Chapter 8

“She’s very dehydrated, Ambrose,” the doctor says softly in the living room.

Shaw had to be removed from our room when Dr. Fields examined her. Watching a male, even a beta, touch his unmated scent match was too much for his instincts to handle.

Everest and I had to wrestle him away while Flynn looked on with wide and understanding eyes.

God, what are the fucking odds of this happening?

“Okay, Doc. Tell me what we’re facing here. Flynn said you put her on a sedative too? Why?” I ask.

Wren can’t advocate for herself and has been through enough. I’ll ask the tough questions while she gets better.

“Her body is in shock. There’s evidence that this heat was exceptionally difficult,” he says softly. “She has scratches down her body from her nails, I assume to attempt to distract herself from the pain. Wren also looks emaciated. I’m very concerned about her.”

“We found her at an auction,” I explain. “We didn’t plan to bid on her, but?—”

“I don’t need explanations,” Dr. Field grunts. He’s one of Corbin’s doctors, and too much information has been known to be bad for people’s health. “I do need to know if you’re going to take care of her. Wren needs food, nutrients, and the things an omega needs to feel safe. This heat was traumatic, she may not have another until she feels safe or her body has recovered more. I did want to take blood because I want to run some tests. May I?”

“Tests? Like what?” I ask, eyes narrowing. I’m a paranoid son of a bitch on a good day, today is not the day to push me.

Shaw’s instincts aren”t the only ones that are freaking out. Biology may have made Wren his mate, but I feel the pull too. It’s why I pushed her out as well. I felt like I shouldn’t feel this way when I’m mated to Flynn. God, this is such a shit show.

“I don’t know her medical history,” Dr. Fields says, opening his arms wide to placate me. “Wren could have special needs that she can’t tell me about since she’s asleep. Her blood has answers I need in order to be able to properly care for her. Can I do my job?”

“Run it,” Everest grunts, stepping into the room. I wouldn’t be surprised if Shaw is on his heels. “I don’t want any more surprises. I mean… we’ve fucked things up enough as it is.”

Shaw rubs his face as he walks into the room behind him. “You’re not wrong, fuck. What are we talking about?”

My lips twitch at how out of it we all are. We need sleep soon. The three of us are seconds away from crashing. The last thing we need is to all get sick at once.

“Wren’s medical history,” I explain. “We don’t know anything about her, and the doctor wants to run some blood tests to see what else could be wrong.”

“I don’t like doing this without her consent, but she could have this huge, silent medical issue we have no knowledge of,” Shaw mutters. “Run it.”

“Thank you, Alpha,” Dr. Fields says, careful not to meet his gaze. Great, Shaw managed to scare him. “She should sleep for the next few hours, that’s normal. I’m leaving a few more IV bags for you, Flynn knows how to change them out, I believe.”

“Yes,” I agree. We’ve all been hurt over the years enough that our omega knows how to play nurse very well. He learned how to suture us all up as well, though he despises doing it, because it means we miscalculated a job and were stabbed or shot.

I have a knife wound scar across my inner thigh, and I was dangerously close to bleeding out five years ago. Flynn cursed me out under his breath the entire time he stitched me up. Shaw and Everest thought it was hilarious, though they were tense until they knew I would pull through.

We all have our scars.

“What should we watch out for?” Everest asks, pulling my mind back to the present.

“A fever or clammy skin,” Dr. Fields says, picking up his medical bag. “I’m on call for you in case of any change. Any other questions?”

“No,” Shaw says with a sigh. “Sorry for, you know before. I’m having a rough time with this. I only just found out that Wren is mine.”

Dr. Field’s naturally warm blue eyes darken as he throws caution to the wind and meets Shaw’s whiskey brown gaze. “She’s going to need a lot of help. There are marks on her body that show hints of self harm and a history of it. Her mind may be in a dark place when she wakes up, especially if the auctions are even close to how bad the rumors hint them to be,” he says. “I don’t know her story, but what I can see is dark and sad. Do not abandon this omega. I know you already have Flynn…”

“He adores Wren,” I rasp, tugging on my hair to use the pain to center me. “We’ll take care of her.”

