"WHAT DID HE MEAN ABOUT YUKA?!" Tristan roared. "Was he lying about his death? Tell me it is a cruel lie. Was Abaddon lying about who killed him? Mother?"

Sofia conjured an image of her brother in her mind, his grey eyes glowing with alphic fury that demanded revenge for that omega he found in Northern Canada all those centuries ago. The suffocating thickness of musk in his lemon pheromones was enough for even Sofia to want to tuck her imaginary tail between her legs. She fidgeted where she stood, unable to see her siblings and the chaos surrounding them. But, she didn't need her eyes to understand that the situation was dire.

Based on the multiple-octave drop in his voice, Tristan was barely holding in his sin's rampage. Envy losing control was a catastrophe that hadn't occurred since discovering Yuka in pieces in their home. Consumed by grief, Tristan had massacred human settlements in the United Kingdom. Kieran succeeded in capturing Envy, and was quick to cover up the incident by using his high rank within the military. It was written off as an enemy attack.

"No," Lilith said with calm composure. "Abaddon was not lying to you. I am responsible for eliminating the omega who was fated to be your virtue, your Kindness."

She flinched at an explosive-like sound, whatever Tristan had destroyed in response. "Why?" He was losing his ability to speak, now only capable of growling a few words through grinding teeth. "He...was my...destined mate...too."

Tristan had just discovered the truth that should've remained buried within the mountain of their family secrets. Honestly, it was only part of what actually happened. Sofia, the Gluttony sin, was the reason Lilith became aware of Yuka.

Sofia backed away, wanting to separate herself and seek refuge in her secret hide-out located in her home country, Argentina. Disappearing for some decades would be the best choice until things cooled down.

Abaddon is gone. My safety is in question. If he finds out I'm the one who told Mother about him-

"I know. That does not matter to me, nor does him being a virtue. But, my son, do not leave out his gender. I am well aware Kindness was also a dominant omega. I would not have known this if it wasn't for your sister."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Charles saw Sofia freeze mid-step. Everyone was so fixated on Mother's confession, that no one noticed Sofia was attempting to leave for who knows how long; at least a hundred years, maybe, to be on the safe side.

Sofia, or Gluttony, was the calculating type, the most conniving of the bunch. When she did anything, it was for a good reason, whether for herself or for others; usually the former. She lifted her head proudly to defend her actions.

"I had a vision of you and a dominant omega in some farmhouse on an island's countryside. As much as I hated seeing it, I saw the two of you mating during his first heat when the moon would be the brightest that month. I knew what he meant to you and how important he was. So, I tipped off Abaddon that a dominant omega would be the first virtue to appear on that year's October full moon. I wanted him to take your omega and breed him, but he must've gossiped to Mother, who then got to him first."

Tristan couldn't communicate, too angry to ask any further questions.

"Why would you help Abaddon?" Ashantee spoke.

"It was my revenge for blinding me in that challenge. Envy did not have to take it that far. I waved the white flag. I admitted defeat. Yet...He. Still. Kept. Going! And none of you stopped him as he gauged my eyes out that didn't heal the same after that! Fuck all of you! Really!"

Charles was somewhat ignoring the current drama, still hanging on to what Mother had just said. If Tristan's omega was dominant, he would've been a rare gem even back then.

I wouldn't have known. That omega was already dead when I first met him.

It was clear as day when Tristan barged into his small clinic in the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Someone was knocking the devil out of his door on the first floor. Above on the second floor of the doctor's private quarters, Charles rubbed his eyes, annoyed because he just finished making concoctions of various medicines an hour ago. His stock was low. Establishing a sleep schedule was moot because disease and infections were rampant. Scurvy was especially bad within Edinburgh ever since the previous year's potato famine; he hadn't had a day off in months.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

"Ah, fuck," Charles growled, pushing the blankets aside. "Hold your blasted horses-"

"WRATH!" a familiar voice yelled. They sounded tired, yet in anguish. "OPEN THE DOOR!"

