Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
Aspike of pain slammed into me, waking me up.
I curled up, trying not to make a sound as I waited for the pain to subside.
Breathing slowly, I turned over, glancing at what time it was.
It has been four hours since I called Mike, slivers of light sneaking in between the closed blackout blinds. Frowning, I slowly sat up.
“Lai?” My voice called out to her, but she wasn’t in the room or in her bedroom, from the sound of it.
Slipping off the edge of the bed, I stepped into the bathroom. The phone was gone from the nightstand, and I figured Laila had grabbed it. Turning on the light, I saw dark circles and my face flushed. Yeah, this was going to be a bad episode.
Another wave hit me, and I gasped for breath, curling up as I braced against the counter. It ramped up worse, making me feel like I was being torn in half. I closed my eyes; it felt like I was about to see blood pouring out of a non-physical wound. My wolf whimpered, feeling the same pain.
It got to be too much, and I cried out, my knees sinking into the mat on the floor.
My body was shaking, my nerves feeling like they were on fire, like I was on fire.
That mixed with the pain had tears streaming down my cheeks.
Everything I was feeling wasn’t physical. None of the pain from PCDHS ever was.
The door to the bedroom slammed open, and I barked out a laugh between my sharp inhales. Laila had gone flying, not even bothering to put on clothes when she landed. Shaking my head, I turned away from her.
“Clothes…Lai…”
“I could hear your cry from the other side of the house! I’ve got the phone. Mike didn’t pick up the first time. Bastard.”
Nodding, I leaned my forehead against the cabinets under the sink. “Shower…”
Laila was efficient. She had the water on and me dressed down within a minute.
Slowly, she placed me in the shower, but I shook my head.
Sinking to the floor, I wedged myself into the corner between the built-in wooden seat and the glass of the shower.
She was freaking out, but doing her best to keep it stuffed down.
After making sure I was okay, she disappeared into the house. Laila came back with phone in hand, talking, and had even thrown on an oversized shirt and some bike shorts. Going down on her knees, she held out the phone.
“Colt?”
“Hey…Mike…”
He let out a growl. “You should have called me immediately, Colt.”
“Don’t…Mike…I just…” My eyes squeezed shut as another spike of pain slammed into me, and I groaned.
“Alright. We will talk about it afterwards.” He sighed. “Where are you right now?”
I couldn’t even laugh. We did this every time. Calculating and pooling as much data together as we could. It was great to have, but it was always horrible when I was mid-episode. The pain finally let me go after a moment, and I took a few gasping breaths.
“It’s…bad.”
“Colton.” His dad-voice came through the line, and even Laila seemed surprised.
Laila answered. “You sure you aren’t an Alpha? That was a pretty intense bark there.”
“Laila, now is not the time. He knows better.”
“Five minutes. Level twelve pain spikes, getting worse. Level nine continuous. Break of three to four minutes between.” I rattled off the numbers as quickly as I could. “Nerves on fire. All of body, but located centrally in my chest. Wolf was there, but they have curled up.”
Mike was typing on the computer. “When did it start?”
“Nerves hit a little after we spoke. I laid down, and the pain was sitting around a level seven when I fell asleep. A twelve-spike woke me up.”
I looked up and smiled at Laila. She was torn between being upset and angry. Flashing her a smile, I shook my head.
“I’m okay, Lai. This is normal. Well…not…” I shook my head again. “He was right to bark. I just hate doing this when it’s happening.”
After a moment, another pain spike seared through me. I cried out, unable to hold it in. The cold water felt as though it should turn into steam the moment it hit my skin. Not able to help it, my nails dug into my skin, trying to ground myself in something physical.
I felt myself start to pass out, my vision turning black. “Mike…I’m going…”
“Keep talking to me. So I can calculate the time.”
“I will…try to…keep talking but…”
My consciousness slipped as my body slumped against the glass.
It felt like a single breath as I woke up again.
The all-around pain was worse when I woke up, and I hissed, the burning feeling barely being helped by the ice-cold water.
Laila was in more of a panic, but Mike was trying to talk her down.
“How long?” I finally croaked out.
“Forty-three seconds.”
Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly. Starting off that long wasn’t good. In my day to day, the pain was just a simple humming in my ear. I’d had it since I was sixteen, and it no longer bothered me. It wasn’t even something I thought about anymore.
I didn’t realize I had been too quiet for too long before Mike asked over the line, “Colt, are you doing okay?”
