Page 63 of Generation Omega: Claimed (Originverse #3)

“We’ll get into that later, but it’s creating an unexpected issue. See, I now get to choose what I share and what I don’t, and about Thatcher, I’m not sure what to say to the pack. I don’t like the idea of secrets, but some truths are…”

“Brutal,” he accurately provides, and then nods.

“I get it. I’m quite well aware of Thatcher’s plans for Ethan and me.

Lucky me —I know every single thought that douche has and receive updates after I’m away from him.

I’m basically his confessional, and if that isn’t the most bizarre statement, I don’t know what is. But here we are.”

“I don’t understand how you can do this, knowing what he was going to do to Ethan.”

His arms cross over his chest, muscles rippling. “I didn’t know how detailed his plans were until after I’d made my choice about his fate—mind you, from the two crappy options I was given. But that’s not why I can tolerate his bad intentions.”

I wait for him to continue, but he just stands there staring at me as though I’m missing something. “Oh.”

“Yes. Now, say it.”

“You came to kill me, and you hurt Ethan.” I shouldn’t be grasping for reasons why what Kazimir did was forgivable and what Thatcher did wasn’t. But hold on… they aren’t the same.

“Hypocrisy?” Kazimir offers. “Is that what you’re searching for, a reason not to lump me in with our rogue?”

“Yes.”

His perceptiveness only makes him more attractive.

“It’s true. I was what I was, and he wasn’t what he said he was.

But this thing with Thatcher, it’s more than that.

As much as it pains me to admit, Thatcher and I have a remarkable amount in common, enough for me to understand how he became what he is.

There’s a world of contrast too, though it might not be comforting to you. ”

“Please, explain. I’m really grappling with how to get past this.”

Kazimir swallows, proving his Adam’s apple is pleasing too.

Then his eyes tighten, as though it’s offensive how much I obviously enjoy gawking at him.

He ruefully shakes his head, but he can’t make me disappear—I win again.

“I know what I am and why. Even becoming this disgustingly approachable embarrassment to my professional killer persona—which is disagreeable as fuck—doesn’t create any illusions that I’m not what I am. ”

He searches my face for understanding, perhaps thinking his words weren’t good enough. Even though I’m not totally with him, I trust that he’ll get me there, so I nod for him to continue.

“It took time and full access to his thoughts—as well as the ability to erase his memories of our interactions when things go off the rails—to understand the root of his evil. His sinister flaw is his labeling system.”

“Labeling system?!”

“I know. It’s not flashy. But it’s the best way to describe it.

He smacks a label on everything at almost first glance, and there is no process for accepting any new information or contradicting any already established definitions.

Before our last two packmates arrived, I watched Gideon break it down for Thatcher, educating him on how to become a respected member of the pack, and Thatcher acted like he got it. But he couldn’t.”

Kazimir’s expression dulls briefly, like he’s bargaining, time traveling back to that night and desperately wishing Thatcher would have improved on his own.

“But he’d already decided Gideon was a clueless, undeserving actor, and all proof to the contrary was lost on him.

Ethan is a usurping beta who doesn’t know his place and is a threat to your high-and-mighty-hood .

I’m the pack destroyer, which is fair. Jameson is an attractively vapid personification of entitled uselessness—I’m not sure he’s that far off with that one.

Thatcher has nothing bad to say about Ory or Mackenzie, since they’re indisputably preordained into this, and Ory would crush his nuts into dust if Thatcher said anything. ”

I have to ask, even though I’m not sure I want to know. “And me?”

“Truth?”

“Always.”

Kazimir shrugs, absolving himself of any consequence of sharing. “Immature, ignorant, headstrong omega who must be managed for the greater good.”

I gag. “Managed by him , of course.”

“Well, he is your fanciest alpha—according to him, at least.”

“ Blech .”

“I concur. So, you understand how I’m different—don’t you?” Kazimir would never admit it, but he needs my answer.

“I think I do. For you, it was never specifically about us—omegas or alphas. That’s why you’re more open to learning and accepting who we are. It’s the omegaverse you hated, and we were just its pawns.”

His exhale is profound, like a million miles of barbed wire between us just evaporated. “That’s exactly right.”

I find myself speaking instinct-driven words, with no clue where they’re leading us.

“There’s no way you’ll be able to hide your past from me, not when we bond.

I’ll see your life like a movie playing just for me.

I’ll see all the things you’ve ever done, and I’m not saying it will be easy, but I will accept you. I’ll love you, no matter what you did.”

Now, he’s not breathing at all, and I know what he needs to hear.

“I’ll keep your secrets, Kazimir. I’ll keep them from Ethan. We’ll both protect him from unnecessary truths. Your past made you who you are, a man who knows just how rare Ethan is, and I would never do anything to take him from you.”

I see it, the unburdening my words inspire in him. He slumps just slightly, inhaling and exhaling deeply.

When he looks at me, his eyes are watery in a way I didn’t expect. “Tillie, it’s bad, worse than you can imagine. How do you know that you’ll be able to accept me after you witness all of it?”

My beacon heart declares itself, providing the fuel I need.

