by Nora Phoenix
In the four hours he spent researching, he found a ton of information about York, his party, and their platform. It was…illuminating. Borderline crazy at times, though Palani couldn’t deny some of their proposals would improve life for omegas. They proposed a universal health care system for omegas for instance, an idea so revolutionary it had dominated the news for days. Palani could see the appeal of their ideas for omegas and even for betas, but why would alphas ever support them? Something he intended to ask York.
George York turned about to be a classic, imposing alpha with grey hairs sprinkled in his dark hair and a beard with equally mixed colors. He was handsome in that way older men could be, though his stance still showed his alpha dominance and virility. Palani betted he affected most non-alphas, present company included.
“Palani Hightower,” he introduced himself. He didn’t extend his hand, leaving it to the alpha to initiate physical contact. He did with a strong handshake that left Palani impressed.
“I’m a huge fan of your investigative reporting,” York said, surprising Palani. “Your pieces on the corruption within the police force were exceptional. I’m sure you must have caught serious flak for those.”
Palani settled in the chair York indicated opposite him at a small conference table. He got his legal pad and pen from his messenger bag and put it on the table, right next to his little recording device he always used. It prevented people from claiming he’d misquoted them. “Thank you. Few alphas appreciate it…or at least, dare to voice their approval.”
York smiled. “No small talk, huh? I like that. You’ll find that in many ways, I’m not a typical alpha.”
Palani raised his eyebrows. “Can you give me some examples?”
“The standard MO of most alphas is to cover for each other, correct? That’s not how I operate. I’ll support other alphas when I agree with their viewpoints or condone of their behavior. If not, I won’t hesitate to speak out.”
“That’s a surprising strategy for a politician,” Palani commented.
“Maybe, but I’ve discovered many people appreciate my honesty. I’m a straight talker, so they know exactly who I am and what they’re going to get with me.”
“Which is what?”
York leaned forward in his chair, his eyes intense as he looked at Palani. “A return to a better society. A more fair society. A society where we get rid of all the restrictive rules and restore alphas, betas, and omegas to their rightful, natural order.”
“I’ve read your political manifesto and your party’s platform. For a conservative party, it’s quite radical.”
“Maybe, but it’s not new. It’s how it was, many years ago, and how it should be again. If we want to flourish again as a society, as a species, we have to return to the order and dynamics that helped us thrive in the past.”
“This natural order you refer to that’s at the core of your party’s ideology, it’s based on how you think our shifter ancestors lived, correct?”
York’s eyes flashed before he got himself under control. He’d touched a nerve there, hadn’t he?
“I wouldn’t use the word think. We have done extensive research on this.”
“Who’s we?”
“Myself, but also some members of our think tank who are specialized in wolf history. They’ve developed a clear view of how society functioned back then.”
“Let’s assume their findings and interpretations are correct—”
“They are,” York interrupted him. “We’re not talking about amateurs. These are highly qualified historians who know their facts.”
“Are they all alphas?” Palani asked.
York smiled. “No, because you and I are both aware that alphas tend to see history through the lens of their own alpha bias. That’s why we created a multidisciplinary team consisting of alphas, betas, and even omegas—men and women.”
Palani couldn’t help it. He was impressed when he heard that. “I’ll admit that sounds better than I had expected,” he said. “But back to my question. You say their findings are correct, so let’s go along with that for a sec. How can you apply these to a culture that has completely changed? Can you use the dynamics that worked in a society a hundred years ago, before so many modern inventions, and apply them to our current day society?”
“You don’t seem to object to the dynamics themselves,” York noted, deftly evading the question.
“I have my reservations,” Palani assured him, “But my bigger concern is how you can claim that what worked a century ago would still work.”
“You’ll need to share those reservations with me, as I’d be most interested to see where you have doubts. You’re most certainly a proponent of more independence for omegas, judging by some of your articles.”
“I am, but that doesn’t mean I agree with your view on how that independence should be achieved. You state all omegas should marry, for instance, and by doing so achieve more legal autonomy. What if they don’t want to?”
“All omegas want to be in a relationship,” York said. “It’s in their very nature. It’s how they’re wired. To deny themselves that would be unnatural.”
“I don’t agree with you, but even so, how would that work when so many alphas refuse to enter into a serious, committed relationship? I’m neither an alpha nor an omega, but I've learned from stories how hard it is for omegas to find alphas willing to settle down.”
York scratched his beard, sighing. “I agree that that is an issue we need to address. Many alphas need to grow up and leave their antics behind them to start a family.”
“And you think you can achieve that with a marriage bonus?” Palani said, referring to one of their political key promises.
“Not with that bonus alone but with a broad spectrum of measures and incentives, yes.”
“Getting an alpha to marry an omega is still not a guarantee for a family,” Palani pointed out. “Male infertility is a big issue and so are pregnancy complications and the high mortality rate during delivery for male omegas.”
