Page 41 of These Bonds that Unite Us
The quiet whir of the tub's jets fills the bathroom as I slip out of my clothes. Callisto has his back turned again, giving me a moment of privacy. A groan rattles up my chest as I sink into the hot water. It feels wonderful on my sore body.
Hearing the lap of the water, Cal turns to face me. Heat fills his dual-toned eyes, but he keeps them on my face. My breath catches with each step he takes, closing the distance between us until he sinks to his knees beside the tub.
“Would you like me to wash your hair again?”
My teeth sink into my lip, and I shake my head. He helped me with my hair two days ago, so it doesn’t need to be washed again so soon. Skin-to-skin contact would be more helpful, but I’m afraid to ask. I don’t think I could handle him denying my request.
The warmth of the water has my muscles relaxing and my eyes slipping closed. Sleep hasn’t come easily, not with pain constantly radiating through my body.
I startle when Callisto’s hands grip my shoulders, urging me to sit up. My eyes go wide as he slips behind me, the feel of his bare chest against my back nearly pulling a moan from my lips. Being so close makes the physical pain ebb, but the emotional pain pulses even harder.
We float in the water for a while, his arms loosely framing my waist to maximize the contact between our bodies. The feel of his sweatpants beneath me startled me the first time they brushed my skin, but I’m grateful he chose to keep them on. With the fluctuating hormones from my body trying to kick start a heat, I don’t know if I would be able to remain clear-headed enough to say no if things escalated between us.
“I’ve been working on a new song, would you like to hear it?”
Letting my head rest against his shoulder, I listen as he sings. Letting the heartbreaking lyrics lull me back to the edge of sleep. His voice seems softer than Nexus’, though his range is the same, it just isn’t as refined.
My phone rings from the floor beside the tub, interrupting our relaxation. Leaning over the edge, Callisto grabs it and shows me the screen. Doctor Russell’s office is calling. We let it ring through while he helps me get dried and dressed in their clothes.
When he slips into the closet to grab clothes for himself, I dial the doctor’s office. “Good evening, Omen. I was calling with the results of the blood draw I performed this morning. Unfortunately, it looks as if my earlier theory was indeed correct. Your heat hormone levels are rising. There still appears to be some fluctuation, but the heat suppressor we gave you at the hospital is no longer working.”
“And the drugs to counter the side effects of the chemical rejection?”
I already know the answer before she confirms it, I just haven’t wanted to admit it to myself. That medicine is the only relief I’ve been able to find since waking from my heat in Boston six weeks ago, and now it isn’t working. My body is going to start rapidly declining, falling apart at the seams, and the only option I have to stop it is to bond with Pack Graves.
Why are my only choices death or a life tied to men who couldn’t choose me?
Ending the call, I slip into their pack bedroom and sink into one of the armchairs in the corner. My knees are too weak to keep me upright as I try to process my bleak future.
Taking a deep breath, I prepare myself for what I need to do. Step one is admitting the full truth to Pack Graves, then I can take the time to decide what I want to happen next.
Slumping down in the seat, my head thumps against the back. Defeated, that is the only word I can conjure to describe how I feel in this moment. And feeling so hopeless is a dangerous slope when you are battling a chemical rejection.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Now Playing: The Love You Want- Sleep Token
Returning from a therapy appointment with Nebula, my heart races when I see the empty guest bedroom. The bitter scent of Omen’s distress is suffocating in the small space. I hate that I caused her this pain, that I can’t come up with some magical means to rewind time and change my decision to leave her in Boston.
Nebula appears at the end of the hallway, his head tilted in question when he sees me standing in her doorway. “She isn’t in there.”
Closing my eyes, I let the pull between me and my omega guide me to the third floor. She’s collapsed in one of the chairs in the pack bedroom. Hearing us approach, her stunning sea green eyes turn our way, filled with a resignation that threatens to make my heart cease its rapid beating.
Without thought I’m closing the space between us. The hardwood floors bite into my knees as I drop to the floor beside her, but I ignore the small pinch of pain.
“Where is Titan?” she asks, glancing at me out of the corner of her eyes for the barest hint of a second.
“He was in the garage,” Nebula tells her. “I’ll grab him.”
My hand grips her ankle tenderly, my thumb moving in small circles over the top of her foot to soothe her. The distress in her scent is driving me mad. I want to rip her from the chair and drag her into the nest to cuddle the shit out of her, but I don’t imagine any caveman behavior would go over well.
“I’m here firefly,” Tee drawls as he leans against the wall beside us. I can feel Cal and Neb gathered around us too. We’re all waiting to hear what our girl has to say.
I take a second to send up a prayer to whatever gods are listening that she isn’t going to deliver a blow we can’t come back from.
“I–I wish we could go back to that day at the beach,” she whispers. “Before everything went to hell.”
“We all wish that too, sweet girl.”
