Zeke said, “The governmentlies. Surely you know that. They’re all a bunch of betas out for themselves.”
“What about the alphas?” David asked. “Our president is an alpha. Trey’s dad’s a senator and an alpha.”
“The alphas don’t have a clue,” Zeke said.
Trey, David, and I exchanged glances. We’d heard Jackson’s parents say as much, and Laura, but hearing it from other omegas was different somehow.
“Do all of you believe that?” David asked, looking at each omega in the group. They all nodded.
“Tell us everything you know,” Trey surprised me by saying. He was usually pretty quiet when we talked about this stuff—at least, he had been ever since that night we told him about the SOS and asked about his father. Had he been mulling it over in his mind?
Keane considered. “How do we know you aren’t a spy?”
“A spy?” Trey reared back. “What are you talking about?”
“Your dad’s a senator.”
“He’s an alpha,” David said. “You just said it’s the betas who are doing this and that the alphas are clueless.”
“He’s got a mother, doesn’t he? A beta,” Solomon said. It was an obvious assumption.
“Crap, you guys are suspicious,” I said.
“You would be, too, if you’d been through what we have,” Keane shot back, staring me down.
“Sorry. We know a little about what happened to you. Not much.”
“What do you know?” Solomon asked, his dark eyes curious. Or were they suspicious?
“Just that you were all kidnapped from different areas of the URA, and that the Society for Omega Safety saved you from the five betas who did it,” Trey said quietly.
“How did they do that, anyway?” David asked. “To me, the SOS seems like this unimaginable entity.”
“They have this bad-ass special operations group,” Riku spoke up.
David, Trey, and I exchanged confused looks. “What?” I asked. “Really?”
“Really.” Riku nodded his head. “I’m going to join one day.”
Ren elbowed him in the side. “You can’t do that. You’re an omega.”
“So? That doesn’t mean anything.”
“Sure. I can just imagine you all dressed in black, weapons strapped to your body, jumping out of a helicopter with a bunch of other ops guys. Then an alpha appears, and you go into heat. While the others are beating up the bad guys, you’re trying to fuck them.”
When the rest of the group burst out laughing—I mean, itwasa funny thing to picture—Riku jumped to his feet, furious.
“Iwilldo it. Just wait!” He stomped off.
Elliott started to get up to go after him, but Ren stopped him.
“Let him blow off steam. He’s been at his boiling point for days.”
“What’s he been upset about?” David asked.
Ren shrugged. “Who knows? My brother’s dramatic as hell.” But I noticed him cast a glance where Riku continued to walk away from us.
Settling down again, Elliott looked at his lap. In the sun, the blond in his hair stood out in gold strands among the darker undergrowth.