His head jerked up from where it had been bent over a laptop computer propped up on his thighs. “Hey, there. How do you feel?”
I hesitated, doing a brief check in. “I’m not sure. I, uh, my head doesn’t hurt and I don’t feel like I’m going to vomit.”
“Good, good.” Chuck seemed overly cheerful, almost forced.
“Everything okay?” I checked. “You sound a little off.”
Chuck’s brow furrowed. “Oh. No, everything is fine.” He shook his head. “Well, as fine as anything is with the current situation, anyway.” He glanced down at the computer screen when it dinged and then looked back up. “We will probably need to get you started on a pheromone replacement spray to ensure you don’t relapse when you leave, so I was emailing the doctor to ask about a prescription.”
“He said I’m ready to go home?” I asked in surprise. That was definitely not the impression I had gotten. Or maybe Chuck was just tired of being my crutch? After all, he surely had better things to do than constantly cater to a casual hookup.
“No.” When Chuck’s eyes met mine, they were troubled. “Truthfully, there is a little situation with some locals harassing us and I’m thinking I probably need to evacuate all of the Omegas to be sure they are safe until it’s handled.”
I cocked my head without thinking about it, grateful that the only pain was a minor twinge. “That’s not good. Do you have somewhere to take them?”
“We’ll have to separate into a few different places, but we’ll be able to protect all of you,” Chuck assured me.
You, not them. Wait a minute..
“Are you including me in that plan?” I attempted to clarify. “Because I can take care of myself.”
Chuck’s brow twitched as he lowered his gazed pointedly to the bed I was reclining in and back up. “Maybe we better have the good doc check your head again.”
I snorted a laugh. “Fuck you very much.”
The furrows in Chuck’s brow eased a bit as a grin played over his lips. “Well, if you think you’re up to it, but I seem to remember you having trouble just standing up.”
That got another laugh from me and I schooled my face into an overly lewd grin, winking lasciviously. “Well, the chance to get into that sweet ass of yours is some serious motivation, Chuck.”
A strangled laugh from the other side of the room startled both of us, red creeping into Chuck’s face as Kade’s stepped into the room.
“Sorry to intrude,” Kade said, obviously trying to hide his smirk as he pushed the door the rest of the way open. “I just need a quick minute with you, Chuck.”
Chuck huffed out an exhale. “Can we do it in here?”
“Yeah, sure,” Kade agreed with a quick, unreadable look in my direction. “We were wondering if Julian was ready to be moved to regular quarters?” When Chuck frowned, Kade sighed. “If things go sideways, we’re going to need the medical office to triage patients,” he explained quietly.
Triage? How bad were they expecting things toget?
“Uh, Chuck?” I pulled his attention back to me. “What the hell is going on?”
Chuck scowled at Kade, but the other man just shrugged. “You wanted to talk here, boss.”
“Get out,” Chuck growled.
“About the room assignment..” Kade trailed off when Chuck glared at him and took a couple of steps backward, putting him back in the hall. “Right, I’ll wait to hear back from you.”
“Close the door,” Chuck called out before shaking his head and moving to sit beside me on the bed. “Sorry about that.”
I shook my head slowly. “I’m not sure what you’re apologizing for, but it sounds like I’m in the way.”
“Absolutely not,” Chuck disagreed firmly. “Like I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted, we’re dealing with a little bit of a situation.”
“Which is why you want to evacuate,” I added.
“Honestly, Idon’twant to,” Chuck admitted, “but I think it might be the only way to keep everyone safe.”
I still wasn’t wrapping my brain around it. After all, I could see a veritable army of huge, hulking beings patrolling the grounds through the window as we spoke. “What is the threat that you don’t think those beasts can handle?”
