Chapter 43
Sebastian
The hospital is a blur of white walls and antiseptic smell. They take Ariana in immediately, hooking her up to IVs and monitors while a nurse rattles off questions. The four of us do our best to answer, still agitated with a mix of concern, outrage, and sorrow.
They give her a cocktail of medication for the fever, and something else for the pain. Within minutes, she’s deeply asleep, her breathing evening out into something that sounds less labored.
The four of us settle into the private room they’ve assigned her. It’s large enough for all of us, with a couch against one wall and several chairs scattered around. The bed dominates the space, and Ariana looks painfully small in it.
Pulling one of the chairs closer to her, I sink into it and put my head in my hands.
One of my legs begins bouncing of its own volition.
Now that she’s receiving treatment, the adrenaline in me starts to retreat.
The anger that’s been brewing in me takes its place, growing stronger as I sit stewing in it.
“We should have moved faster. Fuck!” I slam my fist into the arm of the chair. We have all the material on the Hale pack we need now. We were just waiting until the bond was broken, so Ariana wouldn’t face retaliation.
“We had to dot our I’s and cross our T’s.” Jason’s looking out of the window, voice eerily composed. It’s a sharp contrast to the rage pouring out in waves from his scent. “It gives them no breathing room, that way.”
Evan runs a hand through his hair, staring at her unmoving body. “And how’d that turn out for us?”
“The timing was terrible.” Nico sits opposite from me, on the other side of Ariana’s bed. “She got unlucky. What if we ran things without her permission and she hated us for it? Do you think she would’ve taken our protection from them then?”
“She’s hurt anyways,” Evan says, turning away from Nico and joining Jason at the window.
Nico raises his head and meets my eyes over the sleeping omega’s body. The white light of the hospital room makes him look older than I’ve ever seen him.
“It’s not too late.” I declare firmly, because I’m pack lead and I have to. “We’ll take care of them now. Make them regret ever even coming near her.”
We fall into silence after that. The only sounds are the steady beep of Ariana’s monitors and the quiet hum of the hospital around us. I watch her chest rise and fall with hawk like vision, making sure each breath is regular.
Despite our eye bags and how long we’ve been awake, no one falls asleep.
The hours blur together. When the sky outside turns too dark to see out the window, Evan takes a seat next to Nico in silent apology.
Jason continues staring at the glass, eyes either fixed on his reflection or unaware of what they’re looking at all.
He only turns when the sound of voices approach the room. Voices that make my hackles rise.
“Sirs! There’s a limit on the amount of people allowed in the room.” A woman, presumably medical staff, cries out.
“We’ll be quick, sweetheart.” A disgustingly familiar male voice responds to her condescendingly.
The door swings open. Three men saunter in, closing it on the woman mid protest.
Ian, Liam, and Cole Hale.
They stand still, looking at Ariana’s sleeping body, then up at the four of us. Evan’s chair scratches against the floor, almost toppling over from the force of him standing. Ian approaches the bed.
He stretches out a hand. Not out to stroke his scent match’s hair or give her a caress, but extended towards me.
“Sebastian,” the alpha says in a tone I believe is meant to be charming, “what a surprise.”
I glower at his hand, then up at his face, not taking it. He slowly retracts it, clearing his throat, glancing at Ariana then back at me.
“Ah, I apologize. This must look strange.” Ian smooths over his suit. “Omegas. So sensitive.” He rolls his eyes like we’re sharing a joke. “You try to teach them a lesson and they run off and get themselves hospitalized.”
A lesson. I push down the urge to squeeze both hands around his neck. Evan scoffs loudly.
“Run off? You abandoned her. What the fuck are you doing here?”
The smile slowly wipes off Ian’s face. It’s one of the gnats, Liam, that responds.
“We’re her next of kin. Why wouldn’t we be here?” He and Evan stare at each other disdainfully. “I don’t know what she’s told you, but we’ve never abandoned Ariana. She’s got a talent for making up stories.”
Ian stares between the five of us. “And why exactly are you here?”
He’s too old to be acting purposely obtuse. I curse mentally, not having considered they would be her emergency contacts.
“We’re taking care of our omega.” I explain simply.
The Hale pack’s expressions shift. Confusion to understanding, understanding to anger, anger to concern from gnat two, the apple scented one in the back.
