Chapter 16
16
Hazel
I was shaking by the time we arrived at the front gate of Dutton Laboratories, but at least the cramps had subsided. Everything inside me still felt like a can of soda that had been shaken up. I was agitated and jittery, and it was making my alphas all the more snarly and growly.
Thank god for Calla and Jude. At least they kept calm and helped me focus while Crew snapped at his dad on the phone and Kellan drove like a madman through the streets of Los Angeles until Rhett roared at him to stop before we got into an accident.
I wasn’t proud of the high-pitched whine that had scraped out of my chest when Rhett blew up, but at least it seemed to help all three alphas remember their pheromones and reactions affected my omega side when they got upset.
“There’s Papa,” Calla whispered, relief saturating her words as the gates rolled open for us.
Kellan stomped on the gas pedal and screeched to a stop a few feet from the main entrance of Dutton Laboratories, a massive five story brick building with white trim and lots of windows that reflected the fading sunlight.
As soon as the SUV came to a halt, Crew jumped out of the passenger seat. Calla, who had been sitting in the middle row of seats with Rhett, also opened her door.
Jude, sitting beside me in the back bench seat, took my hand. His green eyes were full of worry. “We’re gonna figure this out, baby.”
I nodded and pushed a smile onto my lips, hoping it looked more confident than I felt, because what the actual crap was going on with my body? I climbed out of the car with Jude at my back, and before my feet could touch the ground, Rhett and Kellan were holding onto me like a balloon that would blow away with a strong gust.
“I’m really okay,” I insisted to my alphas.
Kellan scowled. “You’re trembling.”
I closed my mouth because he was right, but I didn’t feel like I was about to go into heat anymore. I was mostly just tired and wanted to crawl into my nest with my pack. Maybe this was all residual adrenaline from being kidnapped.
“Hazel, how are you?” Joel Dutton was the smallest alpha of his pack, but what he lacked in size, he made up for in intellect and shrewdness. His dark eyes missed nothing as they swept over me.
“Not great,” I admitted, “but I feel better than when we were in the store. Honestly, it was probably nothing.”
Three sharp growls filled the air as my alphas rejected my need to downplay what had happened.
“It was definitely something,” Calla spoke up, her tone soft and firm. She glanced at her father. “She can’t have another heat so soon, right? Like, that doesn’t happen.”
Joel was frowning. “Given everything that’s happened in such a short amount of time, I’d like to run a few tests if that’s okay with you, Hazel.”
I was already nodding when Crew demanded, “Are they safe?”
Joel gave his oldest a look that would’ve sent me running had it been directed at me. “Do you honestly think I would jeopardize any omega, let alone the daughter of two of my best friends?”
Crew grimaced. “Sorry, Papa.”
Joel stepped toward Crew and clasped an arm on Crew’s shoulder. “I understand your concern, son. Let me help your girl.”
Crew nodded slowly and shot me a worried glance.
Joel paused and looked at the rest of my pack. “Jude, Rhett, Kellan. Nice to see you boys again.”
My guys all tipped their heads in acknowledgement.
“Thanks for agreeing to help us, Mr. Dutton,” I replied.
He gave a small snort. “I think we’re past that now. Why don’t you call me Joel?”
“I can try,” I offered, my nose wrinkling as I remembered all my mom’s lectures as a kid about the proper way to greet adults.
His grin told me he understood exactly what I wasn’t saying, but wouldn’t press the issue. Turning, he swiped a keycard over the locking mechanism by the main door before holding it open for all of us.
I stepped into the glass and marble lobby with a little bit of wonder in my eyes. Everything was clean, sharp lines from the black chairs to the cherrywood front reception desk. Beyond the desk was a bank of elevators manned by four security guards.
Joel led us to the desk and helped us each get a pass to go deeper into the building. He smiled at the security guards, greeting them by name as he led us to the far elevator and swiped his keycard again.
Once we were all inside the car, Joel used a thumb print scanner to get the elevator moving up.
“Lots of security,” Jude murmured with a low whistle.
Joel grimaced. “It’s the nature of my business. We work on a lot of government funded projects as well as some private ones. Pharmaceutical research and development can never be too secure.”
This was the first time I’d ever been inside Dutton Laboratories. As a kid, I’d visited the Upshine Media offices to see my dad, and I’d also run around the Windale campus with the Dutton kids. But the lab wasn’t exactly kid friendly, so there’d never been a need for our parents to take us.
Within moments, the doors slid open to reveal another lobby with the same minimalist and modern decor style as the main lobby. A man and woman stood in front of a set of frosted glass doors with a complicated computer pad. One inhale told me both were betas, and I felt my alphas relax a smidge.
