20. Elliott
Elliott
“You look worried,” Jet said, pulling into the driveway at the ranch.
“That’s because I am. Everyone’s going to be so mad at me.”
“I think they’re just going to be happy you’re home in one piece,” Jet said. A minute later, he was parking the car.
As I stepped out onto the gravel driveway, the front door to the ranch burst open and all my omega brothers came charging out.
“Elliott!”
Dawson got to me first, plowing into me and hugging me so tightly, I could barely breathe.
“Elliott! I’m so glad the government didn’t kill you or send you off with a mean alpha!” he exclaimed, burying his face in my shoulder. He was nearly the same height as I was, even though I was an adult and he was a kid.
“Welcome home, shorty,” Sol said, messing up my hair.
“Thanks, Sol.” I tried to fix my hair, but before I could, Zeke grabbed me up and swung me off my feet.
“Don’t ever do that to us again! I haven’t slept the entire time you’ve been gone.”
Without putting me down, Zeke passed me to Camp. “Idiot,” he said fondly, ruffling my hair, making it even messier.
Then Ren threw himself at me, crying. “I’m so happy you’re back and this whole nightmare is over!
” he sobbed into my shirt. I patted his back while hugging him.
Ren was so sensitive, but this time I completely understood his emotions—we were all reeling from everything that had happened. It didn’t seem real.
“Let the guy breathe,” Riku said, yanking me out of his twin’s arms. “You did good, El,” he said, giving me a quick squeeze.
Funny, but until that moment, I hadn’t stopped to realize that my plan had been a success, even though I’d had to be rescued.
When Keane got hold of me, he hugged me hard and said, “We’ll talk later when we’re alone.”
He was going to chew me out for sure.
Ben, Jackson, David, and Trey hugged me and welcomed me back, and then it was everyone else’s turn. Nova and her family, the therapists, the ops alphas—they all told me they’d been worried and were thankful I was home.
And at that moment I had to admit to myself that this place really had become home to me, and these people were my new family.
By the time I got into the house, I was all hugged out and my hair was a mess from being ruffled so many times.
Someone had hung a big WELCOME HOME banner on the wall, and a huge meal had been set up like a buffet on the kitchen counters.
The door to the back deck was open so everyone could be together and we took our plates and ate where we wanted to.
Our conversation was light, and I was glad.
I just wanted to absorb being with everyone.
Dawson entertained me with stories about the goats, like how Pickles had gotten out of the pen again and tried to eat the garden, but Ren and Riku had stopped him.
And how one of the chickens had made its way to the goat pen and now she and Steve were besties.
When the meal was over, I walked back to our house with my friends. Everyone claimed they didn’t want to leave me, so we were going to have a slumber party.
“I hope you see now how important you are to us,” Keane said, voice low.
I nodded. I did see it, and it made me feel even more guilty for what I’d done.
In the living room, we moved the coffee table and put all the pillows, blankets, and sleeping bags we had in the house on the floor on top of the braided rug, along with two giant beanbags that were our most recent addition to the living room.
“Time for a cuddle pile!” Ren said, flopping onto the bean bag. He held out his hand for me to join him and I happily dropped down and snuggled with him.
“I didn’t think I’d ever see this place again,” I said, my head resting against his shoulder.
Trey and Jackson sat with their backs to the sofa, comparing their baby bumps with Ben’s. “You’re almost as big as we are! It’s unfair that omega x’s have shorter pregnancies,” Trey said.
It was true; Ben was already showing a little.
“Maybe you guys are the lucky ones, getting a longer pregnancy,” Ben said. “Ever thought of that?
“Yeah, right, cause being pregnant is so fun,” Jackson said. “Right now, I have reflux so bad, I could die, and the baby is kicking me in the bladder.” Everyone laughed.
It felt good to be with everyone again, but I knew we had to talk. I decided to face the music now rather than later.
“I guess you guys want to know everything that happened,” I said.
“Do you want to tell us?” Camp asked.
“Yeah, but I’m not ready to relive it, if that makes sense. Maybe I could just answer your questions for now?”
My friends all looked at one another, as though asking who would go first.
“Why’d you do it?” Solomon asked. “Why did you decide to go, all alone, and turn yourself in when you knew they’d probably kill you?”
Dead silence fell over the room as all my friends stared at me, waiting for my answer.
Taking a deep breath, I said, “In short, because I didn’t know what to do with my life. I felt useless, and it was something I could do to help my friends. In retrospect, I realize I caused you all a lot of pain and worry, and I’m sorry.”
“That’s right, asshole.” Keane crawled over and squeezed my nose until I knocked his arm away.
