5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Bennett

The night sky was lit up by the theater marquee sign, as my best friend, Seth, and I pushed our way outside of the movie theater.

"I can't believe the omega picked that alpha," Seth lamented, annoyance lacing his tone. "The other alpha was way sweeter. And hotter."

Laughing at him, I shoved his shoulder lightly as we made our way to where we had both parked. "Yeah, but they were fated mates. You can't fight fate. They were destined to be together."

I was aware my voice held a dreamy quality to it, but I couldn't help it. The whole idea of fated mates had always fascinated me. What was more romantic than meeting the one alpha that the Goddess had literally picked for you? Knowing nothing could stop your love and that you were destined to be together. It was so romantic, and I had always been a believer.

Seth's black eyeliner rimmed eyes gave me one of his looks . The look that said I have no clue why we are best friends, but I love you anyway. "Thanks, but that's a hard pass for me on the whole fated mates thing. That just sounds like a big cock block for all the alpha dick I have yet to sample. It's a no for me. Besides, every single person I know who has met their fated mate has literally gotten knocked up the first time they do the nasty. Look at Asher and Gabe. They were expecting twins before they even knew if they liked each other. Babies and one alpha for the rest of my life? Thank you, but no."

Leaning against my car door, I reminded him, "You are a pediatric nurse."

He shrugged, scrunching his nose at me. "Because I don't have to take any of those kids home with me. I love kids. Just from a distance. The kind of distance that does not invade my space twenty-four seven, and whose diapers I don't have to change on the regular."

"You are ridiculous." Pulling out my cell phone, I slid the lock screen open.

"I know I am. It's part of my charm." Seth agreed with me, his blue eyes flashing with mischief.

At the groan I uttered looking at my phone, he demanded, "What's wrong?"

Sighing loudly, I told him, "I have like twenty missed calls and frantic texts from Carrie."

"Fucking hell, Bennett, you are on vacation."

Quickly trying to make sense of all my assistant's messages, each one growing more frantic and frankly disjointed, I sighed. "A vacation I'm being forced to take and technically, it starts tomorrow. "

Seth placed his hands on his hips, scowling at me. "A vacation your boss wouldn't have forced you to take if you had actually taken time off in the last five years. The entire time you have worked at the hospital, need I remind you? I told you that you should have gotten on a plane. You could be in someplace like Italy right now, drinking wine, and taking some hot Italian alpha's knot."

Rolling my eyes, I reminded him, "Flying freaks me out. And I'm not spending a fortune on a vacation."

It didn't matter that I had a very nice nest egg and rainy day fund. Those were for emergencies and not frivolous vacations across the ocean. Being raised by a single omega parent who was always trying to make ends meet, made me extra cautious with my money. Putting the phone to my ear, I listened to it ring. "I've taken time off. Hey Carrie, what's going on?"

"A Friday every six months so we can have a play date does not a vacation make, Bennett." Seth huffed, but I ignored him. Seth had a penchant for theatrics, which normally I enjoyed and found amusing. But right now, I was in work mode.

And Seth was right, my boss had strongly suggested I take a month off of my accrued PTO. His "strongly suggested" had turned into me being given no choice in the matter at all. My shift at the hospital had ended at five earlier tonight, and I was officially on vacation. Well, staycation, because I had no plans other than hanging around my rental house, doing yard work, and catching up on all the shows and books I normally had no time to enjoy.

However, seeing that Carrie was having some kind of crisis, I couldn't just not call her back, regardless of the fact that I was supposed to be on vacation .

"Bennett, thank the Goddess!" Carrie's voice sounded about an octave higher than normal, laced with stress. She was fresh out of college, and this was her first "real" job. She had potential, she just needed to gain confidence, but she would get there. I wasn't about to tell her I had been a bit worried about leaving her in charge, but I did think she could handle whatever came up. Maybe not as well or as effortlessly as I could, but she'd do fine. And I had told her I was only a phone call or text away if she needed anything.

"What's going on?" I repeated my earlier question, making sure to keep my voice steady and calm.

"There's a situation," she breathed into the phone, "and I'm not sure how to handle it."

