Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
OLIVIA
The hospital floors gleam under the fluorescent lighting, and the sting of antiseptic floats in the air.
Nigel sits beside me in the hard plastic chair outside of Emeline’s room, but Theo is pacing.
His footsteps are loud in the subdued wing of the hospital.
A lot of the feral omegas in this wing are sedated.
Emeline was as well while the doctors waited for the treatment to take effect.
They needed to see if her mind and body will be receptive to the medicine. It all really depends on if we got her here in enough time.
Nigel sniffs. I squeeze his hand. “She’ll be okay.” She has to be. Vicki pulled some strings with her friends and got Emeline in a nice room and access to the latest treatments. They’re nothing like the one we’re developing, but they’re the best chance at slowing the progression of her going feral.
The door to Emeline’s room opens and the doctor steps out. Her white lab coat sways around her legs as she faces us. Nigel stands and joins Theo. I rise as well but give them space.
“You’re lucky you brought Emeline in when you did.
It was close, but she’s responding well.
Given everything we’ve seen over the last few days, she could avoid going feral for one-two years.
You’ll need to consider the next steps for when that time comes, because as good as this treatment is, it’s not a cure.
” She continues to explain a few things, but Nigel and Theo are craning their necks, trying to see their omega.
The doctor smiles. “You can go in now.”
“Thank you,” Nigel murmurs before he and the other alpha rush inside.
I take their place. “How certain are you on the timeline?”
“Very. This treatment, given before a certain point, has been very successful. The majority of patients live their lives normally well beyond the year mark.”
Nodding, I peek into the room, smiling as Nigel and Theo fuss over their omega, who is softly crying. My chest squeezes, and I share a look with the doctor. “Perhaps we should give them some privacy.”
Emeline is like a second mother, but there are some moments that a pack deserves to share alone. This is one of them. All that matters to me is that they have more time together and we have a window to transfer her to the clinical trials for the cure. Things are finally looking up.
Watching three big alphas and one big beta fuss over an eleven-year-old omega does funny things to my insides.
“We’re going to miss you, squirt,” Wilder says, ruffling Cici’s hair affectionately.
She squeals, swatting his hand away, her giggles filling the room. “I’m not going to miss you. Boys smell. Seriously, what do you four eat to make you blow up the bathroom like that?”
It’s my turn to giggle. And when four sets of sexy eyes turn to look at me with varying expressions ranging from amusement to embarrassment to annoyance, both Cici and I end up laughing even harder. I’m going to miss having her around so much. She’s a good kid, and the pack is so sweet with her.
It all makes my ovaries ache.
“Do you have everything?” Liam asks. He surveys his room, which he’d let Cici take over while she was here, for any random articles of clothing or school supplies.
Cici rolls her eyes. “I’m eleven, Li. I know how to pack my stuff.”
Hayes muffles a laugh with his big, calloused hand, earning a glare from Liam.
“So sassy. The dads have no clue what they’re in for,” Liam teases.
Cici stills, and her expression turns vulnerable as she peers up at her big brother. “What if they decide they don’t want me?”
“Hey, hey, no.” Liam drops to his knees before his little sister and pulls her into a tight hug.
“I was only joking, C. The dads have always wanted you. Will always want you. They love you so much, and I know they’ll do whatever they have to do to prove it.
You’re going to have so much fun and be so happy.
And if, for some unfathomable reason, you’re not, then you tell me.
I’ll come and get you, no questions asked. ”
“Really? You promise?”
“Pinkie promise.” Liam holds out his hand, fingers fisted save for his pinkie. Cici looks between the finger and Liam’s eyes before hooking her own pinkie around his, and they shake on it.
There’s a knock on the door downstairs, and Sawyer excuses himself to get it. Me? I’m stuck in place as I watch one of the men I love comfort a scared little girl who was never treated the way she should have been.
My love for him grows.
“Love you, Li,” she whispers.
“Love you more, C,” he responds. “Are you ready?”
Lalo’s and Josh’s voices filter up from downstairs, where they talk with Sawyer.
“I’m ready,” she murmurs.
“Are you sure you have to go?” Sawyer holds me tight to his chest. His fingers tangle with my hair as he nuzzles the crown of my head, scent marking me.
“I promised Verity we’d get lunch, and I really want to get to know her better.”