"Envy?"

He quickly grabbed his robe, slippers, and the candle holder before reaching the door in an instant. When he opened it, thinking Envy was there to challenge him, Charles raised his claws to strike back-

But he stopped.

His brother reeked of old blood that had soaked him to the bone. Sweat stained his clothes and red droplets dripped from his cape. He was also blood-deprived, given his crimson eyes. Charles had seen so much death that his appearance wasn't startling to him in the slightest.

What did make Charles pause was the body he carried.

The human was severed into several parts barbarously torn with sheer force, likely pulled with strength than with a blade or sword. Someone had grabbed him and yanked each limb off one by one until the killer was satisfied.

Two arms and two legs. One of the legs was missing a foot.

A hand. The right one wasn't to be seen.

The torso was split in four. The upper half was headless.

The head was of a pretty male, resting on top of the pile. His face was forever in a peaceful expression as if he was sleeping. Guessing by the faint traces of dying, flowery pheromones and a tinge of his heat cycle scent, it was an omega.

"Tristan...," he said slowly, now understanding that this wasn't Envy, who was usually jealous and wanted to challenge them constantly over the rights as the deadliest sin. There he stood, panting from running, a simple man in total agony and loss. Desperate tears shimmered down Tristan's cheeks, making clean streaks through the caked blood that was not his.

Charles had also noticed Tristan was barefoot. His feet were in a rugged state after trekking a long distance. Did Tristan walk all the way from his temporary island home in Millport to Edinburgh with a body in that condition!? It would have been a tedious, few days' journey without a horse. People definitely would have seen this frightful and gruesome traveler. How long before the guards would come to investigate the smell and trail of blood leading to the clinic?!

"Charles," Tristan croaked with a dry mouth. "Help me. Save him."

That wouldn't be possible. Even if this boy was in one piece, he had been dead for at least a day or two. "I can't-"

Tristan rushed into the room uninvited, pushing Charles aside. He frantically arranged the parts on the patient's bed while handling each limb with the utmost care, especially the head. Once he was done, the corpse was put back together like a puzzle. Except, the puzzle was missing many, many pieces.

Tristan re-adjusted the arms beside the boy's sides. "If you do that fancy surgery thing, Yuka will be fine."

"Tristan."

"If you sew his wounds, Yuka will heal."

"Tristan..."

Tristan glanced up with foolish hope, waiting for Charles to begin surgery. "Then he'll wake up and-"

"Tristan!!" Charles yelled, having enough. Tristan went silent. "Brother," the doctor gently said, "I need you to look at the boy you just brought to me. Look. At. Him."

Tristan's jaw trembled, hesitant to do that; he wasn't ready to come down to reality. Eventually, he looked and stared at the decapitated head.

"Brother, I don't know who this is-"

"My mate," Tristan interrupted in a monotone voice. "Not yet, anyway. He's my destined mate. It hurts because my inner alpha wants to mark him so bloody bad. I immediately knew who he was when I saw him killing a bear. The beast almost mauled me to death during my exploration in the North American Arctic. Yuka saved me. You should've seen him. He was beautiful with the way he stood on the sharp ledge above with a bow and arrow, looking at me like I was an idiot. I can't even put into words what I felt-what we felt when our eyes met. It changed me. Yuka...he is still young and hasn't seen war. He turns twenty today. I feel like I shouldn't touch him yet. Yuka begs me to complete the bond, but I can't. I want him to live first before settling down with a bastard like me. Wait until he is more mature. I told him on his birthday I would mark him if that's what he decides but...he's really injured now. I've also been so uneasy lately. I feel like I shouldn't leave his side. My alpha is going crazy, wanting to follow Yuka around like a puppy. I don't understand it. I left for an hour to retrieve a red deer I had caught in my trap. It was going to be his early birthday dinner. When I returned, he was sick like this. I put him in his nest he had built that day in the bedroom but hasn't woken up-"

As Tristan babbled about what seemed like signs of Yuka's approaching heat, Charles thought, Who is this vampire standing before me? Had Yuka changed his character that much in such a short amount of time? Impossible. Tristan is a shameful alpha. He never gives a shit and does anything to get what he wants to be equal in riches and abilities. It's in his nature. Seeing him like this, though, perhaps it is not totally impossible.

