Chapter 24 Ben #3
“As soon as we met Trey, we felt close to him,” I added, watching the red-headed omega breaking the piece of straw he’d been chewing on earlier into tiny pieces.
“And your story?” Solomon asked Trey.
“There isn’t much of one. I was secluded at home. I only knew I didn’t have to go live with the other omegas in the omega house because my dad was a senator. But now…” he left off.
“Now what?” David prompted, eyes meeting mine.
Trey looked up from the tiny pile of hay pieces on the ground that he’d made. “Now I’m wondering if they kept me at home so I wouldn’t know what was going on.”
“I’m sure that was part of it,” Camp said confidently. “And the other part was they just wanted to protect you. They did get you a good alpha, right?”
Trey nodded. “I love Bertram. And our baby.”
“Then, that’s good.” Camp smiled brightly.
Trey looked a little happier after that, and I felt grateful to Camp.
“Must’ve been lonely being the only omega around,” Elliott said so low, I could barely hear him, but as his words were directed at Trey, and Elliott was sitting between Trey and Ren, Trey heard him fine.
“It was.”
“I’m sorry,” Elliott said, slowly reaching for Trey’s hand and clasping it in his own.
My heart swelled. He was so little, and it sounded like he’d gone through a lot. I wondered about his story, but I wouldn’t hurt him by asking for it for the world.
Riku had wandered back to us and was standing nearby, listening. Suddenly, he said, “Tell them what happened to you, Elliott. They must be wondering, and it’s your story to tell.”
I bit my bottom lip hard, keeping back the anger I wanted to direct at Riku for being so mean. Instead, I said softly, “You don’t have to, Elliott. It’s none of our business.”
Elliott raised his eyes to meet Riku’s, and time seemed suspended for a moment before Elliott straightened his back and looked our way. He was still holding Trey’s hand.
“They separated me from the others. I was the last one taken, so I only spent three days with them, I think. I don’t know where they took me or if it was far from where I’d been because they drugged me. I—think they examined me or something during that time.” He looked at the ground again.
“Why do you think that?” Riku asked.
Elliott only shrugged.
When David, Trey, and I didn’t ask any questions, Riku said, “I’ll bet you all are wondering why they singled Elliott out. I sure am. But, in all this time, Elliott’s never said why.”
“I’ve told you I don’t know why!” Elliott snapped. When he looked up, tears were streaming down his face.
“Leave him alone,” Solomon said softly.
“Why don’t we compare what we know?” Ren suggested, looking around the group on the blanket. “I’ll start. Omegas are the only males who can get pregnant. Beta females can get pregnant, and so can alpha females, but the males can’t. And there are no female omegas.”
“There was an omega on one of the first ships to this country,” David said, then nudged me, wanting me to tell the rest.
I explained to the group about Pleasant Adams and all his children, and how only the last one was an omega.
“It’s weird that the omega died after giving birth to the only omega he’d had. And the baby died, too. And he never had even one beta,” Solomon said.
“I kind of got the feeling that their deaths weren’t from natural causes, although there isn’t anything that states that,” David said quietly.
We all fell silent. A hot breeze ruffled our hair. I felt Riku sit down to my right.
Camp changed the subject. “My turn. Physically, betas are average while alphas are bulkier and omegas, leaner.”
“Are we talking dicks here?” Zeke asked.
We all laughed, and some of the tension ran out of the moment.
“Also, height and girth and personality,” Ren said.
“That’s right,” Camp said. “Betas are just average everything.”
“Physically,” Elliott spoke up. “But betas are very smart. Like Dr. Laura. Their brains are not average.”
“Let’s talk about what they can’t do, then,” Zeke suggested.
“Or, better, what can omegas do that betas can’t?
I mean, think about it. The betas seem to be the ones either trying to get rid of omegas or using them for profit.
They’ve convinced everyone that omegas are a menace unless mated to alphas.
Why? Is it so they can prey upon them for human trafficking? ”
Abruptly, Elliott got up and walked toward the house. Keane got up and went after him.
“Why do you insist on talking about it when you know it upsets him?” Solomon asked Zeke. He turned to Riku. “And why did you make him tell his story? You’re such an asshole.”
“It’s been over five years. He can’t avoid talking about it forever. He knows stuff.”
