Chapter 5 - Andrew #3
Her face went stark white, and she slammed the door shut. She turned, her arms tucked around her stomach as her breathing picked up.
I stood, my body going loose with adrenaline. Gabriel had leapt to his feet and stood between me and the door. “Are you alright?” I asked Bridget. She didn’t respond.
“Ma’am, you can’t go in there—” the voice in the hallway said.
Bridget skirted out of the way, into the corner, as the door opened.
I was expecting a threat, but it was a petite woman, blonde and in her late forties.
My first impression was that she looked well put together, but also fragile.
My second was that she looked a hell of a lot like Bridget, who was curled in on herself and whining softly.
“Bridget? Honey? I need to talk to you,” the woman said, advancing into the room.
The nurse who’d drawn my blood followed her into the room, looking annoyed. “I’m so sorry. She was supposed to wait in the lobby. They’re calling security right now.”
The blonde woman looked alarmed at that. She was clutching her hands together, still advancing slowly. “Bridget. Please just come outside with me. It’s important.”
Bridget’s back hit the wall. She was still whining. The sound set my teeth on edge with the need to do something to stop whatever was making her so upset.
I grabbed the woman’s upper arm. “You need to leave.”
She shook off my hand. She was almost sobbing. “Bridget, please just talk to me.”
Gabriel lost his patience. “Madam, you need to get out of this room now,” he said, and grabbed her around the waist. She yelped, but he just hauled her back out into the hallway. He looked at me as he pulled her backwards out the door, and a bolt of concern raced down the bond. I got the message.
Bridget huddled in the corner. As the sound of the woman’s calls grew fainter, she slid down into a crouch. Her arms wrapped around her knees, and she rocked back and forth on her heels.
I crouched down in front of her, ignoring the twinge in my knee where the anesthetic was wearing off.
“Are you okay?” I asked. She gave no indication that she could hear me. A soft, unbroken whine escaped from her slightly parted lips, and her eyes were vacant. Her scent had grown stronger, but sour with stress. I shuffled forward on my knees.
“Bridget? Can you hear me?” I reached out to touch her shoulder. She jumped at my touch. For a second I thought I’d made things worse. Her whine grew louder, more frantic. But then her eyes met mine, and she scrambled towards me. I caught her in my arms gratefully.
She pressed her face into the space where my shoulder met my neck, like she knew exactly where she wanted to be. Her arms wrapped tightly around my waist.
It was like the moment right before I hit the shot that would win a match. There was the same bolt of certainty that this was right where she belonged.
I held her and felt the tickle of her breath on my skin.
Her whines had grown softer again. Instinctively, I started to purr.
The sound was thready at first but grew louder and Bridget’s whine faded.
I’d only ever purred for Gabriel before, and the significance wasn’t lost on me.
Something about Bridget called to my Alpha.
I pressed my nose to the top of her head and inhaled deeply.
There was still an edge of stress to her scent, but I could fully sense it now.
She smelled like a garden, like flowers fully in bloom, and an undertone of honey tipped it even sweeter.
My purr intensified again as my body reacted to what I hadn’t realized before; she was an Omega, unbonded and stressed and needing my protection.
Instincts I hadn’t felt since bonding with Gabriel awakened in me: to claim her as soon as possible and make sure nothing ever hurt her again.
The door opened, but I knew through our bond it was Gabriel.
“Cosa fai? What are you doing, amore?” he asked, sounding outraged. “Get her off the ground.”
He helped both of us to our feet. As Bridget stood and our contact broke, my purr slowed to a stop.
She looked into my eyes again, hers startlingly blue with unshed tears.
Something unspoken passed between us, a recognition of one another as Alpha and Omega.
The silence of the room was deafening before Gabriel spoke.
“Carrissima, are you alright?” he said. He placed his hands on Bridget’s shoulders and rubbed them gently.
She mumbled a yes, but he pulled her into an embrace, anyway. Concern was still spiking along our bond. He murmured to her in Italian, his cheek pressed to the top of her head. After a few moments, she pulled back. Something in her expression closed down.
“I’m so sorry, that was incredibly unprofessional,” she said, clearing her throat and straightening her lab coat.
“Do not apologize, fiore mio. Who was that woman?” Gabriel asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said firmly. “I shouldn’t have… I’m sorry.”
Before either of us could respond, Bridget left the room, trailing her scent behind her.