Chapter 5

Despite how peaceful I had felt as I went to sleep, I woke with a deep sense of dread and loss. I shut down my side of the bond with Shae, so I wouldn't alarm them before I carefully reached out to Trevor. I could tell he was sleeping, so I blocked my connection with him as well. Carefully, I extracted myself from the pile of limbs that we'd become in the night and crept out to the hall, closing the door to the nest behind me.

I took a few steadying breaths and leaned against the wall before I reached for my bond with Theo. In the place where his steady presence, his love, his devotion had anchored me since the day I'd bonded him, there was just… nothing. Despair threatened to drown me, but I clung to the knowledge that if something had happened to him, Trevor wouldn't still be sleeping. I would know. Somehow, the drug that bastard had given him had severed our bond. I dragged myself down to my room and threw on sweats and stumbled out of the house and to my car. I needed to see Theo.

When I arrived at the hospital it was barely seven in the morning. I walked onto the ward and was striding toward his room when one of the nurses tried to stop me from going any further. I snarled, ready to knock her out, no matter how well-meaning she was, when the nurse who'd helped Shae and Theo the first day hustled over. She explained that she would take any heat for letting me pass, but that since the whole pack had stayed two nights before, she doubted anyone would care. I nodded my thanks to the nurse and nearly ran the rest of the way to the room.

I wasn't planning on waking Trevor or Theo; I just needed to see them, to watch the slow rise and fall of their chests, and know they were alright. Opening the door carefully so I wouldn't make any noise, I peeked in and saw Trevor passed out on the bed nearest the door, snoring softly. Theo was in his bed, too, but he was sitting up and looking out the window. The relief that poured through me at seeing him awake and unharmed nearly brought me to my knees, and my eyes swam with tears. I closed the door behind me and Theo looked at me then, a sad smile on his face.

"I can't feel you anymore, gorgeous, and I fucking hate it."

I nodded, biting my lip to keep from sobbing. I moved quickly over to him and climbed into his lap. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pressed my face there as he did the same, wrapping his arms around my waist. We sat like that for what felt like a long while just breathing each other in as I let the silent tears fall. His normally subtle bayberry and oak scent had strengthened to the point that anyone meeting him would assume he was an Alpha and always had been. The chemical taint had all but disappeared, as well. Once my tears had stopped, he lifted his head and pressed a kiss to my forehead, then held my face between his hands as he brushed the evidence of my tears away with his thumbs. I heard him swallow, hard, before he spoke.

"We can fix this, right? You can claim me again?"

"I will bite you right now if you want me to, love. You are mine. My first bond, my first love. Of course, I want to feel you through a bond again, but…" I struggled to force the words out through everything I was feeling. "…if whatever they gave you means we can't bond, I don't care. I will always want you. I love you."

I felt a shudder move through his body at my words. His fingers tightened briefly around my jaw before he tilted his head and claimed my mouth. My breasts pressed into his chest and my hips drove down until I felt his hard length against my core. We devoured each other, reassuring ourselves with every sweep of our lips and tongues, every touch of our hands, and the way we ground into each other that nothing would change between us: we were pack. We were forever.

"I love you, too."

"And you know that I love you both, but it's way too early for all these feelings."

I looked over to see Trevor smirking at us as he stretched. The joy he was throwing at me from his side of the bond contradicted his words. Before everything that had happened with that psychotic Omega, Trevor had been the biggest cinnamon roll out of all of us. He'd been the most thoughtful and open and communicative out of all of us, but ever since then he kept that side of himself closed off. Lately, the old Trevor was showing up more and more and I would never stop being grateful for that.

He stood and did that effortless, messy, man-bun thing he did with his dark blond waves then slipped out of the room, promising to bring us back shitty hospital coffee. Theo gripped my waist a little more firmly to bring my attention back to him.

"Do we tell the doctors about the bond breaking?"

"I don't think it will hurt to tell them that. I'm more worried about there being evidence of you becoming an Alpha. I plan on asking Ethan to wipe your records from all the hospital servers as soon as you are discharged. I will not allow you to become some medical experiment. I won't let that happen to Cat or any of the other girls either, unless they want to."

"Always taking care of everyone."

"Fucking right I do."

