Page 30 of Feral Omega

He just looks at me for a long moment, then jerks his chin at the door. Asking me a question again, but this time, I get it. I think. Do I want in there too? Do I want to help her, protect her, just as bad as he does?

"Yeah," I growl. "Fuck yeah I do."

Wraith nods, a sharp dip of his chin. He motions for me to get away from the door and I watch, thinking he's a dumbass for trying the doorknob when he just saw me do it a second ago.

Then he gives it a sharp jerk and the whole fucking thing comes off, leaving the door to swing open on its hinge into the dimly lit room.

Well, fuck. Maybe there's a use for the giant freak, after all.

I step over the threshold into the clinic, distinctly aware of Wraith's hulking presence at my back. The air is cool and sterile, and her scent is stronger here, standing out, wrapping around me like a vice. My eyes adjust to the dim light and I see her lying there on the exam table, so still and pale she could be a corpse.

Wraith makes a dangerous noise low in his throat, a guttural sound that sets my teeth on edge. I glance at him, trying to gauge his reaction, but with that fucking mask, it's impossible. He's just staring at her, his massive frame rigid with tension.

I move closer to the table, my boots scuffing softly on the tile. She looks even worse up close, her skin almost translucent, dark bruises standing out in stark relief on her arms.

What the fuck did they do to her at that place?

Wraith is circling the table now, his head tilted down, his massive hands flexing at his sides. I can practically feel the rage rolling off him in waves, a palpable thing that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

I've seen him lose it before, seen the destruction he can cause when he's in that state. So has my fucking nose. And right now, with her lying there looking so fragile, so broken...

I'm not sure if I'm more worried about what he might do to her or what he might do to anyone who tries to stop him.

He reaches out one giant hand and I tense, ready to intervene even if he puts me through the wall. But instead of grabbing her, he touches her face with a gentleness I didn't think him capable of.

His gloved fingers, so large they dwarf her delicate features, brush over her cheekbone, down to the corner of her mouth. It's almost reverent, the way he touches her, like she's something precious and breakable.

For once, I don't hear his breath rasping and whooshing through the vents and tubing of his gas mask. I don't think he's breathing at all.

Okay. Maybe he's not going to freak out after all.

But then his hand drifts lower, skimming over the column of her throat, and I see it—the thick, ropey scar on her shoulder that mars her otherwise perfect skin. It looks like… a brand? Like something burning hot pressed against her skin and seared deep. And then I notice all the smaller bruises and scrapes on her bare arms that are harder to see in the shadow of the room.

Wraith goes utterly still, his fingers hovering just above the mark. I can hear the leather of his gloves creaking as his hands curl into fists.

"Easy, big guy," I say, keeping my voice low and even, even though I feel on the verge of a freakout, too. "She's safe now. We got her."

He doesn't react, doesn't even seem to hear me. He's just staring at that scar, his whole body thrumming with barely contained violence. I take a step closer, ready to put myself between him and her if I have to.

But then, just as quickly as it came, the tension seems to drain out of him. His shoulders slump and he lets out a long, shuddering breath, the sound distorted by his mask. He looks up at me, and for the first time, his blue eyes aren't completely empty.

He almost looks human.

He points at the scar on her shoulder, then at the bruises on her arms. His meaning is clear.

Someone did this to her.

Someone hurt her.

Someone needs to die.

He doesn't need to say the words for me to understand his meaning perfectly. It's like a directive that's been carved into my soul.

I nod, my jaw tight. "Look at that, big guy. We finally agree on something."

Chapter

Thirteen

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