(Luna, the system, the bond threads revealed)
Elias's POV
Silence.
That was the first thing Elias noticed. No laughter, no gasps, no clinking of crystal. No choking on poisoned wine. Just silence, broken only by the faint hum of a ceiling fan.
His eyes snapped open.
The marble hall, the nobles, the chandeliers—they were gone. Instead, sunlight slanted across an old wooden desk stacked with worn books. Curtains stirred faintly in the morning breeze. A fan spun lazily above, its soft whir oddly comforting.
This was… his childhood room.
Elias sat up too quickly, his head spinning. His hands flew over his body—no cold sweat, no burning poison in his veins, no cracked ribs from falling. His breath trembled. Everything was wrong, and yet everything was exactly as it had been years ago.
"I'm… back?" His voice cracked on the words.
Memories rushed in, jagged and merciless. The glittering hall. The poisoned goblet. The weight of Ronan's rejection. The burning agony of his veins turning to ice. And Luna—the Moon Goddess—her silver eyes and words etched into his bones: Three threads. You will not walk alone.
He staggered to his feet, clutching the bedpost. The room was exactly as he remembered at eighteen. The books he had studied obsessively. The faint scent of parchment and ink. The uniform folded neatly over the chair, untouched by the blood and humiliation of his last life.
Tears pricked his eyes. Not from weakness, but from the overwhelming certainty pressing down on him.
He had lived to thirty-eight. He had endured heat after heat, rejection after rejection. He had died choking on poison and pride in that hall.
And now—he was here again. Eighteen. Reborn.
A glow shimmered faintly before him. Elias froze.
The sigil burned softly on his forehead, the same mark Luna had carved into his soul when she dragged him back from death. And then it appeared: a translucent interface, hovering in the air like spun glass. Bars, numbers, symbols. Text he could read as clearly as his own heartbeat.
[Omega Ascension System Activated]
His breath hitched. His fingers trembled as he reached forward, brushing at nothing yet feeling the soft thrum of energy against his skin.
[Status: Reincarnated]
[Level: 1]
[Affinity Threads Detected: 3]
[Bond 1: Alpha – Ronan Vale | Distance: 10m | Affinity: 93%]
[Bond 2: Alpha – ??? | Status: Dormant | Affinity: 87%]
[Bond 3: Alpha – ??? | Status: Dormant | Affinity: 80%]
Elias staggered back, heart pounding. He had known Ronan was his mate from the moment their eyes met, but the system confirmed it in cold, unshakable truth. The bond was real. The other two threads shimmered faintly in the distance, hidden but undeniable.
Three mates. Three Alphas. Three threads.
His instincts flared, shame and desire colliding. Ronan's rejection had nearly broken him in his past life. The humiliation of being denied, of being treated as less than dirt, had followed him to his grave. And now fate—or the goddess—had the audacity to tether him to not one Alpha, but three?
His chest heaved as he gripped the desk, struggling for control.
This time will be different, he told himself. His voice was a whisper, fierce and unyielding. I won't be weak. I won't beg. I won't die their servant. This time—I choose.
The system pulsed as though answering him.
[Skill Unlocked: Alpha Insight (Lv. 1)]
[Effect: Perceive Alpha's emotional resistance and desire levels in real time.]
Elias gasped. His vision sharpened. He could feel it—an invisible thread pulling at his chest, tugging faintly toward Ronan. His pulse quickened, his breath hitched. Even across the estate, the Alpha was aware.
His hand rose to the glowing thread, and the system shifted:
[Ronan Vale – Bond Status: 65% Resisting / 35% Accepting]
[Physiological Response: Accelerated heartbeat, pheromone release high, minor tremors]
Elias's lips parted in shock. He could feel Ronan's conflict. His pride. His hesitation. His instinct clawing against his discipline. The Alpha who had once rejected him now trembled with the same pull Elias had fought so desperately to suppress.
A thrill shot through him. Not fear—power.
This time, I won't let him decide my worth.
The system pulsed again.
[Bond Stabilization: Initiate?]
Elias hesitated. He could force it, override Ronan's resistance, bend the Alpha to instinct. But Luna's voice whispered at the back of his mind: You are the Ascended Omega. Guide, do not chain.
So instead, Elias closed his eyes and focused. He imagined the bond as a thread of silver light, steady and calm, stretching between them. He pushed not force, but reassurance, safety, strength.
The system responded instantly.
[Bond Stabilization Successful – Emotional Synchronization +15%]
Somewhere in the Vale estate, Ronan growled. Low, frustrated, torn between fury and need. Elias felt it vibrate in his chest through the thread, and for the first time in either life, his lips curved into a quiet, confident smile.
Not fear. Not humiliation. Power.
The Omega Ascension had truly begun