One after the other, the guys pass me around to hug, kiss, and mark me with their scents. They’re so possessive. I find I don’t mind at all. In fact, it has me practically preening.
“I’ll see you all tomorrow, okay?”
“You’d better,” Hayes says against my lips, the last to kiss me goodbye.
“I promise.”
It takes me another five minutes to get out the door and into my car.
I smile like a lovesick fool the whole way to the little cafe in Lincoln Park where Verity and I decided to meet.
The only time my smile falters is when my mother’s name flashes across my phone screen.
I decide that today is going to be a good day, and ignore the call. And the four others after that.
“Liv, it’s so good to see you,” she says, pulling me into a hug. She inhales and grins as she pulls away. “When Henry told me he found you with the whole pack, I was thrilled. I’ve never met a nicer pack.”
We follow the hostess to a table in the back corner near an expansive window, where we take our seats.
“I wanted to tell you everything, but I didn’t know what Henry would say.”
“It took him a minute to get used to the idea, but he’s happy for you. He loves you so much, you know. He just wants you to find a pack who treasures you the way you deserve to be treasured.”
We only pause our conversation when the server arrives at our table and introduces himself before taking our drink orders.
“Tell me everything,” she demands playfully when he walks away.
“Everything?” I’ve had so few close friends in my life, I realize I don’t know how literally to take her request. Surely she doesn’t actually mean everything, right?
Although, I must admit, a part of me is desperate to talk about all the new experiences I’ve been having.
I’ve done different things with each of my men, but I’ve yet to take them all.
Of course, I understand the mechanics of taking all four of them, but logistically .
. . Well, it’s a bit overwhelming to consider.
Verity must see my panic because she laughs as our server returns with our drinks and takes our lunch order.
“You can tell me as much or as little as you want. I’m your sister and your friend, and being with a pack for the first time can be overwhelming. I want you to know that I’m here for you.” She takes a sip of her coffee and grins. “But I also want the juicy details, so spill.”
“It started when I asked Sawyer to help me learn how to be a good omega for a pack,” I blurt out.
Verity’s dark eyes widen. “When you say help you learn . . .”
“Sex lessons,” I say a little too loudly. An old lady a few tables away looks scandalized, and I slump in my seat, trying to become invisible. “Too loud.”
Full lips twitching, Verity ignores the old woman and focuses on me. “Let me get this straight. You asked your brother’s best friend to give you sex lessons?”
“I’ve always had a crush on Sawyer,” I say with a shrug. “It’s not weird.”
“Oh, honey, no. I wasn’t implying it was. I think it’s genius. Truly, I thought you were so sweet and innocent when we met before you left for London. I’m impressed that you had this bold goddess beneath your skin the whole time.”
It’s my turn to laugh at that. I may be a lot of things, but a bold goddess isn’t one of them.
As if to illustrate my point, I say, “Then I made a PowerPoint presentation that included facts and figures to convince the rest of the pack to help teach me too. Though I didn’t make it far enough in the presentation to show them those slides. ”
Verity chokes on her coffee. “You did what, now?”
“Liam interrupted the slideshow. I didn’t know he was part of their pack.” I tell my sister-in-law all about Liam. How we met when we were teenagers. How he was always so sweet and kind. I tell her how he admitted to always having feelings for me. And then I tell her about the benefit gala.
“Then I pulled out his dick, dropped to my knees, and sucked him off right in that little room while the party was going on outside. I’ve watched enough porn to know that cum is supposed to be salty, but I was surprised by how much of it there was.
And just how salty the alkalinity of his seminal fluid made him taste.
It wasn’t a bad flavor, but it will take some getting used to. ”
There’s a choked sound, and I glance up to find our server standing there with a tray full of food. His face is beet-red, and it looks like he’s struggling to breathe.
“Oh, no.” My whole body heats as mortification turns me the same shade of red as our poor server. “I . . . You . . . You’re a guy. Surely you know more about seminal fluid than I do.”
He lets out a strangled squeak, sets our food down, tray and all, and runs away from our table like his backside is on fire.
Not my finest moment.
“Oh my God,” Verity says between fits of laughter. Tears pool in her eyes, and she wipes them away with the back of her hand. “Can we please do this more often? You are quickly becoming one of my favorite people on the planet.”