25. Jet
Jet
Over the next few weeks, many changes occurred on the ranch.
All of the ops alphas except for Anson and Joel returned to the facility in Hudson City.
To everyone’s shock, Riku went with them.
Kristopher Gatlin agreed to put him on heat suppressants—something the SOS medical team was working hard on making available to all omegas in the near future—and to allow Riku to train with the ops team.
As omegas no longer needed protection from their own government, the ops team would focus on the ongoing issue of omega traffickers.
Not wanting Riku to sacrifice his dreams because of him a second time, Ren put up a brave front, hiding how upset he was until his twin left for the East Coast. Since then, he’d been depressed.
Elliott told me he’d been having daily therapy sessions with Dallas, who had stayed on at the ranch while Gail and Ace had returned to Hudson City.
Ace was going to work at the SOS-affiliated rehabilitation hospital where he’d worked with Elliott and the others when they lived there, and Gail was going to join Dr. Stephen Mandrake in a new study on omega x’s, which would include the twins Gail had been in touch with by email.
Elliott and I spent a lot of time working in the garden.
Sometimes we took long morning walks together after tending to the goats and chickens.
During those, we shared our childhood stories and talked about books.
Several times a week, I took Elliott by the house he’d lived in with the other omegas so he could visit with them before we returned to the camper to sleep.
Elliott always asked me to come inside the house with him, and I would read or scroll through my phone while he talked to his friends.
One evening, when I stopped at the ranch house to borrow a tool from Nova, I ran into Laura and was surprised when she told me she’d approached Elliott several times to talk and he’d avoided her.
I’d thought his initial annoyance with her was amusing, but I’d had no idea it had developed into a grudge.
Elliott had forgiven Keane, so why not Laura?
Perhaps Laura had misinterpreted something.
When she told me she was having everyone over for dinner the following night to talk about the future of the ranch, I assured her that Elliott and I would both be there.
Late the next afternoon, as we wrapped up several hours working in the garden, I mentioned we’d be having dinner at the ranch and why. Elliott became visibly upset, immediately getting up from where he’d been kneeling in the dirt and walking out of the garden.
Wiping my hands on my shorts, I got up and followed him to where he’d stopped several feet away, his back to me.
Although Elliott was staring at the mountains in the distance, I could tell he was agitated, and I felt sure there was something more going on than a grudge against Laura for butting into our business after we mated.
Stepping up behind my mate, I gently rested my hands on his shoulders. In a short amount of time, Elliott had become the most important person in the world to me, and I hated to see him hurting.
“El, are you afraid Laura will try to separate us again? Because I can tell you right now, I won’t let anyone do that.
The only reason it happened that night was because, although I was upset, I knew she was looking after you.
If that hadn’t been the case, I would have gone ballistic.
” When he didn’t say anything, I pleaded, “Please tell me what it is that’s bothering you. Let me help you.”
Abruptly, Elliott turned around and, for a moment, I thought he was going to tell me off.
Instead, he clasped me around the waist and buried his face in the opening of my shirt.
Wrapping my arms around him, I held him while he deeply inhaled my scent, something that soothed him.
Cupping the back of his head with my hand, I ran the other up and down his back, waiting for him to calm down.
Finally, Elliott said shakily, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. The only thing I know is, I don’t want to share you with anyone.”
Frowning, I tried to make some space between us so that I could see Elliott’s face, but he kept it buried in the opening of my shirt. “What are you talking about?”
“I don’t want to share you. With anyone.”
Since mating, other than Elliott’s visits with the other omegas, we’d kept to ourselves, but I figured that was normal.
We wanted to get to know each other better, and we wanted to explore each other’s bodies.
A lot. We were in a honeymoon phase of our relationship.
But although Elliott wanted me with him, I hadn’t realized he felt so insecure.
“Have I done something to make you feel this way?” I asked him.
Lifting his head, Elliott looked up at me. “No! You’re perfect.”
Chuckling, I said wryly, “While I appreciate your saying it, I think you’re exaggerating a bit.”
