Slowly, Elliott moved from behind Keane. Careful not to meet the eyes of any of the alphas—none of the new omegas were very comfortable around them, most especially Elliott—he said, “There is one more thing.”
The rest of us waited in silence.
“I remember, after they killed my alpha father, my omega father told our captors that he knew what they wanted and he would cooperate with them if they would leave me alone. He said I was not like him. I guess he was trying to protect me.” Elliott’s bottom lip trembled, and Zeke took his hand in his.
“What happened while you were with them?” I asked.
Elliott’s face fell. “They tried to get me to admit I was special in some way,” he murmured.
Ben looked at me entreatingly, and I dropped the subject.
“I don’t know what all this means,” I said, standing up, “but I’m glad you shared it with us.”
“Did the kidnappers have anything to do with the government, or were they working on their own? Does the government know about omega x?” Colt asked, looking at me, then Maddox.
Colt said, “I think we need to talk to someone in charge in the SOS. Are they aware of omega x? If they are, what are they doing about it?”
Looking around the room, it was apparent from each expression that no one knew the answer to that question.
“I’ll call Laura in the morning,” I said.
***
As it happened, an unexpected change of direction in the weather sent a snowstorm during the night rather than the continued flurries that we’d expected. When I got up in the night to get a glass of water and saw the snow coming down, I woke everyone up and we spent the next couple of hours securing the animals from the cold. The seven omegas were stranded until the city could clear the road, and as we weren’t at the top of their priority list, that would be a while.
I called Laura as soon as I could and told her everyone was fine and then what Elliott and Ben had told us the night before.
Laura was astounded. “I mean, my colleagues and I have always suspected that Elliott was hiding something, but we never imagined it was anything like that,” she told me. “Omega x? What could that mean?”
“Are you saying you’ve never heard of the term?”
“Never.”
“So, you’re pretty sure the SOS doesn’t know about it either?”
“I would definitely have heard about it if they did.”
“Okay. Don’t talk to anyone about it. Get someone from the SOS to come talk to us. Tell them we know something and use it as leverage to get them here,” I said.
“The SOS isn’t our enemy. I don’t think we’ll have any trouble getting someone here, but if you want me to keep it to myself, I will,” Laura said.
“I do. We’re talking about Ben here, Laura. I’m not messing around.”
“I’ll arrange for a meeting,” she promised.
Before I hung up, I told her to have fun with Eric and Nova while they were snowed in.
***
As soon as the road was clear enough for Laura to come pick up the omegas, she arrived on our doorstep.
When I opened the door, I looked her over. “Well, don’t you look all rosy-cheeked and unusually satisfied this morning,” I said.
Pushing her way past me, she retorted, “I’m going to be pale and dead if you make me stand out on the porch any longer while you give me a hard time.”
I laughed. “You are so easy to rile up. Seriously. Did something special happen over your week of seclusion with the lovely Borders couple?”
“Shut. Up. Angus.”