Jet
I’d hoped that, after spilling my guts to the therapist, I wouldn’t dream of Clayton anymore; but every night after my appointment with Dallas, as soon as I went to sleep, there was our old apartment, and there was Clayton and his sweet smile and eyes full of admiration and trust in me.
These dreams reminded me that I’d let him down.
If it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t be gone. I should have been more vigilant.
To get through each workday, I doubled my coffee intake.
Elliott seemed distant, even though we’d been getting along well up until now. One step forward, one step back, it seemed.
Therefore, I was shocked when Elliott stopped me on Thursday evening and thanked me for being kind and respectful to him. I knew it took a lot of courage to do that and I admired him for it.
On Friday, Elliott did his morning chores, but rather than going to the main house for lunch, he told me he was going to go home and eat something light. I left him there and went to eat on the deck with the other ops alphas.
At the end of the meal, Anson stood as he usually did and went over what had been done that morning and what needed to be done before nightfall.
When he finished and everyone had added anything they needed to, he announced, “Tonight almost everyone is going to the Angels’ ranch to talk about new developments.
A few of you will have to stay behind to keep an eye on the property and anyone who doesn’t go, such as Dawson. Any volunteers for that?”
“I’ll stay,” Emma said.
“I’ve been appointed Dawson’s regular guard, so I’ll stick with him,” Kirk said.
“I’ll stay, too,” Brandon volunteered.
“Okay. That’s all for now.”
I went back by the omegas’ house, and when Elliott didn’t come out to meet me after a few minutes, I knocked on the door.
Riku opened it.
“Elliott’s got a stomachache. I’m going to take over his duties this afternoon.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. I hope he feels better soon,” I said.
I decided to go to the barn to help Anson clean tack.
Later, when everyone was leaving for the neighboring ranch, I went back to the omegas’ house to fetch Elliott and whomever else would fit in a car, only to be told by Riku again that Elliott still wasn’t feeling well.
“I can stay with him,” Camp offered, coming to stand behind Riku.
“No, I’ll do it. I don’t want to go listen to more hemming and hawing about what’s to be done. You can fill me in later,” Riku said in his typical grouchy manner.
It was tempting for me to stay home, too, but I wanted to hear what Jackson’s parents and Kristopher had to say. Like everyone else, I hoped for good news that would lead to the breakdown of the government’s omega program.
It was close to nine p.m. when I arrived at the Angel’s ranch, having ridden with Anson, Lynn, and Joel in one of the ranch vehicles.
The sunset cast oranges and purples across the western sky, and the weather was chilly enough that someone had made a bonfire in the yard and surrounded it with foldable canvas chairs.
Eric remained at home to put the kids in bed, and Ace and Dallas stayed as well, but Gail came with Laura and Nova.
Jackson sat with his parents, a middle-aged alpha-beta couple, and his mate. Jackson had inherited his mother’s dark, curly hair and intriguing shade of gray eyes. Elise sat with her hand resting possessively on her husband Vaughn’s arm.
When everyone was seated, Laura announced that she had Kristopher Gatlin on video call and placed her tablet on an empty chair next to her, the CEO’s handsome face on its screen.
“As you know,” Laura began, “we’re here to exchange all the information we’ve gathered since we met last fall. First, Vaughn is going to catch us up on his interview with Dr. Stephen Mandrake.”
Vaughn began updating everyone. Basically, he said that Dr. Mandrake had not known about omega x’s until he’d recently read Gail’s article but was eager to know more and wanted to speak with Ben and Elliott, if that could be arranged.
Colt and Angus didn’t look happy about that, and, as an alpha, I couldn’t blame them. I didn’t much like the idea of Elliott being questioned, either. Of course, I had no say in what Elliott did, although I felt like I should. I was responsible for his safety—and that included his well-being.
“Dr. Mandrake is in the middle of writing a book about betas,” Vaughn continued, looking down at his notes.
“To date, he’s interviewed hundreds of them and found that prejudice against omegas has quadrupled over the last decade.
He believes that’s due to anti-omega propaganda being spread all over the United Regions as well as our inability to engage with more omega-tolerant countries.
Some betas interviewed called omegas ‘ignorant, sex-crazed sycophants,’ and the majority of the younger population of betas hold the belief that omegas are sullying the genetic pool. ”
A murmur of displeasure rippled through the group sitting around the fire.