“I don’t know. I just want you to myself,” Elliott muttered.
A thought occurred to me.
Not long after we’d returned from Capital City and mated, Laura had texted both me and Elliott to let us know that the doctor who had examined Elliott had indeed performed a pregnancy test, and the test had come back negative.
However, so soon after conception, a pregnancy might not show on a test. Was Elliott feeling extra clingy due to being pregnant?
We hadn’t talked about having children, although we probably should have.
It was the one subject we’d skirted around in our conversations.
Yet, we continued to have unprotected sex every day.
I blamed myself; I couldn’t get enough of him, and…
I had to admit that I secretly liked the idea of getting him pregnant.
It might even be a kink of mine, considering I got hard every time I thought about him carrying my child.
“You’re mine,” Elliott stated, as though I’d argue with him.
“Yes, I’m yours. I’ll always be yours. And you are mine, Elliott Rittenhouse III. No one can change that.”
He nodded in affirmation and hugged me, sniffing my skin again.
“Tonight, we are going to dinner at the ranch. Okay?” I lifted his chin with my hand so he would look at me.
Raising his large green eyes to lock with mine, Elliott nodded. But he didn’t look happy about it.
Leaving the baskets of strawberries on the deck of the ranch, we went back to the camper to shower.
We both hated the shower bathroom that was only large enough for one person, but we couldn’t use the outdoor hose in broad daylight.
Living in the camper was already getting old.
One of the things I planned to talk about with Laura and her mates tonight was where we might live in the future.
When we arrived at the ranch, everyone else was already there. Laura greeted us warmly and said that she hoped we could stay after the others left and talk with her. Glancing at Elliott, I said that we would.
During dinner, everyone chatted with one another about different topics.
Elliott stuck close to me. Because of what he’d said earlier, I was more aware that he stuck to me like glue—to the point of always keeping a part of himself touching me.
After dessert, Kate and Jeremiah went to watch a movie in the playroom, and we started talking business.
All the omegas except for Elliott chose to sit together on the long couch. Elliott shared the nearby oversized chair with me. Dallas sat in a chair close to the end of the couch where Ren was sitting, and Nova and her mates got comfortable on the love seat.
With a smile, Nova said, “Laura, Eric, and I spoke with Kris and Jermaine Gatlin on Monday about the future of the ranch. In three weeks, the five beta teens who will be participating in the troubled teen workshop will be arriving. The SOS is sending two AAT’s—Animal Assisted Therapists—to work with them during that time.
The AAT’s will be staying in one of the empty cabins formerly occupied by ops alphas.
As we’d already made arrangements to keep the teenagers separated from our omegas, we don’t expect the presence of the kids to affect the day-to-day goings on at the ranch. ”
Nova looked to Eric, who said, “Kris and Jermaine told us that since the dissolution of the government’s omega program, there have been many unregistered omegas who have come out of hiding and called the SOS for help.
Among them are at least twenty omega x’s, who all volunteered to participate in Gail and Dr. Mandrake’s study.
Kris and Jermaine proposed that, since the need is so great and will only likely grow, next year we’ll begin therapy sessions here at the ranch for omegas only. ”
As we discussed this, the general consensus on the idea was positive.
After a moment, Laura looked at the omegas on the couch and said, “As we’ve told you before, you are welcome to stay here.
Some of you might want to work with the omega x’s who come, and we can talk about how at a later time.
You no longer need to feel that you must mate.
Although it will be a while before the bad publicity that was spread about you can be counteracted, the law is on your side.
Perhaps some of you would like to attend the university in Jessup.
If that’s the case, funds have recently become available in that regard.
Again, that’s a subject we can explore at a later date.
I just want you to be thinking about your futures, whether they take place here or somewhere else. Any questions?”
Ren spoke up. “What if we want to mate? Can you help us with that?”
“If that’s the case, we’ll do everything we can to help you, yes.”
