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I finished a bite of hash brown as someone knocked on the door.
Everyone stopped, the mood suddenly sobering as Crew stood and stalked to the door. He yanked it open with a scowl.
Dr. Orkan stood on the other side, her white lab coat obscuring all but a few inches of the hem of the navy dress she wore. She clutched a clipboard to her chest, and now that I wasn’t in the throes of a heat surge, I could see she was a little older. Petite, with her black hair pulled back into a bun at the nape of her neck, strands of silver glittering like tinsel under the lights.
But this time, she was smiling as she stepped inside, ignoring Crew’s hulking form as he watched every move she made like she’d whip out a gun and try to take us all out.
Her brown eyes were warm as she looked at me. “How are you feeling this morning, Hazel?”
“Okay,” I answered, some of the tightness in my chest loosening as Kellan came to stand beside me.
Dr. Orkan nodded. “The medication I gave you should provide you with some clarity for the next thirty-six hours or so, but I’m assuming your alphas made you aware that your heat will return?”
I nodded, my mouth going dry.
Dr. Orkan let out a soft breath. “I must inform you that Omega Services is here. In light of everything with your abduction and… uncommon pack claim, they’re insisting on speaking with you before I can legally release you into your pack’s custody.”
My pack’s custody.
Like I was an errant child. Or a puppy that had wandered too far and needed to be returned into capable hands.
As if sensing the shift in my mood, Kellan’s hand came to rest against my back. I leaned into the touch, grateful for the support.
A few days ago, the thought of an alpha touching me was enough to make my skin crawl. Today, it was the only thing keeping me together.
Or maybe it was just these alphas and this beta. These four men who had completely upended my world.
But for the record? I was getting really sick of my world coming apart.
Dr. Orkan grimaced. “I apologize. That was overly clinical of me, and your alphas,” her gaze darted to Crew before coming back to rest on me, “have informed me that you’d like to be part of any and all medical decisions moving forward.”
I could only nod because hell yes. That was exactly what I wanted.
Dr. Orkan gave a small nod. “Do I have your permission to discuss test results with everyone in the room?”
I glanced around uneasily. “Do they already know what you’re about to say?”
The way her lips thinned gave me the answer before she spoke. “Yes, but only because medical decisions were needed to determine a treatment plan. I understand that you’ve been… away for several years?”
I almost snorted at the delicate way she phrased “held captive by a psychotic cult for four years.”
Her features tightened. “Unfortunately the last few years have been difficult for all designations, but especially omegas. I can’t imagine the added layer of believing you were a beta most of your life. You truly had no idea?”
I shook my head. “None.”
I still remembered the roars and snarls as my scent detonated like a bomb over the community, sending all the alphas scrambling to knot me first. It was the singular time I’d been grateful for the power and control Donovan wielded. He’d managed to push all the alphas back and get them separated by the beta patrols before I’d been raped to death.
Ice settled in my veins, freezing my lungs as I struggled to breathe through the memory.
“Eyes on me, sugar,” Kellan murmured, lifting my chin with his fingers. “Breathe in. Out. In. Out. That’s my girl.”
I shuddered as I shook off the trauma of the past to focus on the present.
“Our omega is well aware of several pertinent changes that have been made in recent years,” Rhett snapped, his tone somehow mastering being both aloof and annoyed.
Dr. Orkan dipped her head. “I apologize, Hazel. Your condition is just so rare, and, well, medically speaking, rather miraculous.”
“She’s not a fucking science experiment,” Crew growled.
