Chapter 8
Olly
A shiver runs through me as I wake. Alone.
The warmth that was once there, lulling me into a solid sleep is no more, and I sit up, in my bed, feeling more than just the overwhelming need to pee.
One glance around the room tells me I’m back in my quarters. I rub my eyes, trying to recall what exactly happened and how I ended up here, but I can at least deduce that one of the guys brought me here.
And apparently I was so content I didn’t notice a “brute”
dragging me out of Auryn’s cage at all.
No, not her cage. Her nest.
Scientifically, I know everything there is to know about an omega in heat. I’ve studied heat for practically thirteen years, or more accurately, the societal impact of heat on low-population areas.
Areas like the Orion pack, where birth numbers are dwindling year after year.
And I’ve spent the last seven years with the Carlisle pack, rescuing targets—not all omegas, but we’ve rescued our fair share—so if there’s one thing I know, it’s heat. But not even all my years studying the phenomenon could have prepared me for the up close and personal study of Auryn.
My mind wanders back to the cage. I’d stepped in, just in time it seemed, as she had her hand around Emmett’s throat. It didn’t look like she was actually choking him, and judging by the bulge in his pants, I’d say he wasn’t entirely in distress, but I know better than most omegas aren’t prone to attacking anyone…
Well, unless their nest, child, or mate are threatened.
I run a hand through my hair as I get up and head to the bathroom to do my business, my mind racing as I try to recount my study with Auryn.
I wash my hands and dry them off quickly, noting the clock on the wall reads that it’s nearing six in the morning. Which means I’ve been out cold for nearly four hours.
I can’t remember the last time I slept for four hours, undisturbed.
I don’t bother going back to bed, because once I’m up, I’m up. Instead, I head to my computer, start up a log, and info dump to my heart’s content.
The words come easily because I’m recounting our interaction from a clinical standpoint. I log the details the same way I would any omega I came into contact with.
Omega’s blood pressure was elevated, likely due to the stress of capture.
My fingers stop on that word. Capture.
Auryn’s words echo in my brain, resounding and solid: Safety isn’t a fucking cage.
Perhaps this is not the first cage Auryn has seen.
My fingers hover over the keys as I contemplate whether I should log my thoughts. My…feelings.
The memory of her standing, curled in on herself in the corner of the holding cell makes my blood run cold. She looked at me with those big brown eyes, her gaze full of pain, but also hope.
I know imprinting on a beta isn’t typical. Especially with an alpha in the room. It’s…rare. But it has happened. Twice, actually, as recorded medical records state. Though I’m not cocky like Emmett or confident like Gage, or even attractive like Diego, so I’m not entirely sure why Auryn would do such a thing. The only theory I can surmise is that her dislike for alphas makes me the lesser of the evils, and therefore this isn’t an imprinting situation; it’s just pure, unfiltered survival.
An omega’s instinct is to placate. To satisfy, to nest, to…breed.
Not to attack and pit hierarchies against one another.
My mind wanders back to her hand around Emmett’s throat. That glaze in her eyes as she stared at him.
The cursor on the screen blinks, and I do something I haven’t done in a long time. I clear out my log and grab a notebook.
The words come out faster than when I type, but at least with a hand-written document no one will be pouring over my finds and thoughts, and for some reason, that makes me feel more relieved.
I’ve never second-guessed my briefs or documentation before, but something tells me it’s best to keep my recordings to myself, at least for now. Until I can form a solid hypothesis and really know what we’re dealing with.
Omega has uncharacteristic strength. Omega smells like cinnamon and peppercorn to me, but not to the others. Omega has…
I stop, looking at the words before I erase every “omega”
and replace it with her name.
Auryn.
I have a name. It’s Auryn.
Auryn has uncharacteristic strength. Auryn smells like cinnamon and peppercorn to me, but not to the others. Auryn has brown eyes and is highly excitable.
The pencil moves quickly as I fight to get all the details in my head out.
Auryn has scars. Lots of them. Some look medical, while others look like she’s sustained a lot of injuries. Auryn’s heat seems to come and go, and she responds well to the suppressant.
My hand stops as I recall the memory of earlier. In her cell.
“It’s just heat suppressant. It’ll help with the pain, and uh…should help you relax a bit,”
I said as I slowly approached her cell.
“Heat suppressant?”
She looked at me inquisitively. “What’s that?”
