Lucas bites against the cold. “Who is this man?”
A deep laughter resounds from his belly. His eyes are dark and mesmerizing. From his position, he stares at the open grave.
“Someone I loved,” he says.
“Explain, you sick fuck,” Lucas responds.
Cassian shows his teeth, aggression carrying him. “I built the Iron Eye to end the problems of our society,” he says, pausing for a moment. “I know—it’s difficult to understand. But the particle accelerator was supposed to be a bridge for alpha.”
Aiden freezes, hands gripped over his holster. “So what happened?” Aiden asks.
Cassian sighs, close enough to charge them if he was so inclined to do so. Instead, he takes his time with the story. “Our tests were simple at first. We tweaked particles of matter to see how they behaved under certain circumstances. We were naïve. We thought we could change our position in the universe.”
His expression hardens. “With the knowledge gained, our scope expanded. We set our aim to creating new worlds. Universes with an infinite number of planets just like this one. But, in the end, I knew none of it would solve the problems of our world. Our results didn’t tackle alpha and omega sterility and infertility. I realized I had gone too far. No matter how much time and effort we invested in the project, we were just creating more problems to deal with down the road.”
Lucas thinks about all of what Rae has gone through because of this. “Then why didn’t you stop it? If you knew we were on a collision course, why did you continue the project?” he asks.
Cassian peers over at a lit crescent moon. “I stopped it. I hired a team of scientists to make sure the accelerator would melt down. What we didn’t expect was the electromagnetic activity in the region. It was unstable, and something set it off. A detonation brought destruction across the entire planet. Alphas and omegas panicked. And when that happened, a revelation washed over me,” he says. “I had found my one chance at eradicating the first Republic.I had to act.’
“The rogue nations that played a small role in the project’s startup were no match against my army. Power is something that comes once in a lifetime, and I took the chance to grab it. I owned it and won,” Cassian growls and clenches his fist.
“You lost control,” Lucas says. “You lost everything you valued.”
Cassian is close enough to place a hand around his rifle. He holds a firm grip, and Lucas struggles against him.
“Mother was dying, and I had to keep Rae. It was your pack who ruined everything,” he grunts.
“And I’d do it again, too,” Lucas growls back and forces him away.
“I’ll admit it. That cunt was my one weakness, the pussy I never got to breed. But the Omega Unlimited project was far too important to toss aside. If the warring nations and tribes of feral alphas got ahold of them, the consequences would have been too catastrophic,” Cassian replies.
Aiden laughs in his face. “You can’t claim to be noble.”
Cassian turns tyrannical, rage rising like a tempest. “Don’t forget, you were on the forefront of my invasions. Both of you.” He turns to Lucas again. “You raped and killed hundreds of defenseless omegas. Thousands were taken. Do you really go to bed at night thinking you’re a good father?”
He takes another step forward as Lucas loses his footing.
“You’re just like me,” Cassian sneers. “You are alpha. It’s in our blood, our DNA. It is what makes us who we are. Our biology demands us to continue the path forward.”
Lucas has too many questions to ask. He wants to know if the extinction gene is real, but the next question that comes to mind is how the hell he survived that night at the offsite facility.
How did he survive Rae gutting him like a fish? Both Vash and Rae said they saw it happen. Severin and Ruby took the body for burial.
He grins like he knows what Lucas is thinking. Lifting his tattered armor, he shows off a scar that runs from his chest to his pelvis. Lucas can see his heart beating against the ruined skin.
“On the night Rae killed me, Severin and the New Republic deployed men to my facility. They operated on me. It’s a fucking miracle I survived. A true gift from God,” he says. “I survived them all.”
“What about the extinction gene? Will you survive that, too?” Aiden interrupts.
Cassian’s eyes stare a hole right through Lucas. “The New Republic is a finished project. Rae is dead. Join me, and we’ll start again.”
Lucas steps away from him, but he trips over the ouroboros statue. He lands into a thick patch of snow. “You’re crazy,” he says. “I’ll never join you.”
Cassian keeps walking, backing Lucas against the statue. “Think about your pack. Do you really think they’ll accept you now? They’ve got your kids hostage, Lucas. They have Ruby to Raise them now. When they find out their precious omega is already dead, they will turn to her for support. You will be forgotten.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Aiden cries.
Cassian’s grin falls. “You’ll never see them again. Not without me.”