Elliott
The walk to the bus station took longer than I thought, even though I practically ran the final couple of miles.
I arrived only minutes before the bus to Adams, the largest city on the bus schedule for this time of night, was scheduled to leave.
Quickly, I bought my ticket and boarded, barely having sat down in the back of the bus before the driver closed the doors and pulled out of the passenger loading area.
Before leaving, I’d doused myself in cologne, hoping to disguise my scent to any alphas. The overpowering perfume caused several people to move seats to get away from it, so I had high hopes it would work.
Leaning back against the cool vinyl seat, I stared out the window at the darkness.
Had my friends discovered I was gone yet?
Had they found my cell phone in the trash?
I felt naked without it. I’d packed a backpack with clothes, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and a comb.
My wallet now held all the money I had saved minus the cost of the bus ticket to Adams. When I got there, I would wait until morning and call ORCRO to anonymously report an unregistered omega spotted...
I’d figure that out later. I hadn’t thought past that moment yet, but I needed to.
What would happen after ORCRO picked me up?
They’d take me to Capital City. And if they acted like they were going to kill me, I’d tell them I was an omega x.
Then, I guessed I’d become their test subject, but at least then I’d have the chance to gather evidence.
After settling that in my mind, I started thinking about Jet. I’d left Keane a letter explaining what I was doing, mentioning the others in it, including Dawson, and saying a few things I needed to say. I knew Keane would share it with all of them.
But I hadn’t said goodbye to Jet.
You thanked him, though.
That had to be enough.
I just really appreciated how he’d treated me. Even though I knew my friends who were mated had really caring alphas, it took Jet for me to realize that I could like and trust an alpha after what I’d been through.
I fell asleep on the bus, waking up when my stop was announced. It was the last stop, and my watch said it was past midnight.
I disembarked, my backpack over one shoulder, and looked around. Streetlights illuminated the outside of the Adams bus station. I could hang out there until morning, but I needed to use the restroom, so I went inside.
After doing that, I bought some crackers and a candy bar out of a machine.
Then I found a map of the city at one of the kiosks and sat down to look at it.
There was a large mall not so far away that I couldn’t walk there.
I was afraid to sleep in the bus station.
Someone might steal my backpack, and I needed my money and personal items until they picked me up.
I decided to start walking in the dark. I studied the map a moment before folding it and putting it in my pocket.
Then I left the building and headed east on Industrial Avenue, like the map had directed.
While I walked, I looked at the buildings around me and the occasional homeless person sleeping under an awning. I didn’t think about the future or even of my friends. No way was I going to let myself cry.
Although the largest city on the route, Adams wasn’t all that impressive.
Everything around me was quiet, with only occasional cars driving by on the street.
Eventually, the sky pinkened and lightened, and the city awoke by increments.
First, shop owners began cleaning windows and more cars appeared; then, the shops opened.
As soon as a food store opened, I went in and bought a few things to eat, then sat on a bench outside and looked at the map again.
I’d been walking for hours and was nearing the mall.
When I’d finished eating and rested enough, I started walking again.
My legs felt numb. I thought I’d never reach the mall, but I finally did.
Only a few cars were in the parking lot—probably employees.
When I reached the front entrance, the hours were printed on the glass door. They opened at nine a.m.
I sat down, partially hidden by some shrubbery, to wait. I really wanted to sleep, but I couldn’t do that where I was, and I needed to make the call as soon as possible in case anyone from home came looking for me.
I didn’t think they’d do that, though. No one knew exactly where I was going—not even Riku. Besides, why would they bother?
When I heard the door unlock, I dragged myself to my feet and went inside. I found the information desk without too much trouble. The young woman sitting behind it smiled at me.
“May I help you?”
“Yes, do you have a phone I can use?”
She smiled and nodded, then placed a square telephone on the desk, telling me to help myself. After that, she stood and walked through a door behind her. I appreciated the privacy.
Without hesitating, I dialed 911 and asked to be connected to the Omega Registration Collection and Redistribution Office. Clutching the receiver with a shaking hand, my mouth dry, I listened as it rang.
When a male voice announced the name of the office, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and said, “I’d like to report the location of an unregistered omega.”
“Name?”
“I-I want to remain anonymous.”
“Do you know the name of the omega?”
“Oh, er, no. Sorry. I just know where they are right now.”
“And where is that?”
I told them the name of the mall. The guy asked for the address.
“I don’t know. Look it up,” I snapped. Man, I was tired.
“Can you possibly keep the omega there?”
“I have no way of doing that, but, um he’s on his way to the food court, so he’ll probably be there for a while.”
“Description of the omega?”
I described myself as best I could, including what I was wearing.
“How do you know this man is an omega and unregistered?”
Well, shit. I hadn’t thought this through well enough.
“Hello?”
“Yes, I’m here. I…overheard him talking on the phone. He didn’t know I was there. Also, um, my friend is an alpha and said he scented him. Listen, I just felt I should report it. I didn’t know there was going to be a damn inquisition.”
The man started to say something else, but I hung up.
Now to sit in the food court and wait to be picked up.
***
I was awakened by a rough shake of my shoulder. When I raised my head from where it rested on my arms, I blinked several times, trying to orient myself. As soon as I saw the man wearing black standing over me, fear took hold and I jolted in my seat.
The man’s hand tightened on my shoulder and he leaned down, flipping open a leather wallet with a badge inside with the acronym ORCRO in big, important black letters. “I know you’re an unregistered omega. Don’t make a scene; you’re coming with me,” he said in a low voice.
I stood on shaking legs and grabbed my backpack. The man took it from me and handed it to a second man standing behind him. I was relieved that they were both betas. If they’d been alphas, they would have had to carry me out of there paralyzed with fear.
The first man looped his arm in mine and led me from the food court area straight toward the mall exit. Outside, a dark-gray sedan waited at the curb.
Once in the car, the driver—a third beta—drove away from the mall and into traffic.
“What’s your name?” The original beta asked me. He was around forty, of medium height, and had dark-blond hair and a chin-strap beard.
“E-Elliott Rittenhouse the Third,” I said.
The man frowned, looking me over. I knew my name sounded much more important than I looked, but he didn’t have to be such a dick about it.
“Hear that?” he asked the man in the passenger seat up front, who didn’t look much older than I was. All I could see of the driver was the back of his head covered in well-trimmed, iron-gray hair, broad shoulders, and mean blue eyes that kept looking at me in the rearview mirror.
“Barely, but yeah,” the young guy answered before turning in his seat to face forward and speaking into a cell phone and then waiting. “Gotcha,” he said a few minutes later. When he hung up, he said to the driver, “Gotta make a detour.”
That didn’t sound good. Focusing my attention on the scenery outside the window, I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. Why were we making a detour? Did whoever was on the phone not like my name and tell him to dump me in the closest river?
We drove nearly three hours before exiting off the interstate into a city I didn’t catch the name of.
I was going to have to learn to pay better attention.
Ten minutes later, we entered a high-class neighborhood and then turned onto a long, winding driveway.
Soon, the largest house I’d ever seen came into view.
A guard waved us through a gate and onto a cobbled circle drive with a large, elaborate fountain in the middle of it.
I was so relieved it wasn’t a river, I could have cried.
The driver stopped the car and unlocked the doors.
He stayed there while the other two betas flanked me as we walked toward the massive house.
Through listening to their conversations on the drive, I’d found out the younger man’s name was Theo, the blond was Harry, and the driver was Mick.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“Shut up,” Theo said.
Harry tightened his grip on my upper arm like I could actually get away from them or had anywhere to run.