Page 58 of Knot Your Average Beta

“Shh, omega, it’s okay. You’re safe. You’re safe, I promise you,” Luca murmurs. God. They’re all trying their best to make me feel better. Four separate purrs are pouring across the room and Ethan has my hand clutched in his, his mouth pressing kisses into my palm. Swift sits on the coffee table looking almost feral, like he wants to kill whatever is making me scared, but he can’t because I’m the fuck up here and I know Swift would rather die than hurt me.

Maddox stands behind the couch, his big hand strokes down my head until it rests at the back of my neck. Having my prime alpha do that to me helps like nothing else could and my whine dies out to a whimper and then silence.

“Tell us, omega,” his low command sweeps over me. It’s not a bark. I can ignore it if I want. But I don’t think I want to.

“I don’t know,” I whisper my truth.

Logan’s brows jump behind his glasses. “You don’t know what, Sadie?”

I shake my head, another whine building in my throat. “I don’t know what was wrong with me. They never told me. I was eight when I started seeing Dr. Schwab and they told me I wouldn’t understand, that there was no reason for me to worry about it.” My eyes slip closed at the stupidity of it all as I continue on in a harsh whisper. “I kept asking and they never—they never told me and after years I stopped asking. By the time I was twenty and they told me I was better, I really didn’t care. I just wanted to move on to the part of my life where I’m wasn’t sick.”

I open my eyes to find Logan looking at me with a tick in his jaw and anger in his eyes. I whine. He reaches up to touch my face, sliding his fingers over my jaw. “I’m not mad at you, mo chuisle. Never at you.” He forces a smile to his lips. “I just hate not knowing what was wrong with you.”

I nod and whisper, “I hate not knowing now, too.”

“Who would we be able to get answers from?” Maddox asks, fingers tightening slightly on my throat.

“My mother. Dr. Schwab. The nurses. Though I never saw their faces and they never gave me their names.”

I look up to find them all looking at each other, having a conversation that I can’t hear or make out. Ethan shifts a little, drawing my attention to him. “You said Dr. Schwab’s office was on Havershine?”

I nod, feeling an inexplicable sense of dread creep over me. Like I’m on the precipice of discovering something that is going to forever change my life, my mind. I swallow and nod again. “Yes. 1253 Havershine.”

He sighs and runs a hand over his face before fishing his phone out of his back pocket. “I thought maybe he just changed locations in the last five years, moved to a different office. So I didn’t think anything of it, but the doctor’s office I looked up for Dr Schwab was on 46th.” I blink at him, not understanding what he’s saying.

“I-I that’s not right.” Shaking my head, I wince when it makes it ache with a vengeance. “I went for a checkup last year and the office was still on Havershine.”

Ethan turns his phone toward me, showing me a picture of a man in his sixties with a bushy mustache and kind brown eyes. He’s grinning at the camera. There’s something about him that makes me feel… safe, like a beloved grandfather.

“Who’s that?” I ask, looking up at Ethan.

His eyes widen, and he curses roundly before answering my question. “That is Dr. Schwab, sweetheart.”

I shake my head, a little laugh bubbling out of my mouth. “No, it’s not. Dr. Schwab is younger, not by much, and he has blue eyes and no mustache.” I look at Logan to confirm. “That’s not him.”

Ethan’s finger on my chin turns his attention back to him. “Yes, heartbreaker, it is.” He clicks on the screen and then hands me the phone, letting me see the website for Dr. Schwab with this stranger’s picture front and center.

I stare at it for too long, not comprehending what it means, not understanding what’s happening. “But I was sick. I spent years being sick,” I insist. “And he was my doctor. I don’t understand…”

I think I’m on the verge of a breakdown, honestly. My brain is short circuiting and I can’t make myself fucking focus. Instinctively, my eyes find Logan. He’s a doctor, he’ll be able to help me understand, right?

“What does this mean?”

He shakes his head, one hand tightening on my thigh while the other slides up to my cheek. “I don’t know, mo chuisle. But we’ll figure it out.” His light green eyes move over my head, likely meeting Maddox’s dark gaze. “I can run some basic tests, blood work and such to see if anything stands out.” He looks back at me. “What sorts of treatments did you have? That might give us an idea of what they were treating you for.”

I try to focus on the question, building my resolve. As a mature, emotionally stable adult, I can do this. I can figure this out. “A lot of things. It started out with them, testing my blood mostly, and then they did intravenous medications twice a month. And eventually they moved on to blood transfusions.”

Logan’s dark red brows narrow. “Blood transfusions. Those are usually for certain types of cancer-”

He cuts off when I shake my head. “Not cancer. They made sure I understood it wasn’t cancer. Though I guess that could have been a lie, seeing as he was practicing medicine under a stolen identity.”

A low growl sounds from Swift, and he pushes to his feet, striding out of the room. I watch him go, a part of me needing him near, but also fully aware that I’m not really in a position to demand that he stay with me.

The furrow in Logan’s brows deepens. “What about your kidneys?”

Shrugging, I shake my head. “I don’t think so. I haven’t had a transfusion in almost six years and I know I never had a transplant. Never had a surgery.” puffing my cheeks, I blow out a breath. “I’m sorry. I wish I was more help.”

“Don’t fucking apologize, trouble,” Maddox grumbles from above me. “This is not your fault.”

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