Page 105 of Want It All
My heart bled for him.
‘Pravin,’ I answered tiredly. ‘Pravin and Chul. Marina – a latch from a female alpha would ease his pain as much as a knot does. Jessica from second year. Marco, maybe, from third year.’ I licked my dry lips. ‘Or we could ring heat services.’
‘And tell them we have an unregistered male omega?’ Tristan’s voice was hoarse. He’d told me about the Revel’s offer during one of our quick showers, but he hadn’t spoken to Sebastian about it yet, for obvious reasons. ‘They’ll inform the Omega Support Agency. I don’t know what the OSA would do, but it wouldn’t be good. They don’t answer to the regular police, or the normal courts. And I doubt they’d buy it if we told them Sebastian had a late emergence – he’stwenty-six.’
I swallowed. ‘You know there’s another option,’ I said gently.
‘What –’ Tristan shook his head before he finished the thought. ‘No.’
‘Tristan. Alpha.’ I took his hand and brought it to my lips, kissing his knuckles. ‘Youknowhe’d be good during a heat. And he cares for Sebastian. Genuinely. He’d never do anything to make Seb uncomfortable. You could trust him.’
‘How?’ he burst out. I’d never seen Tristan look so tortured. ‘Evenifhe agreed to help for the heat, he’d leave again, and …’ He trailed off.
‘And it would break your heart even more than it’s already broken,’ I finished. I shifted closer, taking his chin in my hand. Even when he looked drawn and exhausted, Tristan was so beautiful my insides melted when his green eyes met mine.He’d swapped his glasses for contact lenses, so I could see them clearly as they filled with desperation. ‘I know, alpha. I know how much you’re hurting, and I know how muchhe’shurting, though he hides it. You’re both fucking fools, by the way, but that’s your own problem to solve. When it comes down to it,this isn’t about you. It’s about Sebastian and whatheneeds. If the heat haze was going to break in an hour, we’d be fine. But it’s beenfour days, Tris, and there’s no sign of this easing.’ I brushed my lips over his, softly. ‘I honestly don’t know how much more I can take. You know we need help. I suspect he’d be the only person your alpha would let inside the apartment, let alone the nest. He’ll give Sebastian what he needs. You know he’s the only choice, alpha.’
He ran his hands through my hair, gently untangling a knot. ‘That doesn’t make it any easier.’
‘Of course it doesn’t. But you’re Tristan fucking Grace.’ I pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose. ‘You’ve got this.’
Itwasthreeinthe morning when my phone began to vibrate.
I didn’t bother to check it, didn’t even roll over to look at the number. It would be a spam call, or someone trying to steal my identity, neither of which I wanted to deal with in the too-early hours.
I rubbed my eyes. I was tired – so fucking tired – but sleep was impossible. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt rested. The Banksia clinic had contacted Dr. Ford and my APF team, and they’d prescribed new sleeping tablets, but they were like tranquilisers. They knocked me out for longer than I cared to be unconscious, and I felt like death when I woke up, complete with headaches and nausea. I was getting pretty desperate, though; I suspected that in a few days’ time, I’d be reaching for the packet.
My phone stopped vibrating. I sighed with what felt like relief and turned my attention back to the comedy I was watching.
My phone vibrated again. ‘For fuck’s sake,’ I muttered, rolling to pick it up.
I froze.
Tristan Grace calling.
There was no way he was calling me, and equal chance of my answering. I ended the call and threw my phone across the bed.
Where it started vibrating again.
Dread stabbed at my stomach. What if he was calling about Rose? She’d texted a couple of days ago and said that she and Sebastian had caught the flu. She’d sent some intermittent memes since then, but what if something had happened? What if she needed to go to hospital?
I reached for the phone, then balled my hands into fists until it rang out.
Rose and I hadn’t defined what was going on between us. I was desperately in love with her, and I didn’t doubt her feelings for me, but we didn’t have labels yet. I wasn’t her boyfriend, her partner, her packmate, or her emergency contact. Tristan wouldn’t callmeabout something like that. He’d call Rose’s parents.
‘Stupid,’ I muttered to myself, then my breath hitched as my phone vibrated again. Maybe he’d already called her parents. Maybe she was alreadyinhospital. Maybe … Maybe it was even worse than that.
I swallowed against the remembered grief, against the memory of the officers on our doorstep, their hats in their hands, their faces showing matching sorrow. But if it was that bad, then mum would know, and she’d be calling me, too. There’d been no missed calls from other numbers on the screen.
Why the fuck is Tristan calling?
It clearly wasn’t a pocket dial, not when he’d tried so many times. I could hear a number of secondary buzzes that meant someone was texting me, too.
I pressed my hands against my eyes and groaned at the ceiling.
It was curiosity that got me in the end. I reached across and grabbed my phone, reading through the string of text alerts.
Pick up the phone, Griffiths.
Don’t be such a dick. Pick up.
