Page 42 of Marked Omega

I go back to the edge of the pool where I dropped my loincloth, and from the stitched pouch in the side, I retrieve my gift for her—the secret cause of my punishment. Addom glances toward me suspiciously, but he turns back to the fire.

“What do you have, Kadmon?” Lily asks, eyeing my clenched fist as I wade toward her.

When I get close to her, I open my hand, and her pretty eyes widen again before brimming with tears. I knew that this gift would make her sad, but I hope that it brings her some happiness as well, or at least some sense of closure.

“Kadmon,” she whispers as she takes the ring from my open palm. “This is Sara’s. You went back for her.”

I nod and smooth my hand over her wet shoulders and back. Even in the water, her body is warm. Addom is right, she has already begun to change even more. She’s becoming more omega every hour.

“I buried her, like you asked,” I tell her. “Among our people, this is not common. For us, when a person’s spirit passes back into the Source, then we take their empty body to the hill of stones and leave their body for the birds so that their matter can return to the sky.”

Lily turns the ring over in her hands. The blue jewel catches the light and twinkles prettily.

“But your friend was an outsider.” I touch Lily gently to let her know I mean no ill will by this term. I don’t share Hasker’s hatred of those beyond the wall. “It was only right that she should be buried according to the customs of her people.”

Tears wobble at the corners of Lily’s eyes and then tumble down her cheeks, mixing with the drops of water from the falls.

“Poor Sara,” she sighs.

“Don’t be sad,” I tell her. “Your friend isn’t gone. Nobody is ever really gone, just as nobody is ever really here. She has simply returned to her place in the Source. Look…”

With my knuckle, I catch a tear drop from her chin.

“We say that a spirit is like a drop of water from a wave on the sea. For a little while it becomes separated, and it believes it is an individual. For an instant it will sparkle in the sunshine, but eventually it will fall. This is not a bad thing. It’s good.”

I dip my finger into the pool, and her teardrop disappears as it mingles with the rest of the water.

“It just means we return to the ocean of the Source where we belong.”

Lily sniffs back her tears. She touches my arm and smiles at me.

“Thank you, Kadmon.”

I hold her tiny hands in mine and I take the ring from her.

“You should wear this,” I tell her. “So that you won’t lose it.”

I go to put it on her left hand. At first I slide it onto her little finger, but it is a bit too small, so I move it one over.

“Wait,” Lily blurts.

“What?”

She stares at the ring that I’m holding halfway on her finger. Even though her face is still red from crying, she giggles at me, and I feel I’ve done something foolish.

“On the outside, if a woman accepts a ring on that finger, it means she’s going to be married.”

Married. I have heard about this custom from the old times. Back then, one man would be bound to one woman. But things have changed since then. Omegas are far too precious and rare. They must be shared by a pack.

And soon Lily will be bonded to Addom, Hasker and me. In fact, the process has already begun.

I slide the ring home on her finger. Lily stares up at me, the lovely pools of her eyes filled with yearning. I smile and kiss her soft lips.

“Come, Lily, let me wash you a little more.”

Although she has rinsed the Alphas’ seed from her skin, we are both still dirty from our mornings trek. I wade to the rock wall and retrieve some natural yucca plant soap that we keep hidden in a recess there. I use this to clean the omega thoroughly.

Lily moans with enjoyment as I work the creamy soap into her hair and scalp. I rinse it in the falling water and wring it out. She giggles as I splash her with the water, and she playfully splashes me back. I’m glad to see her happy and smiling again.