Page 71 of Generation Omega: Claimed
Ory stomps to the table and drops down on the unluckiest chair, his stormy gaze directed at the window and the clouds beyond the glass. In all the fuss, I completely ignored our takeoff. Gideon approaches the table like it’s a necessary evil, and Jameson gleefully joins them, not wanting to miss any fireworks. From my vantage point, I observe them in a new way, which makes sense given I’m no longer within the yacht’s fluffy delusion zone.
On paper, they are everything we could hope for in our alphas—strong, resourceful, caring, loyal, fierce, dedicated. But there is more to this picture, more to them, and fuck do Iwish I didn’t know that. Unfortunately, I can’tunseereality and reclaim my blissful illusions. Gideon Blake, Jameson Farraway, andMackenz-OryMcAllister are, in fact, three enormous liabilities masquerading as our pack’s only hope. Damn, why didn’t I see it at the beginning?
It’s so obvious. Two world-known celebrities attempting to blend in and a burly Scot, with a mane of red hair and green eyes lit from within, who had to hide his kilt. He’s a walking mountain with or without the fucking kilt. When he’s Mackenzie, he’s stunning bait for every woman’s appreciation and every man’s jealousy. When he’s Ory, he strides like a marauder about to pillage an unsuspecting village. They don’tblend, and they never will, and I’m almost as bad, famous enough to be recognized by law enforcement at an omega convention.
To think we could ever stay under the radar—it’s the delusion of all delusions. Normally, people need to consume a shit-ton of hallucinogens to be this fucking clueless. I’m going to be shocked if we didn’t already pick up a tail, just from getting to the plane.
Even our absentee alphas aren’t any better. Thatcher is absolutely known in the world of the omegaverse, if he’s even still her alpha. AndKing Kazimir, the Beta Dominion Killer—his old comrades are going to be gunning for him like no one else. After all, he assassinated a bunch of his old buddies, including his brother, the night he claimed me. I don’t want to know this, but I do.
It’s a movie playing in my head. They’re going to kill us or cage us. They’re going to kill her or cage her. We don’t have a chance. We never did. I’ve been lying to myself every minute since Kaz saved me in that alley—no, even before, when I carried Tillie out of that auditorium on my back, helped by Kypsie who facilitated our first escape route.
The trouble is these pursuers will never stop. They will keep hunting us until they catch us. There’s no way for this crew to stay hidden, especially while attempting to change the world. Our enemies are too powerful for that, and technology is too advanced. When we left that yacht, we basically climbed into our car and drove straight toward a fucking cliff.
What unsettles me most is that Kaz knows all of this. He’s gone and not for a second did I doubt his intentions, butsee above, doubt explosion and denial destruction. Now, I’m suddenly wondering whether I’m a beta who’s been abandoned by his alpha. Could I really blame him for bailing on such a hopeless cause? A cause he spent his entire life working to defeat.
With distrust infecting my heart, I can’t ignore the ache building in my chest, the barbed wire digging in again, like when I was bound to the table in Kaz’s torture basement. Why did I think he could change? Why did I believe in him, when he never showed me his thoughts, his feelings, his past? When I first understood that he’d bonded me, I thought I didn’t have access to his inner world because I’m a beta, not a precious omega. But during the heat, his walls fell for just the briefest second, proving he could let them fall. He could have let me in, but he didn’t. Why? Is he still with us? Was he ever?
I can’t breathe. He chose the location to dock his yacht, the cars that were waiting for us, Ory’s clothes, this plane, the meeting place… is Kaz leading us into a trap? But that’s not the right way to ask the question. The right way is even more disturbing. IsKazimir Volkov, Beta Dominion’s finest assassin, leading us into a trap that will secure his victory in the war he’s been waging all his life?
Kaz bonded me because I didn’t deserve to die—that’s what he said. It made no sense then, but he was inside me, convincing me of my worthiness, and I ate it up. He filled a hole in me thathad always been there, and a suspicion forms in a horrifying idea I struggle to even grasp.
“Ethan,” Jameson lightly barks, “what’s going on?”
Should I say it? Can I? Then it’s not just Jameson studying my face that’s likely paler than it was. The three alphas look at me with a mix of curiosity and dread.
“How do you know Kazimir is really meeting us? Or that the place he’s chosen is truly safe?” My voice sounds detached, soulless, even to me and definitely to them.
Gideon’s bearing changes, leaning forward, his elbows on the table. “No, Ethan. We’re not doing that. We’re not indulging in unfounded fears. Your alpha doesn’t deserve that.”
“Doesn’t he?” It’s the simplest, most agonizing question I’ve ever asked.
Ory’s harsh gaze lands on me, instantly assessing whether I’m still capable of holding Tillie.
“Try to take her from me, and we’re going to have a problem,” I snap, which causes the only alpha I would never want to even spar with to raise his eyebrows in challenge.
“Watch your tone, Ethan. I’m not even slightly concerned about what your prissy, little assassin alpha—who hasn’t bothered to bond our omega—might do to me. I don’t know what’s going on with you, but the woman in your arms is the mission. Don’t forget that.”
Ory and I agree—Tillieisthe mission—but it’s the other thing he said that pummels me. Kazimirhasn’tbonded Tillie. He conveniently had to leave before it was expected of him, before the legacy could force him. I abruptly wonder what exactly compelled Thatcher to flee just in time for Kazimir to avoid tying himself to Tillie forever.
I don’t believe Kazimir’s connection to me is false—he did bond me. But maybe he’s more willing to keep me as a pet than to enter into a permanent bond with his target. The mostprecious thing I’ll ever have is the woman in my arms, and it makes me sick how I’ve been used against her.
Jameson taps his fingers on the tabletop, drawing my attention. “What is it? We’re listening.”
My words emerge even while a fist of terror seeks to strangle me. “Everything we have… everything we are or could be… the future—everyone’sfuture—every fucking thing is in the control of a professional pack killer.” To Gideon, I add, “If we can’t doubt any one of us, then we aren’t protecting her, and you shouldn’t be forcing her into a state of complete dependence. If we can’t ask the hard questions, then we aren’t worthy of that much trust.”
I’m surprised the oxygen masks aren’t falling from compartments all over the place, because we’ve just had a massive change in cabin pressure, even if it’s emotional and not related to the plane. All three alphas are on their feet, staring at the flying tube around us like it’s about to blow.
“Did the legacy say something to you?” Gideon demands.
“It told me to stay wary about all of us and everything that’s happening. What about you?”
His brow furrows as he considers. “I’m reaching for guidance right now and getting nothing. What about the rest of you?”
I’m not the only one sending smoke signals to the legacy, but nothing’s coming through now.
Gideon’s presence is not that different from Ory’s. “Ethan, where is this coming from?”
“Reality. He hasn’t bonded her. He is an omega killer. To deliver the entire pack into a trap—are we really supposed to ignore that possibility? It was his yacht, conveniently available and stocked for a pack in the city where we needed it. We were all focused on forming our pack, deluded into believing we were safe… by him. He kept saying he’d put some things in motion that would slow them down. Do we know what they were?Or was this their plan, and they’re just waiting for the entire, gullible pack to come to them?”