Dr. Fields blows out a breath before nodding and beginning to walk out. I take the lead, escorting him to the door.

“Thank you for getting here so quickly,” I tell him, pulling out the money to pay him. Everything is done in cash with Corbin’s doctors. Handing him five hundred dollars, I open the door as he pockets it.

“I mean it,” Dr. Fields says. “Consider that omega on suicide watch. Wren could start to wither right in front of you after the heat she had. She can’t survive another episode like that. If her mind isn’t broken from it, it could be very fragile and difficult to bring her back into the light.”

Fuck.

My skin feels too tight, and I’ve already decided I’m done denying my instincts. As soon as the good doctor is off our property, I’m crawling into bed with Flynn and Wren. Stretching my neck from side to side to release some of the pressure, I grunt to say I understand.

God, we are going to be considered the worst alphas on the planet. I typically don’t care what people think about us, but I’ve always been a good pack member and lover. Except, now the game has changed, and I don’t know any of the rules.

“Good bye, Doctor,” I rumble as soon as his ass clears the door. “Please keep us up to date on any results you find.”

Shutting it closed and locking the door, I also arm the alarm, before pulling out my phone to watch him get into the car and drive away.

“I need to get upstairs,” Shaw says, his legs already eating up the distance to the stairway.

“God, I really want to be up there too,” Everest says, gazing longingly upward.

“Stop ignoring your instincts,” I bark. Shaw may be a more commanding alpha than I am, but Everest still slowly moves his head to gaze at me. “Did you feel the pull to protect Wren when you met her?”

“Yes,” Everest mutters. “I didn’t want to act on it because I was afraid it was wrong. I never imagined she could be Shaw’s scent mate.”

“I figured I didn’t have one,” Shaw rumbles. “Not everyone does.”

Other times, they die without ever meeting their match. Does Wren wish she had?

On that depressing note, I pull the hair tie from my hair, looping it over the banister knob so I’ll find it later as I pass Shaw on the stairs.

“I’m going to crawl into our bed with our omegas and go to sleep. The only thing keeping me from doing that is if Flynn kicked me out,” I grumble.

Everest and Shaw snort, knowing how feral our omega can be. Following me up the stairs, we walk to our room and peek inside. Flynn is sitting in bed next to Wren deep in thought, brows furrowed.

“Push over, because I’m exhausted,” I tell him, pulling off my shirt and toeing off my shoes.

Taking my lead, Everest nods as he does the same. “I want a snuggle and a nap,” he says.

“With us? In this bed?” Flynn asks, eyes wide.

“My pack is in that bed, of course that’s where I want to sleep, baby boy,” Shaw says with a smirk as he strips down to his joggers. “You’re mine.”

“Even her?” Flynn asks, playing with the ends of her hair pensively. His eyes are on Wren, and I can’t see the emotion he’s feeling.

Carefully, I climb into bed with Everest, and Shaw’s large, tattooed hand grips Flynn’s chin, forcing it up.

“Yes,” Shaw growls. “I don’t know if she’ll want a piece of shit like me, but she deserves good things. I don’t know her past or her trauma. I can’t imagine what she’s been through. I want to show her how she can fit with us and be happy.”

“It could be a rough ride,” Flynn rasps, to which Shaw shrugs.

“I own multiple pairs of shitkickers along with my fancy shoes. I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty, baby boy,” he reminds him. “None of us are. We’ll push through, and you’ll remind us when to go easy. We’ll need your help through this.”

“You have it,” Flynn whispers. Shaw leans over and kisses him hard. Our alpha doesn’t do sweet often, and it’s a filthy kiss filled with tongue and the clash of teeth.

“Good. Now, I want snuggles and I’m dying for some sleep,” Shaw confesses. Careful of the IV drip, he maneuvers onto the bed so that he’s cuddled against Wren, while Flynn is on her other side.

I wrap my arm around Flynn’s waist, inhaling his chocolate scent, and Everest curls around me. The world softens immediately as our scents wrap around each other. We all fit. Fuck, we are meant to be.

