Page 54 of Generation Omega: Claimed

“Sage… she’s in danger. She’s been captured by Beta Dominion… if I…”

I wave off the rest. “If that’s even true—which I doubt—and you surrender to them, they’ll use you to harm Tillie. That’s the only play, and your sacrifice won’t save Sage. You’ll get your omega killed or caged—you know that. What’s this really about?”

“Sage is…”

“I know,” I gush. “She’s yourbestiest, little friend ever, but Sage is committed to the omegaverse and would never want you to sacrifice our omega to save her life. In fact, I bet she’doffyou herself, rather than have you betray the omega legacy. So, what else have you got to explain what you did to Tillie?”

“Oh, look at you,finallyusing her name.” He’s so cranky, but he’s also bleeding from a dozen fresh holes in his flesh, so that probably means I should give him a little grace. Right? That’s what aman of the peoplewould do, for sure.

“Thatcher—see, I can use your name too—stop fucking around, and tell me why you really left.”

“Sage is in danger. Look at my phone.”

“I don’t need to, because they could string her up and beat her with sticks, and it still wouldn’t justify abandoning the only cause you’ve ever been willing to fight for in your entire life.” I lower my voice, leaving out the bark. “I know you, Thatcher. I know where your demons roost. This isn’t about Sage McGee—it’s you and your demons dancing your way into oblivion, racing to commit the crime of the millennia. You’re so desperate to earnyour spot in hell, because you certainly know you’re not worthy of heaven.”

“Fuck you.” Ugh, there’s no venom behind it now—this is starting to depress me.

“You abandoned Tillie, left her screaming. Use your words, Thatcher, or I’m going to cut out your tongue and feed it to the sharks as an appetizer before we get to the main course.”

The omega legacy is simmering with a strain of malice that’s familiar and yet more extreme than anything I’ve ever felt for any of my targets. It’s enjoying this show, possibly a bit too much.

“I…” He falters, this confrontation delayed for so long that he might have deluded himself into believing he could actually escape it. But we can only run until we collapse, and then the reckoning begins.

I wait, knowing he’s staring into his personal hell and not delaying to annoy me.

His colorful, lumpy face contorts in an expression so torn it’s unfamiliar. “It wasn’t what it was supposed to be,” he grits out.

Same crap, different day. “Yeah, I know. But we talked about this before the heat, your problematic expectations. Gideon gave you the chance to stay, to work through your issues, to be part of the pack. You tasted our omega, spent days fucking her, and then you bolted.” I’m awakening some feisty vibes that might prove counterproductive to his trachea and also my interest in the answers only he can provide.

“It’s wrong… this whole pack iswrong.” He’s inwardly flailing, his soul slamming into the barbed wire lining the prison walls within him.

It would be so easy to slide my blade into his heart and stop his needless suffering, but I don’t. We’re waiting, the omegaverse and I, to behold the epic showdown between a man and his monsters.

“Go on. Say it all, while you still can.”

“Kill me, Kazimir. That’s all you’re good for.”

I deliver an entirely performative gasp. “Is that what has your panties all twisty? That I’mnotjust a killer? That I love Ethan, care for Ethan, will nurture and cherish Ethan for the rest of my life? I’m more than you or I thought I could be, and now that we’re here, at this moment of divine truth, it turns out that you’re so much less than you thought you were. Hell, you’re even less thanIthought you were.” Who says words don’t make excellent knives? “That’s what this is, isn’t it?”

“Fuck off!”

I tut dismissively at him, unleashing my sarcasm. “It’ssotragic to witness the lofty scholar’s fall from grace, now only able to curse like a vulgar killer or a drunken sailor. Hey, at least, we’re at sea, so you’ve got the right theme going.”

His one visible eye, illuminated by the now-setting sun, looks so empty, like he’s already gone. “Just kill me and be done already.”

“I will—I’ll kill you.” Did I mean to sound so chipper about it? “I’ll put you out of your misery, but not until you admit to me and yourself what drove you to run from the only thing you’ve ever wanted.” I raise my arms, the posture of the magnanimous. “I’ll even sweeten the deal and promise to answer your fussy, little questions about the past.”

Oh, that sparks his interest. He nods, spitting blood onto the deck.

His breathing is as choppy as the sea. “Fine, you win—I can’t do it. I can’t be an alpha andnotbe an alpha.”

“What does that mean?” I ask, keeping my tone neutral.

“To have that title in name only and not be respected, to not have my will served, to not have the omega look to me for guidance.” He snarls. “To have abetamore valued than an alpha with my intellect and experience. To be insulted over andover. Tonotbe first alpha. To not command. I’ve devoted my entire life to the omegaverse, and that should have mattered. I’m entitled to be heard and obeyed.”

I’m watching every twitch and every wince, hearing every lie he tells himself. It’s not all lies, not exactly. He’s speaking the truth as he knows it. Thatcher thinks he left because he couldn’t handle the ugly reality of what had always been his most beautiful dream. But the lies are still there, because he hasn’t acknowledged the source for all of this.

The omega legacy is goading me, daring me to take him to the emotional woodshed and wallop him so badly he’ll bear the scars in his next life. The omegaverse’s bloodlust is tantalizing, and perhaps it sees more in common with me than the darling omega it’s meant to protect.

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