“You ask me that every time, and every time I say…”
The both of us spoke together, mocking each other. “I’m just peachy, captain obviously-asking-the-wrong-damn-questions.”
Chuckling, I focused on breathing as I closed my eyes against the water spraying down. As much as it hurt, there was also a familiarity with this process. Something normal. Something that I shouldn’t grasp onto like I was. My head got light again, and I felt the darkness creeping in.
“Another.”
“Keep talking to me.”
I snorted. “You always…ask…for the worst things…”
Slowly, I leaned against the glass again for a moment while my eyes shut. My head popped back up and coughed, accidentally sucking in some water. Again, more pain. How was it still ramping up? This was going to be so bad if it kept going.
“Colton, that one was eighty-two seconds. You nearly doubled the time.” I could hear the worry behind his words.
“I’ll be…okay…”
I opened my mouth, but the only thing that came out was a strangled cry. Another wave hit me, and I felt my toes curl against the pain. This would not help. Laila was letting out her own sobs, begging Mike to give her something to do. Anything.
“Mike…I’m…” My head was swimming.
“Just count for me.”
Humming, I moved to lean against the wall so I didn’t fall against it again. “One…two…th-three…fo…”
The next time I woke up, I was in a different position.
Laila was sitting behind me in the corner, and she had pulled me between her legs.
She was still wearing the shirt and pants, now soaked under the cold rain pouring down from above us.
Her arms wrapped around me, holding me up so my head wouldn’t fall when I passed out.
I touched her arm and tightened around me.
“I’m scared.”
Smiling, I rubbed her skin. “I’m okay, Lai. I will be. One of these days, it might kill me, but it won’t right now. I promise.” My attention turned back to Mike, the phone somewhere in the bathroom now. “How long was that one?”
Mike huffed. “One hundred and six seconds.”
“Well, it didn’t double.” My words were breathy, and I was getting more tired. “How long…over all…?”
“Since you called, it’s been about an hour.”
My eyes shut for a moment, and I realized I could barely feel the water anymore. “How long was the worst time?”
“Six.”
I nodded. “Okay. The longest time unconscious?”
“Three minutes, I think. I’d have to pull that notebook.”
My head fell back, leaning against Laila’s shoulder. “Mike will help you count. I have a feeling...I’m going to get more of them…the longer I’m away from Marcus. I don’t want this to freak you out.”
“I’m already freaked out, Colt. I’m freaked out. I’m scared. I can’t help.”
“I mean, if it makes you feel better, you’re helping more than Marcus could.”
Her chest rose and fell with her laughter, jostling me a bit. “You’re right, that does make me feel better.”
“He wouldn’t be able to touch Colt. No Alpha can when he’s like this. Otherwise, his skin peels open. It’s horrifying to watch, really.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled, setting my jaw as the pain ramped up again. “I hate you. Why are we even together?”
Mike barked out a laugh. “You wish we were together. I’ve got a completely normal mate.”
This time, even through the pain, I laughed. A full, genuine laugh. It felt like a release my body needed. I didn’t need to voice my thoughts. Laila and Mike were both laughing with me. Nothing about Sabrina was normal. None of us were. We were all absolutely insane.
Maybe that’s why Laila weaseled her way into our little threesome so well. Peter wouldn’t, much like Marcus didn’t. Laila, on the other hand, was just about as nutty as we were. All of us were running from something. Our immaturity showing in different ways.
“Colt?” Mike’s voice came through softer this time.
I hummed, making it through this wave without passing out.
“Nothing.”
Smiling, I inhaled and let it out slowly. He didn’t need to say it. I knew already. Mike loved me. So did Sabrina. There was also only so much they could do.
My eyes closed. As happy as I was accepting this little girl as mine, as ours, that didn’t mean I didn’t feel scorned.
The old gods or goddess or whoever stuck me with being an Omega.
If I had been anything else, my life would have been so much easier.
Different, sure, but I could have moved through my life without everything that was happening right now.
The bitterness settled like a stone in my stomach.
I hated being an Omega. I hated being the target.
I hated the world turning Omegas into property.
Maybe it wouldn’t have been as bad if society didn’t think of us as transactional.
As possessions to be judged, bought, sold, fucked, and then discarded.
Swiping the tears from my eyes, I let my muscles uncoil slightly, now that Laila was holding me up.
“Colt? You okay?” She felt the release of some of the tension.
“Yeah. I’m just tired. I wish…”