Page 139 of Bonds of Pain
“I’ve been experimenting with the population on the king’s orders for years,” he says grandly, like a man revealing his life’s work to an eager audience. “Without me, there likely wouldn’t be any Omegas left in Melilla at all.”
“You’re lying,” I spit, though uncertainty creeps into my voice.
“The Omega shortage required creative solutions. Infertile beta women were particularly eager early test subjects—so desperate for social advancement, so willing to risk anything for the chance of birthing an Omega daughter. Including your mother.”
I shake my head violently. “That’s not possible.”
“Charlotte Tantamount was one of dozens of betas who volunteered for my experimental treatments. All hoping to improve their genetics, to guarantee their daughters would present as Omegas. Charlotte responded to the treatment quite spectacularly, I always knew she would produce something special.”
“No.” The word feels torn from my throat. “It’s not true.”
“Such a dedicated mother,” he continues, ignoring my denial. “The injections were quite painful, I’m told. But she endured them all, so determined to give you the best possible future.” His head tilts, studying my reaction with scientific interest. “She succeeded beyond even my wildest projections. That’s why I had to bring you back when you ran from Logan the first time. I had to be sure that the aberrations in your behavior were not the fault of my design.”
The laboratory spins around me. My knees buckle, and I slide down the bars until I’m crouched on the floor of my cage. Charlotte’s face flashes through my mind. Her desperate social climbing, her obsession with my presentation, the way she always seemed so certain I would be an Omega, even when I was too young for any hint of my designation to show itself.
She wasn’t just betting on my presentation. She was collecting on an investment she’d made in my genetics before I was even born.
“Too bad you’ll never have the chance to hear the truth from her yourself,” Thane adds with mock sympathy. “I’m sure she would assure you it was all for the greater good.”
My vision blurs with tears I refuse to let fall. Everything I thought I knew about my life—my birth, my mother’s expectations, even my own biology—has been a lie. I’m not just an Omega. I’m an experiment. A test subject bred for this exact purpose.
“Charlotte understood the value of genetic investment,” Thane continues, returning his attention to Cillian. “Unlike her daughter, who seems determined to waste her considerable potential.”
“She got for the experiment, didn’t she?” I say, my voice hollow as the pieces fall into place.
Thane’s smile widens. “She was quite pragmatic about compensation. The other volunteers were often motivated by desperation alone, but your mother negotiated quite favorable terms for herself.”
The betrayal cuts deeper than any scalpel. My own mother, selling my genetic future before I was even old enough to understand what it meant. Trading my autonomy for social advancement and cold, hard credits.
But there’s something else lurking behind his words, something that makes my skin crawl.
“You said this was all done on the king’s orders?” I ask, forcing myself to stand despite my shaking legs. “Why?”
Thane’s laugh is sharp and brittle. “You must be truly stupid not to know our kingdom is on the precipice of war. King Leopold used the promise of Omegas to gather Alphas to his cause when he unified the neighboring provinces, a promise that he cannot fulfill. Not without me and my science.”
He turns back to Cillian, running the flat edge of the scalpel down his pale cheek with almost tender precision. Cillian’seyes roll back, showing only white, his body convulsing weakly against the restraints.
“This is why your friend here is such a treat,” Thane continues conversationally. “For a long time, it was thought that two copies of the necessary gene were required to create an Omega, making a male on biologically impossible. Obviously, that is not the case. If I can the genetic mutation that allowed him to naturally come into the world as a male Omega, it will greatly advance my research. I’m going to break him down into little pieces and analyze every single one until I know all the secrets his body has been hiding.”
The blade bites into Cillian’s skin, drawing a thin line of blood. His scream this time is raw and primal, the sound of a soul being torn apart.
“Stop!” The word rips from my throat before I can stop it. “Just stop!”
“You might have us at your mercy,” I snarl, gripping the bars until my hands go numb, “but Logan will eventually track you down and kill you.”
The Inquisitor sets down his scalpel to throw back his head and laugh, a sound like breaking glass that echoes off the sterile walls. “Logan? The spoiled princeling who has never cared for anything more than himself in his entire life. He isn’t coming for you.”
I wish I had the conviction to argue. “Fuck you.”
He wipes Cillian’s blood from the blade with clinical precision. “My dear, naive child. Logan is far too much like his father to risk his precious position for a pair of damaged Omegas. The crown matters more to him than anything else—more than you, more than his secret pet here.”
The scalpel glints as he raises it again. “By now, the king has made it very clear what the price of interference would be. Logan’s already lost two pack members to my investigation. Hewon’t risk losing his throne for some Omega cunt that can be easily replaced.”
“Easily replaced? I seem to have made quite an impression on you,” I say, forcing my voice to stay level despite the fear clawing at my throat. “Considering you felt the need to follow me all the way to the palace just to get your hands on me again.”
Thane pauses in his ministrations to Cillian, the scalpel hovering just above pale skin. A flicker of something crosses his face—annoyance, but the smallest bit of grudging respect.
“Youweremy most ideal specimen once,” he admits, setting the blade down with deliberate care. “Perfect genetics, optimal hormone production, exceptional susceptibility to conditioning protocols.” His clinical gaze fixes on me through the bars. “But you ultimately became a disappointment. Which is why I need to understand what went wrong in your development.”