Please, Wren, give us a chance to win you over. I promise we’ll make it worth it.

My eyes get heavy as my body starts to shut down. I’ve been unable to sleep well the last two days, and now that Wren is safe, I’m crashing. Unfortunately, my dreams haunt me with how badly things could have gone.

Why am I so warm?

It feels different from my heat, but I still feel as if I’m burning up.

“No, not again,” I whimper. My words are barely a whisper, because my throat is dry and hurts. Coughing, my body shudders as they wrack my body.

“Hey, you’re alright,” a gruff voice says. “Everest, grab some ice water for her.”

The scents of chili and orange, custard and chocolate, caramel, and nutmeg fill my senses as I struggle to open my eyes. They feel gritty. Ugh, sandpaper is a terrible analogy, yet that’s what it feels like.

“You have an IV in your arm, Darling. Don”t pull it out,” Flynn murmurs. I recognize his voice, and drag my hand over my eyes. The warm body against my back gets up, leaving a cool gap behind me.

Why do I miss it? It helps cool down the overheated feeling I felt. I’m not craving a knot anymore, and I’m not at the bottom of a ravine, so that’s progress.

Soon, a damp cloth is run over my face and eyelids, gently helping me to pry them open. Blinking slowly, the world’s blurriness begins to sharpen, allowing me to see Shaw wiping my eyes. Flinching, I gasp, my heart rate increasing as I stare at him.

Do they know?

“Hey, you’re safe, sweetness,” he says softly. “I think we need to talk, though. Thirsty?”

Glancing down, I see I’m dressed in a large shirt that covers my entire body and then search out Flynn. His lips twitch as he helps me sit up, piling pillows behind me.

“We know,” Flynn murmurs. “You left because you’re Shaw’s scent match and you were going into your heat, huh?”

I nod, because my throat hurts too much to talk, and Everest steps forward with a glass of water.

“Watch the IV port, Wren. We don’t want you to pull it out,” he says. My eyes focus slowly on the bag hanging from a hook from the ceiling.

How often do they have people hooked up to IV bags?

“The hook?” Everest asks, snickering. “That’s a conversation for another day, Wren.”

I’m even more confused as I take the glass of water and take a small sip of the cool liquid as I glance at Flynn from under my lashes. My throat soothed for a moment, I give myself a moment to take in the pack surrounding me. Shaw sits by my side, staring at me as if he’s been gobsmacked. I’m not beautiful by any means, especially after spending however much time in a ravine, so I’m blaming the curse of biology on this.

Ambrose’s shoulder-length brown hair is loose as he lays across the bed completely, smirking at the hook above me.

“There’s a few hooks around the bed, Darling. Our alphas are a bit kinky,” Flynn explains.

“Not ours,” I whisper. “Yours.”

Shaw leans forward, and Ambrose prowls toward me on his hands and knees to be able to hear me. Everest merely drops to his knees next to me, his brows furrowed as if he only heard part of what I said, but doesn’t want to ask me to repeat myself.

My throat reminds me of how bad an idea swallowing is, making me wince.

“You don’t have to talk if it hurts,” Shaw says, rubbing his chest absently. “There will be plenty of time for that. Ignore Everest, we tend to get hurt as well in our line of work, so the hook gets used pretty often for IVs.”

I don’t like the idea of any of them getting hurt, and I can feel a whine building that I shove down. They don’t deserve my worry.

“Guys, we’re overwhelming her,” Ambrose grunts. My gaze meets his, and I realize I’m starting to pant. Everything is just too much after everything that happened, and I can’t even get up because I’m attached to a goddamn IV.

“Wren,” Flynn says urgently. “Breathe.”

Gasping, I realize my eyes are wet. When the hell did that happen? My fingers reach up to touch my cheeks as the tear slowly slides down, and I stare at it in wonder. I cried in pain in the forest, and now I’m crying again. I haven’t done this in too long to count.

“What is it?” Shaw asks, taking my hand. He stares at it as if it’s offending the both of us, making my world spiral. When did we become on the same side?

