Chapter Twenty-Nine
Colt
While I’d been getting Alexi into the chopper, Stahl and Bane had loaded the victims into the back of the box truck and passed out protein bars and water. So, when I got back to the truck, everything was ready to go. The evidence was being transported in Clint’s truck, so my part in our little caper was mostly done. All I had to do was swing by the local COPSD office long enough to provide a list of the victims’ names and the address where they could be found for the time being.
Rafe was ready for me when I arrived back at his office around midnight. He had the conference room set up with a full staff of people available to take statements and tables piled high with boxed lunches from the deli down the street.
“You staying?” he’d asked casually after glancing over the list of names I handed him.
“Rather not,” I admitted. “I’ve got something to deal with.”
That caught Rafe’s attention. “Sky?”
“Sky,” I confirmed with a huff.
Rafe looked concerned. “Is he okay?”
I shrugged. “I need to go find out. He flew back with the injured Alpha, but he wasn’t in a good place.”
“That’s the opposite direction from you,” Rafe observed with a frown. He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out his keys and tossed them to me. “I’ve got the kids, so my bike’s just collecting dust under the carport out back.”
“Thanks, man.”
The initial condition report that Dr. Felder gave me when I arrived at the military clinic on the Böxenwolf Brigade’s compound was, well, not good.
“I’ve seen worse,” he’d said abruptly, “but not one that survived. If he makes it through the next twenty-four hours, he might have a chance.”
Shit.
When I knocked on the door to Alexi’s room, there was no response. I slipped inside and found Sky collapsed in an uncomfortable looking folding chair, his forehead propped on the edge of the bed, out cold. The room reeked of despair and fear.
He never even moved when I scooped him up in my arms and lowered us both to the floor, settling him in my lap. Once I was sure that he wasn’t going to wake up, I slid my hand up under the back of his shirt and focused on surrounding him with all the comfort that my pheromones could provide.
I was still holding him a few hours later when the door creaked open and Dr. Felder walked in. He glanced at us curiously, but didn’t comment. I watched as he checked the various screens on the machine Alexi was attached to before reviewing the chart that the nurse had logged his vital signs on a few minutes before.
“He’s improving,” Felder said softly on his way back out. “He’s already been given several liters of fluid and his vital signs are stronger. His fever is dropping, so the antibiotics are working.” He looked at Sky curled against me. “Let his boyfriend know that he might wake up as early as today.”
I stifled a snarl at the assumption that Sky and Alexi were an item and managed to thank the doctor politely. When the door closed, Sky stirred in my arms and snuggled against me, sighing in his sleep. The feel of his weight moving against mine had the foreseeable effect on my body and I had to shift him to rearrange my cock. I knew the instant he woke up when his warm body lost its sleepy softness and stiffened in my arms.
When his honey-colored lashes drifted up, his amber eyes quickly shuttered and he scrambled out of my lap, the loss of his warmth somehow making me cold everywhere. I shared the doctor’s update and then pressed on.
“Sky, we need to talk.”
My Omega nodded stiffly, wrapping his arms around himself as if warding off the same chill I was overcome with.
“I talked to Trevor.” That was so completely understated that it was funny. Clint’s sweet, usually even-tempered Omega had all but ripped me a new asshole on the phone before he finally calmed down enough to let me explain.
Sky’s eyes closed for a second before he straightened up and threw his shoulders back in what I was starting to realize was his forced bravado pose. His voice was firm when he spoke. “I’m sorry about that. I was upset and over-reacted. You don’t owe me anything.”
I cocked my head at him. “Can I finish?”
Sky bit his lip. “Sorry. Of course, you can.”
“What I was going to say, Sky, was that you’re right about what you heard, but you don’t know the entire story. I am accepting a challenge from that Darren twat, but I’m not getting back with Chloe after.”
The skepticism on Sky’s face clawed at my heart.
“Really,” I insisted. “What you heard last night was me answering a call from my attorney, Drey. Before we left, he filed papers on Chloe’s behalf invalidating the mating dissolution that Darren pushed her to file. I told you about that, didn’t I?”