“Yes. That’s why we propose a massive increase in funding for research into the causes for these health issues and for treatment. Health care options for omegas are way too limited, especially for those who are single or from lower-income families. That has to change. We applaud the efforts of doctors who have been on the front line of male omega health care for years, fighting a lonely battle, and we would support them with grants for research, training, better facilities to treat omegas, and more.”
Palani had to fight to keep his face neutral. The man was referring to Enar, no doubt about it, but how did he know? It was not something Palani was going to discuss, not with someone he was interviewing, not with the leader of a political party, and most definitely not while his recorder was on.
“Those measures can only be described as revolutionary,” he said. “How will you get other alphas to support this, considering they don’t seem concerned about this issue right now?”
“We have some educating to do,” York said. “Alphas don’t realize that these problems do affect them. The number of children born from male omegas is still declining, though slowly, and this is a worrisome trend. If we don’t change something, fertile male omegas capable of delivering a healthy baby and surviving to actually parent the child will become a rarity. That is not a reality that any alpha should want. The problem is that many don’t start caring until it’s their omega who can’t get pregnant. We need funding for more research. We need to stop government from being influenced by influencers and lobbyists who are blocking reform on this issue. There are drugs that have proven to be more effective in preventing pregnancy in male omegas for instance, but lobbyists from certain drug companies are blocking their approval.”
This time, Palani could not keep himself from reacting. What drugs was York referring to? Was he referring to Excellon? How the hell had he found out about it? “Are you sure that’s an accusation you want me to print, Mr. York? That’s a bold statement coming from a pol
itical candidate.”
York leaned back in his chair again. “It is, but it’s the cold hard truth… There is evidence of coordinated efforts by companies to block access to successful drugs for omegas. You know that as well as I do, Mr. Hightower.”
Palani wasn’t sure what surprised him more, the reference to him already knowing about this issue—by now it was crystal clear he was alluding to Excellon—or York addressing him as Mister Hightower, when the colloquial “Palani” for a beta would have been far more customary. It was the second time York had mentioned knowing more about Palani, and it creeped him out a bit. Enough to not acknowledge he knew what York was referring to, that was for sure.
“The elections are in three months. Polls show you have a chance of winning as many as forty of the hundred-and-fifty seats in parliament. With the other seats divvied up between six other parties, you’re looking at becoming the biggest party. That would be the political upset of the century…and would make you prime minister. Do you think these polls are realistic?”
“No, I don’t. Right now, our support comes mainly from omegas and betas who are tired of omegas being suppressed. We don’t have enough alphas supporting us yet, which is why we’ll focus on explaining why improving the positions of omegas is beneficial to alphas as well.”
Palani couldn’t help it. “Good luck with that,” he said.
Back in his car after the interview, he pondered the many things York had said. The man seemed to have a genuine passion to grant omegas more rights, and yet Palani shuddered at the vibe he picked up from him. Sometimes the man sounded passionate and honest, but other times he was one step away from being a ranting lunatic.
Take his insistence that returning to the societal structure from a century ago would not only improve the lives of alphas, betas, and omegas, but would also strengthen their shifters’ abilities. Moreover, he wanted to fund research into restoring the ability to shift. The Conservative Wolf Party didn’t merely want the dynamics from the shifter-society. They wanted a full-blown return of shifting itself. If that didn’t sound like pure science fiction, Palani didn’t know what would.
And what was up with York digging into Palani’s personal life? The reference to Enar had been worrisome, but the one to Excellon had been scary. That was not a topic anyone should be aware he was working on, not even his boss, so how had this man found out? Palani had some more digging to do, it seemed.
Between his longer commute to Lidon’s house and his crazy hours, Enar had little time to think about the mysterious Melloni gene. But today was Sunday and Palani was off, so Enar had forced himself to free his schedule as well. They’d found a quiet spot in the study to see if they could come up with any answers. Hell, Enar would be happy if they could develop a solid theory at this point. He’d called Melloni again a few days ago, but the doctor hadn’t made any break-through developments on the origin of the gene.
“Let’s write all the facts on separate post-its,” Palani suggested. He found a block of bright pink post its in a drawer and handed Enar a black marker. “That always helps me to see things in a different light.”
“Okay, I like that,” Enar said. “But you’d better write, ‘cause my handwriting is illegible.”
Palani grinned. “You just wanna look at my ass as I bend over to write,” he teased.
“True. But you really won’t be able to read my scribbles.”
“All right, I believe you. Let’s start with what we know to be true.”
A few minutes later, they’d stuck various post-its on the cream-colored wall in front of them. Enar studied them, his mind trying to figure out connections. “All male,” he said. “Symptoms are high fertility, low birth mortality, high sex drive, excessive behavior during heats.”
“Depression,” Palani added, writing another note and sticking it on the wall. “Multiple cases in the same family, which suggests it’s hereditary.”
Enar hesitated. “The first, yes. The second we can’t support with data yet. There can be other reasons why it affects siblings.”
“Such as?”
“Environmental causes, for instance. Siblings grow up under the same environmental conditions. If it’s something in, say, the water, it will affect them all.”