"Are you following procedure?"

"Yes, but that's just it. When I told Dr. Farrell what I had done, she started yelling at me. Then she said I'd better call you. That you would know how to handle this. And I am a bit out of my depth, Bennett, to be honest. I don't know what to really do. Nothing in school covered this situation."

"Is that Bennett?" I heard Meg Farrell ask sharply, and I would bet money if I used my wolf shifter hearing, I would hear the head of the Emergency Department snapping her fingers. "Give me the phone."

"Bennett, where the fuck have you been?" Meg demanded. "We have a situation, and Carrie can't deal with it. No offense, Carrie."

"Hey Meg," I took a breath in through my nose, stifling my annoyance at her speaking about my assistant like that in front of her. That wasn't going to build Carrie's confidence. "I was at a movie. What's the problem? "

Waving a hand at Seth to shush him, as he mouthed the word "vacation" at me. Fuck, he was as bad as my boss.

"Patient came in. Clearly been abused. Has his kid with him."

Rolling my neck on my shoulders, I still didn't know what all the fuss was about. The hospital had procedures in place for this situation, and Carrie and Meg both knew what they were. Unfortunately, we got more abuse cases than I would have liked come through our doors.

"Okay, well, if he needs a safe place, have Carrie contact the omega shelter. I know the safe houses are currently full, but last I knew the shelter had two beds available."

"Yeah, that's not gonna work," Meg muttered, "he's an alpha."

"I'm sorry, what?" My tone had Seth stopping his impatient pacing in front of me.

"You heard me," Meg huffed. "Pretty sure we can't stick an alpha in the middle of a house full of omegas recovering from trauma inflicted by an alpha. There's more though."

Blowing out a breath, my mind was already thinking about services that would work to help the alpha in need. We may not have ever dealt with a battered alpha before, but with my training and knowledge I knew it happened. "I'll be there in ten minutes. You can fill me in then."

Pocketing my phone, I told Seth, "I have to go into work. There's a situation and I need to deal with it."

Seth tilted his dark head at me, frowning. "You are on vacation, remember? It started a couple of hours ago."

"Technically," I argued, unlocking my car door and sliding in the driver seat, "it starts tomorrow."

He huffed noisily, "Fine. I just worry about you, Benny. You work way too hard. Lunch next week? "

Smiling at him, I started my car. "I love you too, Sethy. Definitely lunch next week."

"Alright, well if we aren't getting a drink, maybe I'll hit Playgrounds."

Rolling my car window down, I waved my fingers at him, "Have fun. And be careful."

Seth laughed, "Jamie Sinclair's kink club is probably the safest place in this town. Ain't nobody starting trouble there."

"Call me tomorrow?"

"You know it. Later taters."

"I'm here," I announced to Carrie, who was pacing outside the on-call room of the E.R., biting on her thumbnail nervously. She didn't even try to mask the relief on her face when she saw me.

"Thank the Goddess," she rushed up to me. "I don't know why she's so mad at me, but Dr. Farrell is scary."

Hearing Meg's staccato stride coming towards us, I turned to greet her. "Why are you terrorizing my assistant? "

Instead of answering, Meg grabbed me by my forearm and pulled me into the empty doctor's lounge. Shaking out of her grasp, I muttered, "Ow! What is going on?"

"This guy came in looking for Asher."

"Asher Pierce?" Not that there were a lot of Ashers running around Sweet Alps. Asher was a well liked pediatrician in town, and one of Seth's bosses. He and his mate also happened to be my neighbors. They lived right across the street from me, in a sprawling Victorian house.

"Yeah, and he's all banged up. Black eye, bruises on his face, healing split lip. Ends up having a coughing fit at the desk and passes out."

I had learned a long time ago not to jump to any conclusions or react until I knew all the details of any given situation. "Go on."

"His I.D. says his name is Shay Pierce, and the little boy with him says they are here to see his Uncle Asher."

"Okay, so Asher has a brother. Is that why you are having a fit? Carrie followed protocol and what? Called the police?" Because if it was a suspected case of spousal or mate abuse, she had done the right thing. "You know that's what she should have done, regardless if the victim is related to someone we know."

