Chapter 12
Evander
Kasey didn’t make a sound.
One moment, he was sitting at the table, pale and trembling, and the next he was on his knees.
It was so fast, so quiet, it took my brain a second to understand what I was seeing.
His shirt lay beside him like it had simply slipped off, but the way his shoulders curled inward told me it hadn’t been an accident.
My heart has dropped.
“Evander,” Moore mumbled, voice low. “Those pills…. They will destroy him more each time he takes them. And I bet this isn’t the first time he’s had them.”
I highly doubted that, too.
I moved slowly, careful not to startle him. Kasey’s eyes were unfocused, fixed on nothing.
“Kasey,” I crouched a few feet away. “You’re safe, sweetheart.”
He didn’t react. Not even a flicker.
Moore stepped closer, his expression tightening as he took in the marks across the Omega’s back. My hands curled into fists before I forced them to relax. Anger wouldn’t help him.
“I’m going to treat the injuries,” Moore said quietly. “Stay where you are, Evander.”
I nodded, staying in the Omega’s line of sight, even if he wasn’t really seeing me.
The doctor knelt behind Kasey after moving the chair out of the way. His eyes widened before he got his reaction under control, bag in hand. The metal clip to open it was loud enough to startle me, but the Omega didn’t move an inch. Didn’t even blink as his mind went somewhere else.
“How long will this last?” I asked, gently cupping the side of the Omega’s face. He was warm, almost too warm for me to like. While I expected Kasey to jerk away from my touch, he leaned into my hand, seeking more.
“An hour. Three tops. That’s if whoever gave out these pills to him at breakfast. If it was later, then…. well…”
So basically, no idea how much longer.
My eyes stayed on Kasey as Moore checked his heart, lungs, and heartrate.
“All good, considering where his blood is flowing right now. There’s no point to check his blood pressure, because I can promise you that’ll be high.”
Of course, my eyes had to glance down, thankful that Kasey hadn’t taken his pants off. That had been bad enough already the first time.
“I’m going to put some antibacterial cream on the marks of his back, then we’ll need to get him to lay down. It’ll be easier to draw a blood sample that way.”
“Uh…will he remember what happened when he comes out of…wherever he went?” Would he remember the entire day? None of it? Would it be like waking up from a nightmare?
“I can’t say, Evander. Each Omega has different responses when the pill wears off. Some remember it all. Some don’t. Some can recall bits and pieces.”
Kasey jerked forward, nearly falling into me, as Moore began to put cream on his back. A small cry left his parted lips before the noise clamped down.
“It’s okay, sweetheart.”
I watched Moore work in silence, the doctor’s hands steady as he cleaned the welts along Kasey’s back. The antiseptic smell hung faintly in the air, sharp enough to sting my throat. Kasey didn’t move again, eyes unseeing at my lap, or maybe it was the floor.
Moore didn’t comment on the posture; he didn’t need to. The tension in his jaw was enough.
“He’s going to need support for a while,” he said quietly, still focused on the marks. “You’re already doing will with grounding him, but I’m leaving you a few things to help ease the worse of the symptoms.”
I nodded, though his attention was on the Omega. The boy’s breathing was shallow, too controlled, like he was afraid to take up space even with air.
Moore stood, his tone clinical but not unkind. “Most Omegas who come out of Lockswell stabilized better when they have something to take right away.” He added a second small bottle to the counter. “And some antinausea medication. He’ll need that first thing in the morning. If not tonight.”
I exhaled slowly. “He shouldn’t have needed any of this.”
If I hadn’t been a failure that day he went missing. If I hadn’t taken my eyes off him to hang out with the other cousins and friends that had gone camping. If I hadn’t been thirteen. If I hadn’t-
“No,” Moore agreed, voice low. “He shouldn’t have.
But Omegas that come from that place are torn apart and broken into pieces.
How that place is still running like that after years of abuse being documented is beyond my cope of control.
Lockswell should be stripped of his power, but money talks in our world. ”
Sadly, that’s what it all came down to. Blood and money. If you weren’t an Alpha, then your opinion on anything didn’t matter. And if you were an Alpha with money, then you pretty much got to set the rules of how we lived. And no one was able to break those laws that were set centuries ago.
“Not your first Omega from there you’ve had to attend to?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“And this won’t be the last.” His dirty colored eyes met mine.
