38. Gabe
Chapter 38
M y omega shakes in my arms, wrapped in nothing but a towel, and I want to go upstairs and stomp Trey– Seth…what the fuck ever –into a sticky paste that the cops can then scrape off my boot and into a jail cell.
My body can’t decide if it wants to growl or purr and all that comes out is a loud garbled mess, but I don’t even care right now, she’s here. Running my hands over her skin, she is so very naked other than a towel. I unbutton my over shirt and try to take it off so that I can wrap her up in it, but she whimpers when my arms start to loosen.
“It’s ok, baby girl, I gotchu. I’m just gonna wrap you up better, ok?” Folding my legs, I tuck her into my lap as I talk, and then she lets me pull away long enough to remove my top layer and pull it over her head. She swims in it, but my alpha immediately relaxes now that she’s wearing more, and covered in my scent. I wrap my arms back around her, and pull her against me, tucking her head under my chin. She is going to need a medic to look over her, but for now I just need to have her in my arms.
She wiggles, and her ass rubs against me and the situation fires off my instinct to mark her, make sure no one else comes near her again. But, this is neither the time, nor the place to do that. So I hold her hips still.
“Stop trying to tempt me, little omega.”
She lets out a tiny whimper and freezes and I wonder if I hurt her, or if I said something wrong. But she turns her face into my chest, takes a deep inhale of my scent, and settles quietly against me again. I settle my alpha by running my hands up and down her back and arms, just feeling her, reaffirming for myself that she’s ok, and she replies with a tiny omega purr of her own. I can’t help the grin that spreads across my face, omegas rarely purr, and only if they feel safe.
She jerks back and stares up at me, tears in her eyes, and I’m ready to tear something apart.
“Jacks? Is Jacks ok?" Fat tear drops roll down her cheeks, and I wipe them away.
“Jacks is fine, baby girl…just fine. He’s at the hospital with Leo and Xan.”
Shock widens her eyes.
“Oh, no, they’re fine too. Leo got a few burns and breathed in some smoke at your house and Xan is just there to keep Jacks relaxed." Her eyebrows go up?
“Smoke? ”
Ahh…Fuck!
“So I wasn’t wrong…that little shit stain really did set my house on fire.” I’m so surprised by her calling him a shit stain that a laugh bursts out of me.
“Yeah, I’m sorry honey, he did, but we got Jacks out, and he’s gonna be ok. A few busted ribs, banged up jaw, and some smoke, but he’ll be right as rain before you know it.” I don’t tell her just how bad Jacks was injured, just skim over the ones that will be obvious when he comes home, and she curls against me again, her tiny purr starting back up.
As fucked up as everything is right now, it still feels like everything ’ s right. Both our boys should be coming home in a few days, but I’ll see if she wants to get some heat suppressants to hold off until they’re better. I know we were all looking forward to that and bonding, but right now I think they all need time to heal…and I’m pretty sure Jacks will try to fight me if I tell him that.
But for now the commotion has died down, I stand up, and carry my omega out to the waiting ambulance. They have Trey strapped to a gurney, with gauze over his eye, and I wonder again at the tiny woman in my arms, how I got lucky enough to find her. We talk to the paramedics, and they have about a hundred things they need to ask about what happened. The more she answers the angrier the EMT gets until he is glaring at Trey, even as the questions continue. I don’t envy that little fuck on the way to the hospital, but thankfully the EMT says Candice can go home, he offers her a blanket, and I try not to growl, he’s just doing his job. And technically, yeah, his job is checking out my omega right now. I still want to growl.
I get Candice back in the truck, all buckled up in the front seat, she is wrapped in my shirt and the paramedic blanket, and looks like a fluffy burrito, leaning against the passenger window. I start down the road and hit speed-dial for Xan, and I’m relieved to hear him awake and Jacks jabbering away at Leo in the background.
“Did you find her? Is she ok?”
“We got her, she’s ok, we’re in the truck headed home. A little bumped and bruised, I’m gonna try to talk her into letting me take her to the hospital, but I think she just wants her nest right now. How’s it going on your end?" Jacks has stopped talking, and even the occasional grunt from Leo is silent.
“Well, Jacks managed to track down the nurse while I was asleep earlier, and is trying to get discharged early. But I told him no way. Leo is awake on and off, he has a bit of a cough, but other than his hands and back hurting like hell, he says he feels fine.”
“Glad to hear it, man, take me off speakerphone, I need to give you a heads up." I wait until he comes back on.
“Trey is headed to the hospital. Seems our girl here was going down fighting. She stabbed him in the eye with a fork when he tried to…well I wanted to give you a heads up so Jacks didn’t get hurt or kicked out trying to get revenge." My growl is back to full throttle right now, and my fingers tighten on the wheel till it feels like the bones are about to break through the skin .
Unbroken silence, I almost think the call was disconnected.