Clearing his throat, Vaughn continued, “Most surprising to Dr. Mandrake were his findings that the majority of betas interviewed believe that they are superior to alphas as well as omegas. The reasons they stated were their more even-keeled natures, their innate understanding of science and mathematics, and their domination of the nation’s most important career positions.
“When asked what they thought about the government’s omega program, the majority of beta opinions were positive.
Some were in favor of proposing a law that all registered omegas be sterilized before being mated to alphas with the goal that omegas would be bred out of the population entirely.
Dr. Mandrake felt it was clear from the harsh criticism of the program that these betas did not suspect that the government was exterminating the omegas but rather was doing as they claimed—mating them to appropriate alphas and setting them up somewhere remote to live. ”
Vaughn looked up from his notes to let this sink in before adding, “There’s one more thing. A very interesting bit of information.”
Everyone quieted down to listen.
“Dr. Mandrake found a definite belief among betas that omegas cannot not give birth to betas, something that he has, so far, not been able to disprove.”
“Could that be true?” Laura asked Gail.
“To be honest, I have heard this. I just never gave it any credence. As a beta who champions beta rights, I figured it was just more negative omega propaganda,” Gail said.
“Until recently, we’ve thought omegas are rare, so it’s not that surprising we don’t have more information.” Elise said, then turned to the image of Kristopher Gatlin on Laura’s iPad. “Kris? What’s your take on this?”
As Kristopher spoke about the threat that highly fertile omegas would pose to betas forming anti-omega groups, Trey got up and scooted past me, headed to the house.
Kristopher ended by saying, “The proposed legislation to sterilize all omegas is a bit radical to pass, but we are keeping our eyes on it.”
The conversation turned to omega x’s who recently expressed an interest in meeting with Gail, and Kristopher suggested that the meeting take place at the SOS headquarters in Hudson City, so as not to put anyone at the ranch in jeopardy, which I thought was prudent advice, just in case.
My mind was beginning to drift when something Gail said caught my attention: the omega x twins that she had been in contact with through email had told her that they were able to communicate with each other telepathically through their dreams. She asked Ben if Elliott had mentioned it to him.
Ben nodded. It was obvious by the looks of their mates and the other omegas that Ben and Elliott hadn’t shared this information with them.
Trey returned from the house and scooted past me again, and, as I moved to let him by, I noticed headlights arc over the barn as a car pulled into the driveway. I got to my feet and was about to alert the other ops members when Laura touched my arm.
Looking up at me, she said, “It’s Dallas. He texted me a few minutes ago that he was coming,” she said.
A moment later, Dallas slid into the empty seat to my left.
“Change your mind?” I leaned in and asked him.
“I hadn’t planned to, but then Riku asked me to drive him here. I might as well stay. What’s everyone talking about?”
Frowning, I said, “Riku is supposed to be taking care of Elliott.” Why would Riku leave his sick friend?
“He said that Elliott fell asleep and had his cell phone beside him. He’ll be fine. After all, we’re just a couple of minutes down the road.”
I couldn’t argue with that, so I gave him a quick summary of what had been said so far and turned my attention back to the meeting.
“Last on the agenda, Vaughn’s been doing research on Pleasant Adams, the colony omega who showed up in our research,” Laura said.
Vaughn scrolled through his notes on his phone before speaking.
“We know that Pleasant had fourteen children before his alpha died. Records lead us to believe that Pleasant and his omega x child were not killed during the uprise against them but rather escaped to the Delta region. As for the remainder of their children, some were raised by families in the original Bay Region colony and some in a nearby colony. After painstakingly following the ancestral paths of each, I learned that several died in various epidemics, but a few made it to adulthood and raised families.”
He looked up from his notes.
“Clearly, the fact that those thirteen children were alphas, with the fourteenth being an omega x, lends credence to the idea that omegas are unable to give birth to betas. Also, I made no note in my research of betas giving birth to omegas.
“Interestingly, I traced another omega born in the lineage of Pleasant Adams to an accused witch in the bay area forty years later. Large families continued to be prevalent in this lineage, with few childhood deaths at a time when childhood mortality was very high.”
“So, you’re thinking that these families had omega x’s who could heal their children of illnesses?” Laura surmised.