“I have a question,” Zeke said, glancing at Camp. “We haven’t heard anything about what happened with Trey’s parents being questioned by the FBI. We haven’t wanted to ask him because we didn’t want to upset him. Do you know?”
I glanced at Elliott, who had been wondering the same thing.
“Trey’s parents were questioned and the FBI believes they had nothing to do with the omega program.
They’d wanted a second child for a long time but were unable to conceive again, and a friend involved with the program arranged for them to adopt Trey, who had recently been born to an unregistered omega who was exterminated. ”
While it was a good thing that Trey’s parents hadn’t been involved in the killing of omegas, I thought it must have been difficult for Trey to find out his birth father had been one of those killed. The more that was uncovered, the more it seemed that the program hadn’t left any loose threads.
When no one had any more questions, everyone prepared to leave. Elliott said goodnight to the other omegas. Eric and Nova excused themselves to get the kids ready for bed, and Joel and Anson headed out to do their evening duties on the ranch.
Elliott and I hung around to speak with Laura, and so did Dallas.
“All right,” Laura said, looking at the three of us. “Jet, Elliott, I’ve asked Dallas to stay for a couple of reasons that we’ll get to in just a moment. Before that, I want say something to Elliott.” Looking him in the eyes, she leaned forward.
“We’ve known each other for quite a while now—ever since you were rescued by the SOS from those kidnappers. I sincerely hope you know that I couldn’t possibly care more about you than I do, and that I never meant my actions to hurt you after you mated Jet.”
Watching Elliott’s face, I could see he was moved by what Laura was saying. Tears filled his eyes and his chin trembled as she continued with great sincerity in her voice.
“In the last few weeks, I’ve missed you a great deal, Elliott. I also realized that I owed you this apology. I’m sorry. Please forgive me for separating you from Jet that night. I should have minded my own business.”
Elliott’s eyes widened. He obviously hadn’t expected Laura to apologize.
“Do you forgive me?” Laura asked, a tear rolling down her cheek.
Elliott nodded. “I know you did it because you care about me,” he said hoarsely.
She nodded. Wiping away the tears, she said, “All right. Moving on. Gail was your therapist for years, but now she’s gone. Do you agree that you still have some things to work out in therapy?”
I was relieved when Elliott nodded.
“Then, perhaps you would agree to a session with Dallas to see if you’re a good fit with him?”
“Okay,” Elliott said, glancing at Dallas, who smiled at him.
“Actually, I’ve had a problem lately. I wonder if either of you can help me with it,” Elliott said, looking at Laura and then Dallas.
Laura and Dallas both gave him their attention, and Elliott told them about his feelings of possessiveness for me and how he didn’t want to be away from me even for a second.
Leaning back in her chair, Laura looked thoughtful. “Hmm. In my observations, all newly mated omegas go through an initial period of feeling the way you do. It usually eases up fairly quickly, though. You should be having longer periods of being away from Jet by now.”
“Could these feelings be due to pregnancy?” I asked.
“Possibly. Are you pregnant, Elliott?”
“I don’t know,” he said.
“Well, I can draw blood and take it to a lab, if you’d like. Pregnancy can make you very emotional, and that could cause separation anxiety over a new mate.”
We agreed to do that later in the week.
“Before you go, Kris wanted me to bring up something to Jet and Dallas,” Laura said.
“The SOS is opening up an office in this region to deal with omega safety in the area, as well as any omega trafficking that might crop up here. He wants me to ask you, Jet, if you would be interested in heading that office, and if you, Dallas, might want to act as a therapist in that capacity.”
I could see that Dallas was as surprised as I was by the offer.
“Think about it. Kris said he’d be in touch with each of you. Oh, and, regardless of your decision, we have an extra cabin. Jet, Elliott, would you two like to move into it?
Elliott and I only had to glance at each other before we both exclaimed, “Yes!”
As I took us back to the camper on one of the motor scooters, I knew Elliott and I needed to talk about the pregnancy issue. How would he feel if we found out he was already pregnant?