I hadn’t questioned her at the time, mostly because I had one goal and that was to get my patient the help and care she needed, but as I sit here in my room, at my desk, it dawns on me that an omega of any standing would know what a heat suppressant was, likely because they’d received it upon their first heat.
Most omegas don’t go into heat until their late teens, so those suppressants help regulate their cycles and train their bodies to prepare for the symptoms of heat.
But Auryn, an omega actively in heat, looked at my syringe as if she’d never seen one in her life.
“It’ll help cool the temperature of your body. Make those cramps and pains stop. Make you feel…human, at least that’s what I’ve been told.”
I offered her a soft smile. “I wouldn’t know, but there’s enough records to indicate there are minimal side effects, and it works pretty quickly.”
Auryn looked from me to the needle and carefully stepped out of the shadows. “Is there another way to administer this…suppressant?”
she asked. “I don’t like needles.”
I met her gaze as I took two steps towards her, never breaking it. “I could find you a pill version, but this will work faster. At least, for tonight it will.”
She stood in front of me, looking up at me with hazy eyes, and I could see the pain etched there. It was then I noticed the scars. The ones that looked almost surgical. I wanted to ask about them, but I couldn’t find the words, and I felt as if we were both perched precariously on a ledge I was unfamiliar with. She swallowed harshly.
“Will it hurt me?”
Her words were careful, her gaze strained and worrisome. I shook my head. I should have said no. I should’ve answered her professionally, the same way I’ve answered a hundred omegas when they ask if what I plan to do will hurt them or if there are side effects, or…
But that’s not what I did. I didn’t answer her the way I’d answer any patient, because Auryn is clearly unlike any patient I’ve treated before.
“I could never hurt you.”
I speak the words aloud in my room, knowing no one else will hear them. I turn the page, sucking in a breath as I write my name at the top.
My heart catches in my throat as I do what I have never done and write down my own recordings.
Beta smells different things than the alphas. Beta feels concerned for the omega. Beta likes how omega smells. Beta wants…
I stop, unable to finish the sentence. It’s an odd word for me. Want.
I want lots of things, sure. Respect. Understanding. Friendship. To be seen as an equal among my pack.
But beneath those base wants is something else. Something unfamiliar.
Connection, maybe? I’m not quite sure, but I leave the empty space until I can formulate a proper word. And because I’ve got a strange sort of feeling in my gut, my dick twitching even though I’ve already done my business.
I roll my eyes, adjust myself, and close the notebook. It’s probably just stress. My body always reacts to stress in weird ways, and today has been more stressful than I think any of us would have expected. One glance at the clock, and I note it’s nearing seven a.m. A knock on my door pulls me from my thoughts, and I get up. I make my way over to the door, my dick already starting to soften and ease up as I push thoughts of Auryn and stress out of my mind. When I open it, I see that it’s Gage.
“Morning,”
he says. He looks more refreshed than he should, especially given his injuries.
“Morning,”
I say, sliding my hands into the pockets of my sweats.
“Sleep well?”
he asks, cocking his head to the side.
“Yes, actually,”
I say, blinking. He’s looking at me funny, though I can’t ascertain why.
It’s like all of a sudden since Auryn showed up, everyone’s looking at me weird.
I feel weird, too, but I think it might have something to do with the fact that Auryn is clearly a more complex case than we thought.
I like complexities. I like puzzles. Perhaps, that’s all this strangeness is: a new puzzle for me to solve.
“Breakfast in twenty. We need to discuss the situation,”
Gage says carefully.
“The omega, you mean?”
I say, feeling a strange wave of protectiveness.
“Among other things, yes,”
he says, looking over me in a way that makes me feel exposed. Like I’m not wearing clothes, or like I myself am some specimen that needs to be studied.
A strange sound leaves my throat, and Gage smirks.
“What?”
I ask, feeling on the spot.
Gage chuckles. “Didn’t know you could growl.”
Is that what that was?
I shake my head. “I’ll note it in my findings,”
I say, and he shakes his head.
“Twenty minutes. I mean it,”
he says, pushing off my door frame.
Only when he leaves do I realize how starving I actually am.
At breakfast, it’s just Gage, Emmett, and me. I report what I can to Gage, about my observations, but I keep it simple. I tell him everything I’ve observed about Auryn, about him and Emmett.
“I’d like to observe Diego with her today,”
I say, picking at my pancake.
“Or…tonight, I take it, since he’ll need some sleep in between shifts.”
