AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m jolted out of my daze, blinking rapidly as someone shakes me vigorously.
A groan escapes me and the shaking finally stops.
“Rory?” Oliver’s voice sounds from beside me. “Look at me.”
The black veil lifts off my senses, allowing me to focus on the three anxious faces hovering over me. It takes me a moment to realize I’m lying down on a cot in a strange room.
For a second, I’d believed I was trapped in those dark underground cages. Relief spreads through me as I squint against the bright lights in the room and focus on my mates.I’m safe, the thought flashes through me, allowing me to breathe better.
“How’re you feeling?” Seth asks, holding my hand.
Taking several deep breaths, I slowly sit up. “I have a headache but other than that, I’m fine.”
Oliver and Simon exhale loud sighs.
“Thank fuck you’re all right,” Oliver says, pulling me into a hug.
“Stop that!” Seth scolds at once. “Give her a chance to fucking breathe properly.”
Oliver’s arms loosen at once. Leaning back, he stares at me closely.
“Don’t worry,” I say reassuringly. “I’m going to be fine.”
“Why don’t you allow the doctor to take a look at her?” a different voice speaks from the corner.
Raiden stands at a distance from our group. He looks concerned too but I’m glad he’s giving me the space I need.
Seth and his brothers step back, allowing a stranger in blue scrubs to move forward.
“Relax, Rory,” the man says gently. “I’m just going to take your temperature and blood pressure.”
“Okay,” I mutter. The presence of my mates makes me feel safe enough to be close to another strange man.
“I don’t think it’s anything serious,” the doctor says, strapping a cuff to my upper arm. “Your blackout was most probably caused by stress.”
The cuff tightens almost painfully. Before I can complain, it starts deflating and loosening, bringing me relief immediately.
“As I expected,” the doctor says with a backward glance at Raiden. “Her blood pressure is quite low.” Looking back at me, he gives me a gentle smile. “Try to relax. You and the other omegas are quite safe here.”
“What happened to Millie?” I ask as my recent memories rush in.
“She was sedated and taken back to her room,” Raiden says in a grim tone. He lets out a heavy exhale. “She’s going to be fine after some rest. It’s you that I’m worried about.”
“It felt like I was back in that hellhole,” I confess. “My mind couldn’t differentiate between the past and the present. The women around me looked too similar to the way they’d been in those dark underground cages. Their dead expressions confused me for a second and suddenly, I wasn’t able to breathe. I couldn’t even scream for help. I felt paralyzed.”
“You had a trauma response to the scene before you,” the doctor says in a grim tone. “Did you go through the same hell as our other patients?”
“You don’t need to answer him,” Seth speaks out at once.
“It’s okay,” I say. “I don’t mind telling them.” Looking back at the doctor, I nod. “I suffered through the same tortures as them. The only difference is that I didn’t suffer as long as them.”
“Experiencing that kind of captivity for even a day would be enough to leave mental scars,” Raiden says. He looks toward Oliver and Simon. “This is all our fault. We shouldn’t have allowed her to come here until she was feeling better.”
“It’s not their fault,” I say. “I’m the one who asked them to bring me here. I guess I thought seeing them in a better place would help me feel less guilty.”
“Guilty?” Simon and Oliver ask together. “Rory, you have nothing to feel guilty about. You’re not responsible for the atrocities the Black Widow committed against these women.”
“I found you guys,” I say, hoping to make them understand what they mean to me. “You guys have no idea how much I’ve needed you over the past weeks. Without you, I’d just be as broken as them. I’m lucky I found my mates, but what about them? No one has been there to heal them and care for them.”