“Allow me to introduce two of my colleagues,” Joel started as he strode into the space. He motioned to the woman first. “This is Dr. Sheila Abernathy. She’s one of the country's leading researchers on omega genetics.”
The woman was dressed in a navy skirt and white blouse with a white lab coat. The sneakers on her feet told me she was a woman used to getting things done in a hurry, but she had kind blue eyes and an easygoing smile. Her blonde and silver hair was pulled into a bun with a pencil shoved through it for stability. “Hello.”
“And this is Dr. Michael Calder,” Joel finished, gesturing to the man. “Michael’s specialty is beta chromosomal abnormalities and how it pertains to the beta born omegas.”
Dr. Calder was a small, round man with bushy gray eyebrows and a shock of white hair that contrasted against his dark skin. He looked like he would’ve been at home with a roomful of grandchildren. His plaid button up and khaki pants were wrinkled, likely from working all day and now staying late to see us.
“Abnormalities?” Rhett’s voice was sharp like a whip cracking through the space as he glowered at Dr. Calder. Glaring at the man as if he was singling me out as a freak.
“Only in the genetic sense,” Dr. Calder assured him, “and those abnormalities may just mean a turning point in history. It’s quite remarkable, really. You see?—”
“Perhaps this discussion would be better suited for when my son’s pack and their omega aren’t quite so on edge,” Joel cut in dryly.
“Oh, of course. My apologies, my dear,” Dr. Calder said to me, shaking his head with a rueful smile.
Dr. Abernathy cleared her throat. “Dr. Dutton said you’ve been experiencing breakthrough heat symptoms?”
I nodded. “Uh, yeah. But just today, and it seems to have passed.”
“When did you present as an omega?” she asked, looking genuinely curious.
“A few days after my eighteenth birthday,” I replied.
“And there were no other indications you were an omega before then?” Dr. Calder chimed in.
I shook my head as Crew added, “None. She grew up with my family, and I’d have noticed if she was an omega.”
“We all would have,” Joel supplied.
Dr. Calder’s lips thinned. “Hazel—I’m sorry, may I call you Hazel?”
I nodded. “Of course.”
“Do you happen to know your blood type?” Dr. Calder asked.
My brows shot up. “My blood type?”
He nodded, looking almost hopeful.
“I have no idea,” I admitted. “It might be in my medical records?”
“Which we plan to request with your permission,” Joel told me. “You’ll need to sign a waiver.”
I nodded. “Whatever you need.”
“Would you be willing to let us run a few preliminary tests?” Dr. Calder asked.
Crew folded his arms over his chest. “You think these tests will tell you something that her records don’t?”
“More like confirming a hunch,” Dr. Calder replied.
“Michael,” Dr. Abernathy warned with a small shake of her head.
But Dr. Calder didn’t look the least bit put off. “Sheila, we’re so far behind the eight-ball we’re playing on an entirely different table. We need to know, and this woman might be our best chance at finding answers. Definitive answers backed by science.”
“Whoa,” Kellan snapped. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Rhett drew me back into his arms, ready to protect me from the doctors if it came to it.
“This has to do with the beta born omegas, doesn’t it?” I asked, knowing I was right when the lobby fell silent. “Dr. Berthand mentioned there were other beta born omegas. That there was some kind of memo sent out to the medical community?”
Joel exchanged looks with the other two doctors.
“Papa?” Crew ground out, his jaw tight. “If you know something?—”
“We don’t,” Joel cut him off, then sighed. “At least, we don’t have proof. Yes, there was an alert of sorts sent out to the medical community about the influx of beta born omegas being discovered recently.”
“Dr. Berthand said I was number twelve,” I whispered. “That there were eleven others.”
“That’s correct,” Dr. Abernathy said softly.
I swallowed hard. “He also mentioned that they’re all orphans.”
“They are,” Joel replied. “Including you.”
I flinched and Rhett growled a little.
“In addition they all also have rh-null blood,” Dr. Calder added.
I frowned, puzzled. “What’s that?”
“It’s called golden blood,” he explained. “It’s a very rare phenomenon which happens when there’s a specific mutation in a gene that makes up red blood cells.”
“Like O-negative?” Calla’s face scrunched up. “Biology wasn’t my best subject.”
“No, no,” Dr. Calder replied, shaking his head. “Rh-null blood doesn’t fit any of the A-B-O types. It’s a type unto itself. It lacks a certain protein. And while it’s extremely uncommon, it wasn’t something anyone really paid attention to until we noticed a pattern with these newly awakened omegas.”
“They all have this blood type,” I assumed, “and you think I do, too.”
Dr. Calder nodded.
“What does that mean, exactly?” Jude demanded.
“It means that someone may have found a genetic hack to turn betas into omegas,” Dr. Calder said.
Joel cleared his throat. “And Hazel may be one of them.”