Chapter 22
Atlas
Dorian snarled at the human medic who dared get too close to the door, sending him scurrying away, and I couldn’t say that I blamed him. But instead of joining in the Alpha pissing contest, I sat on the chair outside the medical door with my head hung in shame.
Neither of you deserves her.
Both of us looked the part of the idiots we were, covered in healing bruises and cuts. Swollen and ugly, all while separated from our mate who smelled of candy and sex and rising heat pheromones.
Some logical part of my brain knew I was no better than a beast. That Opal’s heat had something to do with the way I was behaving. But that wasn’t an excuse.
The look on the coyote female’s face—the fear in her eyes when Opal collapsed as we fought toward her—would haunt me for the rest of my life.
My pack didn’t look at me that way. I worked hard to make sure of it.
To think my mate would assume that I…
“Did you know this would happen?” Dorian continued to snarl and pace as he dragged his hands through his hair. “That she’d be able to go into heat this early? Or stop it and start it at will?”
Obviously not.
He agitated my wolf like none other, but I couldn’t solely blame him for the way I’d acted tonight. When they said he’d gone off-script, taking Opal away from the security team, I’d lost it.
If I couldn’t protect her, what good was I?
“No,” I answered honestly, feeling like I was letting her down all over again. “And I don’t think she’s in control of the heat, but I’ve never met an Omega before Opal. Have you?”
Dorian paused as if confused that I wasn’t arguing with him. “No. But the internet said—”
“You wouldn’t find the information you needed online in some open chat forum.
Omegas are smart enough to protect their secrets from assholes who’d exploit them.
” A booming voice came from down the hall, followed by an Alpha with salt-and-pepper faded hair and huge biceps.
He had about twenty years on me, putting him in his mid-forties.
The older Alpha was flanked by two other Alphas his age. One with a full red beard and bald head, the other wearing a half-unbuttoned suit, looking more like the lawyer for the other two that had just come from a biker gang. But the three of them moved too familiarly to be anything other than pack.
They formed a menacing blockade as they filled the hall, blocking our only path of escape.
“Who the fuck are you guys?” Dorian stood his ground like the moron he was, itching for a fight.
I resisted the urge to yank him back. He wasn’t my problem. Discreetly, I sniffed the air, getting a read on the three males who smelled strongly of the Omega nurse in the room with Opal.
The salt-and-pepper Alpha looked to the medical door and his eyes flared with his wolf, confirming my suspicions as he communicated silently.
“They’re the nurse’s mates,” I said, though it wouldn’t have bothered me in the slightest if Dorian had gotten his ass kicked by being rude to a trio of pissed off Alphas.
Would Opal care?
Damn it.
“Is that so?” Dorian’s nostrils flared as he dramatically scented the air. I had the sudden urge to kick him. Any Alpha in his right mind would know not to do that.
“I suggest you stop cataloguing my mate’s scent before I rebreak your nose.” The bearded one growled as his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
Seems like a decent dude.
Until he turned his attention to me. “Actually, both of you look like you need to be knocked upside your heads again.”
I stayed seated, sizing him up. My wolf wasn’t getting any off vibes about the three of them, so I didn’t want to jump up and start something.
“Is there a reason we should care?” Dorian stepped closer to my side. Whether instinctual or plain stupid, I didn’t know why, but something about his action unleashed a snarl from my wolf.
And not one directed at the idiot beside me.
It felt strange, but like the truce we’d had—the one he’d so quickly broken—there was a moment where I considered that fate might be pulling some strings.
The five of us cramped in the little hallway stared each other down for a moment, assessing.
The suited Alpha broke the stand-off. “Penelope tells us you two aren’t treating your Omega very well.”
All the fight drained from me and I returned to hanging my head in shame. “She’s right.”
I expected Dorian to disagree or argue, like he’d been doing for the past few hours, saying he was giving Opal exactly what she wanted and I was an overprotective fool. But he nodded, looking away from the three Alphas. “We don’t know how to fix it.”
“Might I suggest you pull your heads out of your asses,” Red-beard said. “You lucky bastards were gifted an Omega’s attention. There’s a reason fate blessed you. I wouldn’t screw it up.”
“It’s not like we’re trying to screw it up, but we don’t even know what we’re working with here,” Dorian growled. I barely held back my own snarl of agreement.
First smart thing he’s said all night.
The three Alphas looked at each other and chuckled, sharing some private inside joke.
I hated this disaster. My mate was on the other side of this door, kept from me because I couldn’t figure anything out. “We’re failing her.”
“And you’ll keep failing her unless you put all this petty shit behind you.” Salt-and-Pepper folded his arms over his chest.
“It’s not petty.” My words felt petty then, but when I looked at Dorian from the corner of my eye, I saw the reason I was here all over again.
Tears in dark corners. Nightmares I couldn’t protect them from. Smiles and calloused hands. Everything I worked for. My pack.
And he’d proved Jeannette right tonight. She said to never trust their kind. That they were dangerous. Impulsive and untrustworthy. He’d broken the first promise we’d ever made to each other. That we’d put Opal’s safety and comfort first.
“Whatever it is, trust us, it’s not worth it,” the suited Alpha said. “Fate wouldn’t have put an Omega in your care if there wasn’t a reason. And it wasn’t so you could break her heart.”
His voice ended on a softer note. Again, the three shared a look. Something about them being here reminded me of my late father. The way he’d lowered his tone when he said something important.
He was a good man. A forgiving Alpha. I’d been forced to take over the pack too soon, but I never forgot his teachings.
He’d have tried again.
“How do we not fail her?” I sighed, rising to stand by Dorian’s side.
He noticed.
Then he stepped away. “I won’t fail her. She’s safe with me.”
“Really?” I barked. “And how do you plan to protect her? By pulling more dangerous stunts? Driving her off a cliff? Throwing her to rabid fans who’d crush her under their grabby hands?”
My wolf bristled at the image and started snarling as something tightened and squeezed in my chest.
“Don’t pretend like you care about her more than I do,” Dorian started to yell again. “She’s my mate. Stop whatever this territorial bullshit is and back off. You can leave the show now. I’m playing by the rules. I’ll mate her and make her my Luna. You and your pack can go to hell.”
I gnashed my teeth, wanting to smash in his face again.
“And what kind of life would you give her? What stability? Could you even afford to take care of a Luna? I knew whatever poor female you got your claws into would suffer, but I refuse to let you hurt Opal. She’s my mate. And I’m the better choice for her.”
The words spilled out so fast I barely heard myself speak them. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had so much to say.
And every word of it was true.
“Goddess.” The three alphas groaned as one. Suits pinched the bridge of his nose. “Did we ever sound that dumb?”
Red-beard chuckled. “Worse, probably.”
“Did you not fucking hear us the first time?” Salt-and-Pepper growled, putting enough Alpha bark into his bite that even my wolf stopped to listen. “You’re going to screw this up if you can’t put your drama aside to take care of your mate.”
“Okay, wise, old ones,” Dorian spoke through clenched teeth and it took everything in me not to slap the back of his head for being disrespectful. “What exactly are we supposed to do with our Omega right now?”
The suited Alpha looked at the others before shrugging. “There’s not a lot of hope for you if you can’t tell she’s in heat…”
Dorian and I were shoulder to shoulder as we growled.
“That’s the spirit.” Red-beard cracked a smile. “Now buckle up, boys, it’s about to be a wild ride. And might we suggest you get your Omega far away from this show and all the other unmated Alphas before this turns into some real drama?”