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A small whine rises in her throat over the roar of the engine and almost subconsciously, I begin to purr. A loud, reverberation that fills the cabin and makes her whine cease almost instantaneously. I let instinct take over and allow my body to do what it needs to in order to soothe this Omega.Our Omega.
“Riley, baby, are you still with me? I need to hear you.”
When she speaks at last, her words shock me. “I’m sorry,” she whispers and I risk taking my eyes from the blurring lines in the pavement to find tears streaking down her cheek, staining that pretty purple dress. “I’m so s-sorry, Thane. I ruined everything.”
I grab her hand in mine. She’s shaking, and even my sturdy grip doesn’t alleviate the shivers. “You have no reason to be sorry. You didn’t do anything. Just try to relax. Conserve your energy.”
“I didn’t tell you,” she says, her shoulders hitching upward as though she’s anticipating an attack. “I didn’t tell any of you. I wanted to but… but I couldn’t. I… I’m tired of lying. I’m just tired.” She clamps her mouth shut, additional tears dripping down her face as she arches her back against what must be a horrendous spasm and cries out before she’s able to rein in the sound, making my stomach twist.
“Tell me what, Riley?”
But I’m afraid I already know what and I’m praying she doesn’t answer me. I don’t want her to say the words. To make it real when I’m not done pretending it isn’t.
Anger eats away at my sorrow, but I don’t know if it’s at myself, at Riley, or at my parents for no doubt setting her off tonight.
Cervus can be triggered by periods of high stress,my mind supplies without prompt and I clench my teeth.
“You shouldn’t have said those things to my parents,” I say, but it almost comes out as a plea. If she’d just sat there and stayed quiet, she might not be so stressed out, and this may not have happened.
Or maybe you shouldn’t have asked her to do it in the first place, Thane.
“I don’t need you to stand up for me, Riley.”
She mumbles something under her breath.
“What?” I ask, unable to make out the words, hating every word out of my mouth, wishing I could stop talking. I just want to take it all back. Have a do-over of tonight. Of the last couple of weeks I spent with her. I could make them so much better, so much less stressful. If I could go back, I could make sure this never happens.
Where was a fucking time machine when you needed one?
She tries again, speaking through her clenched teeth. “If I don’t, then who else is going to stand up for you? Someone has to. You don’t deserve to be treated that way.”
My chest tightens at her words, and I press a hand against my sternum. I can feel the icy wall cracking around my heart. “The others in the pack would stand up for me.”
She nods through a wince, her back wrenched at a strange angle. “They will. They love you. But your parents should be standing up for you, too. And most importantly,youshould be standing up for you.” Another tear falls, sliding down her nose like a ski slope. “Trust me on that. Stand up for yourself, no matter what. It’s your… life.”
Her words trail off and her eyelids blink slower and slower, until her head dips forward over her chest.
“Riley!” I shout, gripping her hand, practically tugging her arm out of the socket as the car nearly veers into oncoming traffic. I pull the wheel back just in time, tires screeching as I settle back on the correct side of the road to a blare of honking. “Riley, don’t go to sleep!”
Her head jolts upward, and she looks first at me, then around the car, in utter confusion. “Thane?”
“Yes, it’s me, I’m here,” I assure her. “We’re going to the hospital, okay? You’re not feeling well, but they will take good care of you. But you have to stay awake. We’re close now, baby. Just stay awake another mile.”
Another one of those heavy blinks. I’m losing her to unconsciousness, and we need her awake. We need to be able to help her. “Riley!”
She opens her eyes again and nods almost drunkenly. “I’m here. I’m here.”
Cloying and thick as tar, that acrid undertone of her scent suddenly hits me, stronger than ever, overpowering the magnolia scent that is purely Riley. I gag, nearly losing the contents of my stomach right here in the car. I know that scent now.
I have to wonder if I knew it all along. It’s different for every affected Omega, sometimes so faint you can’t even scent it, but it’s always there. That undercurrent of something not quite foul, but justwrong. Out of place. Like the smell of sour cranberries in a flower shop.
I lay my free hand across her forehead, pulling it back with a hiss. She has a fever. A high one by the feel. Not a good sign.
Her head lolls back against the headrest, her eyes going unfocused again.
I finally allow myself to confront the ugly truth, steeling myself against it, trying and failing to erect that wall back up around my heart.
Riley has cervus.