“ This hospital, you say?” His voice is cold as ice.
“Yeah, it’s the closest one, so it’s just a guess. Oh, and you can tell Jacks thanks for the tip, Seth Thompson is the name. it matched up with his phone bills. But I need to let you go, I wanna focus on the road since it’s startin’ to get dark again." We say our goodbyes and hang up.
I recognize that flat sound in Xan’s voice.
Jacks would go off and stab the mother fucker, Leo would probably just snap him in half like a twig…but Xan waits, he plans. Now that he knows who to look for, and where, I am sure he can come up with something, even if it is just making absolutely sure that he goes to a prison where they like squishy beta men. I look forward to seeing what he comes up with.
The drive home is quiet, Candice is snoring beside me, quiet, cute little snores. As she tucks her head down into the blanket and nestles her nose against my shirt, I’m not sure what else I can do. So I pull over and do a quick online order for grocery pickup, it should be ready in a couple of hours, mostly instant stuff that I can’t fuck up, but still make sure she’s fed. Frozen lasagna—if Jacks were here, he’d kill me—frozen veggies, different flavors of canned soup, and bread for grilled cheese sandwiches. I will readily admit that Jacks is a much better cook than me, but I make a mean grilled cheese.
Order placed, I start to pull back out on the road to go to the house, but then I hear her whimpering in her sleep, and I am struck with indecision. I think her nest would help her sleep, it smells like pack, and Jacks went all out. At the same time, I would rather her go to the hospital to get looked over, and if we happen to run into the guys while we’re there, wouldn’t that also be good? Decision made, I take the next ramp out to the interstate and drive North 4 exits. She’s still whimpering in her sleep, but I have my hand on her now, and she curls away from the window and as close to me as she can get with the seatbelt on.
I pull into the hospital visitor parking lot and lift her out of the truck, still asleep, and still wrapped in blankets. She doesn’t have any shoes on, and I don’t want her to feel awkward. As I walk in the main entrance they offer me a wheelchair and I wave them off. I am glad to carry her. I do tell them what the EMT said, but that we mostly came to see the pack. Maybe Xan or Jacks can talk some sense into her, I don’t feel comfortable pushing after everything else she’s been through today.
The front desk directs me to the fifth floor, and an angry looking nurse meets me when I get off the elevator. She’s a beta, but she looks like she could give Jacks a run for his money on being stubborn. Her arms are crossed and I can see straight away I am not getting by this woman without a good reason.
“Asher pack, I’m here to see Jacks and Leo…and Xan." Her face lights up at that.
“Oh, is this Candice? I’m so glad to see she’s ok. Can I get her anything; the poor dear looks like she’s been through the ringer." I smile at her kindness, and say thank you, but I think seeing her pack would do her good right now. She just nods and smiles, and points me to a room.
I don’t bother knocking, which is probably for the best. Leo is sprawled out across his bed, head back, snoring loud enough to wake the dead. Xan is sitting beside Jacks’ bed, a rolling tray between them, playing strip poker. Xan is down his shoes and socks, and I know he is letting Jacks win, because he only has on a hospital gown. They both turn their heads when I come in and Jacks tries to scramble out of the bed, stopping and wincing, holding his side as he hobbles over, IV pole in hand. I lower Candice enough that they can both see her in my arms, and Jacks sobs loudly, startling her awake.
Then they’re both crying, she scrambles out of my arms, losing her blanket in the process and limping on bare feet towards him as he crawls back into bed. She cries harder when she sees Leo bandaged up in the bed beside him. Xan pulls her into his arms, and plants his ass on the side of Jacks’ bed, so she is stuffed between them, all three of us purring loudly for our omega. Even Leo’s snores taper off into more of a rumble, and I think he’s trying to purr in his sleep.
Xan looks at me, “The doctor says that there’s a lot of inflammation and scorched tissue from the smoke, so he’ll probably be snoring for at least a few weeks. He suggested a cool mist humidifier to help keep the area moist. Jacks’ lung is healing well, but his ribs are never going to mend if he doesn’t get more rest, and his jaw has a small fracture, but none of the teeth are damaged." I smile, glad to hear the news until Candice turns and glares at me.
“A little banged up, huh, just a few busted ribs?" Her arms are crossed as she stares at me.
“Ok, but to be fair, I didn’t want you to worry or blame yourself for them getting hurt. I know you worry…about everything. You don’t need to worry about this, they’re ok. I even brought you to see that they’re ok." Before she can say anything else, the angry nurse comes in.
“Here you go dear. I brought you some fuzzy socks and a spare pair of sweatpants we had at the nurse’s station, I know it can get chilly up here." Candice beams at her and thanks her, before returning her angry glower to me.
The nurse just smiles indulgently, but Xan pulls Candice towards the bathroom to get dressed, and whispers in her ear something that’s probably going to come back and bite me in the ass later.