His mouth opens before I can say anything, and he sucks the tears off my fingers.

“Do you want us to leave?” Shaw asks, squeezing my fingers. “I’d hate it, but we’ll go. I’m so sorry about everything. I knew you were my match the second I scented you in the ravine. You fell in, and we looked for you for two days before we found you.”

Why would they look for me?

“You were too warm when you left,” Flynn says brokenly. “I knew there was something wrong. I wish you didn’t feel like you had to leave, Darling. We would have helped you.”

“Not mine,” I whisper, shaking my head wildly. Shaw takes the cup before I drop it, and Everest puts it on the nightstand. “Can’t stay.”

“Sweetness…” Shaw huffs out a sigh when I stare hard at him. He cannot call me cute pet names. I can’t handle it. “You’re hurt. The doctor has antibiotics and fluids running through your drip bag, and you have cuts and scratches all over you.”

I vaguely remember making some of those scratches on my body, in an attempt to feel something other than the unending ache from my heat. Drawing my legs up under the blanket, I hunch into myself. It appears I’m in a giant bed, maybe a pack bed?

“I… don’t belong here,” I say brokenly. Two days of screaming in pain underneath the water and swallowing it before I puked it back up has taken its toll on my throat.

“I won’t ask you why, because it’s a loaded question,” Everest says. “It’s too much to have a conversation about all the things we’re dying to talk about. So, instead, I’ll start easy. Do you want to stay in another room?”

“We all needed to be near you,” Ambrose says, wrinkling his nose as he rubs the stubble on his face. It’s clear none of them have shaved in days. Even Flynn has the beginning of a reddish beard coming in. “We didn’t mean to overstep.”

If I was allowed to care, I’d tell him it looks good, but I’m not.

“We may not deserve your words, but we need them, Darling,” Flynn says gently.

Why does he understand me so well?

I’m tired already, and I have to pee. Fuck my life.

“Not this room,” I say softly. Sighing, I stare at the offending IV line, wiggling in the bed. “I need a bathroom.”

“Of course,” Flynn says, rubbing his index finger over his lips as if to hide the smile I see peeking out. “I’m going to pick you up, and Everest is going to hold up your drip bag. Ah… I’ll make sure to put a new transparent guard on your IV first so I can close off the system and unhook you from this. Alright?”

Flynn holds out his hand to his alphas, asking them to wait before they jump into action, making me blink. I always thought alphas held all of the power, but they’re taking their cues from him.

I don’t understand this dynamic. I’m used to not having any power at all.

“Yes,” I whisper. I’m still waiting for the other shoe to fall as Everest stands and lifts the fluid bag from the hook, and Flynn rises from the bed in a pair of joggers that mold to his muscular and athletic body perfectly.

He’s thin, just a bit shorter than the alphas, but moves with confidence. He doesn’t cower from them or ask for permission. Flynn is completely comfortable in his home.

Returning with a sticky panel, he takes off the adhesive and rubs the guard over my skin before he closes off the valve that allows the fluid to drip. There’s an extra piece of tubing sticking out of the needle which he tapes down as he secures everything, and then he carefully removes, then unhooks the drip, while leaving the port in my arm intact.

“As long as you’re careful, you’ll be fine to pee,” Flynn says softly in my ear.

Flushing, I watch as he picks me up into his arms as if I weigh nothing.

“What do you like to eat, Darling? We need to figure this out so I can regularly feed you. I swear you’re going to disappear on me when I hold you like this,” he says softly. “You’re so tiny.”

“I don’t eat a lot,” I say with a small shrug. Only he can hear me as he grunts as he walks out of the room.

“We need to change that. I want to go shopping, pick up things you’ll eat. I noticed you have a lot of control when it comes to, well everything,” Flynn says.

“Keeps me alive,” I whisper. My eyes feel heavy, but my bladder is screaming at me, making me whimper.

“Hold on. Forcing so much fluid in you is going to make your bladder really mad at us,” Flynn says with a small chuckle.

The alphas follow us as if they have to, with Everest on our heels.

“Guys, I’m taking her to the bathroom. You really don’t need to follow us,” Flynn says, amused.

