The Alpha’s Determined Omega (SOS Omegaverse #4)

Prologue Ben

Spring had officially arrived in North Platte country.

Delighted with the mild turn in the weather, our group of omegas decided we would enjoy it while helping each other with our gardens.

Last week, we’d tackled the garden at the Borders’ Ranch, and today we were starting on ours.

Since Jackson and Trey’s houses weren’t finished yet, they were sharing our garden this year.

David, Zeke, and Riku diligently yanked weeds from the soil under the warm sun, having relieved me and Elliott moments ago.

My wrist hurt, and I rotated it while sitting on the grass next to Elliott, whose attention was focused on the rugged Laramie Mountains in the distance.

A bit of snow still capped their peaks, reminding us of the winter months we’d left behind.

I got distracted watching Keane, who, hands caked with dirt, scrunched up his nose while sorting out the seedlings to plant.

I couldn’t help but smile. Keane obviously disliked getting dirty.

It didn’t stop him from going at the job whole-heartedly, though; he worked on the ranch like everyone else and didn’t complain, but his expression right then reflected his feelings to a T.

Trey and Jackson, both at the puking stage of early pregnancy, sat on a quilt in the shade with Lucy June, Oliver, and Bertie.

Nearby, Camp, Ren, and Solomon played with Jackson’s toddlers, Alisanne and Serena.

Alisanne, now two-and-a-half, was giving Camp a run for his money.

Every time he turned his back, she got into something she wasn’t supposed to.

Recently, one of Angus’s friends had become ill and asked us to take Roger, his three-year-old, solid-white Australian cattle dog.

And right then, Alisanne was headed for a pile of Roger’s poop.

“Camp! Poop alert!” I yelled, cupping my hands around my mouth to help the sound carry.

Camp managed to grab Alisanne’s arm just as her little hand reached for the smelly mess, then he swiveled to snatch up Serena before she could tumble down the small hill she’d managed to climb. The moment he set her on her feet he had to stop Alisanne again.

“Such single-minded determination. She has to be an alpha,” I commented to Elliott, who had turned to watch when I’d yelled.

“You’re probably right.” Elliott shook his head. “I love kids, but I don’t want any.”

“What? But you’re an omega. You have to have them!”

“I don’t have to. I just won’t have sex,“ Elliott said simply.

I started to argue that it didn’t make sense to love kids but not want them, but then realized that Elliott more than likely didn’t want to have sex because of whatever he went through when he was kidnapped several years ago.

Riku used to accuse Elliott of keeping something from the group, and I’d thought at the time that it had to do with that, but it turned out I was wrong.

Last fall, after realizing that we both had the gifts of second-sight and healing and sharing that with the group, Elliott admitted that he’d overheard their kidnappers say his father was an “omega x.” He hadn’t known what the term meant at the time and therefore kept it to himself out of fear for the others’ safety.

What exactly being an omega x meant was still mostly a mystery.

“I’ve made a decision,” Elliott said, interrupting my thoughts.

“About what?”

Elliott had gone back to staring at the mountains in the distance.

“About what I’m going to do with my life.”

He was in an odd mood, so I waited for him to explain.

Finally, he turned to me and said, “I’m going to sacrifice myself to the cause.”

Last week, the body of the omega FBI mole sent to infiltrate the government’s omega relocation program had washed ashore on the banks of Capital River. His death was declared a drowning. Perhaps that was the reason for Elliott’s unusually morose mood and this sudden declaration.

“El, what do you mean? How are you going to sacrifice yourself?” I asked, trepidation unfurling in my chest.

“The FBI failed because they sent in people who were too careful. I’m going to put myself in a situation where I’ll get turned in as an unregistered omega, and because I have nothing to lose, I’ll find out what the government is doing from the inside.”

Alarmed, I stared at him. “You can’t do that! They’ll kill you!”

Elliott shrugged. “It’ll be worth it to stop them.”

“What do you mean, ‘it’ll be worth it’?” I asked, so loudly that I drew the attention of our friends.

Elliott lowered his voice. “Shh. I don’t want them to know. Ben, I’m useless as an omega. I don’t want children. I don’t even want an alpha.” It was clear he’d been thinking about this for a while.

