Chapter 8 #2
She shrugs. “Tastes different as a sandwich.”
Harvey smiles indulgently and reaches up, gently brushing Athena’s hair behind her ear.
She flinches, and understanding flashes in his eyes.
“This has to be overwhelming, but you two are Omegas now; there is no denying that. I knew Atlas before, and he was very much a Beta.” The former Beta rolls his eyes.
In the low light of the living room, I can see the bite mark on his neck from our Omega, and jealousy courses through me.
I want my bite on both of them. I need people to know they’re mine, that they can’t have them.
Because people will want them.
How could they not, when they look like that together?
“We’re going to figure this out together, okay?” Harvey pats her on the knee. “We’re going to take this slowly, get you the help you need, and figure out what happened in that place. Anything you need, we’ll take care of for you. You’re safe now. Do you understand?”
Harvey isn’t only looking at Athena when he says this. His eyes travel over Atlas as well, and I can see something profound pass between them.
My packmate takes a few steps back, retreating to sit on the hearth. Athena tilts her head to the side and looks at him curiously. Her eyes are like emeralds, sparkling in the warm light of our living room. She chews on her lower lip as she takes in the scarred Alpha before her.
She looks at him as if he were the answer to her problems.
I want her to look at me like that. I want to touch her. To pull that lip from between her teeth and soothe it with my finger.
But I don’t get the chance because the doorbell rings.
“That’ll be the doctor,” Wyatt speaks for the first time since they came in.
Athena is on her feet, about to rush the door, but Atlas drags her back down with a very un-Omega growl. “No,” he snarls. “Need you with me.”
Not looking disturbed at his proclamation, she nods and settles back onto his lap. “You’re right,” she says softly. “This feels better.”
A harried-looking Alpha with hair and eyes the same color as Athena’s comes rushing into the room. A beautiful redheaded Omega follows him.
“Icky,” Athena breathes, leaning forward and reaching her hands out. “I’m so sorry. It was stupid of me to be mad at you. It wasn’t your fault.”
He falls to his knees in front of her, sobbing, burying his face in her lap. I have never seen an Alpha show emotion the way this man is right now. Alphas are supposed to keep themselves together under the eye of their Omega, but he is comfortable enough to fall apart as his Omega looks on.
“No, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Athena. I thought I would never see you again. I tried to find you. I promise I really did.”
His Omega shoves our coffee table out of the way with no respect for the order of the living room and kneels next to her Alpha, reaching out and grabbing one of Athena’s hands. Athena lets out a shuddering sob at the contact.
“Hey, sis,” the Omega whispers, entwining their fingers. “Looks like we’ve got more in common now than we thought, huh?”
“I beat you by two years,” my Omega says with a forced laugh. “This is Atlas.” She gestures at the dark-haired Omega. “We’re bonded.”
Her brother, Icky, I think she called him, looks up, noticing Atlas for the first time.
Is his name honestly Icky? Who would come up with something so awful?
The doctor ruffles his wavy hair. “Bonded. That is curious. Slime filled me in on what he knew and what Harvey told him. This is unprecedented, as I’m sure you’re aware.
This is something that has never been done before, and ethically, should never have been attempted,” he begins.
“However, it sure is fascinating. I’m going to check your vitals right now, but I will need to take you to the clinic to run some tests and determine exactly what caused this change.
We don’t know if there are going to be side effects to this, and I’d prefer to get ahead of it if we can. ”
Athena nods slowly, not taking her eyes off her brother. He sits back on his heels and pulls several things out of his pockets. A stethoscope, thermometer, one of those things that clip on the end of your finger…
How deep are this man’s pockets?
“I’m Jordan, by the way,” his Omega says, looking at each member of my pack, where we are all awkwardly watching this situation.
So that’s the Jordan Harvey mentioned. I feel a little silly for my initial jealousy.
“And that is my Alpha, Icarus.” The Alpha in question doesn’t look up from examining Athena to introduce himself or get our names.
“She’s been missing for over seven weeks, so you’ll have to forgive him for not giving a shit about being polite to you. ”
Seven weeks?
She was there for over seven weeks?
Bile rises in my throat. What happened to her during that time? It explains why she and Atlas are so bonded. She must’ve been hopeless and afraid, and then he showed up.
At least they had each other through that nightmare.
“Hey, Harvey,” Jordan says with a jut of her chin. “Fancy seeing you here.”
“Lunarcrest City is a small place,” he jokes. “Slime was a big help today.”
Her bemused chuckle comes out like a snort.
“I’m sure he was. He said you had him making sure no one entered the parking lot.
” She stands up from the floor and crosses to Harvey, leaning against the wall beside him.
The two have a gentle camaraderie that has me wondering what it’s like in the Hawks.
It can’t be too bad if this Slime character lets his Omega be around it.
“Would you trust that man with a gun?” he asks, raising his eyebrow at her.
She doesn’t even pretend to think about it. “No, which is why I’m surprised you guys still keep him around.” She pulls her red hair off her neck and wraps it with an elastic from her wrist. “It didn’t stop Rafe from freaking out until he called and gave the all-clear.”
“We’ll keep him around for a little longer. He’s a damn good mechanic,” Harvey says dismissively. “And we got a lot of bikes.”
Icarus clears his throat and shifts from the floor to the couch beside his sister. The conversation stops, but he only has eyes for her. “You and Atlas look okay, but were they feeding you? You look like you’ve lost weight.”
Jordan pulls the tie from her hair and slingshots it across the room, hitting Icarus in the back of the head. “We don’t talk about people’s bodies, Vick,” she admonishes.
He spins to look at her, narrowing his eyes. “This is in the context of a medical situation, sunshine, that means -”
“Nope. You didn’t need to tell her she’s lost weight to ask if they were feeding her.”
I’ve never heard an Omega be so firm with their Alpha before. The doctor looks sheepish, then ducks his head with a nod.
“You’re right, as always,” he says sweetly, before turning from his Omega to mine. “Were they feeding you two?”
“Not much,” Atlas answers for her while Athena’s eyes dart between her brother and his Omega. “We got IVs for hydration during the treatments, and they must have had nutrients or whatever in them since we’re not dead.”
“I’ll need you two to be slow about reintroducing food to your diets. These crackers and bread are a good start.”
My chest puffs up at his approval.
“I assume they catheterized you?” The question is clinical, and I’m sure it is necessary, but it makes me squirm.
Atlas nods tightly, and the doctor steeples his fingers.
“We’ll also need to start you both on antibiotics in case the repeated catheterization gave you a UTI.
” The doctor’s eyes glaze over momentarily, and then he’s on his feet. “One moment.”
Jordan and Athena both chuckle as they watch him run out. “You’ll get used to it,” Jordan says to the room. “Icarus is brilliant, and his mind makes connections that most other people don’t, but that means sometimes you lose him for a spell as he processes things.”
The Alpha in question returns with a black zippered case. “Can I take your blood samples now? I can start some of the testing while you recover, so you won’t need to come to the clinic. It’ll let us know if we need to put you on heat suppressants right now.”
Oh my God, will they go into heat at the same time?
How will we handle two Omegas in heat? There are only four of us.
“You just happened to have the stuff you needed for a blood draw in your car?” Atlas asks skeptically.
The doctor looks at him as if that were a given. “I always like to be prepared.”
Icarus sets up vials and needles when Athena shudders and shakes, her eyes wide as she backs away from him and sinks further into Atlas’s arms. “No,” she whimpers. “Please not again.”