"I amnotlying! I was there. It happened. I will never forget that face. I see it when I close my eyes. I see it in my nightmares. He made me into thisfreak."
Beep flinches, and I rub the heels of my palms into my tired eyes. "Shit, I'm sorry, Beep. Fuck, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that."You're not a freak, I tell her.
"Look," my voice cracks, and I suck in a shaky breath, steadying myself. "He stole my life. It may not have been a goodone, but it was mine, and now it's gone. I've got nothing. And it was… god, I thought I was dying. Itfeltlike I was dying."
Doc's brows lift higher on his forehead.
Orion pushes off the wall and approaches me cautiously. "Mona," he starts, shaking his head slowly. "There's no way Gray could have—"
Something tears inside me. The betrayal cuts deep, which is absurd because I don't even know the man. He owes me no loyalty. But I've heard enough. I'vehadenough. I hop off the bed and push them both away. "Thanks for patching me up, Doc, even though your psychotic wolves are the ones who did this to me. I'm just going to… You know what, maybe I'll head to the Bahamas. I've always wanted to live on a beach. Since north didn't pan out so well, maybe I'll give south a shot."
I don't even see Orion move. One second I'm ripping a bandage off my arm, the next, I'm pressed against the hospital bed, Orion's body a wall of heat and muscle caging me in.
I'm so surprised by his reaction, all I can do is breathe him in. I wrap my hands around his biceps to brace myself—to hold him back or pull him closer, I can't tell which. His muscles flex beneath my fingertips, and I can feel the scorching heat of him, his breath hot on my lips. I think he's going to devour me. I think I'm going to let him.
My omega fuckingpreens.
"You. Are. Not. Leaving. I won'tletyou." Each word is a threat, his deep, rumbling voice vibrating through me. My skin flushes, a current of heat traveling down low, pulsing between my thighs. He's so close, his short, messy blond beard, little more than shaped stubble, brushes against my cheek as he leans in and inhales my scent.
I'm shaking against him and I don't know what I want or what to do. His chocolate hazelnut scent makes my vision go hazy, body haywire.
I'm grateful when Doc reaches between us, pressing a palm against the solid wall of his chest. "Orion," he urges. Then he says his name a second time, gently but firmly, and only then does awareness flood back into Orion's blazing blue eyes. They soften, as if to say he's sorry, and the shift makes me want to open my legs and pull him closer.
An ache unfurls deep inside me, spreading like wildfire, and it's so surprising, so unwelcome, that my trembling hand joins Doc's and I give Orion a desperate shove. I'm not strong enough to move him, but he steps back.
"Let's all just calm down," Doc chides. And though Orion's moved, I can still feel him, even with a foot of distance between us. My pussyachesfor this man. What the hell is wrong with me?
Doc continues as if all of this is normal behavior. "Please, Mona, just… You said you had questions of your own. There's a lot we're clearly misunderstanding about one another. Tell us your story. We will listen. And, after we talk, if you really want to run away to the Bahamas… well, I'll help you do that. But give us a chance. Give me a chance. An omega with the kind of welcome you had into our clan…" He shakes his head sadly. "Please allow us the opportunity to make it right."
"She's not going to the fucking Bahamas," Orion snaps. His eyes flash again, and his scent pulses toward me.
As much as I want to turn and run from how Orion is making me feel, I do have questions. And after all we went through to get here, asking a few wouldn't hurt. As long as Orion keeps his hands to himself. And his body heat. And his scent.
Beep plants her ass right where we're sitting, so leaving now would be a struggle, anyway. This is all embarrassing enough, they don't need to watch me fight with my wolf if I tried to leave. We lookridiculouswhen we fight.
And, admittedly, Orion's words, like a declaration, do something strange to me. He doesn't want me to leave, and when he says it like that, I don't want to leave him either. It makes no sense.
Our mate, Beep says proudly, and my omega concurs.
For the first time since she said that word, I feel it wriggle around inside me, the idea planting itself in a place so deep I don't think I could dig it out.Mate.What does that even mean?
I glance toward the door. I want to leave. But… I also feel like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, despite everything that's happened. Nothing makes sense anymore.
And so, I tell Doc, "Okay… fine."
His smile brightens, and he claps his hands together. "Alright. Now, please continue with your story. You were saying… about our Lune?"
I hesitate. My throat threatens to close around the words, but I force them out. "He… that guy, your Lune, or whatever—" I point toward the door, where I last saw him. "Six months ago, he followed me home after a party and attacked me. Bit me—tore into me like I was nothing—and left me for dead. I woke up the next morning as a fucking wolf. He made me a werewolf!"
Orion shifts beside me. He lifts his hand, like he's going to put it on my shoulder, then pulls away, curling his fingers into a fist, and shakes his head. "Mona, I…"
I don't want to look at his face, see the pity, or worse, the disbelief. Because I can already hear it in his voice.
Doc grimaces. "Okay, this raises a lot more questions, but let's deal with one problem at a time. First of all, if you were attacked, it would not have been by him."
"Itwas. I remember his face. Perfectly. I can't stop seeing it." Wide, diamond-shaped jawline, cruel, sharp teeth. Green eyes cast beneath a dark brow that seemed to peer out of theshadows. Six-foot-something of raw power, pinning me down like it was nothing.
The room tilts, but I can feel Beep inside me, propping me up. And then Orion reaches out, his powerful hand squeezing my shoulder, supporting me while my mind threatens to drown in the memory, and it… helps. It steadies me.
