Anissa snorted.

Carter and Caden came over as they introduced themselves to Anissa before she did the same. "We're sorry about-" Caden began.

"No need to be sorry, Caden," Anissa cut him off. "You and your brother were only pups who didn't know the full story about your grandparents and brother on how they treated Tauren. I'm only sorry that you all had to die to come here and know the truth."

And that was definitely the truth. The Knox family was full of secrets and lies as I had to pay the price for being who I was.

******************

"You know, I never really liked Trenton or our parents to begin with," Anissa said to me after a hearty picnic lunch  as she and I walked across a field of red flowers while the others made their way to a beach area. Even before you and Trenton were born, I kind of guessed that our parents expected too much out of everyone in our family to be perfect. Did you know that Mom and Dad expected me to be born a boy with Beta blood?"

"No, I didn't," I replied.

"Well, they said that when Mom was first pregnant, she prayed to Artemis that I would be the perfect son to be the one to take over Dad's duties as the head Beta for the pack. But when I was born and she found out that I was a girl, they basically ignored me yet trained me to be the perfect housewife for some other male Beta or even a male Alpha. That turned out to be a waste since I was your typical tomboy who wasn't boy-crazy or demure enough while I loved Omegas."

"So Mom and Dad decided to try again and got pregnant with me and Trenton," I finished as we stopped underneath a large oak tree to rest in the shade. "And when I was born..."

"That's when the hell began for you while Trenton was treated like a prince," Anissa finished. "That was four days before Eric was born."

"Damn."

"Yeah," Anissa told me as she patted my back. "Our family, save for a few distant relatives who actually didn't mind having an Omega family member, is too messed up and full of too much scandal to be redeemed. I wouldn't be surprised if our parents and Trenton are in the underworld right now burning away for their sins."

"Well, sis, they are in the underworld and I had the pleasure of telling them that they blew the chance to make things right with me," I said. "I had the opportunity to sing 'Apologize' by OneRepublic as a way to let them know that it was too late to beg for forgiveness when they only ignored my cries for mercy when they were using me as a punching bag. They have to live with what they done for all eternity and suffer under Norrix's harsh hands for their sins."

"I would've loved to see you tell them off myself," Anissa piped up. "They got what they deserve and I have no regrets when I say that they-"

Her sentence was cut off when we saw a bright light came out of nowhere before a well-built young man emerged. "No way," she breathed. "Dominic?!"

"Who's he, sis?" I asked, face lit in confusion.

"He's Prince Zechariah's second," Anissa explained. "And I bet Eric killed him."

"Yeah," the raven-haired guy named Dominic replied, his face contorted with a scowl before granting me a sad smile. "And you must be Tauren Knox, the Omega whom my best friend talked about constantly. Name's Dominic Olleander, by the way."

I walked up to him and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you," I replied. "Welcome to Elysium."

"Pleasure's all mine, kid. The pleasure's all mine."

Bet you didn't expect Dominic to bite the dust moments after Anissa and the Errie trio arrived in Elysium, did  you? Well, the next chapter's when Prince Zechariah and his family are mourning his loss and Elisse and Pietro talk about matin before the couple...well, just stick around for the next chapter to find out!

Song: "Sister" by Walter Hawkins. Dedicating this to _omanita and CeCeLib.

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