He walks us into the bedroom I stayed in before, and the view of the trees makes me shiver. It looks as if it’s late, though I have no idea as to how much time has passed. Everest tackles hanging up my IV bag, and Ambrose brings in a drill. I can hear them working together as Flynn flicks up the lightswitch in the bathroom, carefully setting me on my feet.

My knees attempt to buckle, making me gasp. Flynn locks his arm around my waist, biting his lip as he slowly shuts the door behind us.

“I’ll help, Darling. You’re going to feel weak for a bit,” Flynn says.

“Ugh,” I groan. “I can do it.”

“Yeah?” The cheeky omega pulls his arm away, catching me when my knees give out again and I squeal.

“Flynn!” Shaw roars. “Don’t fuck around. I can feel you laughing.”

“The bond,” Flynn murmurs as he picks me up and walks the few steps to the toilet. “That’s how he knows I was laughing.”

Oh.

“I don’t know much about that,” I mutter with a shrug. It’s easier to talk to Flynn when it’s just us.

“Alright, I’m going to help you, and we’re not going to make it weird. It’s totally natural, but I’ll turn my back just for you,” he says, chuckling as my face burns.

I shouldn’t be this embarrassed when I haven’t had much privacy in years.

As I slowly pull up my shirt, he lowers me down onto the toilet so I can pee, and then also turns on the faucet and gives me his back. Sighing, I close my eyes as I release my bladder. I don’t think the water was necessary, but it was sweet.

“Oh my God,” I moan. “God, I didn’t think I was going to make it.”

Flynn’s shoulders shake as he silently laughs, and I smirk because it is kind of funny. I clean up and flush the toilet, frowning as I try to stand.

“Nope, that’s what I’m here for, silly,” he says, picking me up. Flynn holds me steady as I wash my hands and brush my teeth, slowly helping me feel a bit more alive.

There are deep bruises under my eyes, and I’m super pale. My skin is clean, though, my shirt smells like Shaw, too.

“We cleaned you up, Darling. We’ve been looking for you since you left. The property has cameras everywhere, and I realized you were going into your heat. I wanted to go after you immediately, but the guys told me… to let you go,” he says sadly.

“Why didn’t you just let me go then?” I ask him as he lifts me into his arms.

“I was drawn to you the second you were dragged onto the auction stage,” he tells me as he opens the door. “I bid two million dollars on you, convinced you were important to us. The money means nothing to me, you do. You’re meant to be pack.”

“I’m no one,” I disagree. “I almost walked into the river several times. I don’t know why I didn’t.”

Flynn almost trips at my admission, and I can feel the weight of the gaze of my alphas as they stare at me as I hide my face in Flynn’s shoulder.

“Riding out a heat alone is one of the most horrific experiences an omega can experience,” he says softly. “You’re ours, even if you don’t believe it yet, which makes you very important.”

Flynn fusses over me as he helps me into bed and hooks up my IV drip. Pressing his lips against my temple, he steps back.

“I’m going to let you rest, but I want to keep the door open in case you need anything. You okay with that?” Flynn asks.

I nod, my eyes already shutting as sleep begins to pull me under. I hear the alphas each murmur their goodbyes, and then everything is dark and quiet as I fall asleep.

Trey staresdown at me in disgust as I cower on the ground. I’m barely fifteen, and he’s angry with me because I’m having a growth spurt. My stomach is rumbling and hurting.

“Wren, what do I always call you?” he asks, glaring down at me.

He’s muzzled me like a dog, so I couldn”t speak even if I wanted to. My arms are tied tightly behind my back as well, and he stripped me naked to inspect me of any other possible signs of my body maturing.

Shaking my head, I mewl for forgiveness. It’s not my fault I’m growing and hungry. I can’t help any of that.

Trey backhands me, screaming obscenities as spittle flies from his lips.

“You’re mine to fuck, and your body should do as I demand,” he growls. “Stop growing.”

Trey pushes his alpha bark on me, making me shudder because I don’t know what he expects from me. This man is as close to a God as possible for me. I live, breathe, and exist at his pleasure.

