Page 46 of Marked By the Alphas

It was the scent of another Omega.

Chapter 23

Elara

“Rhys, is everything okay? Why’d you stop?” I asked when Rhys slowed down to a stop suddenly in the middle of the woods.

He held out a hand to stop me from moving before he began walking down a path. Ignoring his signal to wait, I began following him, wondering if he had heard something that I had missed. I was about to call out to him again, when the scent wafted to my nose, almost freezing me in place.

It had been months since I had last smelled the scent, but I would recognize it anywhere in the world. It was my best friend, Naya. My world seemed to tilt on its axis and blood pounded in my ears, my senses honing in on the fading scent.

It felt like the world had paused, and without another thought, I sprinted forward. I could hear Rhys call out for me, his voice filled with worry, but I didn’t stop. The scent grew stronger with every step, leading me deeper into the woods. Branches whipped at my face the deeper I went, but I didn’t mind, and I pushed on, driven by the overwhelming need to find my friend.

And then, there she was.

Naya was motionless on the forest floor. Her skin was pale and clammy, and her eyes were shut tight in a way that made my heart skip a beat as I feared the worst. I moved to kneel beside her, my hands trembling as I reached out to touch her, and a gasp escaped my lips when my fingers brushed against her cold skin.

“Sweetheart, you need to get away from her. Come on, we don't know what could be crawling through the woods, or who could have done this. I need to take you back so I can handle this properly,” Rhys said as he caught up with me, but I shook my head, tears falling freely from my eyes.

“No.” My voice was barely above a whisper.

“Elara…” Rhys began, but I shook my head again.

“She’s my friend! I’m not leaving her here.”

A flash of something flickered in Rhys’ eyes, something I couldn’t immediately decipher with the tears that were running down my face, but I was too focused on Naya to even give it much thought.

The world seemed to slow down as I tried to take in the extent of her injuries. There was a deep gash on her leg, and her left arm was held at an unnatural angle. Her skin was so pale, and the blood that stained her white dress had my heart pounding at the thought of the extent of her injuries.

“It’s okay. Help is coming,” Rhys reassured me, and I nodded, turning my attention back to the almost lifeless form of my best friend.

I could tell that she was still alive, but as I cradled her head in my lap, I knew that she was barely hanging on.

Soon, Kai and Rowan arrived with a flock of men, and Kai gently pulled me away from Naya, his hands firm and gentle. I still resisted. Naya needed me and I had to stay with her.

“Hey, hey, look at me, baby. She needs help, and she’s not going to get it with you holding onto her right here. Anyah is waiting toattend to her back at the house and that’s where you both need to be,” Kai said softly to me, and I choked on my tears, burrowing into his warmth when he pulled me into a hug.

It was all my fault. If only I had taken her with me during my escape, we would have both been fine, and she wouldn’t be on the verge of losing her life. I didn’t want to imagine the kind of pain she could have gone through to be in such a delicate position, and I couldn’t help the guilt that washed over me at her situation.

“We need to get back.” I heard Rowan say, and I pulled away from Kai to see him and Rhys watching me with a sad expression in their eyes. Naya had been taken away and there were now several men scouting the area.

We made our way back to the pack house with Rowan and Kai holding onto me as we walked. Back at the pack house, I ignored Anyah’s request not to be disturbed and pushed open the door to Naya’s room, ignoring the guard’s call for me to wait.

“How is she? Is she going to be okay? Will she make it?” I immediately asked as I entered the room, and although Anyah looked displeased with my interruption, she nodded her head at my question before responding to me.

“She’s badly injured, but she’s mostly dehydrated and weak. I’ve given her something to break her fever, so I just need to clean and dress her wounds. We can hope that she’ll be okay,” Anyah assured me, and I swallowed heavily, my heart beating fast as I watched Anyah work.

I watched as Anyah cleaned her wounds and applied healing herbs, my heart breaking when Anyah pulled off her clothes toreveal even more injuries scattered across her body, some of which needed to be stitched closed.

My mind was whirling with the possibilities of how she ended up in her situation, and I sent a prayer to the Moon Goddess to bring her back alive. Kai held onto me, and his comforting fingers on the small of my back rubbing little circles helped to keep me grounded. Rhys and Rowan were also present in the room, and they stood to the side of me, whispering comforting words and occasionally reaching out to touch me, a gesture that I appreciated so much, but it still wasn’t enough to quell the raging storm inside me.

“She’s going to be fine. It’s obvious that whatever she’s been through has been quite an experience so I do expect her to be out for some time. I’ll be back to check on her again in the morning but if she wakes up at any point, you should make her drink some water and I’ll leave some medicine to help her cope with the pain,” Anyah said as she finally finished, pulling out some vials to place on the nightstand beside the bed.

We thanked Anyah and she offered us a smile before leaving the room. I immediately moved out of Kai’s arms and in the direction of the bed that held Naya, pulling out the chair that was against the dresser so I could sit close and watch over her.

“She might not be waking up soon, baby. You need to rest yourself. Come on, let’s go to my room. Anyah has done her best and she has assured me that your friend will be fine. You can come check on her again later,” Rhys said quietly to me, but I had already begun shaking my head before he could complete the rest of the sentence.

“Anyah said she could wake up at any time. I need to be here when she does. She’ll be scared and all alone in an unfamiliar place, and she’ll be in pain and will have no way to reach me,” I responded, raising my eyes to the three of them all standing at the end of the bed with the same worried expression etched on their faces.

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