Clint looked up from a text on his phone.
"Doc knows what triggered the dysphoria.” I took a deep breath and snuggled into his lap. “Should I tell you?" I grinned happily. "Or should I make you guess?" I tipped my head back and pulled his face to my neck.
"Hmm?" Clint mumbled into my skin, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me closer.
"That tickles!" I was laughing and squirming on his lap. "Scent me, Alpha."
"Happily," he whispered in my ear. "You're one of my favorite smells."
"Alpha!" I scolded teasingly. "You'll never figure it out if you don't focus!"
Clint drew in a deep breath and froze. A snarl began deep in his chest as he all but spit the breath out to repeat it, swirling the air around in his mouth before exhaling it. He pulled back and stared down into my face. "You're pregnant?"
The confused look on Clint's face would have been funny if he hadn't also looked angry. How he was managing both at one time, I had no clue.
"Clint?" I stared in morbid fascination as his face twisted and contorted in a battle between his inner beasts. "What's wrong?"
He growled, eyes flashing, but didn't answer.
"I..I think I should go home." I swallowed hard and tried to stand up and back away. "We can talk about it later."
Instead of letting go of me, Clint pulled me closer still, plastering me flat against his chest, holding me so tightly that my ribs were protesting the rough treatment. He was taking deep, controlled breaths, his entire body was tense and the muscle beneath his left eye was twitching. Every ounce of him was screaming that he was not happy with my news. Far from it.
"Clint? I'm..I'm sorry," I apologized, even though I wasn't exactly sure why he was angry. "I didn't mean for it to happen." I couldn't stop my body from shaking as I was being constricted in his arms. "Please don't hurt me. I..I can go somewhere else. You won't have to worry about it."
I swallowed hard and dropped my head. My breath was coming in pants, and even though I was staring at the ground, my eyes were screwed shut.
"Okay, that's enough," Doc's calm voice suddenly came from beside me. "Clint, let him go."
I was released so fast that I stumbled and barely landed on my feet. Clint's deep, guttural snarl made me double over on myself and then I was slipping. The last thing I remembered was silence
So much silence.
ChapterFifteen
Clint
Sitting in the nearly empty hospital waiting room while the emergency room staff worked on Trevor, I finally had a few minutes alone with Rafe for the first time since Adalwolfa had cast the claim balancing spell.
"I went back to the library in Hidden Dale after the spell," I said softly, staring into the styrofoam cup of stale coffee in my hands. "Did some research on the balancing spell."
Rafe’s eyes darted up to mine.
"Is it true? Did I read it right?" I stared at him. "If Trevor won't take me back, everything that has happened since that night will be gone? Poof? Like we never met?"
To his credit, Rafe didn't try to feign confusion. Instead, he pulled a flask from his hip pocket, took a slug, and passed it to me. The whiskey burned going down, but the pain was a welcome momentary distraction.
"Not exactly," Rafe explained, running his hand over his haggard face. "Just the parts after you claimed him. He'd still be with you at the packhouse."
"The parts after.." I parroted. "So, the kids, the Omegas we saved, Kenny – what happens there?"
"As I understand it," Rafe said cautiously, "Trevor only came into heat because you claimed him." I nodded. "So, you probably wouldn't have the pups." I winced at that, knowing that right then they were trying to save the pup that Trevor was currently carrying. A pup whose lineage I didn't even know. "As for the rest – Kenny and the other Omegas – there isn't any way of knowing if their own destinies are intertwined with Trevor's or if they would have still achieved the same outcome."
"So, Kenny might be sold away from Colin. Thane, Levi, and the rest might still be sold on the underground market?"
Rafe shrugged as another thought occurred to me.
"What about you and Colby? Leia?"
