Page 36 of Welcome to Bone Town

“Shhh, hummingbird.” Roman holds her tighter, and smooths a hand down her back. I take the opportunity to scoot closer, and he doesn’t stop me for once. Admittedly, I’m not the biggest fan of the professor, but I can appreciate this softer side of him.

Cora’s nostrils flare, and then she’s curling into me, burying her face in my chest. My eyes meet Roman’s over her head, curious if he’s going to act the possessive ape and keep her from me again.

He sighs, gives me a curt nod, and lets me wrap my arms around her, but he doesn’t move away, leaving our arms to rest directly beside each other.

The silence is deafening as we strain to hear an update from Bear. Silent tears roll down my mate’s cheeks, dampening my skin. As much as I want to fix this for her immediately, I can’t. In a past life, before her, I may have cowboyed myself into the crevasse like Bear did, adrenaline and excitement running through my veins. Now, though, I’ll be damned if I’m gonna leave my girl alone up here with just the grumpy professor to protect her. Even if he is acting like less of a dick right now.

No. All we can do now is wait.

31

Strong arms engulf me and, even though my body aches in more places than I can count, everything feels right. The faint smell of black pepper with a hint of honey wraps me in its embrace, and somehow I know my alpha is the source. My alpha.Bear.

“Archer.” Bear groans against my neck, his nose running along my jaw. “Archer.”Mmm yes, alpha, I’m right here.

“Archer!”

Warmth is ripped away and replaced with something cold and hard as I open my eyes to take in my surroundings. Everything comes rushing back, and I remember sneaking off while the group was arguing over who would attempt to cross the chasm. Then the heartstopping moment when what was left of the floor gave out. Everything after that is a blur, but with the tightness in my chest and the ache in my skull, I can guess whathappened. I fell. Hit my head and got the wind knocked out of me.

A strangled gasp leaves my chest as I struggle to take a full breath. Suddenly, Bear is in my line of sight, slightly blurry.

When I push to sit up, he stops me with a hand on my sternum. “Archer, thank fuck, baby. I thought I’d lost you. Don’t you dare move until I can make sure your neck is ok.”

Baby. That's a new one, but I’m not complaining. Hearing the burly alpha freely call me baby warms something in my chest. Though that could also be the oxygen returning to my lungs.

“My… glasses?” I pat the ground around me, but before I can worry too much about the missing lenses, Bear slides the frames onto my face. Thank Lunara, they didn’t break in the fall.

When I look up through the smudged glass, Bear’s beautiful face is etched with concern. He runs his hands along my body, gently but efficiently feeling for any injuries, his medic training kicking in on autopilot. His confidence in his skills and ability to perform under extreme pressure is a huge turn on. I’ve always had a competence kink.

Rough fingertips press along either side of my neck before gently tilting it right, then left. I groan but it doesn’t feel too bad. Satisfied I’m not immediately dying, Bear stands, and I immediately miss his warmth. He begins to turn but then points at me. “Don’t. Fucking. Move.”

“Yes, alpha.”

Heat flares in his eyes at the term, but instead of doing anything about it, he yells up through the hole. “Throw me Cora’s penlight!”

The omega in question yells back. “Oh my god, Bear. Is Archer alive? Is he okay? Did he break anything? Are you okay? Is he?—”

Bear cuts off her rambling. “Yes! No. Wait, Goddamnit. Just throw me the damn penlight so I can see if he has a concussion!” Something falls from above. Bear catches it easily and returns to my side. “Ok, baby, I’m gonna help you sit up, then I want you to look at me.” Once I’m upright, he methodically goes through the concussion check, shining the penlight into my eyes and checking my pupils. When he’s satisfied, he clicks off the light, and suddenly his lips are on mine.

He grips the back of my neck, pulling me into him as he devours me. This is completely different from our last kiss, but no less intense.

“Don’t you ever do that to me again, Archer,” he gasps between kisses. “That was stupid,” another kiss, “and brave,” he kisses me again, “and so fucking stupid.”

His movements turn deep, and passionate, his tongue forcing entry past my lips to swipe along mine. I moan and push into him, wanting more, the adrenaline in my body heightening my arousal. It ends far too soon when Bear pulls back and rests his forehead against mine.

“If you weren’t hurt, I’d spank the hell out of you for risking your life like that.” He’s kidding. I think. Before I can dwell on that thought, Bear pulls away and stands, walking back to the entrance in the ceiling. “He’s ok!”

Relieved murmurs follow his proclamation, though I can’t make out exactly what they’re saying.

While Bear is occupied with the others, I take a moment to observe my new surroundings. There are no torches on the walls down here, but there’s a dim light coming from the right. A bluish glow that’s blocked by thick lines of something. Vines maybe? They’re still too far away to tell. The hall to my left is too dark to see anything at all.

“I’m sending Cora next,” Jax hollers. “I’ll rig up a belay system so I can lower her down to you.” Sounds of protest come from the omega, but before long, I hear Jax yell again. “Okay, ready, Bear? Here she comes.”

Dainty feet appear first, followed by smooth legs and her shapely ass, now secured in a makeshift harness Jax must have whipped up. Slowly, she lowers until she’s within Bear’s reach and he grips her tight, setting her on the floor before quickly undoing the rope and tugging on it twice to signal to Jax.

Cora runs to me as soon as she’s free of the rope, nearly slamming into me until she remembers I may be hurt. She pulls back, but only an inch or two, and straightens my glasses for me before bringing her hands to my shoulders and studying my face. She looks so pretty here in the low light of the one flickering torch.

“I’m alright, sweetheart.” I brush her hair out of her face.

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