Page 120 of This Pack of Ours

For the first time, I let myself feel it.

Mine.

Ez stirred beneath us, his face softening, and my heart skipped a beat.

“I’m Dr. Rover, Arkologist. I have a couple of questions I’d like to confirm with you.”

Jhin nodded. His face was tense.

“It’s my understanding that Mr. Delaney was injected with a substance against his will?”

“Yes.”

“Could you describe his behaviour after the drug was injected?”

“He looked like he was in pain,” Adrian answered, voice hoarse. “Kit went to try to help him. He yelled at him to get away, and then he knocked him back.”

Dr. Rover was writing some notes on her notepad.

“Um, then he attacked Kit,” Adrian went on, his voice growing more unsteady. “He didn’t seem… present. Like he was in a rut. It took me and Jhin to hold him down and knock him out.”

“Will he be alright?” Jhin asked. Dr. Rover nodded, and Adrian sagged in relief, sitting down heavily in a chair.

“The drug is almost fully out of his system. From what we know, it has an intense but entirely temporary effect.”

“What was it?” Jhin asked. “We’re paramedics and we’ve never seen anything like that.”

“Rofetamine. Commonly called rut rager. It induced something akin to a rut spike—destabilizes the aura. It showed up in the underground fighting scene about a year back, and it mainly stayed there. I’ve never seen it used as a weapon like this before. You said the assailant seemed to anticipate the effects?”

Jhin nodded. Ez stirred again, drawing me away from the conversation. I looked up to see him blinking awake, finding me and Kit curled up next to him. His bloodshot eyes welled with tears, and I found myself being squeezed like an omega teddy bear for the second time in a week. Maybe I should start getting used to it.

“You’re all okay,” he said, his voice cracking. “I was so scared. I kept waking up and dreamed I’d killed Kit, or Adrian, and Juniper had been dark bonded and—fuck?—”

He was full on bawling now. My eyes teared up, too, and then all three of us were crying together.

“His tests all came back clear, and the only thing he needs now is his aura to settle. That’s better done at your nest, so it’s my recommendation that you head home,” Dr. Rover said, and started giving Jhin a list of symptoms to watch for.

Adrian helped Ez up and back into his clothes. He gave his brother a big hug before me and Kit reclaimed our places on either side of him to help him walk toward the door. Ez seemed very pleased that me and Kit were practically stuck to him, and he couldn’t have been feeling that bad because his hand kept slipping down to my ass.

“I’ll get the car,” Vander said, and Jhin pulled him in for a quick kiss. Vander flushed, but there was another grin on his face as he pulled away.

“Hang on,” said Ez, standing up straight. “Am I dreaming still? You guys saw that, right?”

He looked at Adrian, who shrugged.

“You can take a picture if you want,” Vander said, flipping him the bird.

“I fucking knew it.” Ez grinned.

Vander scoffed. “You’re so full of it.”

“Why does no one ever believe me!” Ez said. “I know things! Ilivewith you guys!”

“There’s no fucking way,” Vander repeated, and before we could stop him, Ez had launched himself at Vander.

“Ow! You maniac, I’ve got a broken arm!” Vander snapped as Ez hung onto him gleefully. One arm was around Vander’s neck and the other was scrubbing his hair affectionately.

“Proud of you, V! Way to go, my man.”

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