He chuckled and kissed me again before he got out of bed and went to the bathroom to clean up. Sometime in the night, they'd decided he didn't need to be connected to a banana bag anymore and that he'd be allowed to shower, although he still had to have a waterproof covering over the IV cannula until it was taken out. I couldn't wait to get him out of there. A clatter at the door drew my attention as Trevor pushed it open with his elbow on the handle. He had coffees in a cardboard tray in one hand, his phone to his ear, and a scowl on his face.

"I'll leave the hospital now and come in. Get everything together for me to look over and meet me in my office."

Trevor ended the call and slipped his phone away before handing me a coffee and kissing my cheek. He rubbed his stubbly cheek along my temple, marking me with his scent, as he moved away. I smiled into my coffee, taking a sip, before wrinkling my nose.

"Ugh. You know how some women say you don't remember how painful having a baby is? Like it's some psychological trick to get you to keep having babies? I think the same thing happens with hospital coffee. I always forget how absolutely shitty it is until I drink it again."

Trevor laughed lightly as he gathered up his things.

"Going to tell me why you're heading into the office?"

"Sorry, got lost in my own thoughts there for a minute. Cole's had some kind of breakthrough about why they had such a hard time finding Shae and the others. I'm going to go in and see if I can help him follow the breadcrumbs."

"Do you want to see if Ethan can come in too?"

Trevor froze, for just a moment, as he was reaching for his keys. He recovered quickly enough that most people wouldn't have noticed the way his brain glitched at the mention of our Omega.

"No, let him stay with Shae. Cole and I can muddle through this. It may turn out to be nothing."

"Promise me you'll have Cole ask Ethan to come in if he thinks it'll help."

Trevor came to stand in front of me, placing a hand on my hip and squeezing as he leaned down to give me a gentle kiss.

"I promise. I'm trying, really, I am, love. The therapist is helping me. I'm going to talk to Ethan about everything, soon."

I went up on my toes and nipped at his lips to lighten the moment as I sent love and pride down the bond.

"I'm so proud of you, Trev."

"I love you."

"Love you, too. Now go find me some answers and call me if you need me. I'll wait here until they discharge Theo and then I'll take him home."

Trevor shrugged on his backpack and went over to the bathroom door. The sound of the shower had stopped but the faucet was running. He rapped hard on the door.

"I'm going to work, dickhead. Try not to let someone get the jump on you while I'm gone."

I shook my head, grinning, as I waited for Theo's reply. It came through, only slightly muffled.

"Fuck off, Trev. Go back to your nerd cave and make a PowerPoint or whatever the fuck it is you do."

I was pretty sure that was their version of "I love you" since there were witnesses. Both of those idiots were much more emotionally evolved than this particular conversation made it seem. Men were weird.

"Miss Owens!"

I sighed when I heard a woman call out to me as I was walking away from the vending machines, heading back to Theo's room. Despite thinking that Theo would be discharged today, we'd been disappointed to find out they'd decided to keep him in for another night due to concerns about elevations in several of his blood test results. He'd growled at the nurse who delivered the news. I'd thought he might rip the cannula from his arm and charge out of there in all his bare assed glory, but I was able to talk him down. It'd helped that Ethan had called my cell right about then to check in on Theo. I'd been able to pass the phone over and tell him to talk to our Omega while I went to the vending machines to get some snacks.

Turning toward the woman, I recognized the nurse from that first night—the one who'd also helped me this morning. She hustled toward me, eyes darting along the hall, fidgeting with her scrubs and ducking her head as another nurse passed. My hackles rose as I waited to see if she was going to fuck up my day or if I was going to fuck up hers.

"Yes…? Sorry, I don't think I got your name."

"Courtney. But that's okay, I just—look, your pack seems to have been through a lot and you all seem really nice—growly, but nice—so I felt like I needed to warn you."

"Warn me about what?"

Courtney flinched at the dominance that had leached into my voice.

"I don't want to get in trouble, but… that doctor from the night you all came in, who tried to make your Omega leave?"

Dr. Thomas. Yes, I remembered him. He'd been a self-righteous prick and I'd happily scared him into scurrying away from my pack. I nodded and her shoulders lost a little of their tension before she continued.

"I heard him talking to a few other doctors about Mr. Owens, and the Omegas that came in at the same time. He wants to get the hospital involved somehow. He said he thinks if they can study them more or get consent to use the data that they already have, they could make names for themselves."

My fist clenched and I had to close my eyes and take a deep breath.

