Page 20 of Generation Omega: Claimed
When I’m in the nest, spectator or participant, I can see what’s happening, the pack forming through the connection forced by biology. But when I leave and I’m standing naked in the kitchen, like I am now, I get tripped up by the potential costs of this required course in all things carnal. For the pack to truly form, individual needs and desires must be abandoned—that’s what I’m guessing—and I don’t know what that looks like after the heat ends.
The other thing that keeps dive-bombing my scattered thoughts is what Mr. Kilt said, that no one in the pack is meant to remember anything that happens during a heat. Kaz is still holding onto his control, but he’s looking haggard from the effort. I don’t know how much longer he can endure, and he gets super surly any time I doubt him. But, at least for this heat, he’ll remember most of it, just as I will. What impacts me like a swarm of wasps is the awareness that, in the future, I’ll be the only one who carries our pack’s full history.
I don’t know why that bothers me so much, but it does. It reminds me of the feeling I had before the heat commenced, that some part of me was a can squashed under a boot. I still don’t understand it—this mysterious wound that’s surfacing—but, oneday, I’ll figure it out and work through it, with the support of my alpha and my Tillie.
The longer I’m away from the nest, the more obvious and agonizing my longing is, to have my Tillie back. It seems like a dream, when Kaz reached through me to connect with her, which saved us. The man who came to kill this iteration of the omega lineage saved it again, and so did Tillie. She honored her part, surrendering to the care of her alphas. And Kaz honored his promise, because I’m safe and alive, and, to everyone but Thatcher, I’m pack.
Thatcher’s primal side is a real jackass, and he only got worse after losing his pussy privileges. He’s never stopped snarling at me or attempting to bite Tillie, but Kaz took care of that by muzzling him. Jameson is more easygoing, just happy to fuck with abandon whenever and wherever he’s allowed, but I have a feeling that might be due to his healthy fear of Kaz.
Kaz is managing the pack like a drill sergeant—he’s definitely the true pack guardian, most valuable alpha, and den mother all in one. Only one member of the pack has denied every effort to be subdued, and that’s our omega. She just won’t stop biting Mr. Kilt—she’s bitten him like twelve times. After each fierce bite, he just purrs at her like she couldn’t be more adorable, and never once did he bite her back. The omega legacy wasn’t wrong about him.
It still scrambles my soul that Tillie’s going to have to tend all those bites, especially the one in a sensitive area. But that’s not a problem we need to face yet.
While chugging a sports drink, I flinch as Kaz sends a fierce tug that practically drags me back to the nest. I leap down the stairs and barrel toward the door. Once inside, I find Tillie seated in the middle of the mattress, naked, her eyes open, her confusion and uneasiness radiating at me.
“Ethan?” she whispers, fighting a sob.
CHAPTER 12
TILLIE
I feel glimmers of my ragged breaths, but then I’m gone again, detached, floating through a divinely warm space—never landing, never falling, safe and held. An echo reaches me, pleasure cascading over me. I’m both the pinnacle of the wave and the foam when it glides onto the shore. I’m everything and nothing. Unburdened. Then I’m tugged back to awareness, only slightly, just the way my nails dig into bulging, muscular arms. My eyes aren’t my eyes, so I live in this touch. These arms… I know these arms. They belong to Gideon.
I fade away again, swept back out to sea, gone but untroubled, peacefully existing. When my fingers deliver another detail, I inwardly flinch. I’m still digging into muscular arms, but these arms aren’t Gideon’s. I don’t know these arms. My sudden concern works like a rope, allowing me to hold on a bit longer, long enough to feel just how full I am of this stranger’s cock. It’s massive—he’s massive, his arms even bigger than Gideon’s. Fabric teases along my sweaty skin. He’s still wearing something, and it rests against me.
I’m not pushing him away. I’m trying to get him deeper… no,I’mnot, my omega is. She’s furiously milking his cock, like she can’t get him deep enough, can’t keep him where she desperatelyneeds him. I’m abruptly aware of my mouth that licks his shoulder before absolutely tearing into him, puncturing his flesh with my teeth.
My omega is seething, knowing she’s been denied what she was promised. A lie. A betrayal. In answer to her own vengeance, she bites him again. I don’t hear his response, but I feel it, the purr that can’t help but soothe me, though it doesn’t quench the fire of her rage.
What’s happening? I think that, fearing I’ll be dragged away before her answer reaches me.
He’s mine. Not yours. Mine.
Who?
She’s gritting my teeth, but her power is fading. She’s the one receding now, and she’s bitter.Too brief… not long enough… lies.
What’s happening? Who’s inside me?
Us. He’s insideusnow, but during the heat, he was mine again. He’s mine. Meant to be mine.She’s wrecked over him, and I’m too woozy and unbound to understand.
Omega, tell me. Explain.
I broke the rules—the omegaverse’s precious rules. I was promised him, but I didn’t understand the price. I was you once, alive and whole. And now, I’m a shadow only allowed to exist for a small time—I’m your shadow, unable to even cast one on my own. A prisoner. That wasn’t the promise they made, or it was, but I didn’t understand, and there was no time to explain.
I don’t even know where to begin. Rule? What rule?
I bit him. Over and over. He’s mine. It was supposed to be your choice, but I need him, and he was willing to fade. He’s as injured as I am. He’s a shadow too, only with a more willing host. You tried to end me. You won’t share.
I did share, didn’t I? How long have you used my body like it belongs to you? That men I don’t know used my body? I consented… I did, but now, I…
She sends comforting vibes through me, along with the understanding that her anger is with the omegaverse, not me.It’s okay. Coming down from the heat is always excruciating. You did well. They did well. We saved your Ethan, made him pack. I did that for you…
My gratitude flows her way.
… and I want something in return.
What?