“He says he doesn’t.”
Riku’s eyes flashed. “Then he’s lying.”
David cleared his throat and got to his feet. “I need to check on Ollie.”
“I’ll go with you. I have to use the bathroom,” I said. As I followed him into the house, I heard the others arguing. I was glad Trey was staying—I would ask him later what was said.
“They’re a volatile group,” I whispered as we went in the front door.
David grunted agreement.
Ollie was still asleep.
“Do you really have to go to the bathroom, or did you just want to get out of there?” David asked me.
“Both.”
“Meet me in the kitchen when you’re finished.” He turned that way.
I used the toilet, then went to the kitchen where David sat at the table with Laura, who was having a cup of tea while going through a pile of manila folders. Eric stood at the stove cooking. He flashed a dimpled smile at me over his shoulder.
“You guys all getting to know each other?”
Smiling, I said, “Yeah. We just got a little hot out there.”
It didn’t escape my notice that Laura seemed to prefer to do her work in the main house, rather than in her little cabin.
Laura’s notebook was in front of her and she appeared to be making notes. David had gotten some water and had a glass for me, too.
“Thanks,” I said after I sat down and had a drink of it. Now that we weren’t with the group anymore, I was beginning to feel the absence of my alphas, but I pushed it down. I’d told Angus I’d be fine, so I would be.
“Where are the others?” Laura asked when she finished writing. “I thought I heard Elliott a bit ago.”
“He got upset and came in with Keane,” David said.
Laura looked up. “Upset? Why?”
“Someone mentioned the kidnapping and human trafficking.”
Laura’s mouth thinned. “Elliott still has trouble dealing with it. Keane will settle him. How are you two doing? Ben, I notice you’re here without Angus or Colt. How do you feel?”
“I was doing fine until just a few minutes ago. Now, I’m missing them.”
“Do you want me to take you home?”
“Not yet. I told Angus I could do it.”
Laura smiled kindly. “Angus will understand. I’m sure he’s worrying about you right now. Colt, too.”
“They have a lot of work to do on the ranch. I’m in the way.”
“I can’t imagine them telling you that.”
“No, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true,” I said.
David patted my shoulder. “I remember feeling that way. It’s why I made a point of always cooking the meals and taking on the chickens and the garden. I wanted to be useful.”
“I don’t know what I can do,” I admitted. “I’m not good at anything.” Nose stinging, I stared at the table. I did not want to cry, but my emotions were everywhere these days.
“That’s not true. You were so good with your pet rat. He lived so long. It’s like you had the magic touch.”
I groaned. “Don’t start. I do not have special powers that heal.”
“Okay, but you are good with animals, and we have plenty of those on the ranch. Why don’t you take on the hogs?”
HLooking horrified, I said, “No way! I’m scared of them.”
David laughed. “Okay, yeah. How about the goats, then? They’re kind of smelly, but what animal isn’t? And the little ones are adorable. Mention it to Colt. He’s the one who usually takes care of them. That will free him up for other things.”
Maybe that was a good idea. And I did like the goats. They had weird eyes, but they were sweet. “Okay. Thanks, David.”
“No problem. And I’m sure there are things you can do in the house, too.”
I thought about it. Up until then, everyone did their part to keep things in order, and I helped David deep clean.
“What if I take over our part of the house?” I suggested. “It would be less for you to do, and I’ll still help with the kitchen work and the guest rooms.”
“It’s a deal,” David said, and shook my hand.
Keane wandered in and sat down with us.
“Where’s Elliott?” I asked.
“He’s having a session with Gail. He wouldn’t stop crying. He has…flashbacks.”
“Why do Riku and Zeke antagonize him?” David asked.
“They think they’re doing him good in the long run,” Keane said.
A hard knock on the back door startled us all. Eric looked at Laura. “Who could that be?”
“Don’t worry,” she said, getting up and crossing to the door. “I’m interviewing someone for a job as a guard.” She looked at the three of us at the table. “He’s an alpha, so you guys go into the living room.”
Keane, David, and I left the room.
“Why would Laura interview an alpha to guard a bunch of omegas?” David asked.
“All the SOS ops guys are alphas. They take rut suppressants,” Keane said.
