Page 23 of Free Me

“No!” He hit Dad again, his own chest tightening. Lungs heaving. Dad gently pushed his forearms down, keeping him firmly against the mattress. Linus strained, tried to kick, and got more agony for his efforts. He screamed, not sure what, fueled by terror and grief and the sharpest sense of loss he’d experienced in his entire life. “No!”

“I’m so sorry, baby,” Papa was saying, over and over, while Dad held Linus down.

Linus thrashed, desperate to wake up for real this time, to escape this nightmare. To go back to a fun night with his friends, the soccer star with the world at his feet, and a handsome omega on his arm. In his arms.

“Miko!”

“—help him relax,” someone said.

Warmth flooded Linus’s body, loosening coiled muscles and chasing away his instinct to fight. The raging agony in his pelvis and legs dulled to something far away, less immediate. He closed his eyes and let whatever they’d given him carry him away from the hell he’d woken up in.

Please, goddess, please…not my leg…

SIX

Two more omegashad joined their waiting room pack before they got more news: Jax Jenks and Jaysan Danvers, two of Liam’s best friends of more than twenty years. Miko hugged both omegins when they came to him.Two of their sons, Jaxson and Morgyn, were two of Linus’s closest friends. Miko was a little surprised Jaxson and Morgyn hadn’t come, too, but the waiting room could only hold so many people.

The pair was probably huddled up with Symon and their other friends at their house. Morgyn had invited him over last night and this morning, but Miko hadn’t felt sociable at all. He didn’t have any desire to be around this large group of people right now, either, but this wasn’t about him. It was about solidarity for Linus.

Silence fell across the room in a wave that finally hit Miko, and he looked up. Demir stood just inside the doorway, hands loose by his sides, face nearly as pale as his lab coat. Tarius, Layne and Aven circled their brother fast. Miko stood and barely heard Demir say, “He knows,” before falling into Aven’s arms.

Miko stared, his heart breaking for the four brothers as they embraced each other, soft sniffles audible over murmurs of support. In all the days and weeks that Peyton had beencomatose, Miko had never seen Demir lose it. During those frustrating days and weeks and months post-coma, while Peyton healed but struggled to remember his loved ones, Miko had never seen Demir lose it.

Witnessing his baby brother learning that he’d lost his leg? That there was a medical situation in front of him that Demir was unequipped to fix? It was too much for the kind, determined physician to take.

Peyton joined the group to comfort Layne. Miko wanted to go to them, to hold his family close, but wasn’t sure he was wanted. No matter how many times the Higgs family said they didn’t blame Miko for the accident, the plain truth was Linus wouldn’t have been in that speeding taxi if it wasn’t for Miko. The driver wouldn’t have run the light if Miko wasn’t going into heat.

Itwashis fault. So Miko continued hiding in the corner.

More than Demir’s breakdown, watching a nurse bring Isa Higgs out in a wheelchair punched Miko in the stomach, and he wasn’t the only person who gasped out loud. “I’m all right,” Isa said, even though he had the complexion of paste. “I got a little dizzy and Liam went into overprotective mode. Layne, Papa’s asking for you.”

Miko would not cry over that, he would not. But why would Liam want Miko? If anyone was going to call out for him, it would be Linus, right? Linus clearly wanted his brother, though, and that was okay. Linus must be so confused and angry right now, and Miko ached to go to him. To try and soothe his hurt.

Jaysan sank into the chair beside him and slung an arm across Miko’s shoulders. Miko leaned into the older omegin, grateful for the support from one of his honorary uncles. And also thankful that the Danvers family had been mostly drama-free for the last few years, only hovering at the perimeter of their friends’ familial dysfunction and traumas.

“You look wound pretty tight,” Jaysan said. “Seeing Linus yesterday didn’t help much, huh?”

Miko tensed. “What? Liam told you?”

“He mentioned it this morning when we spoke on the phone. After the accident you were both in, I imagine you needed to see Linus with your own two eyes?”

“Yeah, I did.”See him, smell him, know he’s meant to be mine.“He was so still. I can’t imagine how he’s feeling right now.”

“I think I can relate just a tiny bit. When I woke up in that dank room with my vocal chords cut? I lost a part of myself that I never got back.”

“Right.”

Twenty-three years ago, two greedy alphas had illegally purchased orphaned omegas from a halfway house, kept them locked up, surgically altered their voices to just above a whisper, and forced them to fight each other while pregnant. Liam, Jaysan, Jax and Omi had all been part of that fight ring, but only Jax had been permanently muted. They and their mates and friends had fought tirelessly since before Miko was born to make sure nothing like that ever happened again in Sansbury or elsewhere. To make sure their kids—Miko’s generation—avoided that sort of torture and emotional agony.

Miko had nearly lost his brother Peyton, and they’d both nearly lost Layne, too. Their friend group had been through a lot over the last couple of years, but only one of them could really understand the loss Linus was going through. He glanced around the waiting room, but Rei wasn’t there.

Alpha Rei Bloom had lost ninety-percent of his sight in a freak accident several years ago. It had taken time, patience, love, and three months in a blind school, but Rei had overcome his vision challenges, and he was happily mated to a sweet omega named Kinley.

“I’ve never really lost anything,” Miko whispered.

“Hey, this is not a competition,” Jaysan replied. “Not at all. We don’t want any of you kids to hurt, not for any reason. I’m thankful every day that my boys are all healthy, happy and thriving. Sure, we had that drug scare with Aeron ten years ago, but he’s never had a relapse, and he’s so happy with Khory and Asher.”

“Your house nearly burned down.”

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