“Crawl to me, little whore,” he sneers. “Show your alpha how sorry you are.”

My head drops to the ground so quickly my vision swims. Trey gives me boiled eggs for breakfast, a protein shake for lunch, and face fucks me for hours afterwards. Our idea of protein is obviously very different.

Shuffling forward on my knees as quickly as I can since my arms are tied behind my back, I’m unprepared for the belt that hits my unprotected skin. Over and over as I scream, Trey hits me on my ass, my exposed pussy, and legs.

“Now maybe you’ll be a good girl for me,” he snarls as he leaves me gasping on the ground.

Not one tear falls the entire time.

“Wren, honey. Wake up,”a voice barks, making me gasp as my eyes open. It almost feels as if Ambrose forced me to wake up, but I can see from his dark, worried eyes that he didn’t. “You were yelling in your sleep.”

“Oh,” I rasp. My throat feels terrible, right in line with screaming. “Sorry…”

“Don’t be,” he says, dropping to his knees by the bed. It feels odd that they’re so comfortable being in what for me is such a submissive position. “It sounded really intense.”

Nodding, I shrug. I don’t remember ever having nightmares. I don’t know what’s triggering them now. I vaguely remember Shaw calling me a name I haven’t responded to since I was ten years old.

Could that be why?

I don’t want to talk about Trey, or the punishments that lasted for several days as he raped me while refusing me any food. My stomach refused to gurgle or complain through any of it, which is just as well. No one needs to hear about my past. I don’t need anyone’s pity.

“Can I… Fuck,” Ambrose says with a grimace. “It’s almost three in the morning, can I sleep on the floor? I don’t think I’ll be able to fall asleep again unless I’m near you. I’m trying this new thing where I stop ignoring my instincts.”

“The floor?” I ask, brows furrowing. “Alphas don’t sleep on the floor.”

His eyes widen, and I realize this is probably the longest conversation we’ve ever had.

“This one will. Do you need anything? I can bring in Flynn if you need to use the restroom or anything. Your bag ran dry while you were sleeping, and he decided to leave your port but disconnect you. I’m kind of glad he did, because you would have ripped it out during your nightmare.”

I guess that’s what it was. I’ve slept dreamlessly for so long, I hope this isn’t a regular thing.

Standing, Ambrose starts to lay down a pillow and blankets on the floor next to me.

God, he’s serious. A part of me wants to deny him this. It feels so wrong. The set of his lips show me how determined he is, until his loosened hair hides his face from me when he leans forward.

“Ambrose,” I say haltingly, his name feeling strange on my tongue.

Turning as he lays on his back on the ground, he pushes his hair off his face. “You can say my name as often as you’d like,” he says softly. “What’s up?”

“I don’t understand any of this,” I admit.

“All I know is that I’m happier where you are,” he says with a sheepish smile. “We’d all be sleeping on your floor if you’d let us, if I’m being honest with you. I have this driving need to make you feel better. We all have it with Flynn as well.”

“You can’t have two omegas,” I protest. Somehow, in the darkness of the night, it’s easier to talk to him. Ambrose doesn’t seem so large and imposing now. “Isn’t it considered obscene?”

“I don’t really give a fuck what people think,” Ambrose says in amusement. “We live the way we want, and have the clout to back it up. We aren’t good men, Wren. We do want to prove to you that we are good alphas though.”

I don’t know what any of that means, but I yawn as I lay in bed.

“Your body needs sleep so it can heal. Pay attention to it so I don’t get banned from sleeping on your floor,” he says. There’s no command, no power behind his words, just suggestions and supplication.

Blinking, I ask the question that’s been running through my mind.

“What if I don’t sleep?” I ask, waiting for the threats and punishments to begin.

“Then you’re tired tomorrow, baby girl,” Ambrose says goodnaturedly. “I’m not your parent, I do want you to be safe, but I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do. Does that help?”

“Yeah, it does,” I breathe. I listen to Ambrose’s deepening breaths as he falls asleep on the hard ground, and it lulls me back to sleep.

I also don’t dream again tonight.