“But—“

“I’m not kidding.” Our friends had gone back to what they were doing, but Elliott still leaned closer to me when he whispered, “They ruined me for that. No alpha would want me like this, and I don’t care. I don’t want an alpha. I don’t want to have kids. As an omega, what else am I good for?”

Horrified, I couldn’t think of a reply for several long seconds.

Finally, I asked, “Do you think that’s all omegas can do?

Do you think sex and reproduction are the only reasons for our existence?

Isn’t that part of what we’re fighting for?

To end that kind of talk? Do you honestly not see that we love you and don’t want to lose you? ”

Elliott turned his focus back on the mountains.

Fear gripped me at his resolute attitude. “You’re wrong. And I’m not going to let you do this.”

“You can’t stop me, and I know you won’t betray me,” Elliott said, giving me a meaningful look. We were brothers. All of us. Even if we weren’t born from the same parents—except for the twins, of course—and didn’t grow up together. We were family.

When Camp walked over, Alisanne under one arm and Serena under the other, like two wriggling sacks, I turned away from Elliott. Camp set them on the ground, and Serena toddled over to me and plopped down on my lap. I hid my face in her hair.

“Is something wrong?” Zeke asked. When I looked up, he was studying Elliott. Then he directed his deep blue gaze at me.

Elliott shrugged. “Not at all, why?”

“You seemed—“

“El, don’t move! There’s a wasp on your neck,” Camp interrupted, causing Elliott, who had been stung by wasps before, to freeze.

“Get it off me, please, Camp.”

“Stay very still.” Leaning down, Camp gently tugged Elliott’s shirt away from his neck and carefully waved the wasp away.

“Gods, don’t make it mad!” Ren shrieked as the insect flew toward him.

“You’re such a baby,” Riku said, sidestepping the wasp and watching it fly away.

“I’m allergic to wasp and bee stings!” Ren defended. “Way more than you are.”

“Which goes to show that I’m the superior twin,” Riku said smugly.

Distracted, I barely registered their argument as I reached out and pulled down Elliott’s shirt the way Camp had a moment ago.

“You have a star-shaped freckle,” I said, staring at the mark on his shoulder.

“Oh. Yeah. Isn’t it weird? My birth dad had one just like it. Same place and everything,” Elliott said.

When I didn’t immediately let go of his shirt, he asked, “What’s the matter?”

Mind racing, I cleared my throat before speaking. “I have one, too. Just like it. In the same place, exactly.”

“No way,” Ren said, coming closer. “Let us see.”

Reaching behind my head, I tugged off my t-shirt and Elliott did the same. We both turned our backs to the rest of the group, who gathered around us.

“Wow, he’s right. It’s exactly the same.” David’s voice came from close behind me. “They’re both shaped exactly like tiny stars!”

Keane’s deeper voice followed. “It really is in the exact same place as Elliott’s is. How weird is that?”

“Too weird not to mean something. And you said your birth dad had one like it?” I asked Elliott.

As Elliott met my gaze, realization dawned in his eyes. “Oh.”

After putting our shirts back on, we turned around to face our friends.

“What?” David asked, frowning in confusion.

“Me, Ben, and my birth dad are all omega x. And we all just happen to have the same oddly-shaped freckle in the exact same place on our bodies,” Elliott explained.

Letting out a puff of air, Solomon shook his head. “And you think one thing has to do with the other? Isn’t that stretching things? I mean, it’s just a freckle.”

Camp looked at him. “Have you ever seen a star-shaped freckle before? I haven’t.”

Solomon didn’t reply.

“Your dad’s was in the exact same place? You’re sure?” Riku asked Elliott.

“Yes. I’m positive. When I was younger, I thought it was so cool that I inherited it from him.”

“If it’s hereditary, maybe Ben’s related to you,” Zeke said.

“Oh, that’s so much more likely, thanks, Z,” Riku scoffed.

“More likely than a freckle signifying you’re a different type of omega,” Zeke retorted.

Camp made a frustrated sound. “Stop. We can’t prove any of this.”

No, we couldn’t. But, somehow, I knew it was true. And when I turned and met Elliott’s gaze, I knew he agreed.