"Out through your mouth."
The purr helps. It sinks into my bones and loosens my muscles. He pets my hair like I'm precious to him.
Alex appears in the doorway. He takes one look at the scene and his face goes tight.
Then he's on the floor beside us. His purr joins Malcolm's.
The combined sound wraps around me. Inside me. My omega responds on instinct. The panic doesn't disappear but it softens.
I cry into Malcolm's chest. He rocks me back and forth. I inhale his scent in shaky, short gasps.
"What happened?" Alex's asks.
"She's scared of what Ragon will do," Finn says.
I nod against Malcolm's shirt. "There's nothing left for him to take from me except to send me back to the registry."
The words come out between sobs.
"They'll put me in another pack. I don't want to do that again. The cycle will start all over. What, seven years next time? Ten before they send me away? I can't be rejected again."
Malcolm's arms tighten. "No one's rejecting you."
"You don't know that. You don't—"
"We do know that."
I shake my head. Can't speak.
They hold me while I fall apart. Both purrs steady. Alex's hand finds my arm. Squeezes.
Time passes. Maybe a lot of it.
Eventually the crying stops. The panic fades to exhaustion.
I pull back slightly. Wipe my face with shaking hands.
"I'm sorry." I sound hoarse. "I didn't mean to break down like that."
Alex makes a sound. Low and angry.
I wince.
"Don't." He says it hard enough to stop me. "Don't apologize for having emotions."
I blink at him.
"That's some bullshit thing for an alpha to teach an omega." His eyes are dark. Furious. "That you should be sorry for feeling things. For needing support or having a normal reaction to trauma."
"Alex—" Malcolm starts.
"No." He's still looking at me. "Ragon has no fucking clue how to properly nurture an omega. He taught you to make yourself small. To apologize for existing. And I'm not letting that stand."
I stare at him.
He means it.
The realization hits somewhere deep.
