Need.
He needed to be the one whose marks I bore. Not demanded.Needed.
But that need… it could only spring frommyneed. For claiming. For discipline, and the marks my master would leave on my bottom when I misbehaved. The apparently insatiable part of me that had summoned him from the void.
My mind began racing, following the thread of the realization deeper. If Omega needed me to need him, then… then what did that mean about his power? About our bond?
I closed my eyes, reaching inward to try to examine the quantum entanglement between us. It pulsed with energy, feeding offsomething. But what? I traced the flow of power and felt my breath catch as understanding dawned.
Omega wasn’t some all-powerful entity who had chosen to claim me. He was a manifestation of my desires—and he required those desires, focused on him, to exist.
“Oh, powers,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.
The marks Beta had left on my bottom—Omega had healed them immediately. Not out of cruelty or possessiveness alone, but out of necessity. Because if I bore Beta’s marks, if I felt that deep connection to another dominant being, the quantum bond with Omega would weaken.
I thought about Beta’s discipline. The way his cane had felt across my flesh. The pride I’d taken in those welts, the way they’d made me feel claimed and cared for simultaneously. And I realized—in that moment, Omega’s hold on me had lessened. Not enough that I could break free, but enough that he’d felt threatened.
That’s why he’d run. That’s why he’d brought me here to the gravitium mines, using their power to amplify his own. He was afraid.
My need was endless—I understood that now with crystalline clarity. There would always be more I craved, more I wanted, deeper places of submission I yearned to explore. The hunger would never be fully satisfied, not by Omega, not by Beta, not by anyone.
But that meant… that meant I had control.
Because if my need could never be satisfied, then no single being could claim ownership of it completely. I could choose where to focus it. I could direct it, shape it, use it.
“No,” I said aloud, my voice stronger now.
Behind me, I heard Omega’s breathing change. Through our bond, I felt something I’d never sensed from him before: uncertainty.
“What did you say, little cunt?” His voice tried for dominance, but there was an edge to it now.
I pushed myself up from the cave floor, ignoring the ache in my body, and turned to face him. His massive form loomed over me, but for the first time, I saw past the intimidating, monstrous exterior to what lay beneath.
Fear. He was afraid of me. Of what I might do if I truly understood.
“You need me,” I said, and watched his obsidian eyes widen slightly. “You need my need. Without it, you’re nothing.”
“I am everything!” he roared, but I felt the bond between us flicker, weakening with each second of my understanding.
“No.” I shook my head, and as I did, I deliberately turned my thoughts to Beta. To the safety of his arms. To the care in his discipline. To the way he’d called me his good girl, his perfect little cunt, with genuine affection beneath the dominance.
I needed Beta. Powers help me, I needed him desperately. Not because he could satisfy all my desires—no one could do that—but because he would guide them, channel them, help me navigate the darkness inside myself without being consumed by it.
Omega cried out, a sound of rage and desperation combined. “You belong to me! You summoned me! You freed me!”
“I created you,” I corrected, and felt the bond weakening further as the truth settled into my bones. “Out of my shame and my fear and my desperate need to prove that submission was wrong. You’re not real, Omega. Not the way Beta is real. You’re just… a reflection. A shadow.”
“No!” He reached for me, but his hand passed through my shoulder like mist. The gravitium’s energy still flowed around us, but it wasn’t enough anymore. Not without my need feeding our connection.
I heard footsteps then—running, urgent—and suddenly Beta and Alpha burst into the cavern. Beta’s eyes found mine immediately, and I saw such a mixture of relief and fury on his face that it made my heart clench.
“Jendra,” he said, his voice tight with emotion. “Step away from him.”
This time, I could. This time, my legs obeyed. I walked toward Beta, each step, I knew without even looking, making Omega’s form flicker and fade behind me. I heard him screaming in my head, felt him trying to reassert the bond, but I kept my focus on the man in front of me. The real man. The one I had chosen.
Beta caught me as my legs finally gave out, his strong arms wrapping around me. “You absolute fool,” he said against my hair. “You reckless, disobedient, impossible girl.”
“I know,” I sobbed into his chest. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
