Page 2 of Generation Omega: Claimed
“No! That poison almost killed you. I won’t have it on this yacht.”
I’m suddenly speechless at the ferocity of his protective impulse. He’d rather watch the world burn than risk me.
Thank you. That’s what I think as the mystifying depths of our bond threaten to overwhelm all my circuits, when I really need to be focusing on the task at hand. Tillie’s just reaching the lower deck at the back of the yacht, and the last of her alphas are joining the rabid alpha choir.
“Gideon,” Kaz barks, “this is going to go badly.”
Kaz’s warning is almost entirely swallowed by the professor’s snarling rampage in response to the arriving alphas. As Tillie hurries toward her two new alphas, Thatcher lunges for her.
Gideon snatches the professor by his neck with a grip that might end him. “Settle,” Gideon growls, but his tone is wrong. Fifty-plus movies and he’s never sounded so brutal and out of control, and he’s played some of the most psychopathic villains ever displayed on screen.
Kaz jerks me behind him as Gideon’s gaze lands on us like we’re the next threat he means to confront. Not cowed in the slightest, Kaz delivers a mighty roar to remind Gideon of our membership in this pack. Thankfully, Gideon, with the professor’s throat still in his tight grasp, acknowledges Kaz, buthe’s barely functioning as a human. He’s an alpha succumbing to the madness of the rut.
The unhinged glow in the professor’s eyes matches Gideon’s, and two more alphas are almost here. No matter how much I want to believe that Kaz and I can do something good here, I can’t help but feel like I’ve brought a plastic spork to a missile fight.
Here they are, our heat igniters, leaping from their speedboat. The kilted man is massive and tears off his shirt as he jumps aboard. Tillie doesn’t hesitate, throwing herself at him. He catches her like the most valuable treasure in the universe just landed in his arms.
I can’t see Mr. Sex Tape, who’s blocked by the burly, kilt-wearing ginger, but I can hear his roar. I’m abruptly snared by a cacophonous explosion of guttural threats, each alpha unquestionably ready to back them up with physical violence.
With so much noise reverberating against me, threatening to tear me apart, I expect Tillie to show some concern, but her omega appears to be preening at the proof of her alphas’ bloodlust. While she clings to her new alpha, I begin to falter, my legs quivering as the alphas’ calls for submission bounce off each other and land directly on me. Just as I’m about to drop, Kaz’s strong hands grab my arms, ensuring I’m steady as he returns alpha fire with a roar that casts the widest blast radius yet.
I flinch from a memory. I asked Kaz whether he would fight Gideon for power, and he couldn’t answer. No, he did answer. He said he wasn’t accustomed to being led. He said his intention was to do right by me and, if Gideon wasn’t a threat to me, Kaz would allow him to lead without challenge.
Gideon’s indiscriminate rage is a threat to me, and Kaz just answered in a way that silenced Thatcher and briefly halted the roar from the unknown alpha. I finally realize that one alpha isn’t making a sound, the one holding Tillie. It’s like he’s noteven participating in this battle for power and placement in the pack. That’s probably because he already won the prize.
Gideon snarls at Kaz, and the wildness in his eyes is a sure sign this apex predator is about to pounce. But just before his muscles complete their pre-attack spool up, a sound overwhelms all others, freezing everyone in place. The keening cry is defined by a depth of grief that feels like it’s existed since the world was born. Tillie’s wail instantly neutralizes her alphas and, into the hush that captures us all, an answering mournful moan emerges from Mr. Kilt. His pain is just as heartbreakingly ancient as hers.
Their merged lament is ice in my veins. It’s like death is speaking to us through them, warning us of what’s to come if we fail. It’s impossible to block the sound from invading the locked room where I hide all the shadowy forms my grief wears when it haunts my dreams. This cry might be ancient, but every person who’s ever experienced the finality of death speaks its language.
What’s instantly clear is that the pair’s eternal sorrow strikes the alphas harder and deeper than it does to me. Every one of them curls in on themselves, gripping their own chests to smother the grief grenade before it explodes.
“What’s happening?” Gideon manages to say, but then realizes his question is directed at the man he’s still choking. Gideon releases the professor, who staggers back, unable to stand straight as Tillie and her alpha continue to grieve.
“I don’t know,” the professor raggedly admits, his attention fixed on the sight he can’t comprehend.
Well, fuck, this omegaverse expert is no help at all.
While the alphas remain trapped in the mysterious pain of their omega, the legacy gives me a nudge. I don’t understand it but I obey, stepping closer to Tillie and her new alpha.
“It’s okay.” I keep my voice low and nonthreatening. “It’ll be okay. We’re all here for you. We’ll do whatever you need.”
The rays of first light spread across the sky and Tillie whimpers, huddling into the man’s neck that’s roughly the size of a tree trunk.
The nest.Oh, good, the legacy is picking up the slack for our defective professor.
“Alpha,” I say softly to Mr. Kilt, “your omega needs her nest. Will you follow me?”
Her alpha meets my gaze, his face wet with tears, his green eyes glistening as more gather. But his obvious emotion doesn’t diminish, even slightly, the menace in his eyes. If I reach for her, he’ll kill me, and yet, I’m not afraid of him like the other alphas. The reason is simple—he’s not out of control. He’s more than willing tohomicide, just like the others. But, in his case, it’s not because he’s feral and off his leash for the first time. If he kills me, I needed killing—that’s what his face, his eyes, and his posture declare.
He didn’t just become an alpha—heisan alpha, with no memory of ever being anything else.
Okay, great. And that helps us how exactly?
He’ll help you keep order.
When Tillie whines, his arms protectively surround her, and he nods for me to lead the way. I glance at Kaz, knowing he doesn’t want to be separated from me, especially with this intense dude.
You can trust his instincts.He’s the only one you can trust during the rut. Just don’t forget what he is and that, to him, there is no Tillie, just an omega in need.
