Chapter 51
FIFTY-ONE
Jez
AFTER GETTING PAOLO safely to the clinic, I expected more.
.. I dunno... drama? I was still reeling from the kiss with Heath in the back of the car.
Was this how he and I were going to be from now on?
Could the fantastical vision of the pack in my head ever become real, when their leader was still firmly standing on the outside?
When we got back to the hospital, Knox wasn’t in our room. Instead, Tony had ventured from bed and pulled on some worn sweatpants with a hoodie. He’d dragged a chair over to the medical bed where Gage lay, looking halfway between being asleep and fully awake.
“You’re back.” Tony sounded tense. “How did it go?”
“As well as could be expected,” Heath said, coming over and placing a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “The little shit’s safely in hiding, and he looks a lot healthier than he did when Knox and I pulled him out of the rubble.”
“I made him cry, as promised,” I added helpfully. “It wasn’t as fun as I thought it would be, though. Too easy.”
“He’s probably terrified,” Tony said grimly.
“Couldn’t happen to a nicer omega,” Heath said, without an ounce of sympathy. “Where did Knox get to, anyway?”
“He’s finally seeing a doctor for that knee,” Tony replied.
“About time,” I muttered.
Tony fiddled with a loose thread on the sleeve of his hoodie. “He wants to move the pack to a different house, after we get out of here. Did he tell you guys about that?”
Surprise trickled through me. It was solely mine—Heath’s emotions through the bond felt resigned, if anything.
“Not really surprising,” he said. “There’s no point in making it easy for Vozzina to find us.”
Worry mixed in with my surprise. I turned to Tony. “You should come, too. What if he finds out where you live?”
I couldn’t stand the thought of shadowy figures lurking in an apartment hallway... lying in wait.
To my surprise, Tony looked down and let out a little laugh. “Too late. Knox already asked me. I agreed.” He looked up at Heath, uncertainty flickering across his expression. “I mean, if that’s all right?”
Heath made a small, pained noise. Guilt washed across the bond—and I knew it was because he’d somehow made Tony think that it might not be okay.
“Tony,” he said, his voice pained. “What part of ‘join our pack’ was unclear? Yes, obviously, I want you safe. I want you close. We all want you close.”
“He’s telling the truth,” I added. “Please don’t make me try to figure out how to be a civilized omega mated to a rich pack on my own. I’m going to fuck it up so bad, Tony. I’m not even joking right now.”
That startled another breath of laughter from him. “Wait, and you think I’m going to be any help with that? Have you even met me, Jez?”
“Y’all talk an awful lot,” Gage muttered from the bed, not opening his eyes. “Can we go home soon? Wherever home’s gonna be, now.”
I crossed to the other side of the bed and grabbed his hand. “Gage? How are you feeling?”
“Ohmigod,” he slurred. “You guys have got to try these drugs. They’re so good.”
Heath snorted, his amusement sparking through the bond. “Pretty sure they frown on that here, big guy. But thanks for the tip.”
Tony mock-pouted. “How come I didn’t get the good drugs? My drugs suck.”
I watched, fascinated, as Heath tugged Tony against his chest and pressed a gentle kiss to his dark hair. “I’m not sure the good drugs are recommended for someone with a concussion,” Heath said.
Tony melted into the contact, only to stiffen a moment later and shoot me a worried glance.
I smiled at him, trying to pour all the warmth I was feeling into my expression.
I couldn’t have put the mixed-up feelings squirming inside me into words if anyone had asked me, but seeing Heath’s alpha gentleness was completely different from the lust I’d felt with him earlier.
No one had ever modeled that kind of relationship for me.
.. much less made me feel like it might be within my reach.
Was this how it had looked when Gage was gentle with me? I hadn’t known what to do with the feelings then, either. But seeing Heath with Tony made it easier, somehow. Like I could try the emotions on for size, instead of being thrust into the middle of them.
I liked the way they fit.
Gage made a humming noise. “Mmm. Not sure what you’re thinking about, kitten... but it feels real nice.”
The idea of being able to trust a feeling like this was new.
“Yeah,” I agreed, with a hint of wonder. “It does, doesn’t it?”
The door opened, and Knox came in, leaning on a cane. He took in the relaxed scene, and the tense line of his shoulders eased.
“Mission accomplished, I take it?” he asked.
“Everything went off without a hitch,” Heath assured him. “How’s the knee?”
“Minor ACL tear,” Knox said. “Three-to-six-week recovery time with physical therapy. Nothing to worry about.”
“And your back?” I asked pointedly.
“Is bruised,” Knox said. “Which I already knew. Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”
“When can we leave?” Gage asked.
“Tony and I are cleared for discharge anytime,” Knox said.
“Heath and Jez aren’t technically patients here; they’re visitors.
The doctors want to monitor you for another twenty-four to forty-eight hours, Gage.
