Page 108 of Generation Omega: Revealed
“I didn’t believe…”
“I know.”
“I don’t understand.” The reason shouldn’t matter right now, but it does.
“You locked it down, your need for her and the trust required to believe that Gideon would protect her and also allow you to be in her life. To keep going, you smothered everything you couldn’t handle.” Kaz looks harsh even when he’s being supportive. “You’ll still need to face it—everything that’s happened. Nothing we experience can be suppressed forever. But I won’t let you succumb to it. I’ll keep you safe.” His lips raise slightly in a compellingly sinister grin. “And when you’re healed, I’ll let you try to fight me.”
A confusing mash of ego, relief, and arousal slams into me at the thought. I assumed he noticed the number of times I’ve imagined fighting him. Losing or winning—it doesn’t even matter, just the chance to test myself against him, to see what we’re made of and who we are in the place that suffers no lies.
Kazimir’s worn face brightens when he actually smiles at me. “Oh, we’re going to spar, Ethan. Don’t doubt it for a second.” He turns his attention on the approaching boats, his jaw turning to stone. “This is going to go poorly, at least initially. As soon as she’s here, take her away from us. Don’t hesitate. She’s vulnerable right now, and her alphas need space to determine our positioning within the pack.”
“You’re not going to fight Gideon for power, are you?” I couldn’t conceal my concern if I tried, and I’m not trying.
“That’s not my intention, but this is primal and I’m not accustomed to being led. My honest answer is that I have no idea what’s going to happen next, but violence is always possible.”
“Whatisyour intention?”
His dark eyes meet mine. “To do right by you, which means doing right by her. If Gideon presents no threat to you, then I’m fine with him taking the lead with her and the pack. He clearly trusts me more than the fractious professor, but only because of my attachment to you. Just understand, the professor is a conflicted man, a zealot who’s been running from his base urges all his life. He has reasons to hate me but more to hate himself. But I’ll try not to kill anyone, unless someone decides to separate you from your girl, or us from her pack.”
“Thank you.”
He shakes his head. “You havenothingto thank me for.”
“I haveeverythingto thank you for. You’re the reason I’m here.”
“You’rethe reason I’m alive, Ethan—I promise, you are the best thing that ever happened to me.” For a man of relatively few words, he does know how to use them to profound effect.
Even though I should acknowledge what he just said, I can’t. It’s too much. “I need to ask you something.”
“Anything.”
I hedge and feel the pressure of an impending bark if I don’t either think clearly or use my words. “During the heat that’s coming, are you going to have to…bewith her?”
The scowl of doom returns. “Not if I can help it, but her scent is already in the air and I’m about to come apart. That’s reason number two for you to get her away from us. Take her down to the nest and lock the door. I’ll drop the supplies to you through the escape hatch. And definitely feed her—she needs all the carbs you can get into her. After we’ve unloaded, you two prepare the nest and let the alphas do our thing. Got it?”
“Got it.”
Kaz clears his throat. “Ethan, if I can’t stop myself during the heat… I don’t want to hurt you or betray you, but I don’t know what’s going to happen. This is everything I hate about biology over free will. I should be able to choose where I stick my dick, but here we are.”
I touch his tense arm with my hand, dragging my bondmark against his skin. He seizes my hand and sucks on the bite, both of us tasting the same euphoria that hasn’t faded at all. Bondmarks are amazing.
“It will work out, Kaz. I don’t know how, but it will. And remember, biology is the reason we’re here. The omegaverse brought us together, and I believe it’s for a reason.”
“You can believe anything you want and I won’t argue, at least when you’re within hearing distance.”
“Jackass,” I mutter and enjoy the way his mood briefly lightens.
Then he trains the light on the nearest boat, and I see her face peeking out from a mass of blankets. I’m punched in the gut by how much I need to see her, how much I love her, and how much I’ve missed her.
“Kaz, seriously, thank you.” I wave to her. “Till!”
“Ethan!”
It’s like we’ve been separated for years, but then she’s here, standing recklessly and throwing herself at me. I catch her and hear her laugh before it’s silenced by snarling, roaring, and shouting that hits us like a shock wave.
“Now, Ethan—get her out of here.”
Kaz’s voice is a constricted growl, and I don’t pause, lifting Tillie and carrying her up the stairs toward the main level. We pass the living room, dining room, and kitchen, on our way to another staircase that will take us below deck. Gideon bellows at the hostile professor, and Kaz’s fury seems to follow us.