Gage sips his coffee. “Probably not a bad idea.”
Emmett grunts, and I notice his arms are crossed.
“What?”
Gage asks. “Spit it out, Em.”
Emmett glares at me from across the table. “And who is going to observe Doogie Howser over here?”
I don’t miss the contempt in his voice. He’s seething.
I know Emmett’s not my biggest fan to begin with, but it almost sounds like he’s…jealous.
No, that can’t be right at all. Clearly I haven’t had enough coffee. My brain is all scrambled from the stress of this job.
“I do not need to be observed,”
I bite out. “I told you I am the most objective person at this compound!”
It’s only then I realize the echo of my voice in the small space.
“Mm-hmm. Well, clinically speaking, Olly, it’s always best to study all sides of something, is it not? To get a…comprehensive analysis?”
Gage says the words smoothly, but I don’t miss the faint hint of a smile on his face.
“Yes, but—”
I feel very hot all of a sudden. Aren’t we supposed to be discussing Auryn? Why are we discussing me?
“It’s just good research,”
Gage says. “Nothing to worry about. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
Then he clears his throat, his gaze settling on me softly. “I’ll do it.”
Emmett grunts out a strange sound, but one look from Gage and he seems to settle.
“Emmett, can you relieve Diego? Tell him breakfast is ready?”
Gage says.
Emmett nods, shoving away from the table with a grunt.
“Auryn,”
I say, catching Emmett’s heated glare. “She should eat something. I’m sure she’s hungry, and she will need to keep her strength up.”
Gage smirks. “What do you propose, doc?”
“I don’t think she’d come to dine with us. She doesn’t trust us.”
“So I’ll take her something, then,”
Emmett says, heading for the cabinets. I watch as he grabs a container and piles the eggs, pancakes, and bacon into it. I think it’s too much, but I know not to say anything. Clearly, he hasn’t gotten enough rest, because he’s quite angry this morning.
“Sounds good,”
Gage says. I feel slightly better, knowing at least she’ll get a hot breakfast, but a part of me feels disappointed because I wish she could eat with us.
With me.
I should note this feeling in my notebook. Beta would like to dine with Auryn.
I shove the thought into the corner of my brain, going back to my own breakfast. When Emmett is gone, there’s a tense silence, and it makes me feel awkward.
More awkward than usual.
I like Gage. He’s smart, cunning. A good leader, and he’s always had my back, but being alone with him right now feels weird. Weirder than it usually does. He glances at me, and it’s a moment before he speaks.
“It’s okay, you know,”
he says softly.
“What is?”
I ask, reaching for my coffee.
“You’re allowed to like her. It’s…normal.”
He says the words carefully.
“I don’t like anyone,”
I gripe. “I like facts. I like science.”
My voice is harsher than it should be, and I feel strange. Hot. Bothered. Tense.
“I know.”
Gage says, and then he gets up, taking his dishes to the sink.
“Just letting you know that, scientifically, it’s okay.”
He says nothing else as he leaves me alone with nothing but my thoughts and a weird sort of ache in my chest.
Beta feels scared.
I shove the thought down as I finish my coffee, deciding that the best distraction is to focus on the job.
So instead of focusing on my stress, I focus on getting a shower, getting dressed, and processing the samples I took from Gage last night. I tell myself that it’s all about the science as I approach Auryn’s holding cell, my mind set on collecting data.
Emmett growls at me, nearly stopping me before I get to the door.
“It’s not your shift,”
he snarls.
“I just need to collect some blood samples from Auryn,”
I say. I note as I look at her through the cell doors that she looks fresher. Cleaner. Her hair is wet, and she is dressed in sweatpants and an oversized shirt.
My heart beats erratically, and I am second guessing my extra cup of coffee.
Perhaps I should lay off the caffeine for the time being.
“You couldn’t have collected your data last night?”
Emmett says, crossing his arms.
“No,”
I say simply, because it’s true. Auryn needed to acclimate, and the top priority was suppressing her heat. Soothing her.
“Get your fucking samples and go,”
Emmett says, his voice threatening. I nod, carrying my travel case of supplies as I head to the cell. Auryn’s gaze holds mine as I smile.
“Long time no see,”
I say as I punch the code in. When the door opens, I’m acutely aware of Emmett’s eyes burning a hole into my back, but I ignore him.
Because all I can focus on is Auryn and my rapidly beating heart.
And that is a scientific fact.