Page 44 of Generation Omega: Revealed
“Well, we’ve got our first alpha.” She leans and magnifies the image that still isn’t clear enough for me to discern his pixelated, dark features.
“Here, let me help,” she says in a chipper tone.
Instead of pulling more footage, she opens a browser and types in a web address. The screen suddenly fills with a movie site and an actor famous enough that even I recognize him when I haven’t seen a film in decades.
“Anactor?” Disgust roils inside me and my teeth clench together.
Sage practically purrs, “Oh, he’s lovely.”
“But anactor?! Kings, mathematicians, the finest philosophers, and explorers—these have been the alphas of old. Why would…?
“Oh, he’s the king of our time—trust me.” Then she covers her mouth to ineffectually conceal her continued amusement. “Professor Snooty McNerd and Gideon Blake,packmates… I can just see it now. It’s awesome and it makes sense.”
“WHAT?!”
“I know I told you to get all in your feelings, but could you rejoin me in active brain land? Think about it. He’s got skills, money, clout, a driver, fame, resources. He’ll be able to keep her hidden because a man who lives that publicly knows how to vanish when the need arises. This is promising.”
I don’t respond to any of that—I can’t. My omega is undefended in the presence of a vapid actorplayingalpha. “Find him, Sage—findthem.”
“Yes, of course, alpha.”
She’s delighted and I want to kill. Maybe one day, she’ll understand what it feels like to have more to lose than you ever knew you could possibly have.
CHAPTER22
GIDEON
I don’t want to wake her, but I also don’t want her to wake in a strange place and not remember how she got there. I have power over her, but that doesn’t mean she’s okay with being overpowered. I need her to trust me, which basically means we’re building our foundation with fast-setting concrete and any failure on my part is going to permanently threaten our survival. But hey, no pressure.
Still, I hesitate to rouse her for purely selfish reasons, loving how it feels to have her this close and to be lost in a cloud of her perfectly addicting fragrance. Our hearts beat in time and, for this one second, we’re safe and connected. Of course, she’s unconscious, which makes this bliss solidly on the sketchy side of the force, but this stolen glimpse of what we could be gives me an even deeper sense of what I’m fighting to build with her and for her.
Just as I’m about to wake her, Titus asks, “What do you want me to do?”
Like someone else wrote the script for me, I’ve got this. “As soon as we’re dropped off, get this SUV out of town as loudly as possible and then hand it off to someone and give them cash to drive around the country. I want our enemies chasing down as many leads as we can manage. I want my plane in the air, flying all over the damn place, making ridiculous stops everywhere. I need their resources divided so we have time to figure out what comes next.” My tension returns like a battering ram. “I’ve played enough roles to have gamed this out—the beginning is always the most dangerous because you don’t know what you’re dealing with yet.”
Titus slows the SUV, punches the code on the keypad, and waits for the metal gate to open. “That’s real. I mean, this is basically the zombie apocalypse and we need to know the actual zombie rules to stay alive—namely, fast zombies or slow, lurching zombies. That shit matters.” He scoffs. “She’s much prettier than a zombie and I don’t think omegas eat brains, so things could be worse. But she’s not the problem, is she? It’s everyone who doesn’t want the world to change.”
I lower my chin and rest it on her head. “She’s mine, Titus, more than anything has ever been or will ever be. I will give anything, do anything, be anything for her.”
“It’s biology, huh?” He drives across the underground parking lot until we’re close to my private elevator. “Like I said, there are worse things than the omegaverse coming to life. Those cute, fuzzy creatures that spawn beasties if they eat after midnight, for example—those things still give me nightmares. A sweet girl with a big heart who will love this world and everyone in it… yeah, that’s definitely preferable.”
Testing my alpha powers, I give a little inner nudge to see whether she wakes without an official bark. “Don’t tell me you’re a secret omegee.”
The SUV now stopped, Titus turns and shows off his Hollywood-worthy smile. “I’ve certainly dated a few, even done some alpha roleplay in the bedroom, if I’m being honest. But no, I’ve never been an omegee, but the hopelessness in this world makes me willing to believe that there must be an opposite—a counterpoint to what is proved every single day, that we live in a soulless time devoid of honor. Maybeshe’sthe counterpoint we’ve been waiting for.”
Tillie’s body tenses, but she doesn’t try to move away from me or my protective embrace. “Lower your expectations. I’m a mess and no one’s savior. This is all a mistake.”
Titus manages to gentle his deep voice for her. “It’s day one. Everyone has to start somewhere.” To me, he adds, “Do you want me to go up with you, check the place?”
“No, I’ve got it and I checked the security system from your phone. It’s all good up there.”
“Alright. I’m going to give this thing a little temporary makeover before I leave the lot, so this building won’t be a landmark. Then I’m going to have some fun on my joyride out of town.” Titus exits the car and opens the door nearest to me, looking away from us like the perfect chauffeur.
“This place should be safe until we figure out what to do.”
Tillie doesn’t say a word and I can almost sense how furious she is with herself for remaining close to me and claiming comfort from our connection.
“I’m going to carry you just like this. I’ll bring your clothes.”
