Page 64 of Pack Favero

After the call that bled the fear from my veins, hearing that sweet, even slightly rasped, voice of the woman I’ve grown to love more than I could ever convey, everything happened quickly. We found Zira slumped on the floor of a home that belongs to Mr. and Mrs. Humphries, two wealthy betas that live in the same community as Hunter Gary Johnson but keep their distance from. They were very forthcoming about how weird they found the guy, offering strange tidbits of information about the man that I stopped listening to as I scooped Zira from the floor and into my lap as a medical team came in to look her over. Once she was given the all clear from them, we brought her home with a promise to the police that we would call once Zira was rested and in the correct headspace to do so.

Which leads us here, at home, with Zira asleep in my bed, cleaned up and wearing an item of clothing that belongs to us all, while the doctor examines her properly.

“Is there anything we should do?” Alek asks, standing tall and broad-shouldered as ever, his muscled arms crossed over his chest as he stands guard at the end of my bed. His protectiveness is in full swing, as is all of ours, our alpha sides fully at the surface after going through a horror no one should ever go through. I can only imagine how Zira feels.

The doctor, a sweet man with a balding head and atwirling moustache, shakes his head with a patient smile. “Keep her hydrated. Tylenol for the headaches she might experience. Allow her to rest while she recovers. Possibly clean the cuts once more before allowing them to heal in their own time. There’s nothing too deep that needed stitches, but keep an eye on that cut on her foot. That about sums it up.”

Nodding, I mutter, “Thank you for coming so quickly.”

“Of course,” he responds, packing his case away and wrapping his stethoscope around his slender shoulders. “If you all need anything, feel free to call. You have my number.”

Mac and Ford offer the man matching smiles before the latter says, “We’ll show you out.”

With a nod to us all, the doctor leaves, and I take a deep breath the moment he’s gone. Thankfully, his beta scent hasn’t seeped into the mixture of aromas that mingle in my room, each of us lingering long enough that my room no longer smells like only mine. Not that I mind, especially if it means it helps soothe and comfort my wounded omega.

When the twins return and shut the door, one holding a tall glass of cool water while the other holds a bottle of pain relief, I feel my shoulders relax at last. I lift Zira’s hand and press it to my lips, keeping it there while I inhale her scent. It’s still contaminated with her stress and anxiety, the sweetness that was leeched from it slowly but surely returning, and I think for the hundredth time since the twins called and said she’d been taken that I could kill the fucker that did this to her.

As it was, that psycho won’t be seeing the outside of a prison cell for a very long time, and though it’s not the death I’d prefer he have dealt, it’s something all the same. It means Zira will be safe, and that’s all I can really ask for, even if my teeth grind at the thought of him still breathing behind bars. It wasn’t long before they found Hunter Gary Johnson the second lying unconscious in a secret room he had built beneath hishouse, having been gloriously choked and rendered unconscious by my beautiful, fierce, and strong omega. After a little sniff of smelling salts to wake him and a once over to check he was alive and well, the bastard was cuffed and hauled away in a police car after being read his rights. It was the same police officer who arrested him that told us he’ll be going down for a long while, and I’m inclined to take his word for it. If he doesn’t, however, I will not be above the act of bribery if it means it kept the lunatic incarcerated for the rest of his days.

Lying on the bed beside her, her other hand tucked in his hand, Barnes blows out a harsh breath and mutters quietly, “Is anyone else fighting the urge to bundle her up and keep her locked away in here just to keep everything and everyone out?”

Alek snorts as he finally deflates from his tense position, dropping to sit at the end of the bed at Zira’s feet, careful as he lifts her bandaged foot onto his lap and smiling tiredly as she sighs and turns her face to nuzzle into the pillow beneath her head. “I’ve been fighting that urge before all of this shit happened, I won’t lie to you.”

I hum in agreement, brushing my cheek along her knuckles as I listen to her steady breaths while she rests peacefully. Or, as peacefully as someone can after going through a genuine abduction at the hands of a mentally unwell individual that is lucky still breathing the oxygen that’s wasted on him. Knowing Zira almost deprived him of such a luxury sends a pride like nothing I’ve ever felt through my system, the feeling burrowing into my bones. If I knew it wouldn’t have scarred Zira worse than this whole ordeal likely has, I would have wished that she’d actually snuffed him out, making the world a better place. Alas, I’ll live with the knowledge that she still managed to get away. She survived and came back to us. She’s here, breathing deeply as her eyes move around beneath her eyelids, and sleeping off her trauma.

“You look a little murderous there, Laz,” Barnes notes quietly, and I lift my eyes from where I’ve been watching Zira’s chest rise and fall, finding them all watching me closely.

Shrugging, I drop my chin to our combined hands before uttering, “Just thinking how proud I am that she managed to choke out an alpha and got out of that house. I wish she’d killed the cunt, but I’m also glad she didn’t. I don’t want that on her conscience.”

Everyone nods in agreement, the twins climbing onto the bed with Barnes and Alek, and we all fall into silence as we wait for our tough sleeping beauty to finally wake up.

I must fall asleep as we wait, because I’m alert and jerking upright when I feel a tug on my hand, my eyes snapping to Zira and finding her sitting up in bed, with her copper hair a mussed mess of flames and tired minty-green eyes smiling at me as I get my bearings.

“Hey, you,” she whispers, her voice still rough and scratchy, but still lyrical and sweet enough that it’s music to my fucking ears.

“Darling,” I sigh, shuffling closer in my seat beside her bed as I draw her hand back to my mouth. I kiss the back of it three times in quick succession, inhaling and feeling a wave of relief crash over me as I smell the sweet-and-sugary, banana-split-and-caramel scent of hers. It’s still a little fainter than I would like, but it’s there, growing stronger and stronger, washing away the stress that soured it before. “How are you feeling?”

She shushes me in lieu of answering, jerking her head to the bed, and it’s only then that I notice the puppy pile that has occurred while we slept. Barnes is now sleeping on the end of the bed, with Alek’s arm slung over him as he slumbers. Mac and Ford are now lying beside Zira, Ford cuddled against Mac’s back with his feet resting on Alek’s lap while Barnes hugs one of Mac’sto his chest.

My smile is instantaneous, and I’m amused as I look back at Zira and find her watching her alphas with a warmth and radiant love that shines through those gorgeous eyes of hers.

When she offers it to me again, she whispers, “I feel okay. Aching and suffering with a headache, but nothing worse.”

I nod, accepting that answer before asking, “How long have you been awake?”

She shrugs, rubbing her thumb over the back of my hand. “About twenty minutes or so. You all look so peaceful and adorable while you sleep and I didn’t want to ruin it.”

Using her hand to trap my laughter, I soak in the amusement that paints itself over her face and the last dregs of worry fall away as I see for myself that my omega is okay. She’s okay, and she’s here, smiling at me as though I hung the moon. For her, I would.

“You look tired,” she whispers, still smiling, though it’s one of worry as she eyes the dark circles beneath my eyes. “Why don’t you sleep some more? I don’t need anything, and I’m feeling pretty content where I am. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Famous last words are those, sweetheart,” I point out, raising an eyebrow and smirking as she winces with a snort rather than retreat into herself or shut us out.

“That’s fair. I’ll give you that one,” she mutters quietly.

“How generous,” I blandly tease, and it brings that amusement right back as she flashes me a grin before tugging our hands from my mouth and hugging them to her stomach.

With a deep, steadying breath, she waits a beat before finally posing the question, “What happened? After I passed out?”

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