My stomach churns at the thought of calm, quiet Olly being hurt because we were careless. “You don’t think she did something to him, do you?”
“Olly wouldn’t know what to do with an omega in heat, anyway. I’m sure his chastity is intact.” The thinly-veiled rage in Em’s eyes tells me something more happened in the cell than he’s letting on.
“I don’t think Diego’s worried about her violating Olly like that,” Gage says. “I think he’s more concerned about his physical safety.”
With Gage at the lead, we trot down the hall to the holding cell. Gage throws open the outer door, and I brace myself for the worst.
I shouldn’t have worried.
The cell door sits wide open, but to our surprise, Auryn’s not gone. In fact, she’s curled up against Olly’s side on the bed, and both of them are out cold.
I sniff the air, testing to see if our charge is still in heat, but it seems the suppressant has taken hold. Her scent, while still intoxicating, isn’t as strong, not as enticing as before. I still want her, still feel drawn to her, but it’s not a biological imperative at this point.
Em’s jaw drops. “She fell asleep? She was wound tighter than Olly’s asshole when I left.”
Gage pinches the bridge of his nose. “Seriously, Em? You couldn’t find a better way to phrase that?”
“What are we going to do with them? We can’t lock Olly in here, but we can’t leave the door open for her to just roam about when she wakes up.” I shudder to think what might happen if she wakes up before Olly.
Gage shoves Em into the cell. “As the least-injured of us, you get to carry Olly out. We’ll watch her in shifts. Diego’s on first.”
“And if she wakes up and loses her shit again?”
He levels a glare at me. “Then find Olly. Until we can convince her that we’re not going to hurt her, he’s our go-to for calming her down.”
Emmett picks Olly up and carries him out, and I close the cell door as Gage follows them out. Auryn still slumbers, but she whimpers a bit in her sleep, like her subconscious knows her beta has left.
For the first hour of my turn at watch, nothing much happens. I busy myself with tidying up the observation room and gathering fresh clothes for Auryn for when she wakes. We don’t have anything her size, but even if the sweats I grabbed for her are a bit baggy, they’ll surely be more comfortable than the torn, ragged dress she arrived in.
The lock on the cell door clicks softly as I take the pile of folded clothes in. I planned on leaving them at the foot of the bed, but as soon as I walk through the door, Auryn opens one dark eye. Her body tenses, and she keeps her gaze trained on my every move.
“Hola,Auryn. I have fresh clothes for you.”
“You’re a liar.”
The accusation is bold, blunt, and a little confusing. “How have I lied to you? I’ve said ‘hello, princess.’ Perhaps you don’t think you’re a princess? If that’s the case, then I’m afraid you’re lying to yourself. I stand by what I said.”
“You’re an alpha. Alphas lie.”
Since she’s not rabid at the moment, I decide to play along. “Okay. You don’t like alphas. Noted.” I shut the door behind me, typing a code into the keypad to lock it. “I’m sure you also don’t like wet, dirty dresses. These are a little too big for you, but they should be better than what you’ve got on. Go ahead. I won’t look.”
Not one to take unnecessary risks, I toss the sweats across the room. Auryn catches them midair and clutches them to her chest. Her eyes dart back and forth between me and the clothes for a moment, then she freezes. Unfolds the sweats. Holds them up in front of her. Tears glisten in her eyes, and she finally rewards me with a look of awe and wonder rather than the contempt she defaults to.
“Pants?”
Does she not know what pants are? “Yes. Pants. They go on your legs.”
There’s that contempt again, accompanied by suspicion. “I know what pants are. Why are you giving me pants?”
I shrug, trying to act calm and casual. “I thought you’d want clean clothes. I don’t know if you noticed, but it’s just us guys here. We don’t have dresses, but if that’s what you prefer, I can send someone to the store for you.”
Auryn holds the pants behind her back, like she’s afraid I’m going to take them away. “No! No dresses.” She scoots back on the bed until she’s backed up to the wall. “I’ll wear the pants. But you can’t look.”
“Of course not. If you want, I’ll even leave the room.”
Her gaze shoots over to the large mirror in the wall. “No. You stay. I don’t trust you not to look if you’re behind there. I want to see your eyes closed.”
Fair enough. I guess the mirror’s not fooling her. “All right.” I close my eyes, but I’m not an idiot. This girl’s a firecracker, and if I relax too much, she’s liable to attack me when my guard’s down. My posture may appear lax, but inside I’m ready to move at a moment’s notice.
