Page 92 of Generation Omega: Claimed
I don’t understand any of that, but please, I don’t want you to go. I need you and your wisdom. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing here.
Yes, you do. You were born for this. Now, honor your promise. Make him yours and become the omega this world needs.
CHAPTER 43
TILLIE
The origin omega is gone like she never existed, and I rage at the omega legacy. You bring her back right now, or I’ll…
She’s not this generation’s omega—you are. You’ve been given all the resources you need. The rest is up to you. You won’t hear from her again.
I want to shriek at the damn legacy like a freaking banshee, but I can’t argue with its logic or with hers, as much as that wrecks me. I want her back. All my emotions are twisted up now that she’s gone. I resented her intrusion at the beginning, before ultimately welcoming it during the heat. Then I relied on her resilience to avoid the consequences of Thatcher’s abandonment. I trusted her when she encouraged me to make boundaries about my mind, something I might not have done without her.
What I’m only now realizing is just how much I’ve counted on her presence if—perhaps when—everything falls apart and I’m captured. With her, I could never be truly alone, no matter what happens. She was my secret asset on the inside, there to remind me to be strong and give them all hell for everything they’ve done to the packs that came before me. But now, she’scompletely vanished, and the crater she left in my confidence may define my life forever.
It’s not fair that, to pass the omegaverse’s rotten test, she had to disappear. All that fire and passion, and her quiz involved complete surrender. She literally couldn’t be defeated, so they made her sacrifice herselfagain. What a terrible, tragic, and noble end to her journey. She deserved so much more than the omega legacy ever gave her.
I consider launching a tantrum that will shake the walls, but her words return to me.Beware the fissure that’s expanding in your pack. Never assume there’s time to put things back together later. Cement every bond you can before the trials truly begin.
All that trials business and whatever the heck she meant about the Inquisitor—that stuff needs to wait. But I know the fissure that’s threatening my pack, and I have quite the plan to deal with that one. And I will, but first, I have a promise to keep.
With a heavy sigh, I release Ory and step back, and then lead him to the white blanket covered in lavender flowers with purple and pink butterflies. His eyes assess mine as I nod for him to sit, and then he steadies me as I climb onto his lap. I don’t know how long I was away with the origin omega, but Ory just stood there, waiting for me to tell him what I need.
With his hands around my waist and mine on his chest, I ask, “Did you hear any of that?”
“No, but I felt her presence.”
I’m going to be a blubbering mess before we’re done, but for now, I’m holding it all back, because this grief doesn’t belong to me. “I’m so sorry, Ory, but she’s gone. She can’t help me anymore. She realized that—it wasn’t just the legacy, but I’m not feeling too kindly about them right now.”
I make an unfortunate gulping sound when I swallow and then study his expressionless face. It’s a mask he wearsthat I thought stemmed from not indifference exactly—because someone this intense definitely cares—but maybe separation. Like he’s an exceptional hired soldier, not a freedom fighter. But now I wonder if I got that completely wrong.
When Ory doesn’t react, I continue while doubting whether I should. “You’ve waited all this time to be back with her, and now…” Stupid, inappropriate sniffles disrupt whatever I was going to say… that I probably shouldn’t even be saying.
“Gone where?” he murmurs.
“I don’t know. She said something about a test and finally understanding what she needed to do.”
His gaze is still locked to mine, but he’s not seeing me at all. When he speaks again, his voice emerges rougher and filled with more emotion than I’ve heard from him. “Was there peace or struggle at her end?”
God, I love this man. Of course, he would ask that. “I think acceptance is what she felt. She wanted to stay with us, but not as much as she wanted to do right for you and for me, and the omegaverse. She also wanted to make amends to you for what she couldn’t be back then.” I don’t know how much to share about the rest, so I wait for him to guide me.
Ory doesn’t say anything, and I’d swear he’s reliving every minute he spent with her or thought about her throughout the years. “Acceptance—what a miraculous outcome for her.” He jolts when he notices tears streaming down my cheeks. “Hey, no, Tillie… don’t…”
“But she… and you…”
Ory captures my tears, brushing them away. “You gave us the sweetest ending we could have had—time together to celebrate the fierce connection that always lived between us.” His eyes reveal his sorrow but not an ounce of self-pity. “But the truth remains. She doesn’t belong here, and you do.”
Then he epically frowns, and I want to soothe away his concern, but I don’t. “When you are safe, I will return this body to Mackenzie permanently. I’ll find a way. He deserves this life, this time, just like you do.Relics—that’s all we are, objects from an age so long gone that no one even knows it existed.”
“No!” Panic seizes me, and if I didn’t already recognize how vital Ory is to me, that truth is now pummeling me like a battering ram. “You can’t leave… youcan’t.”
The moment tenderness enters his gaze, I’m done for. He had me at honest fury and devotion, but softness in such a massive monster of a man undoes me completely.
“This isn’t my life—it’s his,” he croons in his deep, rich voice. “When you no longer require protection, I should go.”
I’m trapped in a shudder that won’t end, which spurs my desperate babbling. “You can’t leave me, and I don’t think Mackenzie wants that either. Besides, your origin omega made me promise to love you forever and be the mate you always deserved. And I…”
Only the extreme widening of his eyes halts my rant, and for the first time since I’ve known him, he seems like a man lost in time. “Mate? She saidmate?”