Charles listened, letting him talk...and talk...and talk some more. Tristan kept going about this supposed destined mate in the present tense, as if he weren't dead and hadn't crossed over into the afterlife moons ago.

A curdling odor turned Charles's nose. Rotting humans was honestly one of the worst scents in existence, making him feel for Kieran at that moment since that was what pride smelled like to him.

My clinic will smell like decay for a month if it's not taken care of soon.

"Tristan, please," Charles eventually butted in. He put a hand on his sibling's shoulder and squeezed it. This was going to be tragic news. He kneeled down on Tristan's level and stared into his confused red eyes to get the point across. "This omega, Yuka, isn't with us anymore. I'm sorry. I'll help guide you to cope since the pain you mentioned is likely pre-separation symptoms from meeting your fated one, but not completing the bond by marking-"

Tristan aggressively nodded to deny it. "He's alive. I don't sense his death."

"You're in shock. Feeling this way is your defense mechanism to avoid the trauma. It's normal after experiencing an event so horrific-"

He smacked Charles's arm away and pointed to the missing right hand, wherever that limb was. "And what about the black feather symbol? He had a faint outline on his right palm. He said it was a birthmark, but I had a dream that it was more than that. The heavens told me he was born to be my virtue-"

The hand was gone, so Charles couldn't diagnose it. "I don't know Tristan, but right now, I can begin preparing the body to be buried."

"NO!" Tristan shouted, fangs extending and pupils becoming like cat eyes. He grabbed Yuka's head and clutched it tightly to his chest. "NO! Help me! Help him! Help my omega!"

This wasn't good. Envy was coming out, the person whom Wrath was expecting when he opened the door. "I want to help you, brother! I do! You need help to process that this human is dead! And I will help you with a proper burial in the local cemetery here!"

Tristan had his head down, face obscured into Yuka's hair. He was quiet, but his figure trembled. Slowly, he set the head on the pillow where it was previously.

The next thing Charles knew, his chest was being shredded by a berserking Envy, not himself from the grieving darkness devouring his sanity. The next three nights would be nothing but death and bloodbaths for the people of Scotland's east coast, from Edinburgh to Aberdeen. It did not stop until Pride arrived to deal with it and put Envy in his place.

Lilith said Yuka was Kindness, Envy's virtue.

Kindness's symbol is a black feather.

Tristan had mentioned a feather-like birthmark on Yuka's missing hand. If it was like Teru's swirling birthmark situation, it likely would have changed into its final form if Tristan had been able to mark him. Since Sofia altered their fate, it never happened.

How did I not make the connection? Tristan not only lost his destined mate, but his virtue, too. He was suffering more than I predicted. I have to change my notes!

Charles rubbed his chin, opening various boxes within his mind to remember the facts about dominant omegas that was not found commonly in medical books. One box after another, he uncovered what he knew about them.

Let's see. Rarer than dominant alphas. Actually, I'd say it was the most rare gender, particularly males. Numbers gradually decreased over the millennium. I remember many went missing, usually in their teens or early adulthood when gender manifestation fully matured and their heats began. They were considered to be extinct by the start of the 20th century. Why? There were attempted studies about their disappearances, but the ultimate conclusion was due to natural selection. Mother said she didn't kill Yuka because he was a virtue. She never seemed to be against destined pairs, either. That would mean...

The dots connected to create a scandalous picture that would stun modern science and society to its core. Dominant omegas didn't merely vanish because of genetics or the heaven's wish to phase out the superior gender.

"Mother, are you the one who wiped out dominant omegas?"