“Hands up!” One burst in, gun out and ready to shoot, and I caught the moment of confusion on his face when he saw Marcus had already done so. “Keep them there!” he shouted as another beta entered, gun pointed down as he peered at me, Juniper, Benson, and then Marcus.
“Oh shit…” he muttered. “I’m calling this in.”
“The password is ‘always,’ Cyn,” Marcus said as his wrists were tugged behind his back, zip ties pulled tight around them. “Remember that, Cyn. Always.”
“Ma’am, are you OK?” another beta asked, appearing by my side, but he was fading, it was all fading. “Ma’am? Fuck, we need an ambulance here stat.”
“A fleet of them,” another voice said. “There’s half the social elite in there fucked up and falling down. Something’s happened, and I don’t want to be the one who’s seen to be responsible for it.”
“Cyn!”
My eyes jerked open to find that I was being wheeled out into the carpark on a gurney, moving towards a fleet of waiting ambulances. There were hundreds of people being helped over to them, field hospitals set up to triage who needed to be transported first. But not them. My mates came running across the asphalt, stopping the EMT from moving me farther.
“Cyn! Thank fuck,” Orion said, peering down at me. “What the hell happened?”
“Ari?” I asked, not really able to get much more out. It felt like an elephant was sitting on my head, crushing all thoughts.
“She’s fine. Well, she’s talking to police anyway. That fuck, Juniper…”
“Cyn.” Rhys swooped in, searching my face for damage, while Bren kept scanning the area, gun held down against his leg. But I couldn’t answer them, not when I looked past them to see Marcus being led towards a police car, the swirl of the blue lights blinding.
“No,” I squeaked out, provoking a spate of coughing. “No!”
“What, sweetheart? What the fuck happened?”
I didn’t get a chance to respond to Orion as my eyes rolled back, darkness claiming me again.
Chapter 40
“You need to let us in.”
That came out as a volcanic snarl, dragging me back up to the land of the living. That hurt, as someone was evidently using my weakened state to stab me repeatedly in the head with an ice pick. When I whimpered, the noise just got louder, hurting more. I curled reflexively, pulling the covers completely over me, burrowing deeper. Danger, hide, nest. The impulses throbbed deep, eradicating any need for why, those primal instincts needing to be satisfied first, but the pressure of the bed linen was quickly supplemented.
“It’s OK, omega. You’re safe now.”
I heard a voice so rich and deep, it felt like dropping in a warm bath, relaxing muscles just like one would. The voice didn’t describe my current state, it insisted, and because it said so, I was. I uncurled slowly, found the boundaries of my body where theirs met mine, and then pulled the sheets back.
“Jesus, Cyn,” Rhys said, the contortions of his face pricking at the edges of the calm he’d induced. He didn’t look fine, so it made me feel less so, but quickly, his expression softened. He reached out and stroked his hand down my face, his eyes softening, the desperation receding, and so did mine. There was something there, something ready to rise up and swallow me whole, but the beast inside was held at bay for the moment.
Until he came over.
Thin faced and wearing a white labcoat over his clothes, he frowned at the two of us, making me shift against the sheets.
“You can’t be in here,” the doctor said. “The omega has been assaulted and had what appears to be a date rape drug in her system. The police don’t want any alphas in here, tainting her testimony, before they—”
Then he broke in. Brendan took up position by the man, pulling a weapon from his denim jacket and flashing it at the man, then said, “How about you talk to me about your concerns outside and I relieve you of them.”
“I can have security down here in five minutes,” the man snapped back.
“You’ll be dead on the floor in two if you keep us away from our mate. We didn’t hurt her. We found her drugged and beaten, and with your knowledge of our biology, you know exactly what that does to an alpha,” Bren replied in a low growl.
“Fine. The alpha who is her mate can remain, and the rest of you can wait outside until the police arrive.”
“Orion Ratcliffe.” Orion strode into the room, dumping the takeaway cups of coffee on a nearby table and holding out a hand, which the doctor took reluctantly. “My father was on the board of this hospital, hence why we insisted our omega be brought here. At his untimely demise, I, of course, will take on that position. I’ve heard very good things about your skills when treating traumatised omegas. I personally asked for you to see to mine and my mates’ omega.” He smiled, some of his father’s politician smile, but he did it to smooth the ruffled feathers of the beta doctor, not propose murder. “Our relationship is an unconventional one, but I assure you, it’s a happy and consensual one.”
The smile faltered, a steel rising in Orion’s eyes.
“We would do anything to ensure that she is safe and feeling secure. She was assa