Page 22 of The Beta: Part One

Chapter 9

Talia

If my mother messages, emails, or calls me again I might follow through with my threat to change my number. Not really, I would never do that, getting it changed through the registry alone would keep me from doing it.

She found out about the fiasco last night and is attempting to smother me with communication until I tell her everything that happened. Even if I was willing to tell her anything, Kaleb made it clear this morning that the less anyone knew about what happened, the safer we would be able to keep Jasper.

She seems a little too upset about what happened for it to just be because she’s worried about me, but I don’t know why. With all the extra training that's been pushed on me there’s no way she could think that I’d let anything serious happen to myself.

I will call her back, I just want to make sure I can keep my irritation with Devon and his bullshit from bleeding over into the conversation. Any hint of a less than positive tone in my voice will give her reason to start digging into my sanity, and I’m not sure I have enough patience to field her questions right now.

I know I’m not part of this pack, I know none of them wanted me here. I know the only reason I’m here is because of Jasper. I’ve done everything I can to stay within their rules, I’ve done every single task they’ve shoved at me, I’ve nearly bitten off my own tongue multiple times to stop myself from saying anything that would get me kicked out. When I first came here I wanted to try to have a place to stay, a place to call home, but after getting close to Jasper it’s more than that. Just thinking about leaving him makes my throat tight. And Devon’s constant reminders that I’m just here temporarily are starting to eat at me.

My phone dings a notification. It’s a text from Thaddeus, one of my fathers. He’s not my biological father, but he raised me to be his as much as my biological father did and I get the same jolt of authoritative energy from him, especially when he sends me clipped texts. Call your mother, Talia. Don’t dally. There’s more happening than a motherly outburst.

Well, shit. I guess I’ll be calling her back before I’m really ready to. If he’s sending me a text like that, using the words dally and outburst in the same message, something serious must be going on. Of all my father figures, Thaddeus is the most laid back and he almost never sends out decrees, so when he does I jump to comply a little faster than when they come from any of the rest of them.

An hour and a positively disconcerting conversation with my practically distraught mother, and another equally upsetting conversation with Thaddeus, I send out my own text to the alphas and Jasper. The bomb that was just dropped into my lap needs to be shared with them, and then we have a decision to make, whether they want me involved in the 'we' part of it or not.

I’m sitting at the table waiting for them to arrive. I have never sat at the table with all of them, it feels too intimate, too much like I’m a part of them. I take my meals either at the counter or in my room, and they seem more comfortable with that. The only one I share meals with is Jasper.

Nathan is first to arrive, followed by Trent. They must be startled by me sitting at the table because they both stop in the doorway.

“What’s happened?” Trent asks, immediately sounding suspicious.

“Nothing yet, let’s wait for everyone else,” I say and they both join me.

A few awkward minutes later, Devon strides in with a scowl and Kaleb leads Jasper in, both looking worried. Once they’re all seated I begin.

“I'm fully aware that I’m not a member of this pack, but it is my duty to protect it as if it was my own while I’m here. I spoke with my mother and one of my fathers this morning, they both have given me information that I must share with you because it concerns you. It is very important that you let me speak and that you really listen to me because we have a few decisions to make,” I take a breath.

“The intruders last night were obviously here for Jasper, and I know there have been a few previous attempted abductions. Other omegas, both male and female, have been targeted as well; and there has been a big increase in attempts and too many omegas have been successfully taken. Omegas have been targeted by packs of alphas in the past simply because any pack will want the best omega they can claim, and if they can steal one they want from another pack then they will. The ones from last night were betas, but they were saying things that made it sound like they were going to deliver Jasper to a pack of alphas. Jasper is being targeted because of his connections and his family’s wealth and political power. The omegas being targeted for the past year have all been like that, from families with power and money, and from lines that typically produce powerful alphas.”

I give them time to give me a signal to continue before I go on, “At least one member of the council is working with the rogues who are behind these attacks. They want to obtain the most powerful omegas and stage a societal takeover, and then a political one. The plan is to try to use the stolen omegas as leverage to gain immediate power, but the long-game goal is, bluntly, to out-breed the families who currently hold the majority of the power.”

“What do you mean out-breed? How would that work?” Kaleb asks with his eyes narrowed.

I drag my hands down my face before I answer, “Based on current information, the rogue packs, because that’s what they’re trying to form, are planning to take highly prized omegas and demand political power and money until they amass enough to overthrow the current government. But they don’t intend to just give the omegas back. They’ll keep them until they’ve all produced at least one rogue offspring. No omega will abandon their children, they won’t, and if each influential omega is raising rogue offspring, the rogue parents can rightfully and legally demand access to that offspring; which will give them power. And when those children grow up they might be inclined to give their rogue parents a way into even more power. Short-term nightmare with long-term impact.”

Silence, uncomfortable silence.

Then Jasper speaks, “How would taking me give any rogue offspring? If you haven’t noticed, I don’t have a uterus.”

I look at him and can’t believe I have to explain it to him.

“Jasper, do you know what a pack of female alphas, rogue or not, would do to you? They would fuck you to death. They would fuck you until you died.”

He wants to scoff, but his alphas aren’t taking it lightly, so I continue, “They would tie you down and shove you full of drugs and rape you until they were all pregnant with beautiful little Jasper babies. And then they’d invite their friends over. Now imagine being in heat, begging for relief, begging for your alphas, and all you get is those females. Until you die, Jasper, because male omegas can provide the rogues with way more offspring than a female omega ever could. They would keep you there until you were used up and we would never see you again. We can’t let that happen, do you understand?”

He looks shocked and all four of his alphas are growling at me for putting it to him like that, but he needs to understand the severity of the situation, they all do.

“Females wouldn’t...couldn’t…” his voice is soft and his skin is pale.

Kaleb pulls Jasper out of his chair and into his lap, switching his low, menacing growl to the reassuring purr that Jasper needs. I watch Jasper settle more deeply into Kaleb before I drop the next bit of awful on them.

I look straight into Devon’s angry eyes, “My mother has asked if we would be willing to take point in the investigation. She thinks we have the best shot at finding which council member, or members, are involved in this bullshit; and she thinks we are the best option to successfully eliminate that particular threat due to our collective dispositions. Apparently, some of the other COTs might be a little squeamish about questioning or dispatching a council member.”

Devon doesn’t look pleased, “Does anyone else know that she asked? Did she mention my father?”

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