Chapter Nineteen
Bennett
June
“Benny?”
I blinked my eyes open at the sound of my sister’s voice and groaned as I lifted my head off the chest of a man whose scent I didn’t recognize. I looked up, catching the eyes of the security guard who’d apparently become my source of comfort for the afternoon.
Poor Sam. Didn’t I call him an asshole earlier? Hopefully that was just in my head.
Oakley and Reid stood in front of us with grim expressions.
“I’ll leave you with your family,” Sam said, patting my back as he stood.
“Thank you.” My voice was thick and I cleared my throat. “Sorry about your uniform.”
He scoffed, looking down at the stain of tears and snot on his beige shirt. “Not the first alpha to cry on my chest. Probably won’t be the last. You’re all big and tough until your omega is hurt, and then it’s only a matter of time before the breakdown happens.”
“Really, thank you, Sam.” I gave him a small wave goodbye as I sat up and wiped my eyes. Oakley and Reid sat down across from me.
“What the hell happened, man?” Reid asked, leaning forward, his eyes roaming over me. “You look like shit, and I’ve never seen you look like shit before.”
“I don’t know whether to take that as a complement or an insult,” I said.
Reid smiled smugly at me. “All I’m saying is that we should have hooked up years ago.”
Oakley smacked his chest with the back of her hand. “Now is not the time.”
“Flirting releases endorphins, honey. It’s always the time,” he said, smirking at her.
Oakley rolled her eyes. “Donovan called.”
“Both of you?” I asked, looking between the two of them.
“Just me,” Reid said. “Wyatt’s been wrapped up in the case, so I’m guessing Donovan figured I was the only other person who might be able to physically restrain you if necessary.”
“Wow. He must have been really worried about what I was going to do to Ryder if he willingly spoke to you,” I said.
Donovan and Reid had decided a few years ago that the best way to settle their differences—the ones both of them refused to talk about even though one of those differences was sitting right across from me—was to just ignore each other.
There was a lot less fighting now, but the truce made things weird.
They claimed it was better this way, but I wasn’t convinced.
“He said six full words to me. It might be the new record for the year,” Reid said with a shrug. “But let’s face it, you’re a loose cannon right now. Any of us would be if we were in your shoes.”
“Reid told me that Donovan called, and I wanted to come with him,” Oakley said. “Since I’m the only one who can ever get through to you.”
“It’s cute that you think so,” I said, digging my fingers into my scalp.
“It’s true. The only other person you listen to is in a coma, Bennett. Reid and I are who you’ve got right now,” she said sternly.
“And no one thought Wyatt and Ally should be the ones to deal with me since they’re both actually in a stable relationship with their true mate?” I glared at each of them.
“Rude,” Oak said.
Reid scoffed. “First of all, it’s a full moon, so Ally’s running around in the woods, and Wyatt hasn’t left the station for the last twenty-four hours because he’s determined to figure out what happened to Felix for you.
Second, don’t underestimate our advice. We know a lot more about this shit than you’re giving us credit for. ”
I sighed. “Fine. I’ll take your advice, because, frankly, I’m too exhausted to think or argue. Just tell me what to do to get back in that room and to save the man I love from his idiot ex-boyfriend.”
“Bennett, I love you,” Oakley said, leaning forward and gripping my hands in hers, “so I’m going to be very direct with you right now.
You have known what you need to do from the minute Ryder showed up in Felix’s hospital room.
You may not like the solution, but you don’t need me to tell you what it is. ”
I shook my head rapidly, refusing to believe that I’d been backed into this corner.
“How would you feel if you were him? If the person you loved and trusted bit you and claimed you, bonding you to them forever without your consent after already experiencing that once?” I asked, voice cracking.
“Tell me you’d be able to forgive them for that, Oak.
Because I’m not sure I could ever forgive myself for taking that choice from him. ”
“If I was in love with them and I knew we were true mates, I’d forgive them.
I’m not saying this is an ideal situation.
But Felix wouldn’t want you to let Ryder make decisions on his behalf when we all know you’re the one he wants in that room when he wakes up,” Oak said.
“You’re the one he needs. Not just to make the right decisions about his care, but to help his body heal faster. He needs his mate, his true mate.”
Reid stared at his lap, tracing the constellation tattoo on the back of one hand with his finger.
“I’d do it if I were in your shoes,” he said quietly.
“If it was my true mate in that bed and another alpha said they had claim over them when I knew just being in the room would help, I’d make them mine and beg for forgiveness later. ”
Oak looked at him with glassy eyes and squeezed his knee.
He gave her a sad smile and met my eyes. “Honestly, I don’t think I’d be half as conflicted over it as you are, and the other alpha would be in the hospital because I’d probably try to kill them.”
“You’re not as violent as you pretend to be, Reid,” I said.
“No, I’m not. But I’d do anything for her.”
I looked at him curiously and took a deep breath. Reid was tightlipped about the woman we all knew he loved, but how he thought we hadn’t figured out that behind all his playful jokes was a man who’d spent years pinning for his true mate, I’d never understand.
“What do you want to do right now?” Oakley asked, bringing my attention back to her.
“I want to go back in there. I want to see him,” I said. “I want to hold him and help him in the only way I can.”
Maybe if I see how much he needs me, I can convince myself this is the right thing to do.
Oakley nodded solemnly. “I know you have this whole he should get a choice thing going on. But Felix would choose this. If he could talk right now. If he knew that you were being kept away from him. He’d choose you, Bennett.”
“I know,” I said, eyes filling again. “I genuinely know he wants to be mated to me. I can feel it every time I’m near him.
I can see it in his eyes, on his face. I can smell it in his scent.
I can taste his desire to be bonded to me on his fucking skin for fuck’s sake.
But he still has a right to say it for himself and he’s never done that. ”
I wiped my eyes and stood up, staring down at my best friend and my sister.
“We’ll be here, man. We’re not going to leave you,” Reid said.
Oakley gave him a quick glance before looking back at me. “You realize that might be the most serious thing he’s ever said?”
I chuckled and hugged each of them. “Thank you for coming.”
I took a deep breath and straightened my spine.
I was going to go back into that room and do the one thing I promised I never would, because I’d rather have Felix alive and healthy, hating me forever, than live in a world where he didn’t exist because Ryder made stupid, selfish decisions on his behalf.
“I’m going to do it,” I said. “I need you to come with me and make sure no one walks into his room for the next ten minutes.”
I’m coming for you, Felix.