“Because you are my alpha. You’re the reason we’re here and have a chance to survive.

Your violent past means you’ll never flinch from what’s coming for us.

You’ll never surrender, not ever. You didn’t when you saved Ethan.

You didn’t when Thatcher’s life was in your hands.

You won’t when it’s time to dig your teeth into me and risk everything on my ability to love you exactly as you are. ”

I warn him what’s coming with a funny grin. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but I trust you.”

Kazimir’s face contorts in about twelve directions at once, his absolute horror the only common feature. “Take that back,” he pleads in a whiny snarl.

“Sure thing, you scary, scary alpha.” I’m deadpan, and he looks like he’d rather be dead. Ignoring his crisis of perceived goodness, I push us back to our topic. “What do I tell the pack about Thatcher’s murder goals?”

“Nothing—don’t tell them anything that won’t make us stronger. If you need to discuss his issues, he’s my pet and my responsibility.”

My heart pulses, urging me to accept something.

But what is it? I search and recognize that two of its holes are overflowing with life—Gideon and Mackenzie.

One is in progress, but not blooming—Jameson.

There should be two more, but there’s only one.

It’s larger and oddly shaped now. It takes me a second, but I work it out and am hit with a soul-crushing sense of loss.

Observing my sorrow, Kazimir seems to be reeled closer against his will. “Angel, what is it?”

“He’s yours now—Thatcher is.”

“I know that.”

“No… in my heart, things have changed. Thatcher doesn’t have a place anymore. What was his space is now merged with yours, smaller, part of you.” I don’t know why I feel like sobbing, but I do.

Kazimir is right in front of me, resting his hands on my thighs, staring down at me with… compassion .

“I’ve got you, Tillie. I’ve got Ethan, and I’ve got Thatcher.

And if I need to take on all the rest, I will.

” He’s so close… close enough to kiss, but his lips belong to someone else right now, someone more dear to both of us than anything has ever been.

“There’s something you’ll see once we bond, but I want you to know about it now. I want it to give you confidence.”

I swallow roughly, tears welling as I confront the actual loss of Thatcher as my alpha. Please is all I can say.

“I’ve never had anything I would die for, nothing that felt like a future—no home, no family that meant more than rivalry, no friends.

For more than three decades, I’ve lived with nothing that means anything to me.

When I tell you I’m here to fight, to win, to bring this pack home for good, I want you to imagine all the terrible things I’ve done—everything you’re going to see in disturbing detail—and I want you to consider one thing. Can you do that?”

I nod, sniffling.

He slowly, as though controlled by strings held by the ghost of the man he could have been, raises his hand and rests it against my cheek.

“If I did all of that—murder, mayhem, and the never-ending hunt of a true predator—for nothing , can you even fathom what I’m capable of doing now that I have something that matters to me? ”

Kazimir’s hand on my face almost burns, he’s so fiery and certain. “ You matter to me, Tillie, and not just because of what you mean to Ethan.” His heart pounds like a drum, calling to mine as he gruffly declares, “You are my queen, and there is nothing I won’t do for you.”

We’re frozen in this moment, seeing only each other as the entire world fades from our awareness.

And then I do what I haven’t done, what we haven’t done.

I lean into him and his arms envelop me, our hearts seeking their shared rhythm in a battle of wills that takes us by surprise.

When they find their true cadence, every alpha feels it because each pack shares one beating heart, and my heart is now irreparably bound to my pack.

It beats for all of us and everything we’re meant to be.

I gasp when I feel two subtle thumping beats that are connected to me through Kazimir. Ethan and Thatcher are pack too—now and forever. Bondmarks and sexy time are still to come, but we’re a pack now, come what may.

We’re still hugging it out when Kazimir mutters, “If you tell anyone about this, I’ll deny it.”

I laugh and then shed a few tears in the arms of my assassin. “Copy that, alpha, but if I tell Ory that you made me cry, he’ll crush you into paste, and I might just miss you a teensy bit.”

My body shakes as Kazimir laughs while still embracing me, a hearty, real laugh that’s so amazing.

It might be his first—certainly with me—but it won’t be the last. “Okay, maybe just say we came to an understanding, but I was infuriatingly unhelpful and exceedingly annoying. Can you do that for me?”

“Yes, alpha, I can do that for you, because I love you.” I said it, and I know it’s true.

“Oh, good grief, omegas are so sappy.” But Kazimir only holds me tighter, maybe thinking I didn’t notice how his words broke as he spoke them.

If music is the silence between the notes then maybe, for a tortured assassin, love lives in the never-healed fractures of spirit, mind, heart, and body that define his life.

It’s tragic to think it, but there’s no greater proof of hope for us and our pack than this killer’s willingness to learn how to love and be loved. So far, I think he’s doing alright.

“If we stay in here too long, they’re going to think you really are sweet on me.” I expect him to flinch away from me, but he doesn’t. He moves slightly, and I feel his touch on my head, as he breathes deeply my scent and then kisses my hair.

“Ethan always does that,” Kazimir says in a curious tone. I think he’s done, but then he adds, “Now, I understand why.”