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CHAPTER THREE
ETHAN
My palms were sweaty, and I wiped them on my pants as I bounced up and down on the balls of my feet. I couldn’t have stayed still even if my life had depended on it. I needed to see my pack, but I was stuck in the slowest elevator on the fucking planet.
“Don’t forget to breathe, Ethan. They’ll kill me if they see you this worked up.”
I whipped my head around to look through narrowed eyes at Cole standing next to me in the elevator. He had quickly risen to rival Aubrey, my sister, when it came to people I wanted to be around outside the pack. Before everything had happened, we’d been developing a good working relationship and I’d gone over to his place a few times to game—not something Aubrey or anyone else in the pack wanted to do. Then when Shae was taken, he focused all his energy, day and night, on working beside me to help get them back.
“They would not. You’re too valuable to Trevor and are unaffected by my wiles and all that. You’re stuck with us. Deal with it.”
One side of his mouth tipped up and he nodded, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. I imagined he was feeling proud of himself for having distracted me. Finally, the elevator dinged, and I raced out before the doors had fully opened. Cole swore softly as he had to wait a moment longer because the bulk of his Alpha-sized body couldn’t squeeze through. He didn’t need to babysit me though; my pack was close by. I craned my neck, looking for the room number Trevor had texted Cole when he’d let us know that we could come to the hospital. The ward was set up the same as the one I had been on, with a nurses’ station in the center and rooms for patients on three sides.
Someone hollered at me to slow down as I passed the nurses’ area, but I’d already spotted the room number. I rushed through the door but the sight before me made me stop dead in my tracks as an icy chill ran down my spine. Theo was laid out in a bed, his body totally motionless. Jade and Trevor were nearly as still, so focused on Theo that they hadn’t noticed me yet. Jade was leaning forward, holding Theo’s hand, while Trevor stared fixedly at his brother, one arm slung across the back of Jade’s chair. A whine slipped out before I could help it, and my vision blurred, as my mind conjured up the worst possible scenario.
“Is he…Jade, what?—”
Before I could make myself ask the question, the door to the adjoining bathroom opened, and there was Shae, with Miles crowding right behind them. I closed the distance between us as fast as I could, wrapping my arms around them and breathing them in. My nose wrinkled involuntarily at how off their scent was, but it didn’t matter. They were here. We were all together.
“That’s right, baby. I’m here. We’re all here.”
I hadn’t realized I’d been speaking aloud, and a gasping sob slipped out as I gripped Shae tighter. Cole’s voice sounded far away as he talked to my packmates, and I heard the soft snick of the door closing as he left, but I couldn’t quite make myself let go of Shae.
“Easy, Omega. Shae needs to lie down on that bed to get checked out.”
I dropped my arms and stepped back, but Shae grabbed for my hand and squeezed it for a moment, before shooting Miles a chastising kind of look. It was fine, though. I didn’t mind. In fact, when I looked at Miles, I was relieved, because he was looking more alive than he had in days. I didn’t expect him to be anything less than a hovering, ultra-protective Alpha for a long time to come.
“I’m not that breakable, Miles.”
Shae threw the comment over their shoulder as they started toward the bed, so they missed the way Miles’ expression dropped, changing from an indulgent smile to a barely restrained echo of the desolation he’d been consumed by until the news of Shae’s rescue had come through. Over the past few days, Miles and I had built a weird co-dependency, and now, as I looked at his stricken face, part of me was struggling; I had to stop myself from trying to soothe him. But I knew that nothing I could do would have the healing effect of holding Shae in his arms: physical proof that they were back with us, safe and well.
I turned back to the other half of the room, the other half of the pack. Looking more closely at the man I loved desperately, I realized that Theo was hooked up to all kinds of quietly beeping machines, and he had tubes in his arms and an IV line running into the crook of his elbow. My focus on him was so intent that I startled as Jade’s arms snaked around my waist and her chin rested on my shoulder. Then her gentle purr started up, forced me to relax.
“He’s stable, Ethan. He wasn’t injured. See? He’s breathing on his own and his heart rate is good. He just…isn’t waking up yet.”
I couldn’t tear my gaze from where Theo lay so unnaturally still. Even when he was asleep, he was a bit restless, so it was unnerving to see him totally inert.
“What happened, Jade?”
“He was removing someone from the building: an Alpha who was involved in the kidnapping and drugging ring. We think the Alpha and Theo fought. Somehow, the Alpha got Theo with an injection. The doctors are running tests.”
“No more separating. Not until this is over.”
She nuzzled her cheek against mine, marking me with her scent.
“As you wish, Omega.”
A nurse wearing bright magenta scrubs pushed a treatment trolley in through the door and walked it to the bed where Shae was lying down, tucked against Miles. She chatted quietly to Shae as she assessed them and listened as Shae described the symptoms that had made them believe they’d had a concussion when they woke in captivity. All three Alphas tensed at the reminder of the damage done to Shae when they’d been taken. Shae continued with the clinical recitation of their injuries and the nurse then treated what remained of their cuts and scrapes explaining that they would continue to monitor for concussion symptoms. But when she picked up the needle, preparing to insert IV cannula, Shae’s body locked up and the scent of rotten berries filled the small room. Miles' responding growl was near feral and the nurse backed away quickly with her hands raised. Jade joined Miles and Shae on the bed, purring, kissing Shae’s temple, and whispering to them until their breathing leveled and their scent lost the sour note of terror.
A tap on my shoulder startled me. I turned to see Trevor with his head bowed and a nervous look on his face. The tears were still tracking down my cheeks though the rest of me had stilled in shock. Trevor never touched me. Sure, he’d been kinder to me in recent days, but he still kept his distance. I must’ve shown my surprise because he dropped his gaze for a moment. Clearing his throat, he spoke quietly, his voice gravelly with emotion.
“Sit with Theo?”
He glanced up as I nodded, and an expression of gratitude crossed his face before he moved around me to go to Shae’s bed. I moved to the chair he’d been sitting in. Taking one of Theo’s too-still hands in my own, I finally got the chance to study him up close. I would have thought he was simply asleep, but for that unnatural stillness and the setting. Pressing his palm to my cheek, I inhaled deeply at his wrist, then had to strangle the whine that tried to come from my throat. His scent was… corrupted. I couldn’t think of another word for it. Like Shae’s, there were unnatural, chemical tones lacing through his scent, but it was so much stronger with Theo than with Shae. Trevor’s voice pulled me from my thoughts and I looked over to where he stood beside their bed.
“Sunshine? They need you to get a few banana bags in your system. Can I put the cannula in? Would that be better?”
I was transfixed as Shae nodded and held tighter to their mates. Trevor took the IV kit from the nurse who obviously knew better than to question the situation. He slowly stepped up to the side of the bed and held his hand out for Shae’s. I held my breath as, along with the others, I waited to see if Shae would be able to do this; if their trust in their packmate would outweigh the impact of their trauma long enough to get them the care they needed. Tentatively, they reached out, placing their wrist in Trevor’s palm. He smiled at them, and I was struck by the look of compassion and love on the face of this Alpha who, if you’d asked me a few weeks ago, I’d have said was incapable of such tenderness.