Sitting down on the couch, I took a deep breath and let it out.
The feeling of insecurity I experienced when my alphas weren’t within sight was building inside me.
Determined to ride it out, I picked up two round blue pillows and set them on one side of me, then took the two beige square ones and put them on the other.
When I looked up, Keane was watching me with interest.
“Nesting,” David explained. “Ben’s expecting.”
The front door opened, and the others trooped in. Zeke had the folded blanket under his arm.
“It’s getting hot out there,” he said.
“Yeah, and we’re thirsty.” Camp headed for the kitchen, but I stopped him with a hand to his arm.
“Wait,” I said. “Laura is interviewing someone in there. Let’s go to your house. You guys have a kitchen there, right?”
“Yeah, and we have soda,” Camp said, turning and heading back for the door. “I could do with a nice cold can of ginger ale.”
It was a short walk to their building. I’d been inside it when it was empty, but it looked totally different with navy drapes over the big window that looked out at the craggy mountains in the distance, and the long, L-shaped couch facing a table with a TV on it.
The kitchen counters now held a coffee maker, air fryer, and toaster, and there was a microwave hanging over the small stove.
While Camp stuck his head in the refrigerator, I went to peek at the bathroom.
A green curtain hung over the tub and shower with matching towels on the rack by the sink and a fluffy green rug lay on the floor.
Next door, in the big bedroom, two sets of bunk beds were made up with navy comforters, and there was a double bed as well.
A dresser held a small lamp, and the bookshelf had an aquarium of freshwater fish on it.
Back in the living room, David said, “Wow, this is really nice.” He sat down on the couch, which was almost long enough to fit all of us at once. Camp and Solomon took the big chairs after passing out cans of ginger ale.
“Where’s Elliott?” Solomon asked.
“With Gail,” Keane said.
“He okay?”
“He will be.”
“Laura’s interviewing an alpha,” I said.
“He has to be on suppressants,” David said.
Zeke frowned. “They aren’t easy to get, but the SOS manages to get ahold of them. Maybe he works for them. What was he like?”
“I only got a glimpse. Tall, dark-haired. Beard. Muscular.” Keane shuddered and rubbed his arms as though cold.
“Let’s pick up where we left off making our list,” Ren said.
“I really want to see if we have any new information between us. My addition is omegas can only be ‘normal’ once they’re mated to an alpha.
Why couldn’t they just make a law that omegas of ripening age have to stay at home until properly mated?
Why did the government have to step in?”
“Public welfare, supposedly,” Keane said.
My head was starting to throb. Closing my eyes, I leaned back against the couch and zoned out. David could fill me in later. The air unit was running, and the room was cool and comfortable. I could feel myself falling asleep but couldn’t rouse myself. Just a short nap…
I couldn’t have been sleeping long when I fell into a vivid dream.
A small room and two men. One was sitting in a chair, one standing. The one in the chair had his head in his hands and he was crying.
The standing man said, “You don’t understand, Byron. This is so much worse. He’s not like you, and he’d be better off dead than having them take him.”
Byron took a shaky breath and looked up at the other man. I’d never seen such heart-wrenching pain on someone’s face.
“You do it, then, Stephen. I won’t. You do it and see if you can live with yourself!”
The scene in my dream changed.
Outside on a dark night. A church bell tolled in the distance. Stephen walked quickly along a city street, a bundle in his arms. Every so often, he looked over his shoulder.
After a while of brisk walking, he spoke aloud, his breath white smoke in the air. “They say freezing to death is easy. You just go to sleep. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Gods forgive me—this is not what I want. But they say…”
Voices sounded in the distance, and Stephen looked around in panic. Spotting a dumpster, he slid open the door and put the bundle inside.
“It’s the best I can do. Let fate decide!” he whispered before taking off in the other direction.
Brightness blotted out the scene, and when it cleared, I saw a different place.
A crowd of people stood outside a crudely built house, some carrying large sticks like weapons. Unlike the last scene, these people were dressed from another time period. The women wore long skirts and bonnets. The men had on coats sewn out of animal skins.
“You know what he is, John Waters!” someone shouted at the door of the house. “Hand him over, now! Him and the babe!”
Even though I knew it was a dream, fear climbed up my throat.