"I mean, I know that what's happening to them is a scientific breakthrough and something that could change lives, but at what cost? They're still people. I don't know—Dr. Thomas is a grade-A asshole, with a huge chip on his shoulder about being a Beta, and I don't think what he's suggesting is right. I just wanted you all to know."

"Thank you, Courtney. I really appreciate the heads-up."

She shrugged off my thanks and kept moving down the hall. I reached for my phone to call Gia when I remembered I'd left it with Theo. Gia was more than just the head attorney at Drake House, she was my college friend and someone I trusted. She was also the first hire I made when I took over from my dad.

Cursing under my breath, I made my way back to the room, making sure the door shut completely behind me. Theo looked up from where he was sitting, still talking to Ethan on my phone. As I walked to him, I gave him the universal gesture for wrap-it-up. He looked at me in surprise before his brow furrowed.

"I have to go, Biscuit, but I'll be home soon. Yeah. Love you, too."

He ended the call, and I reached out for the phone, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the bed. In retaliation, I tossed the candy bars I'd got at him, but he just ignored that. He brushed his thumb along my wrist and caught my eyes.

"Talk to me, gorgeous. What's up?"

I closed my eyes again and took another deep breath. Compared to the one I'd taken to try to calm myself when I'd been talking to Courtney, this one was infinitely more effective, because it was imbued with Theo's scent and the lingering notes of Trevor's as well.

"One of the nurses stopped me and told me that the douchebag doctor from the first night is trying to force your situation into the light so he can profit from it, at least career-wise. I'm going to call Gia to see if we can enforce some kind of after the fact NDA."

"Is it just me? What about the others? The new Omegas like Cat."

"All of you."

"Do it."

Theo brought my wrist to his mouth, ghosting his lips across the thin skin, then let it go so I could begin making calls. Within an hour, Gia had sent over five separate non-disclosure agreements. Only the ones for Theo and Cat had names on them but the others were labeled as "patient" and contained a letter of explanation for the other victims. Gia had also reached out to the hospital's representation to grease the wheels and throw that prick of a doctor under the bus. I'd told her to throw the full weight of our pack's connections around, and even promised that, if any of the people exposed to that serum decided to let their results be studied, this hospital's research teams would have the first opportunity to work with them. I couldn't predict what the others would do but I was confident that Theo and Cat would never cash that in.

Before another hour passed, one of the hospital's directors was in Theo's room, full of apologies. He promised that he would personally ensure that no action would be taken without the explicit consent of the people showing signs of designation transition. I asked for there to be a meeting with all the staff members who'd treated my mates and the Omegas, where the terms of the retroactive NDAs would be laid out and everyone present would sign. Thankfully the list of personnel wasn't terribly long, and he assured me that they would be able to get all the people into the hospital for a meeting at the shift change.

While we waited, I called Trevor to come to the hospital and come to the meeting with me. Theo had decided to take another shower while I made the last few calls. When he came out of the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around his waist, I leaned back into the chair, to enjoy watching his delicious body as he got dressed. Even if he was only getting into a clean hospital gown, the view was spectacular.

"Stop eye-fucking me until I can do something about it."

"Never."

He just smirked and shot me a panty-melting wink. I stood up and walked to him, running one hand along his broad shoulder, while bringing my other hand around his neck to pull his lips to mine so I could devour him with a kiss. A knock on the door had us breaking apart sooner than either of us wanted, both of us breathing heavily. He held my gaze as he adjusted himself to hide the evidence of what I'd done to him. I bit my lip and held back a groan, cursing our surroundings, because there was just something so fucking hot about knowing that your partner was hard or wet because of you.

"Game face, gorgeous."

I released my lip and nodded, letting the emotions slide from my face but allowing just a hint of the killer to peek through. I didn't know if it would be necessary, but I wasn't about to take any chances.

"I'm not going to sign. This is bullshit. We could be leading the way in the medical breakthrough of the century, and you're going to let them push us around? They're only one pack!"

The meeting with the hospital staff and the few lawyers Gia had sent to handle the paperwork had gone well until, shocking no one at all, Dr. Thomas refused to sign. I had expected someone to fight the NDA and I was glad he was the one who complained loudly.

"The rest of you are free to go. Please remember the warnings provided by your hospital's administration and counsel regarding the patients protected by these agreements. Have a great day."

