Chapter 9
NINE
I feel helpless as I watch both of my Omegas tremble in fear at the sight of something as small as a needle.
Athena’s terror may be obvious, drawing everyone’s attention, but she’s not the only one affected. I can see the darkness that lingers in Atlas’s eyes. He doesn’t want this any more than she does, but he is burying the terror down deep. He thinks he has to put on a brave face for her.
We may never know the full extent of what happened to them there, but I hope that, in time, we can help them heal from the experience.
I’m pretty sure that I’ve met Icarus once or twice before, most likely at a cookout or something. Still, I guess it wasn’t a very memorable experience because I can’t think of anything specific about him other than “he’s a doctor”.
That’s not surprising, though. Slime isn’t exactly high in the ranks of the Hawks.
He’s a surface-level guy, working in the garage without knowing some of the darker things we get into.
Nitro loves the guy, so he gets to stick around without having to get his hands too dirty.
But his pack isn’t part of the family, like some of the other guys.
Not that my pack is, but what we do is adjacent to many of the Hawks’ goals, so we have a natural camaraderie that comes with that.
“Shit, shit,” Icarus says, stuffing the needle back in the pouch. “Apologies, I should’ve seen that coming.” He rubs the back of his neck, and Jordan crosses to him, resting a hand on his shoulder. He visibly relaxes.
After a moment, he looks at my pack. “Do any of you have Tetris on your phones?”
Atlas bursts into hysterical laughter, and after a moment, Athena joins him, snapping them out of their trauma spiral. Icarus wrinkles his brow at the two of them, and Atlas gasps out, “The first day I met her, she told me you’d tell her to play Tetris.”
Icarus narrows his eyes at his younger sister, but his expression is loving.
“There is evidence that it can help with PTSD. It’s possible that playing it could help you both handle me taking some of your blood because, unfortunately, it is necessary if we are going to understand the changes you’re undergoing fully. ”
“I do,” Sebastian says, holding out his phone. “Here.”
The doctor takes the phone with a quick thanks and hands it to Atlas. “Atlas, would you like to play? Athena, you could watch and talk with him about it, okay? Give him some help. I particularly struggle with the z-blocks. Jordan always has to help me.”
His Omega smiles at him lovingly, and my imagination flits to a future where my Omegas show such easy affection to me.
“Sure, Icky,” Athena responds. The Alpha has the most unfortunate nickname I’ve ever heard, and I’ve seen some atrocious road names. Slime is one of them.
That pack has it rough in the moniker department.
Atlas wraps his arms around her, holding the phone in front of her face to block sight of her brother. Icarus takes her arm, and she trembles, but Atlas cheers on his blocks and tries to predict the next color he’ll get while chanting for what he needs.
I watch my Omega’s blood fill two vials before Icarus seals them up and tucks them away.
“Okay, Athena, your turn to play. Show Atlas how it’s done.
” He has an excellent bedside manner, considering he spends his time doing research and not patient care, but maybe it’s simply because she’s his sister.
He’s handsome, and the family resemblance between the two of them is strong.
I can’t help but notice the lines around his mouth and in the corners of his eyes.
I bet we’re about the same age. Is she going to have a problem with my being so much older than her?
Atlas grits his teeth, his throat mottled with red splotches as Icarus takes his blood. But before Athena loses a round, the doctor is done, and we all breathe a sigh of relief.
No one enjoys seeing Omegas in distress.
“Mom and Dad are driving in,” Icarus is saying. “They’re going to stay with us, but they want to see you.”
Athena winces and shakes her head. “I know I should see them. They must be worried sick. It’s just…I need time. I...” Her eyes fall closed.
“This is not an abnormal response for this type of situation,” he assures her. “Maybe start with a phone call whenever you’re ready. Topher will enjoy the time with his grandparents in the meantime.”
He pulls her close, kissing her on the top of the head.
It makes me miss my sisters, but they live on the other side of the country.
I hardly ever get to see them. Jordan hugs Athena the best she can around where Atlas clutches her like a lifeline and whispers something in her ear. Athena nods rapidly.
“I promise.” The conviction in her voice has me wondering what the other Omega said to her, but it wasn’t for my ears, so I’m not going to pry.
They say their goodbyes, and then we are alone with our Omegas again.
Charles, who was sitting silently on the couch beside them the entire time, wrings his hands.
“If you two are tired, we have a nest. We don’t have two, but we could make one out of Sebastian’s office if you want to nest separately. ”
Sebastian makes a strangled sound of protest, but Atlas interrupts him.
“I don’t need a nest. Why would I?”
“Because you’re an Omega?” Charles looks utterly confused at his denial of the most basic Omega need. “You’re going to need a nest.”
