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The feeling of Ethan’s hand trembling in mine as I helped him from the car was enough to set off my new Alpha impulses. I was fighting the urge to take my pound of flesh by storming into the ward where the Alpha who had taken him was being held. Not that the feeling was much different from before I’d started to transition, but the urges were a lot stronger now.
I held myself back though. Instead, I wrapped an arm around Ethan and cupping his jaw with my other hand. The hint of stubble as I brushed my thumb along his cheek grounded me as much as the way his eyes closed as he breathed out slowly and leaned into my palm. We stayed like that for minutes while he collected himself before he brought a hand up to mine to hold it in place. Turning his head slightly, he placed a kiss on my palm before marking my wrist with his scent.
“I know I don’t, but, as much as I am having to fight the fear that man gave me, I want to go in there. So much of this is because of him and I just… I need to know what he has to say.”
My jaw clenched so hard from forcing back a growl that it’s a wonder I didn’t crack a tooth. A small dark voice whispered that I could just make him leave. And then nothing would hurt him. Except I knew that doing so would mean that I would be hurting him. I pressed my forehead to his and inhaled, letting his scent ground me. He held the same position before murmuring to me.
“How about this, if he shows his cards as an evil mastermind, I promise not to fuss if you and Jade want to kill him.”
My grin kicked up at the corner of my mouth as his words ghosted across my lips in a whisper.
“Feeling a little bloodthirsty, my perfect Omega?”
I felt the furrowing of his brows against my forehead before he leaned back and locked his hard eyes onto mine.
“What he created, what he did to me? Set off everything. People are dead because of him. Shae was taken and Cat’s an Omega? What about you? I will do whatever I can to help bring these people down, Theo. And if you’re with me, I know he can’t touch me.”
Add vengeful Ethan to my kink list because I was sporting another ill-timed hard-on. I flexed the hand that was still beneath his jaw to force his mouth to mine, nipping and sucking at his plush lips as I crowded him backward against the car, drawing our hips together. The sharp intake of his breath told me he felt just what his words had done to me, and the way he gripped at my jacket told me it didn’t bother him one bit. A soft whine of protest slipped out of him when I lifted my head and he tried to chase my mouth.
“It’s time to go inside, Biscuit. Unless you want to get back in the car and I’ll knot you in the backseat?”
He made a soft humming type sound as his lust-glazed eyes met mine.
“Raincheck?”
“Fuck, yes.”
Stepping back, I slung my arm around his shoulder to keep him tucked into my side as we walked through the doors of the psychiatric hospital and approached the security checkpoint. I had to force myself to release him so he could hand over all of his things and go through the metal detectors. Finally, we were both through and he laced his fingers with mine as we waited in line at the reception desk.
The woman behind the protective glass seemed to be in her thirties. She had that kind and empathetic but exhausted look about her that so many people in care-taking fields seemed to share. Without any open air between us, it was impossible to tell this woman’s designation and there was something refreshing about that.
“Ethan West for Dr. Hopkins.”
The woman typed into her computer, and it looked as though she read something, then her eyes softened a bit. She gave Ethan a knowingly sympathetic smile before directing us to the waiting area, saying the doctor would be with us shortly.
We didn’t wait long before a woman in a long white lab coat, with graying light brown hair pulled into a tail at the back of her head, came over to greet us. Her smile was genuine, and she had deep laugh lines around her eyes. That first impression, along with the mild floral Beta scent that accompanied her arrival, seemed to put my Omega at ease.
“Good morning, Mr. West. Thank you for coming.” The doctor’s focus shifted to me. “And to you are?”
“Oh, pardon me. This is Theo Owens, one of… my Alphas.”
Ethan’s slight blush and the warming of his scent made the doctor smile fondly at him, and I squeezed his hand, trying to communicate how much I loved hearing him introduce me that way. Thank the fucking stars that I seemed to finally be getting the hang of this purring thing because if that hadn’t set off the stupid motor in my chest without my permission then nothing would.
“If you all would follow me, I wanted to chat briefly before we went to see Dr. Stephens, or Clint, I guess.”
We followed her to a brightly lit office. Intricate wood details around the windows and doors, as well as bookshelves set within the walls, showed off the age of the building and made it seem more welcoming than a psychiatric hospital that handled criminals had any right to be.
“Please, have a seat wherever you are comfortable.”
Ethan looked around then sat on the sofa with his back straight, not leaning against the back cushions, with his hands folded in his lap like he was waiting for his punishment at the principal’s office. I resisted the urge to plop down beside him and tug him against me until he melted. Wanting him to know that I believed he was strong enough on his own, I settled for draping my arm behind him and running my thumb against his lower back.
“I’ll get right to it then. I would be remiss if I didn’t make sure that you are here of your own volition, Mr. West? That you weren’t pressured by the authorities into something that you don’t feel you are ready for?”
“You can call me Ethan and, no, I wasn’t pressured, really. I mean if they hadn’t asked, and if everything else hadn’t happened? I would never have wanted to face him.”
She hummed sympathetically and I watched as Ethan wrung his hands, the slightest bit of fear tainting his perfume. In my mind, I plotted ways to get him out the window and back into the car so he wouldn’t have to do this.
“But my pack has been incredibly supportive, and Theo has come with me so, yes. I’m ready.”