"She called the police before she even questioned where he got the bruises." Meg was clearly annoyed. "Before I even gave her a preliminary report of my findings. He could have been in a fight in a bar for all she knew."

"She's young and still learning. She jumped the gun and I'll talk to her. Do you suspect he was in a bar room fight?"

Meg shook her head, "There's no defensive wounds."

So more than likely mate abuse. "Can I talk to him? Shay, was that his name? "

Oftentimes, victims would open up to me when they wouldn't admit abuse to a doctor or caregiver. It was hard enough for an omega to admit what was happening to them to another omega. I doubted it would be any easier for an alpha to admit to being abused. Carrie had been right in calling me in. This was way outside of her experience.

"In your medical opinion, do you feel this is a case of abuse, Meg?" Meg had been running the E.R. for longer than I had been employed with the hospital. She was great at her job, and I trusted her opinion.

Meg sighed, running a hand through her long locks. "I ordered x-rays because I needed pictures of his lungs. He's sick as a dog, Bennett, borderline pneumonia. But somebody did a number on him. And his x-rays show old breaks and fractures."

Frowning, I asked, "Pointing to abuse?"

Meg nodded, "I'm afraid so."

"Has he woken up at all?"

"Just for a minute. Long enough to mutter Alpha Law . I think we are looking at an abuse case, and an alpha who has taken his child from his omega."

Nodding, I had to agree that's at least what it looked like on the surface. However, part of my job was not jumping to conclusions.

"And he's Asher's brother?"

"Looks that way. Look, the police are on their way to take a report. Carrie did good with that, even if she maybe jumped the gun. We've taken pictures of his injuries for documentation. I honestly don't know how long it's been since Asher has seen his brother. I can't imagine he knew about any of this."

Abuse was often hidden from friends and relatives, I knew that for a fact. "Asher and Gabe are out of town." I informed her. " They took the twins to visit Gabe's family. I'll try to get ahold of them once I speak to Shay. He can't go to the omega shelter until they return, for obvious reasons. We can't place an alpha there. Does he need to be admitted?" At least if he was admitted, he'd have a bed for the night.

Meg shook her head. "Not really. He needs rest, antibiotics, and breathing treatments, but it's not something we would usually admit someone for. He's got one hell of a case of bronchitis, working his way right up to pneumonia."

"And his other injuries?"

I was in full blown administrator mode now. My official title was Executive Director of Administrative Services. Asher had once told his mate, Gabe Carmichael, that I did pretty much everything at the hospital. When it came to finding help and services our patients needed, he wasn't far off the mark. And battered omegas and children were one of my specialties. The fact that the battered person was an alpha didn't change things, other than complicating finding him a safe place to stay.

"He's got a badly swollen and blackened eye. A split lip. Badly bruised nose, though not broken. It has been in the past though. Bruised cheekbone. Knot on his head but doesn't appear to have a concussion. Bruised ribs down one side of his body, but not broken. His lungs are congested, obviously, and he's running a fairly decent fever. Bennett, he's got bruises around his throat and neck. Clear fingerprint marks. Someone choked him, and they used a lot of force."

Swallowing hard against old memories and ghosts from my childhood, I forced myself to push them back where they belonged. "You said he has a child with him?"

"A little boy. Carrie has him in the on-call room. He's pretty upset. Asking to see his dad, but we couldn't have him in there while we were working on him. We weren't sure what we were going to find when he passed out."

"Has she called child protective services?"

Meg shrugged, "You'll have to ask her. I think she was unsure what to do when I told her he had claimed Alpha Law. It's such an old law a lot of people don't know what it entails."

Raising a brow at her, I said, "And you yelled at her for calling the police? Really Meg?"

She waved a hand in the air, "She jumped the gun, and you know it, Bennett."

"She followed protocol, and you know it, Dr. Farrell." I only addressed her by Dr. Farrell when I wanted to remind her not to exert her authority in my department. "Kindly refrain from yelling at my staff."

"I'll try, Benny," Meg conceded, giving me a smile, "for you."