“Good point. I’ll just add a note with the McCain family then without speculation for the cause.” He wrote the note. “What else?”
“Irresistible smell to the point where it triggers even mated alphas.”
Palani nodded and added it to the wall. “I wonder if Vieno’s smell will change now that he’s mated,” he said.
“He smelled damn good to me last time,” Enar pointed out.
“Yeah, but he’d only been mated for a short time…and I’m not sure if he was technically mated to you yet…and if he was, not long enough for it to affect his smell.”
“Good point. We’ll see at his next heat, then.”
Palani added the question to a post it and stuck it a little to the side of the others. Enar studied what they had accumulated so far. “I’m not sure if depression is a symptom or a result,” he said. “It could be caused by the gene, but it could also be a result from the consequences of the gene. Many of the omegas we’ve seen with the gene have been assaulted or raped, which is a known cause for depression.”
“Vieno showed the first symptoms of being depressed before his first heat.”
“Melloni speculated this was not a natural cause, remember?” Enar said.
“Because of how fast it popped up,” Palani said. “I remember. He said that if it had been a natural cause, even an environmental one, it would've developed slower over time.”
“Exactly. It suggests a human intervention of some kind. But what common characteristics do these omegas share to link them to a possible human origin? Vieno didn’t know the McCains either, did he?”
“No,” Palani said. “And he hadn’t heard of the beta Lidon almost arrested either or his omega husband, ‘cause I checked with him. They’re all from roughly the same neighborhood, but that’s still a big area, and they didn’t have any personal contact. Aside from the McCains who obviously knew each other, I haven’t found any links between the carriers of the gene.”
Enar studied the wall again. There had to be a connection, something that linked all the omegas who had this gene, but what?
“Let’s hypothesize for a second,” Palani suggested. “Let’s say it was human intervention. How would you gain access to a child to administer something to change his genes?”
“You can’t,” Enar said. “You’d have to…” He stopped, checking his own reasoning.
“You’d have to…what?” Palani asked.
“Genes are formed in the womb. To change someone’s genetic make-up, you’d need to do it during pregnancy.”
“But what woman would give permission for that?” Palani wondered. “Take Vieno’s mother. She’s not exactly mother of the year, but I can’t see her give permission for some strange genetic experiment on her baby.”
“So they didn’t know. They were given something during their pregnancy and they weren’t aware of it,” Enar said.
“But who would have access to them?”
The answer was so obvious, Enar couldn’t believe he’d missed it so far. “Me. Their OB/gyn.”
Palani’s eyes grew big. “Shit, you’re right.”
“You have no idea how easy it would be for me. I give pregnant patients shots all the time, like vitamins or antibodies or meds to prevent morning sickness. They would never know if I switched the syringe and shot them up with something else instead.”
“We need to know if they all used the same OB/gyn. It would make sense since they’re all geographically close. No pregnant woman wants to go across town for check-ups.”
Enar froze. “They all had female omegas as mothers,” he said. “They have that in common, too. None of them was birthed by a male omega, right?”
“Right. Not as far as we know. All the McCains had mothers,” P
alani said, his voice excited. “I can ask Vieno who his mom’s OB/gyn is, maybe he remembers.”
“I’ll ask him, and you could call a few of the McCains instead since they know you?”
Vieno was outside with Lidon and his cousins. They were putting top soil on his vegetable plot, and the omega was almost dancing with excitement, so it took a while before Enar could get him to focus on something else. Once he had his answer, he headed back inside. When he walked back into the study, Palani was wrapping up a conversation.
“Thank you, Mrs. McCain. I’ll be sure to keep you informed, I promise.” He hung up, then turned to face Enar. “They didn’t share the same OB/gyn, the McCain mothers. Two of them did, but the third had another doctor.”
“Vieno said his mother switched doctors all the time, so he had no idea who it could have been.”
Palani sighed. “Yeah. Apparently, it took her a long time to get pregnant with Vieno. His parents were already married ten years when he was finally born. It was one of the things they held against him, that he was such a disappointment after all the trouble they’d gone through to get pregnant and the money they’d spent on…” He suddenly stopped talking, his eyes widening.
Enar wanted to ask what was wrong, but Palani held up his finger. “Wait. Let me think, ‘cause I’m having déjà vu.”
Enar stood, patiently waiting. He wouldn’t dream of interrupting Palani, not with the concentrated frown the beta was sporting.
“Robert McCain,” Palani said, his face lighting up. “His mother couldn’t get pregnant. That’s what his boss said, that she’d told him that at the funeral. He was an only child, because his mother struggled with infertility.”
“Yeah, so?” Enar asked. Why was Palani so enthusiastic about this? Then it hit him. “They have that in common, Vieno’s mother and Robert’s mother.”
Palani nodded. “What if they had the same fertility treatments?”
“God, yes. What better way to administer something aimed at changing the genetic make-up than during conception. Holy crap, we need to find out of this was true of the others as well.”