“Adrian, my Omega, came from there. As did his friend. And a few others over the years. Nothing surprises me when it comes to Lockswells Omegas these days. But not all Omegas go to safe Alpha’s, either.
So, I’ve seen the light leave one too many, too. ”
Moore took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders. I knew how society was run as much as he did. Heck, I took pictures of the Omegas who got posted for adoption or rent, and I hated each moment of it all.
“He’ll come back to the living when he’s ready, but for now, let's get him to bed where I can get a good blood sample.”
“Stand, sweetheart,” I said, holding out a hand, palm up, for the Omega to take.
Most likely ingrained instinct, Kasey lightly placed his hand in mine as he found his footing. He swayed for a moment before catching his balance again.
“He’ll need time to learn he can be something that isn’t trained.”
I hated it. “I know.” I wanted that little boy to come back. I wanted to see his bright smile.
And I would. I would get that smile. I’d do everything in my power to earn that, even if it ended up being the only thing I ever got from saving him from life in hell.
Step by step, I led Kasey from the kitchen to his bedroom. And just like hours before, he easily followed me. I could have led him into a fire, and he’d have gone.
“Lay on the bed, Hun.” Moore spoke as he reopened his medical bag.
Before I could stop Kasey, he stripped his pants off, letting them fall in a pile on the floor. He pulled himself up onto the mattress, knees spread and body leaning more on his arms.
Moore cleared his throat, looking anywhere than at the Omega who was presenting himself to be used.
“Lay flat, sweetheart.” I moved the blanket out of the way, helping Kasey lay on his stomach. “There you go. Just like that. We aren’t going to hurt you. The doctor needs to draw some blood, then you’ll rest.”
Kasey’s mouth moved, as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out. Only a small shift of his hips as he rubbed himself on the bed before settling.
“Good boy, sweetheart. So good for me.” My hand found its way to his hair, combing some of the pieces back off his face. Of course it didn’t do any good, as the pieces fall back across his eyes.
“Stay right there,” I murmured, kneeling again, so I was in his line of sight.
Kasey blinked once, slow and unfocused, but he didn’t move. He stayed exactly where he was, body locked in that too still posture that told me he wasn’t fully here.
Moore reached for the blanket I’d set aside earlier and draped it over Kasey’s shoulders with careful, deliberate hands.
The fabric settled around him without so much of a flinch.
Then the doctor eased one of Kasey’s arms free, supporting it gently as he wrapped a blue tourniquet around his upper arm.
“Just drawing a sample,” Moore murmured, more for Kasey’s sake than mine. “Nothing that will hurt.”
Kasey didn’t react. not to the pressure of the band, not to the shift in his arm, not to the soft click of Moore preparing the needle. He stayed quiet and small beneath the blanket, as if the world had narrowed to a single point far beyond our reach.
When the needle poked Kasey’s skin, the Omega jerked, a cry stuck in his throat. Then, tears fell, trickling down his nose and into the pillow.
Moore paused, lifting an eye to me before turning back to his task.
“Hey, sweetheart. It’s alright. Just breathe. Can you do that for me?” I soothed him, not once taking my hand off his head, letting my fingers run through his soft locks.
Kasey shook his head, then just as quickly stopped moving. He held his breath, as though he expected pain. He expected to be lashed at for doing something he hadn’t even done.
“Almost finished, dear one,” Moore whispered. “Then you can rest.”
At those words, Kasey blinked and took a deep breath in. Only for a sob to burst forth as his hips humped against the mattress, seeking what the drugs demanded from him.
“There, all done.” Thankfully, Moore ignored the fact that the Omega needed a release and put a bandied over where he drew blood.
Turning to me, “I can’t tell you what you want to do, but I can tell you this – this boy won’t dare do anything without permission.
Set ground rules early on and keep those rules in place until he finds his footing.
Don’t offer him a way out until he’s fully aware of where he is, and who you are to him. ”
I went to open my mouth to reply, but Moore raised a hand to stop me.
“I don’t care what your relationship plans to be with him.
I don’t need to know. Just…tread carefully.
He’s been programed to know your needs and wants, and it won’t take long for him to serve you well.
But you don’t strike me as the type of Alpha who wants a hole to play with.
You want a partner, a companion. It’ll be easier for him to have that sort of structure ahead of time.
It’ll be less head games he’ll play himself while he figures out what you’re wanting of him. ”