Tears welled up in my eyes as he still didn’t seem to recognize me.
He didn’t move, just breathed me in, his bare chest risingand falling as he stared at me. He blinked, and I saw a flicker of something cross his face.
“Ocean?” I tried again, and I slipped my hand through the bars, reaching toward him.
He stilled as my fingers brushed against his warm chest. He blinked again, and his brows furrowed in confusion before his eyes flicked up to meet mine, suddenly wide. “Laurel,” he breathed, and I let out a choked sob of relief.
He wasn’t too far gone.
Not yet.
His hand shot out and grabbed mine, holding it against his chest. “What happened? I was fighting, then… you were hurt,” he said, his voice cracking with pain. I could see tears forming in his eyes, too, and tried to give him a warm smile.
“I tried to swap out your rofetamine, but I got caught. They said they had to find another way to make you feral, so…” I trailed off, waving a hand at my back.
Ocean swore and reached for me. He wrapped his arms around as much of me as he could through the bars. “I’m sorry,” he whispered in my ear. “I’m so, so sorry they hurt you.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, a tear escaping down my cheek. He was going feral, and he was worried about me?
“They found out that I’m trying to help you. Ocean… I’m scared. I think we should just get you out of here. As soon as we can. Forget about revenge.”
Ocean shook his head. “No. We need to take care of them, for good. They’re not just going to let you go. Even if I’m free, you won’t be. Not until they’re dead or behind bars for good.”
SIXTY-NINE
KAOS
I awoke to find something was missing. Something precious.
In fact, I was certain it was the most precious thing ever, and it wasn’t here with me.
How on earth could I lose something like that?
I sat up, pushing through the fear and the panic.
I was in the dark, which was…nice. And somewhere soft and warm that smelled like heaven.
My alpha brain was panicking because?—?
I tried to pull together the fractured pieces of my mind to focus, gathering them up and ordering them to behave.
This was important.
There was an empty space beside me, and as I studied it, the memories came back.
Her.
Omega.
She’d been here, curled up in my arms while she’d entrusted me with her pain.
While I’d made it better.
But now she was gone, and I scrambled for my backpack, switching on my laptop.
She was out there with the bastards who had hurt her last night.
Completely unacceptable.
