Check-Mate

8. Family.

Gym Pov

"Why isn't Terk here?" My grandmother asks. "Is that kid rebelling again?"

We are all gathered for a family dinner. Almost all of my family members are here, except my cousin, Terk.

When I say my family, that means my grandma, my parents, my aunt, my uncle, his wife, my cousin, my dad's concubines and their children.

As an enigma, my Dad has a whole harem of seventeen wives, including my mom who is the legal one. She became his legal wife after I turned out to be an enigma. Until then, she was also a concubine without any title like others.

The concubines gave birth to a total of twenty-three kids for my dad, out of which seven of them are omegas. 

My family looks down on omegas. In fact, they think of omegas as nothing more than baby-making machines because they are very fertile. 

My omega half-siblings aren't allowed to sit at the same table as us. The omegas in my family have a separate table that is far from ours as they aren't deemed worthy to be seated alongside two enigmas of the family.

I am referring to all omegas within our family's property, not just my half-siblings. This also includes those omegas that are being kept by my dad as toys whom he thinks don't even deserve the title of concubine.

They are more like maids who serve him when he gets sick of his seventeen wives or when he is mad and needs someone to torture to let out his steam.

Basically, in my family, omegas are treated like how humans treat street dogs. Sometimes they are loathed sometimes they are fed. All depends on their fate.

"Mom, it is almost time for his rut, that's why he..." My aunt tries to defend him.

"We all experience rut, Waen. We don't make it an excuse not to show up at the family gathering!" My dad grunts.

I know why my dad is very irritated that Terk didn't show up. It's because, unlike others, Terk is not someone who heads to his commands. He can't control Terk's actions at all.

"Hia, you know how he is," My aunt says softly. She looks sad now. But I know better. She doesn't give a shit about him. She only cares about herself, just like every other member of my family.

The family dinner goes as usual with Grandma, Dad and Aunt discussing something related to the business and the rest of us quietly eating.

I do want to announce that I have marked my first mate. But I don't think it is a good idea.

Firstly, because I marked him without getting the permission of the family.

Secondly, because he is an omega. A male one at that. I already told you how my family treats omegas like shit. There is literally no way they would agree to me having an omega as my first mate.

And like I care.

I want that omega and I am going to keep him for myself no matter what. If my family opposes this, then I will leave the family just like Terk did.

I should have left a long time ago. But I didn't have the guts back then nor the intention.

It's not like I have any now... but I really want to prove myself to that omega you know... after all, he is the only person who had looked at me for who I was and not because I am my dad's son, a rich brat or an enigma.

Not that I have a problem with these identities. It does have its pros but sometimes I just... you know... I want to be someone who is beyond these identities...like Terk...

Okay, I admit it. I envy Terk alright! I envy him a lot. It wouldn't be wrong to call it jealousy as well!

I am jealous that he can live the life he wants without being restrained by anyone. I am jealous that he has friends, unlike my followers who are only with me for the benefits I could bring them if they do what I say. 

The thing that I was most jealous of him was his dad. His dad was an awesome person. I used to really like him. He was also an enigma like my dad but he had a completely different personality.

Uncle Auan, my uncle-in-law aka Terk's dad and I used to be really close. He would take me and Terk on trips, teach us things that my dad never did, encourage me to try new things and praise me when I did a good job in something.

He was a kind and caring person who never looked down on others. Terk had inherited all these qualities from his dad.

Just like Terk, Uncle Auan also had a whole bunch of loyal friends with whom we would hang out when he took us on trips during our vacations.

Truth be told, he was more like a father to me than my dad. I miss him a lot now. I am sure that it would have been great if he was still around.

I was around ten years old when he passed away and things started going west. Till then I and Terk used to be close friends, at least that was what I thought. Turns out, I wasn't his friend.

After Uncle Auan's death, Terk blamed my aunt and my dad for killing his dad. It still doesn't make sense to me why he thought so but like every other child, I defended my dad from the accusation. That was the point where Terk officially kicked me out of his life. He told me to my face that I was an ungrateful brat who sided with the people who killed his Dad.

I mean, does that make sense to you? I love Uncle Auan too but do you seriously think that I should be siding with him against my whole family?

The incident alone had caused a major rift between him and my family. Since then, he rarely came home. He was still part of our pack per se but not part of our family anymore.

Even when he hit puberty and we found that he was an enigma just like me, he didn't let our family celebrate it the way they celebrated mine.

He wouldn't let anyone from our family get involved in his life. Not even his own mother, whose existence he loathes so much.

I still remember him saying that he is better off as an orphan than having a mother like my aunt. My aunt was very devastated by that.

Terk moved out of the family house as soon as he hit eighteen. He took over the business that Uncle Auan left behind and he is doing a good job managing it.

This is also a reason why my dad wants to have control over him. Apparently, in my dad's eyes, he is the worthy successor and I am just a useless dummy who is only meant to spend the money he earned.

Now that I think back to those days, I find it odd though. I mean the way Terk turned against the family and them not actually denying anything but only trying to bury the whole matter.

I really wonder if it was my dad who killed Uncle Auan. I wouldn't be surprised if he did. My dad is a very shrewd person. He hates it when someone shines brighter than him and so I know that he hated Uncle Auan.

I feel like I should dig into the matter before it's too late so that I can have a leverage that I could use in case they find out about my omega.