His lips were starting to tremble, a slight bluish tint taking over. I was thankful in that moment for my habit of wearingoversized hoodies. I pulled mine over my head and wrapped it around him. He was freezing out here in the morning cold.
I don’t know if it was the way it constricted him, he started to flail. His hand struck out but I caught his wrist before he could make contact with my face.
When my warm hand locked around his, my scent bursting forward and trying to urge him to calm down, he finally responded.
Finally, those stoic eyes locked on me.
Instead of guarded, they were wide open and vulnerable.
“Aries?” he breathed out.
Even his voice sounded hollow and distant, but I just gave him an encouraging smile.
“Yes. It’s me. I’m here,” I promised.
He blinked, looking around, his eyebrows furrowing when he realized we were on the edge of the forest.
“How did I get here?” he finally choked out, burrowing deeper into the hoodie. I don’t even think he realized he was breathing in my scent and using it to anchor him.
My omega did. She was perking up and urging me to fix this. He was hers and she would accept nothing less.
Leon was so small and scared right now that every instinct in me wanted to take care of him. He needed support beyond what I could offer, but I wanted to be there for him regardless.
“Cassie is probably at home losing her mind,” I told him gently.
He swallowed. “I really don’t know how I got out here.”
“That’s a little concerning, but I think right now I’d much rather get you warmed up.”
“I can’t go back to that bed,” he said, his voice shaking as he pleaded with me.
“Do you want to crash on my couch?” I asked. “We still have to let Cassie know, though.”
His head nodded frantically, clinging to the offer like a lifeline.
“Alright, up you go,” I said as gently as possible.
He didn’t fight me as I helped him to his feet. He practically burrowed into my side.
This sweeter side of him was more omega than I think he realized. Maybe that was how he ended up in a place like this as a beta.
His trauma was his own, and he could share it when he felt ready. Until then, I’d offer whatever support I could.
We stayed like that, clinging together as we walked, his scent a pitiful, wobbly thing. No matter what happened to me before this or after, I couldn’t help but feel like this was where I was always meant to end up.
“I’m a little concerned about this sleepwalking,” I said carefully as we moved past the main drag.
He didn’t seem to mind the fact that I was sweaty from my run, his fingers clinging to my sweaty clothes.
“I used to take medicine for it,” he admitted. “But it’s not like I had access to great healthcare on the inside. The guards thought it was funny.”
He said it in a hollow tone. Fuck, I wanted to kill those guards for adding to his pain.
“I think that’s the only reason they kept me alive as long as they did. They thought I’d be entertainment value.”
“Fuck them,” I said firmly.
He gave me a weak smile as I kept guiding him.
