Jeremiah’s gaze drifts around the circle until it lands on me.
“I’m leaving everything to the only person in this room who could possibly understand how hard I worked to build the life I had without help from any family.”
“You left everything to a kid,” Dad says, sounding more baffled than angry. “Everything? The property. The accounts.”
I gasp before I can stop myself, the sound embarrassingly loud as I grasp what was just revealed.
“Yes,” Jeremiah’s mouth twitches faintly. “I sure did.”
“You can’t mean that. He doesn’t even…” my dad sputters.
“Oh, I mean it, brother,” Jeremiah interrupts, his voice sharp. “In ink and with witnesses. Very legal. Very real.” He tilts his head slightly. “The ridiculous tradition of passing through the alpha line has got to stop. I am stopping it. It serves no one and nothing.”
Dad clears his throat, straightening his shoulders and lifting his chin. “State it clearly for the record.”
“I leave everything to Sunshine Nikkos Graves,” Jeremiah announces, voice clear and even. “Every. Single. Thing. Without amendment. And if anyone wishes to contest it, I hope the plumbing fails exclusively over your side of the bed.”
My dad doesn’t look angry; he looks sad. My brothers remain quiet, exchanging small glances that carry entire conversations without a single word being spoken. Chad is the only one looking pissy, but even he seems more confused than furious. My mom’s thumb rubs soothing circles on the back ofmy hand to comfort me or to keep me from rambling all the questions I have.
“You didn’t even know him,” my dad murmurs finally, his voice rough with some unnamed emotion. “You never met him.”
“And whose fault is that?” Jeremiah replies harshly.
I don’t blame my dad for being confused. I’m fucking confused. He left me, his only omega nephew, an escape.
The information I have on Uncle Jeremiah is slim. Only the barest minimum of half-remembered stories told through clenched teeth. All I know is Jeremiah is the only omega to get out from under the Graves family bullshit. He was never married and refused to attend family holidays. He was the black sheep.
The person my dad spoke about through clenched teeth and a carefully neutral tone. Jeremiah was supposedly the family disappointment.
I never even heard his voice until we dragged it out of his head.
“He’s not a stranger,” Jeremiah says tiredly, losing energy quickly. “I’ve met enough versions of him over the years to make an informed decision. Omegas in this family have never been given the chance they deserve. All I’m doing is evening the playing field. What he does with it is up to him.”
“Well, that’s that then,” Dad whispers, his shoulders drooping with disappointment.
Jeremiah hums in agreement but is otherwise quiet, his blinks growing slower the longer we keep him alive.
Without another word, my dad reaches forward and pulls the athame from his chest. The moment the blade leaves his body, my uncle falls limp, lifeless once again, as he returns to wherever he was before we interrupted him.
For a long moment, no one moves. Not even blinking as the reality of the situation sinks in.
I have my own place. Yeah, it’s in a humid, bug-infested, swamp state, but it’s mine. I can do whatever I want with it. I don’t have to rely on my family to take care of me or a mate to support me. I can do whatever the hell I want.
It takes everything in me to hide the giddy excitement coursing through me. For the first time since I was born, I feel valued.
Finally, my brothers unlink their hands, breaking the tense silence as they pat my back and whisper kind congratulations. It’s odd, having them acknowledge me when I’m so used to avoiding their attention.
Chad, of course, doesn’t say anything as he storms out, but that’s normal for him.
My dad doesn’t make eye contact as he leaves, seemingly lost in deep thought as he zombie walks out of the room.
I guess having your only brother tell you how much he judges your life and everything you’ve done hits hard, even for a stoic man like Dad.
Only my mother stays, holding my hand while I stare at the corpse of the man who has changed my entire life without ever meeting me.
“Well, that happened,” she laughs softly, amusement dancing in her deep brown eyes.
“You’re okay with this?” I ask, sounding like a small child. “All of it?”
