Page 7 of Marked Omega

As if on cue, a strange gurgling sound issues from Sara’s lips, followed by an inhuman groan. When I turn my eyes toward her, my stomach churns, and for the second time today, I find myself on the verge of vomiting.

Sara’s skin has grown pale and sickly, shot with dark, diseased-looking veins. Her eyes have turned dull and murky, and a string of spit dangles from her chin.

“Sara!” I cry out, but she doesn’t seem to hear me.

She has already become a mindless beta.

Dr. Lucian clucks his tongue behind his mask.

“Well, that’s…disappointing,” he mutters. “I was certain that Sara displayed all of the proper traits for the omega mutation. Oh well, even I make mistakes sometimes. What a waste.”

Tears blur my vision as I turn away. To bring an innocent woman out here into the zone and mutate her into a beta zombie like that is beyond evil. It’s a fate worse than death. And all that bastard Dr. Lucian has to say is that it’s “disappointing.”

I steel my nerves, expecting to descend into the same mindless state. I can’t imagine what it must be like, but I guess I’m about to find out.

However, nothing happens. Nothing at all.

Dr. Lucian laughs.

“Good, good!”

I blink back my tears and glare at him with fury in my eyes.

“What are you so happy about, you sick fuck?”

I cringe as he steps closer and his gloved fingers brush my hair back.

“You have been exposed to the contamination of the zone,” he rasps through his breathing mask, “but you have not become a beta. That only leaves one other possibility.

Oh God. He’s right. I’m an omega.

I shake my head in disbelief.

“But…why don’t I feel any different?” I ask.

“Come now, Lily. We’re scientists, aren’t we? We can’t rely on feelings. We need empirical evidence, hm? Hard data.”

It’s only now that I notice the device that Dr. Lucian is carrying in his left hand. It must be some kind of scanner because he aims it at my body, first near my exposed armpits, then down my torso, finally stopping at my crotch.

“What the hell is that?” I snarl.

I’m starting to get pissed. In a weird way, being chained up and helpless is taking away some of my fear. It’s like my instincts have recognized that I have no hope for escape, so now all I can think about is how much I would like to gouge this fucker’s eyeballs out.

“Excellent,” he mutters to himself, ignoring my question.

Behind him, the troopers are getting antsy, anxiously scanning the tree line. Deakon and Chappel are both shouldering their tranquilizer rifles. Bishop is resting his hand on the butt of his holstered pistol.

“How’s it look, Doctor?”

“It worked,” Dr. Lucian says happily. “She’s an omega all right. Her body is already descending into estrus. Good Lord, her pheromonal emissions are almost off the charts. She’s the ripest one we’ve had yet.”

Bishop nods. He gestures for Deakon and Chappel to take up sniper positions in the deep shadows of the treeline.

So that’s what this is all about then. He tricked me into coming out here so that he could expose me to the contamination and mutate me into an omega in heat. All so he could lure in an Alpha to capture it.

Dr. Lucian turns to go.

“Why me?” I struggle against my chains as I feel my strength returning. “Why not just use one of those men to mutate yourself an Alpha and save yourself a little trouble?”