Chapter 16
Icatch Hunter just as he falls, pulling my body up behind him and gripping under his arms. “Hunt? You okay?”
He doesn’t respond. All his weight slips down, slumped in a way that terrifies me.
“Hunt!” I shake him. His head lolls to the side, expression slack. “Shit, I think he passed out.”
“Can you get him upstairs?” Seb asks, a few steps behind me. A clap of thunder punctuates the last of his words. It’s still far off, but the clouds are moving in fast.
“I think so.” I grunt as I wrap one arm around Hunter’s torso and try to ease him up another step.
“W-what… happened?” Hunter comes to with a confused shake of his head.
“You blacked out for a second there.” I study his face, then let out a relieved sigh when I see his eyes clear. My heart pounds frantically, but I force a playful smile. “Help me out, ‘cause you weigh a fuck ton, old man.”
Rather than fight with me about my little jab, he does as I ask and slowly works his way up to the main deck of the ship. We lay on the floor for a long time, both panting. I grab his hand as I stare at the rain clouds closing in over our heads, needing to remind myself he’s here.
“Are you okay?” I ask once I’ve caught my breath.
Hunter turns his head toward me. “I don’t know.”
Seb joins us, sitting with his legs tucked into his bare chest. He looks as shaken as I feel.
“That could have been bad,” he whispers, looking at Hunter with concern.
I shudder to think about what could have happened if Hunter lost consciousness like that when we were still in the water. A single drop of rain lands on my chin and rolls down my tense jaw.
“The bonding sickness is getting worse, isn’t it?” Seb looks past Hunter as if he’s seeing someone else.
Hunter grunts his acknowledgement. “Not much we can do about it, though.”
“That’s not entirely true.” Seb gives me a weary look. He bites his lip and picks at his thumbnail. “There’s something that could help.”
“What? Let’s do it.” I stand up, ready to do whatever will make Hunter feel better.
It’s tearing me apart to see him like this, a shell of his normal self.
Yesterday, I caught him staring at the sea, gripping the ship’s railing like he was contemplating jumping, and not in the way we just did when the captain knew about it.
That look on his face scared the shit out of me.
Seb glances at Hunter, then away. “He needs to feel a sense of attachment, something to counteract the disconnect in the bond. Those with remaining pack bonds, and other relationships, are more likely to survive bonding sickness.”
“Well, I can’t exactly bond him here,” I snap. Bonds don’t form without the presence of omega heat pheromones. Something about how the pheromones change blood chemistry.
Seb looks hurt at my mention of bonding with Hunter, but I can’t think about that.
My best friend, a man I love with my whole heart, is sick.
He barely reacted to my raised voice. He’s lying there on his back staring up at the sky, not paying any attention to us.
Tiny raindrops hit his already wet chest, and he shivers, but doesn’t move to get up.
If I could bond him right now, I would, and not just to save his life.
We’re heading there, anyway. It’s fate that we all found each other, that we’re scent matched to the same omega, and I won’t lose any of them.
But I know how Seb feels about pack bonds.
I thought it was just his social anxiety and nervousness around alphas, but I’m starting to wonder if it’s more than that.
“There are other ways to make Hunter feel connection, closeness… love.” Seb’s voice is quiet, his somber face lit by a flash of lightning. “There are things you can give him even without bonding.”
“How do you know all this?” Hunter blinks like he’s coming to again, slowly lifting himself on his elbows, asking what’s on my mind as well.
“I just do.” Sebastian stands up and walks away, throwing over his shoulder, “Just go have sex. It’ll help.”
“What the fuck?” I chase after him and grab his arm, spinning him around. The rain has started in earnest now, water sliding down his cheeks and curving around his frown. “You can’t just drop that bomb and leave.”
“You want to be with him, don’t you?”
“Of course I fucking do. You know that. But you’re my boyfriend, and you aren’t ready for—”
“I’m giving you permission.” He pushes my hand away. “Just go.”
I cross my arms and shake my head. “Yeah, permission isn’t the same as enthusiastic consent, Sebastian.” I rarely call him by his full name, but he needs to know I’m deadly serious about this. I’m not going to do something that makes him uncomfortable just because he begrudgingly says it’s okay.
Thunder and lightning strike seconds apart. The deck rocks, and we both grab for the railing.
“It’s alright,” Hunter says. I look back and find him struggling to get up. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not.” Seb shakes his head and crosses his arms, leveling Hunter with his businessman glare, the one I’ve seen intimidate even the most confident alpha. “I won’t be the reason you die. I can’t watch that happen again.”
Again? Okay, we’re gonna need to revisit that, but right now, we need to hash out this problem. “I’m not backing you into a corner on consent, Seb. And I’m not leaving you behind.”
“We’ve always had an open relationship, firebird.” Seb sighs. “How is this any different?”
“Oh don’t give me that crap.” I poke his chest with my forefinger, yelling to be heard over the rain. “You know it’s different.”
My boyfriend looks over my shoulder at Hunter. “Do you want to have sex with Phoenix?”
“Well, yeah.” Hunter rubs the back of his neck and stumbles over to us as the boat sways. “But I don’t want to cause problems—”
“That settles it. Go have fun.” Seb turns, trying to walk away again.
I run ahead of him and block his path back into the ship’s hull. “Not without you.” We stare each other down.
“What happened to consent?” Hunter asks from behind us. “It’s clear he doesn’t want to be part of it, Phoenix. Let it be. Really, I’m fine. I’ll take a nap and be good as new. No one needs to have sex with anyone.”
Hunter tries to walk past us, but I grab his wrist. “Nuh uh, a nap’s not gonna help, is it?” I keep my eyes on Seb since he seems to be the expert on bonding sickness for some reason.
My boyfriend shakes his head and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Okay, maybe… it won’t be as effective, but we could all… cuddle? It might ease the symptoms a little.”
“Great. Movie night in Hunt’s room.” I grin, excitedly clapping my hands together once just as a bolt of lightning dashes across the sky.