I watched the staff file out, all leaving a wide berth around the lone doctor still seated at the table. I lifted my head toward the Drake House attorney, moving my eyes to the door in an exaggerated gesture. He took the hint and let out a long, pointed sigh, mouthing that I owed him before corralling the hospital's lawyer and getting him out of the room. That left just myself and Trevor, who'd arrived just before the meeting and had slipped into his enforcer-like persona standing at my side, alone with the good doctor.

"You Alphas are all the same, thinking whatever you say goes: some growling and a bark and you get your way. But this is bullshit. This could help people; people that society thinks less of just because they don't have a knot or can't take one."

"Careful. You're showing your hand, Doc."

The threat in Trevor's tone caused the doctor's rant to end with an audible click of teeth as he snapped his mouth shut. The scowl was still on his face, but his expression became wary as I slowly circled the conference table and came to sit on the edge of the table, right next to his chair.

"Let me make something very clear to you, Dr. Thomas. There is absolutely nothing I wouldn't do for the people I love. You're right, to some extent. As an Alpha, I am used to getting my way. But it's not because I will growl, or bark, or whatever else your pathetic victim complex wants to conjure up as the reason why you aren't getting what you want. It's because I work for it. I fight for it. And when it comes to my mates and their safety, I will kill for it. Do you understand me?"

He pushed himself up out of the chair and tried to tower over me, a tactic so many men seemed to use when they wanted to intimidate someone physically smaller than them. Idiot.

"You can't threaten me! I will?—"

Whatever he'd been about to say died in his throat as I rose to meet him. I wrenched his wrist behind his back with one hand, grabbed the back of his neck with the other and slammed his face into the table, careful not to break his nose in the process. His noises of protest ceased when I bent down to whisper in his ear.

"I don't think you quite grasp what I'm saying here, so I am going to spell it out. If you do anything that will cause my mates or those women, who were literally tortured and almost trafficked, any sort of harm or further distress—I. Will. Kill. You."

The miserable excuse for a human stilled then, putrid fear leaching into his scent. I also caught the impact of my declaration on Trevor's scent as it deepened with a note of arousal. Maybe we were a twisted pack, but I reveled in it.

"And, if it comes to that, I wouldn't care whether you suffered or not. But I would make sure your death was carried out in a manner that would have left you humiliated in life. Would destroy your pitiful reputation so thoroughly that no one would ever dare speak well of you. So, not only would I end your life, but whatever legacy you thought you were building would be forgotten. Do you understand me now?"

I pressed his wrist further, knowing the angle would cause pain in his strained shoulders. He nodded, his cheek smearing in the saliva that had leaked out where I'd forced his face down, reinforcing how powerless he was in my hands.

"Good. Now, sign."

I released him and he collapsed back into the seat, cradling his arm and blinking back tears. Trevor pushed the agreement and a pen toward him. He signed quickly then fled the room.

Trev came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist, carefully tugging me backward. I could feel his hardness nestled against my ass as he nipped at the sensitive skin where my neck met my shoulder.

"So. Fucking. Hot."

I laughed lightly as I leaned into his embrace, dropping my head back to his chest. We stayed like that for a moment then I pulled away and turned to face him.

"C'mon. We need to check on Cat and the others so I can call Shae with an update. You going to stay a while and help me convince your brother not to flee?"

"I need to get back to Drake House. Cole is still looking into his hunch. He's messaged Ethan, asking him to come in and keep looking into any links between the warehouse and the Jackals. All that medical equipment and shit they were using."

I raised my eyebrows.

"Anything I should know?"

At this point, I was basically the whole Board of Directors for Drake House Securities. When my dads had retired to travel the world with my Omega mother, they'd set it up so their seats would be consolidated into one. Since the other two seats were currently held by one of Miles" dads and one of my uncles and neither of them cared too much about the day-to-day running of the company, I was mostly free to do what I wanted.

"Not yet; it's just some things sticking out at us right now. As soon as I have actual evidence and a plan, I will set up a briefing."

"See you at home, tonight?"

"Not tonight. I'll grab Theo's favorite from that Lebanese place downtown and crash here again, so he doesn't try to take off down a fire escape or something."

Trevor must have sensed my worry through the bond because he closed the small space between us and cupped my cheek before pressing a sweet kiss to my lips.

"I'm not avoiding home, or Ethan, this time. I promise. I know everyone would be more comfortable if someone stayed with Theo. I also don't want Ethan to be worried about me in the nest or not being in it when we haven't even got to talk yet."

"Okay. I love you, Trev."

"Love you too, Alpha."