Page 69 of Generation Omega: Revealed
I like him, and I don’t want him to hate me.Is it even possible that he won’t hate me? I’m built to be hated.
“Do you remember our time in the alley?” I ask, while listening for his answer with all my senses.
“After you shot me, you mean?” He’s flippant, and his mind is filled with only what’s in front of him—me.
“Yes, after that, when I saved you.”
His forehead knots, and he sets the rest of the sandwich on the plate. “Some.” He hesitates, concerned with telling the truth and revealing vulnerabilities. Then his thoughts take him back to what I said about the truth. He measures his need for my truth against his fears of sharing his, and resolves to risk. “I remember asking if you could save me because she needs me. It’s fuzzy, but I think you wanted me to accept the consequences, whatever they are. I saidyes—that’s the last thing I remember.”
Ethan releases a breath, a shuddering pain working through him. He’ll need meds if I can’t help him.
Then his clear blue eyes hold mine and an awareness hits him that shocks me as much as his words. “I consented to whatever it took to save me. You might have shot me, but you didn’t poison me. I’m guessing a guy like you doesn’t miss, so you meant to shoot me through the spot that’s not likely to cause long-term damage. I’m still alive and Tillie knows it—so you kept your word. I’m grateful, but please, I need to know what I traded. I won’t whine and cry about it…much, but not knowing is getting to me.”
He’s remarkable. I felt it in the alley but I had no idea, because I’d never met a true unicorn before yesterday.
“The poison is lethal to betas. He never should have used it on you. Our war isn’t with betas.We’rebetas—or, I was before last night. To save you, I had to make you something else, and there was only one way to do that.”
He’s waiting, cringing internally but revealing nothing.
“I didn’t know if it would work. It’s never been done, as far as I know, but you’re living proof that I was successful.”
“Please, just say it.”
“I bit you,bondedyou. Your hand.”
His mind blanks. “What?”
“Alphas bite and bond their omegas. It’s the highest form of connection possible inlife as we know it. Legends say that in the truest and strongest packs, omegas sometimes bite their alphas—I don’t know whether that’s true. What’s never been reported in history is an alpha bonding a beta, especially an alpha who’s never touched his omega.” I struggle to say that word without vomiting and quickly continue. “The natural law of the omegaverse is changing, and our bond is another sign.”
I can’t read his expression and his mind is disturbingly silent.
“Could you…” He fully shudders, exhaustion tugging at him, the pain in his hand burning. “What do you think this will mean to Tillie? Is this going to hurt her?”
Ugh… he’s so faithful to that damn omega. “I don’t know. I don’t know her. I don’t know how she’s reacting to all of this—I’m trying to shut down every link to her. But I can tell you one thing that might help her and will definitely help you.”
“Yes, please. What?”
“You can’t be away from me and, ultimately, I will succumb to the reality that I can’t be away from her. So any thought that you aren’t part of her future—that’s over. If I am herpack, then so are you.”
His instant relief is humbling, that I had the power to give him that. “I belong with her.”
“You do.”
Doubt surfaces in his gaze. “You won’t try to keep us apart?”
I shake my head. “I feel your pain, your anguish, your love for her, and I am now built to ensure your welfare, your happiness. I can’t hurt you, Ethan. You are mine.” I scowl at what comes next, but still push forward. “But I’m everything you think I am and worse, and I’ve never had a goldfish or a plant, so expect there to be a steep learning curve for me.”
Ethan swallows and I eye the bottle of water with a hint of a command. He rolls his eyes and takes a sip. “But why did you do it? Why did you save me?”
“You didn’t deserve to die like that.”
“Right, but you kill people all the time who don’t deserve it.”
I snort. “Agree to disagree about that, but they weren’t you.”
“But what was it about me that made me more worthy of life and becoming your forevergoldfish?”
He needs to know, but I don’t think he’s ready for the answer.
