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“They’re already bringing her fever down, son,” my father says, laying a hand on my back. “It’s good you brought her in when you did. Any longer and I’m afraid how much worse this could’ve been.”
He gives my shoulder a squeeze and releases me. I take a full, shaking breath.
“I know,” I say, my voice a hoarse whisper.
“You should get comfortable for the night. It’s going to be a long one.”
He nods. “Once the team down here gets her to a stable condition, they will move her to the ICU. She will be there for a while. I doubt she’ll wake for a few days now that she’s out. They may induce a coma to reduce the risk of brain injury.”
I feel sick.
“But Thane, you have to think clearly about this and keep your emotions under control. She is having a cervus attack, but she is not in full cervus shutdown from what I saw. She’s going to be all right.”
He reaches out and pats my shoulder again, this time a little awkwardly. He isn’t usually physically affectionate. He stands and goes to the closed door. “You are under orders not to leave this room until you’re under control, do you understand me? No one needs a feral Alpha running around the hospital like a tornado on a Saturday night. Let alone a feral endocrinologist on hospital staff. The horror.”
I blink at my dad. Did he just make a joke? He nods his goodbye and steps out the door. As he closes it, though, it slams open again, and Miles, Levi, and Fox burst into the room. Behind them, my father sighs. “All of you. Stay in here.” He closes the door with a snap, and before I know it, my three Alphas are on me, wrapping their arms around me, enclosing me in their scents. Our panic travels through the bonds, but the comfort their nearness brings makes it all almost bearable.
“What happened?” Miles finally murmurs as he strokes his hand down my back. “What happened to Riley? Is she sick?”
I shake my head, barely able to move inside their tight embrace. They pull back enough to let me talk, but they never stop rubbing my arms, my thighs, my back, sending their love and comfort through their touches.
“Guys,” I say with a deep breath. “Riley… she isn’t just sick. They’re taking care of her in emerge, and then they’re going to take her up to the ICU.” I pause, and when I meet Miles’s eyes, I can tell he’s already figured it out by the shock, horror, and grief I find in his broken stare. “She has cervus.”
TWENTY-THREE
—
M I L E S
Riley has cervus.My beautiful Rileyhas cervus.
I come to the realization just seconds before Thane announces it, calculating her symptoms in my mind. Yet, my first reaction to the news is consuming anger toward Thane, and I take a stiff step back from him, not knowing if I can control myself. My anger must pulse through the bonds, but instead of asking me to submit to him as lead Alpha, Thane’s eyes fill with unrepentant sorrow. Guilt. Grief.
He tilts his head, offering his neck to me. An instinctual act of total submission.
Levi and Fox gasp in tandem.
“I know,” he says, pleading for forgiveness with those soft eyes of his. “I should have known.I should have known.” His voice breaks, but his submissive position never falters.
My incorrectly aimed anger dissipates as waves of aching fear sweep through the connection between us. I make my way toward him and reach out, wrapping my right hand around his pale throat. My fingers curve around his neck, my thumb on his pulse point. His heart is racing, and he closes his eyes. I bring my other hand up, cupping the other side of his neck, and tip it back into a straight position. When he opens his eyes again, they shine with tears.
“You do not submit to me,” I murmur to my leader, my Alpha. I press a kiss to his forehead and step back. “We’ll figure this out, Thane. All of us. That’s what packs do. Now tell us what you know.”
Thane’s throat bobs with emotion, and he nods. “I-I think this attack was brought on by a number of factors. She’s been on illegal heat suppressants and scent blockers for years, and I’m sure those have messed with her health.” His voice grows stronger as he falls into the clinical diagnostics he’s used to in his profession. “Not to mention I don’t think she’s been properly medicating herself against the disease. That combined with being around the four of us without a proper bond is another source of physical stress. And finally, my parents’ visit…” He trails off, shaking his head. “We shouldn’t have asked her to do that. It was too much. All together, it was the perfect storm.”
“One week of Omega preparation wasn’t enough.” I sigh. I didn’t help her enough, didn’t prepare her for how harsh the luncheon would be. “Hell, I don’t know how much preparation would have worked. We could have studied for months and it might have still all gone to hell. You know how she is. She’s a firecracker, that’s all there is to it. That’s what makes her our Riley.” Even now, I want to beam with pride at the way she stood up to Thane’s parents for him. There had been no fear, no worry for herself. At that moment, all she cared about was protecting Thane.
The Alpha who claimed not to want her.
So selfless.
“I spent six years in med school,” whispers Thane as he scrubs his face. “Istudiedcervology, for fuck’s sake. I’ve sat and watched countless Omegas die from it. Yet, when we brought a sick Omega into our home, I didn’t see a thing. I should have recognized it in her, should have seen all the signs. But I was too proud to see what was right in front of me.”
“Hey, it isn’t just on you,” Levi says, placing a hand on Thane’s shoulder. “We all should have seen this. It’s not like the symptoms aren’t common knowledge. We all learned about them in middle school health class. You can’t blame yourself for this. But we’re going to need you now. You know the most about this disease. What it does. How to treat it.”
Thane places a hand over Levi’s but says nothing.
“Guys,” I say carefully. It might be dangerous to throw this information out while everyone is so emotional, but I have to try, for Riley’s sake. And maybe my own as well. “You know…bondedOmegas, even with cervus, tend to be healthier and stronger. They live longer. It’s risky, but we should consider bonding with Riley ourselves. We could take the time to find another pack for her, but we may be her best option.” I don’t even know if I could find another pack anymore. I’d pine after her for the rest of my life if we let her go.
