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I watched Jack.I’d seen him beaten bloody and now the sight of our mate ghostly white was the thing to have him being sick out the window and looking closer to collapse than the time he’d taken on three infantrymen in some ridiculous brawl where he’d tied an arm behind his back.
Beatrice had fainted from the pain when we carried her. Our normally vibrant mate so pale. As if dead, my thoughts turned wild. I’d not let her die. I’d not fail to protect another omega. Memories of my dead sisters flooded my mind. Was this how they had looked in their last moments?
The fear Beatrice wouldn’t wake up haunted me. Even as we lay her on the fresh bedding, a servant had put in the nest, even as I felt her breath on my cheek, and heard a soft moan. Even then, I feared I’d never see her eyes flash again. I wanted to see her omega fury, to see that power in her once again.
I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my breeches to hide their shaking. I could not show any weakness in this moment. Alphas did not show weakness.
“She’ll live. We saw the wound.” I reminded him.
“It could become infected.” Memories of battles haunted his eyes. He’d seen wounds turn putrid. Knew the importance of cleanliness, but despite the care Beatrice had received, he seemed focused on the worst possible outcome.
“Jack. Don’t think like that.”
“Doctor is here,” Orley called. He’d stayed out in the hall after Jack had threatened him. The duke’s restrained calm made me almost uncomfortable. I wanted to say a normal alpha wouldn’t put up with half of Jack’s—or my—behaviour. Orley sported a black eye from Jack, and I’d told him that he ought to remove himself from the room if he wanted to live, because I wouldn’t stop Jack. Throughout all of it, he remained stoic. More in command of himself and the situation than either of us. He proved posturing and growling did nothing to help a loved one.
“Orley—” I shook my head. “We have been ungrateful. Your actions, the efficiency of your help, are incalculable.”
“You’d do the same were the positions reversed. I’d be the same as you… As Fordom. I’ve no doubt of it. Let’s not act like you are anything but following your biology. The doctor and his omega mate are the best. Vi is under their care.”
The alpha doctor’s back stooped a little with age and the hair on his head had receded. Along with a pair of spectacles balance on his nose, he looked as much like a caricature of his profession as one could imagine. And as he shrugged out of his coat, he kept as far away from the entrance to our mate’s nest as possible. His wife—far more lively and direct than her mate—deftly assuaged our aggression by saying she would be the only one to touch Beatrice during the examination. The doctor would look and just at the wound. No intimate part of her body would be visible to him. She looked me right in the eye and said with a briskness, “If you stay, you will growl. Your anger will discomfort your mate even if she is not fully conscious. We need this place to be as calm as possible. Once we have assessed the injury, we shall let you know. Your help will be invaluable in the aftercare.”
For Beatrice’s own good, we were being sent away. We must trust the doctor knew his business. I’d not get in the way of that—especially when Orley trusted the pair. Jack was less sure and as I dragged him away, he raised his lip in an ill-disguised snarl.
“Keep your temper in check. You’ve gone a long way to rub our host the wrong—”
“Sirs.”
I looked over my shoulder to find the strange alpha standing at the far end, hands raised to his shoulders to show he meant no harm. Orley was there as well, little Hero standing on his other side.
“Laurence Dalzell,” the stranger held out his hand with a careful smile. “You’ve a fierce mate. Fierce as she is beautiful.”
“Don’t!” Hero snapped. The first time I’d heard her speak with any force. “Do not provoke them like that. They’ve been through a horrible thing and all because of me.”
“Not you, sweetness,” Orley grumbled. “You… You are young.”
“Not so young. I was stupid, and Beatrice is hurt,” she replied with a great deal of gravity. Her ordeal had changed her and instead of the hysterical girl we’d all expected—or at least I’d expected—was a young woman with a determined tilt to her chin as she faced down four alphas. “I was reckless… I trusted too easily. In the future, I shall know better than to tangle with anyone who says they love me. Especially alphas.”
“We ain’t all bad,” Orley muttered. “Damned Hartwells. Thought I’d have a nice peaceful life when I made mine an Orley and instead… Dammit. Tell them what you told me.”
“Thank you, Your Grace. Told him you might want to know the particulars. I shall try to keep it to the point,” Dalzell said. “When I arrived at the Red Dragon, the publican begged I stop a murder or rape. He appeared to think himself incapable of doing so. I ordered he send for the magistrate. It was easy enough to find the room. Very wisely, your mate was screaming for help. I walked in. This Stimpson lunged at your mate. I, uh, pushed her out of the way. She had a gun pointed at him but lost it when she fell. He took the gun and threatened to shoot. Guinea gold curls here bashed him over the head with a brass candlestick. I offered to take them wherever they wanted. We were leaving when your mate said she wanted to return and tie him up. I’d Miss Markham in a, uh, dead faint. Before I could set her down, there was a shot. I admit I put the young lady on the floor and rushed back. The villain was atop her. I gave him a kick to the head… He got out the window. I’d have given chase, but a bleeding woman comes first. By then, the magistrate had arrived—”
“Does the magistrate have his description?” Jack interjected.
“Yes, made sure of that. We called for the doctor and moved her to a bed. Clear by the wound that she was not in immediate danger. When she came to, she said she wanted to come back to her mates. I agreed, though the doctor thought it best for her to stay where she was. And here we are. If you have any questions, I shall do my best to answer them.”
“She was so brave.” Hero glared over my head. “She did not care for her own person… I’m such a coward.”
Brave. Til then, the words racketing about my brain declared Beatrice rash and reckless. But from the perspective of Hero, she’d been brave. By Dalzell’s telling, she’d called for help rather than tackle the situation on her own. Her mistake, if one could call it that, was returning to tie him up. Even that was a sensible decision, especially if she thought him out cold. I’d have to accept the uncomfortable truth: she’d acted as I’d have hoped a beta or alpha to. Only her dynamic and position as my mate had me rebelling against her decisions. Yet any could have made her mistake. I’d be a hypocrite to offer her anger—however much I wanted to charge her with reckless endangerment of her person. I’d have been proud of her were she anyone but my mate. I was proud of her. Her bravery and devotion to those she loved rivalled any alpha’s. I’d not take that from her.
“You were no coward. Frightened, yes. But no coward.” Dalzell fixed his gaze on Hero. “How old are you?”.
“Just eighteen. Not that it is any business of yours.”
He blanched—though how he thought the slip of a girl could be older, I did not know. There must be at least a decade between them. I’d have laughed if I wasn’t so tired and shaken by the events of the last day. He shook his head and smiled. “Miss Markham, it has been a pleasure, though the circumstances were less than ideal. Colonel, my Lord. Please convey my respects to your mate when she is well enough. I shall, uh… Perhaps we shall meet in Town. My compliments to the duchess as well?”
“All well and good, Dalzell. Now get out of here.” Orley made a shooing motion.
