Page 1 of Generation Omega: Claimed
CHAPTER 1
ETHAN
“Help me take it off,” Tillie whispers. She doesn’t need to explain that she’s ready to embrace all that comes next in the life of an omega. And it’s right that I’m the one untying the belt and easing the soft robe over her shoulders, freeing her from the last barrier to becoming exactly who she’s meant to be.
It’s right that I’m here, that we’re stillusin the midst of all the sudden and irreparable changes that disrupted our lives.
It’s right, and yet…
As my heart expands with love and encouragement for Tillie’s grand adventure, something inside me is being crushed like an empty can under a boot. Jagged metal edges and the sliver of what was—that’s all that remains. I don’t know the exact origin of this pain, but there will be time later to name this agony infecting my otherwise hopeful heart.
For now, I follow Tillie as she moves toward her destiny, her gorgeous, naked body bathed in moonlight and capturing every light on the yacht. She’s a glowing angel as she slowly descends the steps to the main level. The approaching boat races toward us. Mr. Kilt and theInfamousSex-Tapealpha will be aboard within a minute or two, and this event—this heat and rut and whatever else comes next—will officially commence.
I already know that nothing will ever be the same, not for any of us. But I have no idea what that means—for Tillie, for this pack, or for me. I have to remind myself that nothing was ever going to be the same from the moment Tillie revealed as an omega. This is simply the next step in a journey that began in that auditorium when Tillie was suddenly too hot to touch, and the professor shared the horrifying truth about the omegaverse. Omega-Palooza was not justground zerofor the future we thought we’d earned, but for the entire structure of society if we can keep Tillie and her alphas alive.
That’s the only goal that matters, which means I need to ignore everything that won’t help me with my mission. It’s time to put on my game face and become the pack guardian, or feral alpha wrangler. Does my new position come with a badge and a tranquilizer gun? Maybe a cattle prod or shock collars? That’s what I want to know, but the omega legacy is conspicuously silent. Or maybe the legacy is being drowned out by the cast ofAlphas Gone Wildcurrently providing the soundtrack for this little shindig.
A rumbling chorus, purrs and growls, even the occasional snarl—I don’t think they know what they’re doing.Primalhas arrived, and I didn’t get an invitation to the party. I’m afraid to look at Kaz, who’s growling along with the others like the hungry lions got loose and are prowling for a tasty snack.
“I’m stillme,” Kaz grits out from just behind me, his voice raw and his words hard-fought.
“But for how long?” It’s an honest question with a potentially disastrous answer.
The pulse of his alpha power hits me, the force almost bringing me to my knees. “I won’t surrender—not ever.”
I still don’t look at him. “Then I need your help.”
“You’ll have it.”
I don’t need to explain—I already did. Wrapped in my alpha’s embrace in a room below deck, I shared exactly what the omega legacy instructed me to do. His response was completely concealed from me, like everything he thinks and feels. I’m an open book to him, and he’s a locked vault to me. We’ve barely begun our confusing relationship, and that disparity is already starting to chafe.
“You can do this.” That’s what he said, but there was something more potent in what he didn’t say.
If I had to guess, the unspoken conclusion of that sentence was something to the effect of… you can do this,because I’ll be with you, and I’ll slaughter anyone who doesn’t obey my beta.Of course, Kaz slaughtering the other alphas for not respecting my authority won’t help with my mission—that’s exactly what I’m supposed to prevent. And, in any other circumstance, I could do this without any assistance at all.
I’ve sparred with some of the greatest MMA fighters in the world during training seminars and practice fights. I’ve actually fought the next generation of top MMA fighters. I know how to fight, how to dig in and never yield. But no normal person—nobeta—has ever or could ever make me feel as vulnerable as I do right now. Each growl is a body blow, but these alphas don’t need to make a peep to strike me. The shock waves from their barely contained power pummel me, reminding me of my place, demanding my obedience.
I don’t need a degree in omega studies to know just how dangerous alpha power is, how violent and destructive all alphas would be without an omega to focus their energy.No superpowers in the omegaverse—that was a damn lie. They may not control metal, fly, or move at the speed of light, but their power is somehow more unsettling because it’s all about dominationanddesignations.
Alphas can dominate betas. It’s not like I didn’t already know that in theory, but reality is a harsh pill to swallow. No matter what I do, I’ll never be able to defeat an alpha whose willpower is weaponized. A frosty breeze seems to blow through me as I suddenly comprehend Tillie’s concerns in a much more visceral way. I’m here. I’m part of this pack. I have a job and a bondmark, but I’m still a beta in a pack of alphas—a prey animal in a family of predators.
“You aren’tprey. You are Ethan. You aremine. You belong here.” Kaz’s vehemence would be more comforting if he didn’t sound like a caveman barely able to grunt out a few three-word sentences. I can feel his body trembling through our bond, his new nature battling him more savagely than any enemy ever could.
Curiosity—possibly self-preservation—drives me to raise my hand to my mouth and suck hard on our bondmark.
Kaz gasps a breath and steadies. “Yes, that helps. Keep doing that. Pull me back. I trust you.”
I run my teeth over the bondmark, our thrumming connection delivering a tender truth Kaz wouldn’t willingly share. He just said three words he’s never said before, and he meant them. He’s shocked at having spoken them, hostile at the forces unraveling his control so much that he’d admit such a thing, and strangely glad he said them because he’s experiencing the way they affect me.
Kaz trusts me, and I trust him. I shouldn’t—he’d tell me not to. He’d remind me that he shot me, that he’s dangerous on his best day and, on his worst, he’s the killer of innocent omegas and their alphas. I haven’t forgotten. I won’t—Ican’t. But this complicated life has a more vivid palette than the absolutes found in ourbestsandworsts. The monster who’s trying to learn from my memories how to be a good man… that’s a person I’m grateful to know.
On a more practical level, considering the lack of available tranq guns, my bond with Kaz might be the only thing that prevents this heat from becoming a bloodbath. A killer can also be a savior—he certainly was mine.
Wait a second. “Tranquilizers… don’t you have some, like the one your brother shot me with? It takes down alphas, right? Instant naptime?”
“It’s gone.” Mr. Growly’s tone is bottom-of-the-swamp dark.
“But it could be helpful if…”