They need to get you started on PT, and the recommendation is for you to transfer to rehab for a week or two after that. ”
“Nooo...” Gage drew out the word, the drugs making him sound young and petulant. “That sounds like the worst. Can’t you hire me some private rehab, so I can come home with the rest of you?”
“I had a feeling you might ask.” Knox’s tone was both dry and affectionate. “Bud’s trying to set something up.”
“Okay, thanks,” Gage said, subsiding. “You’re the best pack leader, Knox.”
I didn’t need to be mated to Knox to feel the way he stiffened in response to the goofy compliment.
“Not recently, but it’s nice of you to say so,” he said.
Tony, Heath, and I shared a look, but Heath gave a small negative shake of his head. We let it go... for now.
“The hospital won’t complain about Jez staying here with Gage, since they’re mated,” Heath said.
“I’m not thrilled with having them here alone, after what we just did to piss off Vozzina.
But I’m also not thrilled about you and Tony being unprotected while you’re getting things moved to whichever property we’re going to be staying at. ”
Knox shot him an unimpressed look. “I’m already hiring a private security firm, Heath.
They can guard us just as easily as they can guard Paolo.
You’re Gage’s co-mate. You can stay here with him and Jez.
I’ll get some movers lined up, and Tony and I will take care of that side of things. Tony, are you okay with that plan?”
“... yes?” Tony replied. “Just don’t expect me to move furniture.”
“The property is already furnished,” Knox said. “Besides, I have people for that kind of thing, as well.”
Tony and I exchanged another furtive glance. This one clearly said, ‘are we sure this is real?’
Two days later, reality was still holding strong. I rode in the back of an ambulance with Gage, who had become a lot grumpier and a lot less loopy as he was weaned off the good stuff and onto the same over-the-counter pain meds as the rest of us mere mortals.
“Ouch!” he grumbled as the ambulance hit a pothole. “Goddamn it...”
I winced in sympathy. “Next time, tell Knox to make sure the roads are fixed before his private ambulance takes us to his private, Super Sekrit Bat Cave.”
“It’s not a cave,” Gage muttered. “I went with him to look at this place before he bought it. Gated community, lakefront property. Lot nicer than the main pack house, actually, but it’s not—fuck!
” The ambulance dipped and juddered again.
Gage continued through gritted teeth, lowering his voice.
“It’s not the kind of place where someone can quietly drop off a load of omega kids and pick ‘em up the next day in an unmarked white van.”
The roads smoothed out. The ambulance eventually made a sharp turn and glided to a stop.
Voices spoke in the front, the words inaudible.
After a few moments, the ambulance pulled forward.
More twists and turns, then we slowed again, and finally turned onto a different surface that vibrated beneath the tires.
When the ambulance stopped this time, one of the EMTs in the front squeezed past us with a friendly smile and opened the rear doors.
“Here we go,” she said cheerfully. “Nice place! Looks like you’ll have some great views while you recover.”
I stepped stiffly out of the ambulance and blinked in the early autumn light. The circle drive beneath my tennis shoes was made of light brown cobblestone. Huge trees flanked the property, their leaves just starting to turn red and gold... but my eyes were drawn immediately to the house.
Mansion.
Estate?
It was huge. Easily twice the size of the Victorian monstrosity where the pack had been living before.
This place looked modern, with big square windows and elegant arches set at regularly spaced intervals.
I counted four chimneys coming out of the roof, and immediately pictured cozy fireplaces with bearskin rugs in front of them.
I was openly gaping—so taken aback by the sheer size and wealth on display that I barely noticed the ambulance crew lowering Gage out of the vehicle in his wheelchair.
“D’you like it?” he asked, and there was honest-to-god worry coming through the bond—like he thought there was some possibility that I’d sneer at this insane display of Knox’s money.
“You’re kidding, right?” I shot back. “Gage, seriously—is this real life?”
He laughed, only to wince as his broken ribs complained. “Yeah, kitten... this is how the point-zero-one percent lives, when they aren’t slumming it in the woods.”
A set of double doors under the main archway thingie—the portico?—opened, and a familiar red-haired figure jogged down the steps. The nice ambulance woman wheeled Gage forward, and I followed, still staring at the huge building where I was apparently going to live now.
“Welcome to the most vulgar display of money you’re ever likely to see,” Heath greeted wryly.
He gave the ambulance woman a tight smile and thanked her politely, taking control of Gage’s wheelchair.
“Come on, you two. There’s a patio door on the east wing that doesn’t have so many stairs.
Jez, once we get Gage settled in, I’ll take you downstairs to see the nest.”
I stopped cold, and Heath hesitated, turning to look over his shoulders at me.
My mouth felt dry. I had to swallow a couple of times before I could get words out.
“There’s... a nest?” I asked stupidly. “For me?”