Font Size:

Page 37 of Generation Omega: Revealed

“Take her now and take this,” the stranger says, but I pay no attention to him.

“I love you,” I sob, squeezing Ethan’s hand so hard my bones ache.

“I love you… forever.” His eyes flutter and shut. “Take her out of here.”

“Tillie, up now.” Gideon’s hands are on my shoulders. “We’ve got to go.”

I grab hold of Ethan’s jacket and shake him, but he’s not moving. He doesn’t respond at all. “Ethan!” I scream. “Ethan, please…please…”

“Take her!” the Russian snaps, and I’m in Gideon’s arms as he races down the alley toward the SUV, leaving Ethan on the ground with our enemy. I try to look back, but I can’t see anything through my tears. The world is underwater now and all my trust in the instinct that brought us here is dead and buried. All I know is that I will scream until the world ends.

CHAPTER19

GIDEON

Never in my life have I ever felt or even imagined anything as painful as what I feel with Tillie in my arms, screaming her lungs out for Ethan, her heart torn to shreds. She doesn’t know. She doesn’t understand. But how am I supposed to tell her when she’s beyond reason? And what can I say with any certainty? I don’t know whether Ethan will survive or not. I don’t know anything other than what my instincts told me, and confessing that won’t help Tillie.

The pitch of her cries is more piercing as Titus drives us away from the scene of so many crimes. Her panic spiking, Tillie frantically struggles to free herself from my hold, but I don’t release her. I can’t imagine allowing any distance from her ever again. She could have died in that alley. She could have been drugged and taken—we both could have ended our lives in a dark hole somewhere. If not for Ethan, Titus, and the killer’s sudden change of heart, my omega and I would have been lost.

“Let me go!” She’s punching me now, but I still don’t loosen my hold.

“Dude, what the hell?” Titus demands as he barrels down the road ignoring most, if not all, traffic laws.

“Just keep going.”

“NO! Go back. Ethan… we left Ethan. You made me leave him!” She jerks away from me, but she can’t get far. “How could you do that?!”

“I’m with her,” Titus snaps. “Why the fuck did we leave him? That guy is a badass. He was shot twice and never surrendered.” Titus calls to Tillie, “I can go back.”

“No!” I bark and Tillie blanches, but what shocks me is the way my command hits Titus, whose glare at me in the rearview mirror turns venomous.

“What the actual fuck is going on, Gideon?”

Before I can answer, or even begin to find the words, Tillie starts seizing in my arms.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“I don’t know!” I reposition her in my arms and brush my hand across her cheek. “Tillie, can you hear me? Honey, what’s wrong?”

Her eyes glaze over and her body continues to convulse.

“She’s in shock.”

He’s right, but this isn’t a normal woman in shock. This is an omega in shock. I reach for the instincts I barely trust at this point and they respond, providing a completely unworkable option. It’s just wrong… it ignores everything I believe about a woman’s consent. She doesn’t want to touch me at all and I’m supposed to force even more contact with an unwilling woman, who just happens to have revealed as an omega a handful of hours ago.

Her vulnerability guts me, but I have to do something. I’m about to cave and listen to these dodgy instincts when the fog in her eyes suddenly clears, replaced by something feral. Tillie tears at her own clothes, desperate to get free of them. I instantly understand and assist her in removing the giant hoodie and the dress beneath it. She rips away her bra and then grasps my shirt and tries to tear it.

“What the heck?!” Titus swerves wildly, taking us onto and then off the sidewalk.

“It’s okay.” I gently force Tillie’s hands to release my shirt so I can pull it over my head.

As soon as it’s added to the pile of clothes on the seat beside us, she dives toward me, her chest pressed against mine. Skin to skin, our hearts ping each other like two submarines in the deepest part of the ocean. I could have helped her with my heart’s new magical alpha power, but I didn’t even think about it. But now, it’s all I’m thinking about, nudging her heart to find a steady rhythm and abandon its traumatic pounding.

Tillie nuzzles into me, trying to get closer. To help us both, I wrap my arms around her, squeezing her in an embrace that allows her to finally exhale. She’s so warm against me and soft, and damn, she smells good.

Her hysteria subsides and her grief takes over. She sobs in earnest now, a waterfall of sorrow for her courageous boyfriend who may have given his life to save her. He wouldn’t regret it, but I will regret failing them both for as long as I live. I should have done more, but I kept listening to the guidance that was as subtle as a glowing, blinking neon sign in the dark of night.

Protect your omega.


Articles you may like