Page 66 of Generation Omega: Claimed (Originverse #3)

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’s completely 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 herself again .

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 wears that 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… you can’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 said mate ?”

“Yes, she did. She saw a beautiful future for us, and I want that… I want you. Please, Ory, was she right? Do you want me to be your mate?”

“Mate? Not omega —she really said mate ? You’re certain?”

“I am, and she also told me not to let you hold back because of an old oath. Ory, if you don’t want me…”

His hands tighten around me. “No, Tillie—don’t finish that sentence because you know it’s not true. But Mackenzie…”

Ory’s expression begins to change, but his body’s distinctly Ory-ish posture remains the same.

Mackenzie is fighting for his voice, and it’s his strong accent I hear.

“ Dinna fash yersel about me, Ory. I consented to this, and I’ll consent to it every day.

My life is a gift now, and we’re here because of you.

Besides, our lassie deserves the best we can provide, and that’s the two of us together.

You know that’s the truth. So quit being an eejit and tell Tillie you love her already. ”

When Mackenzie withdraws, Ory’s clenched jaw reveals his extreme frustration.

“I don’t understand either of you. I come from an age when we didn’t ask—we took.

The only way to win was to be the one standing over the corpses of your enemies, but even with all that, you truly want me here?

You want a barbarian in your garden? Because you must know, I won’t be tamed, not if I’m truly your mate—let alone your alpha. ”

My laugh is shockingly sultry, and it’s all I can do not to start grinding on him. “Tell me more about this barbarian in my garden. He sounds delicious.”

With steamy menace, Ory growls, “Oh, you’ll meet him soon, and you’ll never be the same.”

“Tonight—I’ll meet him tonight , after we get wherever we’re going.” I see the question in his eyes. “She said not to wait, not to assume there would be time later. My bonds must be solid, and I’ll need your help with a project before it’s our time to be together.”

“Anything you need.” He’s suddenly expressionless in a new way—not from a lack of expressions, but too many to count.

“Tillie, about the barbarian… this —the real me in your pack—will have consequences that none of us can predict. And there’s no going back once this begins.

I’ve done so much better than I thought I would, or could.

I’ve allowed Mackenzie to exist, to hold you, to voice his opinion more than once.

I’ve managed to be committed and detached at the same time. ”

Detached —that’s the word, the place between indifference and separation.

“If I do this, claim my place in your life and this body, detached won’t be an option ever again.”

I nod, setting my palm over his heart. “She warned me there would be consequences.”

Ory is not surprised, but he’s still definitely confused. “How can you be sure that this is what’s intended? What if my test is to follow the first omega into acceptance and an ending at last?”

I don’t mean to chuckle as I move my fingers beneath the collar of his shirt, immediately locating one of his bondmarks.

“You’ve got more than a dozen bites on you—more bonds than I have yet —so it’s kind of difficult to believe you don’t belong here.

But, to be sure, why don’t you ask the omega legacy and see what those controlling eejits have to say?

I think they owe you an answer after all you’ve done—don’t you? ”

Ory blows out a breath and closes his eyes. When they pop back open a second later, feral has arrived.

Well, hello , barbarian. “What did they say?” I ask breathily.

His tone is strained, like he’s smothering a snarl. “They told me to honor the old ways and make you my mate. And that’s what we’re going to do.”

My heart begins sending pulses that Ory’s heart answers, reminding me of what happened between Gideon’s heart and mine in that auditorium. Ory and I are awakening our connection, and the effect is unmistakable.

Ory’s been an intense guy all along, but the man is transitioning into something even more dramatic.

If he sprouted sexy fangs like an instant werewolf, I wouldn’t be shocked at all.

The fluttering within me is from giddiness not fear.

Every breath inspires another wave of his power that electrifies my senses in the best way.

I don’t understand at first, but then that thread between us sings again.

No, it’s not singing . It’s roaring as he calls to my inner omega that’s all me now.

He’s awakening my primal side, because only in my wild state could I ever be his match—his mate.

I should feel guilty, and I do. I still want her back and for her to have the full, amazing life she deserved, but I have a mission, and it’s impossible to miss how crucial this turn of events is to our success.

I now possess the ability to embody the entire spectrum of an omega’s existence—from the most delicate of blooms to the stabbiest , most bloodthirsty of tyrants.

This is a lesson I couldn’t have learned any other way, and it’s only here because she knew that and gave me this gift I never would have asked for or expected her to give.

“Tonight, you’ll become my mate. You won’t see or hear from Mackenzie until this is done.” His lip raises like he’s about to take a bite out of me. “Make sure you want this… both of you.”

Ory’s struggle is unbelievable as he wars with himself to give Mackenzie one last chance to opt-out. But given his voice, Mackenzie declares, “Forever, Ory.” Mackenzie’s gone a second later, and Ory glares defiantly at me.

“Forever, mate .” That’s my final answer.

The savage flash in his eyes is a warning and a promise of a bumpy ride to come, and I am here for it all.