4. Norway

Matts flipped the papers on top of his desk with frustration. He compared the information on the documents with the spreadsheet on his computer, and every few sheets there seemed to be an error. It didn't make any sense. Either the papers were wrong, or the database was wrong.

He tossed his hair out of his eyes. He was going to need another haircut soon. Sighing in frustration, he went to adjust his glasses but stopped halfway. He hadn't needed glasses since his conversion, his eyesight fully restored. His hair color had stayed the same, however, much to his dismay. His doctor called it "salt and pepper," but he just called it gray hair. It made him look older than most men who went in the Tube.

He kept flipping through copious amounts of information that seemed designed to give him a headache. Piles of data, the registry of the contents of a whole warehouse, were scattered around his office. An office so new that he hadn't even had time to put photos in the picture frames, or choose a plant to put in the pot that decorated one of the windows.

The only thing decorating his office so far was empty shelves, a desk, a lamp, his chair, and enough sheets of paper to cover every surface twice.

Slogging through paperwork was never one of his strengths. This particular warehouse only held replacement computer pieces for the new medical computers. It wasn't even supposed to have a printed version of its stock. It was only the attentive eye of a beta in one of the central warehouses that led to the creation of this infernal jigsaw puzzle.

Still, the disappearance of computer parts wasn't what had caused concern. It was the possible hacking into what was supposed to be a secure network that had raised an alarm. If one warehouse database could be hacked, who was to say that more important networks weren't breached as well? Like the one for the conversion tube laboratories. And they only had the information the beta had printed to confirm there were missing items. All information was supposed to be digital only.

He scratched his three-day-old beard, and he marked another discrepancy between paper and database on his computer. After finishing the pile he had on his desk, he picked up a second pile of papers from the floor and sighed again. He didn't know if he wanted to kiss this beta for his vigilance, or kick him for the mess his office was now in.

"We have another one!" Henryk barged into his office without knocking, and slapped a file on his desk with a big grin. His brown hair was combed back, but it was too wild to stay in place. As unruly as its owner, it fell in front of his eyes before Henryk smoothed it back with his hands.

"Another what? Please don't tell me it's another database." Matts slumped in his chair and pressed his fingers to his temples, trying to keep a bigger headache at bay.

"Of course not. Who cares about databases?" Henryk waved his hand as if he was shooing away a fly. "Another omega!"

Matts sat up straight in his chair and eagerly opened the file in front of him. Female, as the other four before her.

"Conversion is not completed yet," Matts noted while flipping through the file. "How do you know she's an omega?"

"She's been fifty-six hours in the Tube, too long to be an alpha. The only ones that took longer than us so far have been the four omegas."

"Not guaranteed yet, anyway," he commented dismissively. "Time in the Tube isn't everything."

There was a photo of a woman on the last page, wearing a summer dress. The wind was swirling her hair around her face, and her hands were up, trying to put it back into place.

"Is this her?" He showed the photo to Henryk.

"No, that's my grandma. I thought you would like to see her," Henryk replied with a dry voice. "Of course it's her, taken from social media. She doesn't have many photos online, and the ones she does have are for family and friends only. Had to hack her page to get that photo."

"She's pretty." Her golden-brown hair curled softly around her face, and her lush mouth was opened in a smile directed at whoever was taking the photo. And her eyes…

Her dark eyes were hypnotic.

"Well?" Henryk pressed.

"Well, what?" He put down the photo and browsed the rest of the file.

"Shall I put you on the second list?"

Matts flipped to the last page, and closed the file with a soft thump.

"She is married." He pointed with both hands to the file. "I am not going to take a woman away from her husband, unless I have a very good reason to."

Henryk must have been waiting for that reply because he smirked, pushed Matt's hands out of the way, and opened the file on the first-claim list. It was still censored but the time stamps were visible. "Look at the top two," he said excitedly, pointing to the top two rows, below the initial claim.

Matts looked, and gasped. "How the fuck did two guys manage to enter the list in the first twenty seconds?" He picked up the list from the file and examined it under his desk lamp. "It takes sixty seconds just for the opening to appear publicly."

"I know." Henryk rubbed his hands. "The third entry on the list took seven minutes."

There were seventeen names in total on the list, not counting the husband. Not the omega with the biggest first list—the one in America had fifty-four. But still, it was the first time he had seen unusual entries into the first-claim list.

"Do you have the uncensored version?" He pointed the list at Henryk. "And the audio of the conversion registry, I want that too."

"Yes, sir." Henryk had a smugness to his voice that showed just how much he was expecting his reply. "I am working on that already. And the second list?"

"We have to wait until conversion is finished to enter the second list, right?" He picked up the photo from the file. He was sure she was smiling at her husband—the love in her eyes was visible—but the photo gave Matts the illusion that the smile was directed at him.

"I can make sure you are on top of that list." Henryk cracked his fingers. "These guys aren't the only ones who can sneak their way around a database."

Matts flipped through the file again. The medical records were incomplete. They only showed the last six months, and there was nothing of note there. Were the Portuguese medical records not online yet?

"You know, we do have special circumstances if we want to claim anyone." Henryk placed both hands on the desk, leaning in, and his voice took on a shy, uncertain tone that didn't suit him. "If you want to skip ahead straight into second place on the first list, that can be arranged."

Matts looked at him from behind the papers, a stern look on his face.

"They interfered in favor of an alpha before, on the French omega issue." Henryk shrugged.

"The French omega issue is a shit show that just shows how little the High Court can be trusted. I don't want another omega in the same situation." He put the photo back into the file, placed his right index finger on a small scanner in the first drawer of his desk, and added it to the files for the other four omegas. "As long as she is safe with her husband, I'm not going to interfere. If anything happens, and someone manages to supersede his claim, then I'll interfere."

Henryk didn't say anything. He just waited patiently with a knowing smile on his lips.

"Go ahead and place me on top of that second list," Matts said, defeated.

"Yes, sir." Henryk mock-saluted before leaving the office with a spring in his step.

The bastard really wanted Matts to take an omega mate. Hell, even the High Court wanted him to take a mate.

He looked back at the papers to resume his work, but he found it hard to focus. He opened the drawer again and took the photo from the newest possible-omega file. He had dismissed Henryk's claim that she would be an omega, but deep down, Matts knew he was right. No official conversion took longer than forty-eight hours. He made sure to adjust the records available for any that did; the real conversion times for some individuals were not to be made public knowledge. His own, one of the longest male conversions so far, took fifty-four hours.

But fifty-six hours was too long for any alpha. He was quite sure she would be an omega as well, which meant that the High Court was going to ask him to conceal her records. He would also have to contact her husband, to instruct him on the rules in place to keep the omegas safe. Their existence was also not for public knowledge, although they were already a poorly kept secret.

He examined the photo again, studying her face. He liked her eyes, that loving expression made him instinctively smile. Her husband was a lucky man.

He selected one of the empty picture frames and placed the photo in it, and set the frame on his desk, next to his screen. Perhaps it was unfair that he was doing this with this photo and not of the other omegas', but he hadn't found a reason to interfere with their claims. This one, he had good reason to meddle in.

And meddle he would, if any foul play was afoot.