Emmett’s counting on us…
I dispose of my lab coat, realizing as I do so that my scrubs are covered in blood. Diego’s blood. One look at the clock tells me I’m down to five minutes. I remove my shirt first and then my scrub pants and toss them in the hamper in the hall outside my lab. My shoes are spattered too, so I leave them beside the hallway hamper, figuring I’ll get them tomorrow. I can clean them while I run tests on Diego if he wakes up.
If.
I try not to think about the implications of that. I can’t. I have to believe that somehow he’ll pull through.
For Gage and Auryn.
For Emmett.
And me, too. I guess.
I never really thought about losing any of my pack. I grew up ostracized for being the way I am—if it wasn’t the autism that irritated people it was my OCD. And let’s not even get started on the relationship stuff. The sex stuff.
When I found Gage, at the institute, the leader of an omegaless pack, I did everything I could to be noticed. To wedge my way into his eyesight. I knew the work would be dangerous, but I could survive as long as I had a lab. As long as I had a pack where I wasn’t expected to be more than just the medical guy.
I never really considered the alphas my friends or anything. The hierarchy, the rules…it was all simple.
I knew where I stood. I knew where they stood. I understood what was expected of me, and I did what they asked, but…
Now…
Things feel different. My chest hurts when I think about what those assholes did to Auryn. To Diego.
What they’ll do to Emmett…
I try to shake off the thoughts as I pad down the hall. Three minutes left. I hurry up, and when I get to the quarters, I see her door is shut. Panic hits, and I check the clock. Two minutes. She didn’t leave, did she? Surely she wouldn’t… I knock on the door, my heart in my throat. Please open the door, please open the door.
Auryn opens the door, those deep brown eyes gazing up at me, and everything falls away. I can see she’s been crying. Her cheeks are stained with wetness, her eyes rimmed red.
I don’t say a word because the sight makes my throat tight. I feel the tears festering beneath my own eyes, but I fight it. I have to.
I need to be strong forher.
I need to be a comfort forher.
So, I reach my hand out and brush one hot tear from her cheek.
“It’s okay,” I tell her, even though I don’t know that it will be okay. Diego’s fighting for his life. Gage is a mess. Emmett is gone.
But we’re here, my omega and me. We’re here.
“Olly,” she whispers my name, her small fingers sliding up my bare chest. One hand rests over my heart and she breathes in deep.
She’s scenting me, I realize.
Like she does with the alphas. I know given everything that’s happened, that shouldn’t make me feel excited, but…it does.
Everything Auryn does excites me, and I’m not just talking about the effect she has on me physically, but…
Mentally, she excites me, too.
She truly is an enigma, a multi-faceted jewel. She is simple, like quantum physics.
There’s an anxiety in my chest along with my racing heartbeat, and I think back to my lab. To Gage and his tears. Comfort is not easy for me. It takes a multitude of things to make me feel comfortable. But I haveobservedit. I have seen it for years, I realize. Every smile Diego cast at Gage when he thought no one else could see. Emmett’s pink, heated face while Gage slid his arm around Em after a spar.
And I realize I have felt comfort, too.
