I could see the pain there, but his voice was strong. “Stay with me, baby girl. Focus on my eyes. The Omegas are almost done with the first cart of meat. They are running as fast as they can. But I need you to stay here with me. Okay.” He went to pull his claw out of my leg, but I could already feel my bones trying toshift. I grabbed his hand and forced his claw deeper into my leg. “Amy...”
I tossed my head and grimaced. “I won’t let Ronnie die.”
I shivered for the next ten minutes, waiting for the cart of food. I focused solely on my father’s eyes, the pain, and my breathing. “You can do this, baby girl.” I nodded and bared my teeth.
“Fuck.” I screamed as another wave hit my body. My bones shifted, and I pushed my father’s claw deeper.
“Amy, I think the claw is counter intuitive. You’re bleeding yourself, and losing more blood than you should.” The doctor came over and tried to intervene, but I just growled.
“If you want me to shift, then remove the claw. I’m doing what I can to stop that from happening.” I felt my face shift, and I screamed again, pushing his claw deeper.
Finally, the door flew open, and a girl covered in dirt came in with the cart. “What the hell happened to you, Marnie?”
“There was a scuffle outside, but I was able to get through.” She panted as she brought the food closer. I dove for a steak, the juices flooded my mouth, and I groaned. I was lost to the food until my father stood up.
I looked up after my fifth steak and everyone was staring at me. “What?”
“Nothing. It was just…” The doctor turned back to the wound and pulled out the gauze.
“Impressive.” My father choked out as he covered his mouth. He turned back to Marnie. “Talk to me.”
“There was a group of pack members outside, grieving the Beta. The Gamma tried to stop me from coming in, but I told him that I was on orders from you to bring this directly to Amy. He tried to grab the cart, but some of the pack members heard us talking and got involved. The Gamma grabbed me and slammed me to the ground, but more pack members surrounded him, including the Beta and Gamma females, Lynn and Tina. I wasable to grab the cart and run up here.” Marnie shifted from foot to foot. “I don’t understand what’s going on, Alpha.”
“Beck is outside?” My father looked at me, and I stared at the shivering girl. A new gnawing sensation started in my gut. I stood, panting, but my father stepped in front of me. “Marnie, can you go back to the kitchens, but send another Omega to deliver the meals, okay?” She nodded, left the room, and my father turned to me. “Calm baby girl. You need to calm yourself. We don’t know the truth yet, and your emotions are way too elevated right now.”
I felt myself snarl and shift again, but my dad pointed next to me. I looked over at Ronnie and I felt Nix pull back with another snarl. I nodded and settled back down with another steak. “You’re right.” I bit into the steak and closed my eyes, rocking with the need to shift and take retribution.
Megan feels bloodthirsty. So do I. Logan is sending us everything he can’t handle while healing Ronnie, but we have never had to deal with this before. Logan has more experience pushing back the need to shift, but because we are linked through blood, the need is overwhelming us. He wants revenge, but he is solely focused on healing his human. We are sorry.Nix’s voice was ragged with her need, but I just bit into another steak.
“It’s okay. I can handle it.” I managed to answer as I ate.
“What baby?” My dad turned around and faced me as I ate.
“Nix…struggling with Logan’s need to shift…and revenge. She apologized for not pulling back more, but Logan is bloodthirsty.” I choke out around my food.
“Logan’s never bloodthirsty, he is my voice of reason.” My father’s face was a mask of confusion and I laughed.
“Not this time. Whatever happened, he is riled up. But he’s using everything he has to heal Ronnie, I think you will have to be his voice of reason. He won’t stop until he has hisretribution.” I tore into the last steak as the door opened. Another round of meat came in.
“Alpha…the Gamma is blocking the Omegas from coming in after this cart he said.” The Omega gulped. “I tried to reason with him. I told him that this was your command, but he said that unless you come out and give him an order, he assumes we are lying.”
“What the fuck?” My father growled and his eyes flashed.
“I think he assumes something is up. Whether with me, or he wants to be sure Ronnie is dead.” I waved over the Omega, who swaps out the cart. “Lie. Say it's me, awake but weak. Whatever you need to convince him that Ronnie is gone, so you have to be convincing.” I start on the third cart of food as I feel the pressure to shift ease a bit. “I’ll watch over Uncle Ronnie.”
“Okay.” Then he was gone.
Chapter Forty-Two
I
continued eating, and finally, after the full third cart, the need to shift stopped. I looked up at the doctor, amazed, but he was still working on Ronnie’s wound. But something changed, something eased. I felt a soft graze on my hand on the bed and I turned to look at my uncle, and Ronnie was staring at me. I smiled. “Hi.”
“Hey.” He looked tired, but his tired voice had the nurse and doctor jolting.
“You’re awake.” The doctor smiled.
Ronnie nodded and his eyes drifted close. “Thanks to this beautiful pup.” His eyes glowed grey as his wolf came forward. “Thank you pup. You saved both of us while dealing with my needs, and I know it wasn’t easy.”