“Ow! Quit it! And to think I missed you.” I started to get up, but Keane pulled me back down and puckered his lips. “Give me a kiss and I’ll forgive you.”
“Ew, no!” A wrestling match ensued in which, of course, Keane won, as he was much larger than I was.
When we finally settled down again, Jackson asked, “Were you scared, El?”
“I was very scared, but I kept telling myself I was doing it to help all of you.”
Beside me, Ren started to sniffle. Riku rolled his eyes, but this time he pulled his brother into a hug instead of teasing him. “You are much too soft,” he said.
“I’m sorry, everybody. But I knew you guys would try to stop me.”
“You told Riku!” Ren accused, wiping his tears. “Riku!”
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” Riku asked, shoving Ren away.
Ren crossed his arms over his chest. “If you don’t know what’s wrong with you, I’m not going to tell you.”
That started everyone laughing again, lightening the mood a little.
“They’ve all been so mad at me, El,” Riku said. “They’ve been giving me the cold shoulder.” He looked at Ben. “But they weren’t blaming this guy, who knew way longer than I did!”
“I didn’t know he was leaving that night, you little shit,” Ben said, throwing a pillow at him, which Riku dodged, laughter in his eyes.
“Any more questions?” I asked.
“Did they hurt you?” Trey asked from where he was lying on his side on a sleeping bag, his head propped on his hand.
I looked down at my lap. I really didn’t want to answer that question.
“Elliott…” Keane said. “We need to know.”
“Yes,” I said quietly. When I looked up, all my friends were watching me, their expressions ranging from sad to angry.
Deciding it was better to just tell them everything rather than having them make up scenarios in their minds that were much worse, I said, “One of the doctors implanted a microchip in my neck when I first got there and was unconscious. It monitored my vital signs and reported them on the doctors’ phones.
It was also connected to a device that gave me an electric shock.
The doctor kept the device in his pocket to punish me with. ”
“That’s awful!” Ren exclaimed.
“How many times did he use it?” Sol asked, frowning.
“I don’t know. A few. It hurt so much, I couldn’t breathe. Everything sort of went white, and my ears buzzed.”
“Thank goodness Jet went after you,” Zeke said. “Tell us what happened when he got there.”
“He, er, he…” I couldn’t say it. I just couldn’t.
Sensing my discomfort, Keane got up. “Let’s get ice cream and watch a movie. El, you can pick the flavor. Riku, you pick the movie.”
Riku rubbed his hands together, looking pleased.
“No!” Ren objected. “He’ll pick a horror movie, and those scare me! El hates them, too.”
“You’re right. Elliott, you can pick the movie, too.”
I got up, and when my eyes met Keane’s, I gave him a small smile of thanks.
***
Hours later, I lay awake, moonlight spilling in through the window onto my sleeping bag. We’d never closed the curtains. I couldn’t sleep. Beside me, Keane rolled over, bringing his face close to mine. When I looked at him, I was surprised to see his eyes were open.
“What’s wrong?” he asked quietly.
I shrugged.
Getting up from the floor, he held out his hand to me. I took it, and he helped me up, then led me around our sleeping friends to the front door. We slipped out and sat down on the bench. Over our heads, thousands of stars twinkled in the vast sky.
“Tell me,” he said.
I didn’t have to ask him what.
Sighing, I said, “Jet could only get into the facility by volunteering as an alpha. Kris had a contact that got him the opportunity.” I told Keane about everything Dr. Mooneyham had told me about betas and how I, as an omega x, was going to help them with their fertility issues.
When I paused, Keane asked, “What did he want you to do?”
“To go into heat and be bred by an alpha.”
Keane blinked and looked away, his body stiff. He was upset. I would be, too, if he’d been the one in my place. He also understood more than any of my friends how afraid I was of alphas.
I told him about the red room.
“That’s…fucked up.”
“I know, right? The color was really agitating. They knew what they were doing.”
“The first alpha they brought in wasn’t Jet.”
Keane looked at me, his mouth pulling down in a deep frown.
“It was Edge.” I shuddered just saying the vicious alpha’s name.
Keane’s eyes widened and he swiveled on the bench to face me. His face in the darkness was paler than the moon overhead.
“No, tell me that bastard didn’t have you.” He grasped my hand. “Elliott?”
I shook my head. “I was terrified, obviously. When I didn’t go into heat, they sent him out. Then Jet came in.”
Keane’s gaze didn’t leave mine. “What then?”
I swallowed. “We did what we had to do to get through the situation.”
I watched Keane digest the information. “Was it…really bad?”