Atlas rolls his eyes petulantly, and it makes me chuckle.
He’s always been a bit of an ass, and maybe it’s the pheromones coloring the way I view the petulance, but he seems downright bratty now, like he’s purposefully trying to rile up Chuckie.
“Don’t tell me what I need, Charles. Just because this happened to me doesn’t change who I am. I’m still Atlas.”
Part of me agrees with him, but I also think it may be wishful thinking.
This is going to change him irrevocably. Trauma does that to a person.
I would fucking know.
I’m not the same person I was before my accident.
Athena touches Atlas’s cheek with a softness that makes me ache. I want to touch her. Just my hand on her knee earlier was electric. I want to hold her and kiss her. Wanna feel her soft body pressed against mine.
I’m viscerally drawn to Athena. It’s primitive. I need her.
And I need Atlas, too.
I’ve never looked at him that way before, but I can’t stop myself from doing it now. He’s handsome, with a proud nose and dark eyes. He’s lithe but strong, and I’ve seen him put himself in dangerous situations without fear.
And now he smells so fucking good that I can’t stop thinking about tangling up with him.
God, the two of them smell like nights under the stars, laughter, and sweetness.
I couldn’t think of a better scent for them. It’s a perfect combination and feels like all of my best memories.
One day, Atlas and I will have Athena pressed between us. I’ll take his lips as I slide into her, and she’ll gulp down his cock greedily.
Fuck, I need to stop thinking about that. This is no time for a stiffy.
“I’d like a shower,” Athena says softly, startling me out of my lewd daydreams. “And to get out of this hospital gown.”
Atlas melts as she speaks, nodding rapidly. “Yes, a shower. We need showers and clothing.”
“I’ve got a delivery coming,” Charles says, jumping to his feet. “Some comfortable clothing until we can pack up your places, and nesting materials, and-”
“Pack up our places?” Athena’s voice is strangled. “Why are we packing up our places?”
“You’re moving in.” Charles is no-nonsense when he answers her, and I want to smack him. “You’re our scent matches. Where else would you live?”
Athena trembles. “No,” she mumbles. “No. You don’t smell like anything. You could be lying to us. Atlas smells like coconut. He’s mine. He smells like mine. You don’t get to say we smell like yours and then lock us up and keep us here. I won’t be a prisoner again.”
Charles looks like he’s going to short-circuit, and Sebastian is completely frozen, so I look at Wyatt, our pack lead, to say something to diffuse this situation.
Something about this situation is throwing him for a loop, and I’m not sure what it is, but he’s been silent, hiding in a corner this whole time.
He looks at us, then at the Omegas, and sighs.
“We’re not locking you up, Athena. We’d never do that.
The Hawks may have the doctors locked up, but the person who hired them isn’t.
We need you here so we can protect you. We can figure out our relationship later.
” His eyes linger on Atlas as he says that, and the new Omega looks at the ceiling to avoid his gaze.
“This is uncharted territory for everyone,” Wyatt continues, his voice soothing. “We’re all going to have to learn as we go. All I know is, we wanna keep you safe and take care of ya’ll, okay?”
“I’m not supposed to be an Omega,” she says quietly.
“I wanted to have an Omega. I wanted someone that I could spoil and take care of. I was supposed to have an Omega, not be one.” She rubs at a scar that peeks out of the top of her medical gown.
It’s slightly puckered, like a hasty ER doctor did the stitches, not a plastic surgeon.
Been there.
I hope one day she’ll tell me how it happened.
She clings to Atlas’s arm. “I don’t like this. This isn’t right.”
“You’re right,” Sebass pipes up. “It’s not right.
Nothing about what happened to you is right.
” He wrinkles his nose. “That’s a lot of rights.
” Sebastian runs his fingers through his hair nervously before continuing.
“It isn’t okay what they did to you two.
But the idea of you going home and being alone makes me want to rip my skin off.
It would mean a lot to me—to all of us—if you’d stay. ”
Atlas grabs her hands and pulls them to his mouth, peppering her knuckles with soft kisses. “I know it’s scary, but I know these guys, Athena. From before.”
Before their abduction.
Before their nightmare.
Before their presentation.
Their lives will forever be divided into two parts.
“I trust them. As much as I hate to admit it, they’re right. I’m not saying they’re our,” he gulps, “Alphas, but I am saying it’s safer for us to stay here for a bit, until we get our bearings and build our strength back. Then we can get a place for the two of us.”
The four of us Alphas growl at his words, the idea of the two of them living without us unacceptable, but Atlas glares at us over her head, and we rein it in.
It does us no good to go all Alpha-hole right now, before she even knows us.
“Okay,” she whispers, never taking her eyes off her bonded Omega. “We’ll stay.”