“So she ran to you.” Ian moves to take a seat on the edge of her bed. Still seated, I raise a leg, kicking him away before he can. His body slams into the gnat behind him, making Cole stumble as he attempts to steady himself.
Crossing my leg over the other one, I glare at the trio. “You never abandoned her? So she just decided to walk out of the house barefoot?”
Cole looks the most worried of the three. “She was only supposed to wait in the lobby for a night. We searched everywhere for her, but the OOA wouldn’t give us any details on where she went. We didn’t want her to leave, the rut just heightened our emotions and made us angry.”
Evan scoffs again at that. “The rut from another omega’s heat, you mean? The one you ditched her for on her birthday?”
“Break the bond.” Nico demands before they answer.
Ian regards him coolly. “She’s our scent match. She belongs to us. You can’t demand that.”
“You’re bleeding money,” I state flatly.
“That’s why you’re here so late, isn’t it?
You would’ve gotten called about her being here hours ago.
The solution to bond sickness is being close to the bonded pack, but you couldn’t come right away?
” These pieces of shit care more about finances than their sick scent match.
Ian turns to me. “Our success is in her best interest.”
“It’s in all of your best interests to break it.
Do it willingly and I’ll stop here.” The lie comes out of my mouth easily.
Stopping was never part of the plan, hell will freeze over before I go easy on these bastards.
“Or bleeding money will be the least of your worries. I know about all the shit you and your little gnats have been buzzing around.”
“You’re bluffing.” Ian says.
“Am I? Want to find out?” I look at each of them pointedly, waiting to see who breaks.
It’s Liam first. The mocking smile on his face is not very convincing when he’s gone pale. “All that effort for Ariana?” The derisive grin widens as he looks at us condescendingly. “All that for our leftovers?”
The punch lands against his jaw with a sickening crunch. I didn’t even see Jason move away from the window. He was there one moment, then slamming the other alpha into the wall the next.
Jason holds him up by his collar. “Say that again,” he hisses. He bashes him into the wall again. “Say it!” He yells, louder.
The other one, Cole, steps in to help his pack mate. Evan’s on him before he has a chance to try and pry Jason off him. The four of them become a tangled mess, fists flying at each other. Ian turns to me, but I remain seated.
“Sorry.” I smile at him sarcastically, not calling my pack mates off. “The leftovers of rut’s still heightening their emotions. That means this is okay, right?”
Even Nico doesn’t try to stop them. He stays by Ariana’s bedside, planted between her and the fight like he’s ready to shield her if it comes too close.
“Here’s what you’re going to do.” I command him. “You’re going to get the fuck out of here and stay away from Ariana. Break the bond, and don’t ever let me catch you around her again.”
The other pack lead seems to be sizing me up. “And if I don’t?”
I jut my head towards the two members of his pack. Jason and Evan are thrashing them, letting out the rage and helplessness we’ve all felt since Ariana became sick.
“I’ll bury you.” Clear and concise, an honest answer to his question. Ian’s retort is interrupted by hospital security dashing into the room. It takes several people to get my pack members off his.
Nodding at the security guards, I smile at Ian mockingly. “You should go check on them. People are going to start thinking you don’t care about your pack, Hale. Wouldn’t want to add more rumors to those already going around, would you?”
He frowns, looking between me and Ariana’s sleeping figure. I can almost hear him mentally calculating, weighing how much she means to him. Sighing, I shake my head. My words weren’t a suggestion.
“Get the fuck out before I put you in a hospital bed too.” I snarl at him, dominance unrestrained. He quickly exits, following behind the men being escorted out.
“Pathetic.” Nico comments once they’ve left, eyes fixed on the closed door.
The three of them really were. At least one of the gnats stepped in to help the other one from getting pummeled. He may have left with a bleeding lip because of it, but their supposed pack lead didn’t even try to come to their aid.
Without the ruckus, the room seems ominously quiet. Ariana continues her rest, sleeping undisturbed despite all the chaos around her. Whatever drugs they’ve given her must be strong.
Evan and Jason text us eventually, letting us know they’re waiting to be allowed in.
According to them, the Hale pack left shortly after being ushered out of the room.
I told them to leave, but I’m still mildly disgusted by their haste departure when their supposed mate is in the hospital sick with the solution being as simple as being close together.
When the door opens a third time, we’ve been awake for almost twenty four hours. A doctor walks in clutching a clipboard. Another beta, but a man this time. Two nurses flank him, their gazes fluttering to the cluttered room.