"Thank you."

"Because you're small but also a little terrifying." She tacked on.

Grinning at her, I nodded, "I am. Remember that. Now, is Shay awake? I'll see if I can get more information out of him, so I can come up with a game plan for what he and his son need. I'd like to have solid facts on the situation before I contact Asher."

Following behind Meg, I saw Carrie still pacing in front of the on-call room's closed door.

"Hey," I told her quietly, "can you sit with the little boy? Do we know his name?"

"It's Lucas," Carrie supplied. "He's not much for talking."

"Can you sit with Lucas until I can talk to him? I'm going to see if his dad is awake and try to get some information from him. "

Carrie bit her lip, looking unsure. "Was that what I should have done?"

Smiling gently, I shook my head, "You did everything you were supposed to do. Don't let these doctors," I gave Meg the side-eye, "bully you. But Lucas is probably really scared, and he's by himself, so it would be great if you could sit with him and keep him company. Maybe reassure him that everything is going to work out okay, and that the doctors are taking good care of his dad. And if you can casually get any helpful information out of him, that would be great."

Carrie nodded, "I'll do my best. I'm not great with kids."

"I know you will."

Following Meg down the corridor to the hub of the E.R., she slipped through an opening of a curtained cubicle and I followed.

The alpha on the bed was strikingly handsome, even looking battered, bruised, and obviously ill. There was an IV attached to the back of one of his broad hands, and an oxygen cannula under his nose. His blond hair was disheveled and sweat soaked, his eyes closed so I couldn't see their color. Asher Pierce was a brown eyed blond, so I imagined his brother was the same.

The man's face was ruggedly masculine, yet there was a beauty to it that was almost out of place. He was tall and broad, taking up most of the room on the hospital bed.

My mouth went dry at the sight of him, my stomach doing a little whirly loop of… something . Whatever it was, I pushed it aside. He was a patient. And he needed help.

Meg spoke quietly to the nurse who was in the room, monitoring him. My feet that had been frozen to the spot at the sight of him–something that had never happened to me when faced with a patient–suddenly remembered how to work. As if pulled by an invisible force I was powerless to stop, I found myself standing next to him.

His natural alpha scent wafted up to me. Dark musk, a little sweat, and earth after a rainstorm. Desire slammed into me, making me shiver. He smelled fucking delicious. Better than anything I had ever smelled in all my twenty-eight years.

His dark lashes, so at odds with his hair, fluttered against bruised but sharp cheekbones. His eyes opened just a slit, enough for me to see glassy blue depths. He blinked at me, then looked around the room, his limbs becoming agitated. His movements grew more frantic, and the line of his IV pulled against his arm.

"Hey, shh," I reached out and touched his arm in what was meant to be a soothing motion, and to stop his movements before he yanked the needle out of his hand. His hospital gown shifted along his neck and my eyes fell on the scar resting over his mate gland.

Electricity sparked when my skin met his, and we both jolted. For an instant, I saw flashes of…my future? Me, and this man, and a dark haired child, laughing in the sunshine. The floor shifted beneath my feet for a dizzying instant, before righting.

Blinking down at him, he wasn't paying me any attention, seeming unaware of the spark between us and what I had felt. Instead, he was still frantically searching the room, his body restless beneath my still tingling fingers. I could feel the heat from his skin nearly scorching my hand.

"It's okay," I whispered, feeling anything but okay . Stroking up his arm, I felt the pops of electricity as my skin moved against his. "You're okay. "

He turned his head at the sound of my soft words, blue eyes filled with fear. "Lucas? Where's Lucas? Don't let him take him."

The words were so low that I barely heard them, his voice sounding wrecked and wheezy.

Squeezing his arm, I promised him, "I won't."

That seemed to calm him, as his head fell back against the pillow weakly, and his eyes closed.

Blinking rapidly, my legs felt shaky, and I sank down onto the side of the bed next to him. If all the many stories I had read and movies I had watched were true, I knew exactly what that spark between us when we touched was.

This beautiful, battered and bruised alpha, with the mate claim bite that I clearly hadn't given him, was my fated mate.