“Talia?” I called out.
I heard a gasp, then running footsteps and a second later, my omega darting around the corner. She barrelled into me, and the guards’ assistance was the only thing that kept me upright.
I couldn’t care about the near fall, not even a little bit.
Not when she was in my arms, her scent wrapping around me.
“You’re awake.” She rubbed her cheek against my chest. “We didn’t know when you were going to wake up.”
“Couldn’t stay down for too long. Not when I had to make sure you were OK.”
I inhaled deeply, noticing something off about her scent this time. That hint of cucumber that it had when she was half bonded to her scent match... it was stronger now.
And with her hair tied up, I could see a bandage wrapped around her neck.
More bandages on her arms.
My stomach felt sick.
“What happened?” I demanded gruffly.
My first thought was that I did something to hurt her. I’d been out of my goddamn mind; anything could have gone wrong. She’d been in heat and I’d been feral, which was a combination ripe for disaster.
“Can we talk about it later?” She pulled back, looking up at me with pleading eyes.
“Princess, I need to know if I hurt you.”
Her eyes went wide and she shook her head immediately. “No, of course not.”
“You have a lot of bandages for me not hurting you.”
“They aren’t because of you,” Mercer said.
He and West had rushed around the corner shortly after our omega.
“We’re at the Omega Haven Residence,” Talia explained. “I was dropped off here after...”
After I attacked her?
But, no. She hadn’t had these injuries when I’d last seen her, and she wouldn’t have gotten them if the hospital staff had sent her immediately to the Residence. Something else had happened in between. Something horrible.
Something involving her scent match, and how his scent tangled more with hers than it had before.
And that bandage on her neck...
My muddy brain finally put all the pieces together, and I growled.
He’d claimed her. Completed the bond she’d started. What kind of asshole was that guy?
Knowing now that she was part of the infamous Alfieri family, I could guess he was the power-hungry kind of asshole.
I was swaying on my feet, my legs trembling with the effort of standing after so many physical traumas. It didn’t help that my anger made me vibrate with the need to act, but there was nothing to do. I didn’t even know the whole story yet.
“Can we sit down somewhere? Standing is a bit much for me.”
Mercer and West came and grabbed both of my arms, leading me back into the room I’d been staying in. A little privacy was probably for the best with the blue and white hospital gown monstrosity that I was wearing.
When I was sitting up against the headboard, Talia came and laid with her side pressed against mine, rubbing her scent all over me. She didn’t seem to care that I was still wet from my ice bath.
