Page 55 of These Bonds that Unite Us
We’d driven like hell to get her here after she passed out in the forest. Thankfully, the doctors seem to think it was her body being overwhelmed by the new bond, the heat spike, and our escape. They are still keeping her overnight as a precaution.
“I know, okay?” Running my hand through my hair for the hundredth time since we got here, I frown at my feet. Maybe I got too lost in my instincts and rushed into bonding her, but I can’t bring myself to regret it. Not when I can feel her in my heart. “Her perfume sent me into a fucking rut, so it’s not like I was clear-minded enough to stop myself. Honestly, this is probably a good thing. She needs a bond to stabilize her. Doctor Russell said as much.”
“But what if your bond doesn’t work?” Nexus asks quietly, his eyes glued to our girl. “Omen told us it had to come from me to counteract the partial bondmark I left after her heat in Boston.”
Blowing out a breath, I let my shoulders droop. “Then we cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, we hope my bond works, and that Omen doesn’t hate me for it when she wakes up.”
Thinking back on everything that happened, I wish I would have gotten to enjoy her body for the first time someplace much more sanitary, but those fucking mercenaries chasing us ruined any chance of this spike taking place somewhere safe. How did they even find us? “We need to call Donovan.”
“I already did,” Titan tells me. “As soon as we got the emergency text from you, I let him know what was happening.He sent the local police to join us in our search, and said he would meet us here.”
Nodding several times, I watch as Omen starts to shift on the bed. At least he will be able to help us figure out what to do from here. If we can’t leave the house without them finding her, we won’t, but I’m afraid they may escalate to attacking the house if we go that route.
“She’s waking up,” Callisto mutters, brushing past me to take one of the chairs by her side. Nexus hurries after him, taking the opposite side, leaving me and Titan to claim the end of the bed.
Nerves flutter in my stomach, and confusion fills my bond. I can tell the latter is from Omen. I hold my breath, waiting for the moment she realizes what I’ve done.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Now Playing: Thread the Needle- Sleep Token
The rhythmic beep of a heart monitor tells me I’m once again in the hospital before I can make my eyes work. They’re so heavy it almost feels as if they’ve been glued shut. I shift, noticing an ache spread all across my body but especially between my legs.
My brows furrow as I try to recall–Oh. Shit. We were at Elizabeth’s memorial when my brother’s men found us. We ran but a heat spike struck and…
“Oh, Fates,” I groan, burying my face in my hands.
“Gorgeous?” Nexus asks quietly, his warm hand gently gripping my own and pulling them away from my face. The dim light in the room still takes several blinks to adjust to.
When I finally can focus, I immediately wish I hadn’t opened them at all. Warm embarrassment creeps up my neck and cheeks so thickly I imagine I resemble a tomato. All four members of Pack Graves sit around my bed, including Nebula.
“Hey, babygirl,” he greets me, his eyes flickering away from mine almost as quickly as they turn back to me. He seemsnervous, which I guess makes sense. I can’t believe I tried to drown him–literally–by climbing him in the middle of a river when we were being chased by those assholes. And then he had to knot me in the mud.
He must think I’m a mess.
At least he has an accurate opinion of me.
“None of that, Omega,” he gently barks. The command startles me. They’ve never used their barks on me. On anyone actually. Are my thoughts so transparent he can read every one of them?
“What happened isn’t your fault. Heat spikes are normal for omegas, and we all know they are a possibility after your doctor told us your body is trying to force a heat. You did a great job of controlling it long enough for us to escape. We’re all proud of you.”
The others nod their agreement, causing a happy ache to blossom in my chest. They’re proud of me. For having a heat spike? This feels like a messed-up dream.
Remembering the way I behaved with Nebula has guilt swimming through my body. Why do I feel guilty? Embarrassed, sure, but guilty? I feel weird like my emotions are all over the place. Maybe this is another side effect of their rejection.
“I’m sorry, Omen,” Nebula steals my attention. His face is filled with resignation and determination in equal measure. “I lost control when your heat scent surrounded me, and I pushed beyond the boundaries you had set between us.”
“You helped me through a heat spike, I don’t think that…” I trail off at the tense look shared between all four members of their pack. They don’t say anything, they just watch me with tight jaws.
More guilt floods my body, but I can sense it this time, the separation this emotion has from the confusion already in my mind. Slipping my eyes closed, I follow the emotion. My heartstalls, my lungs frozen when I find the threads connecting me to Nebula. Shaky hands reach up to my neck, finding the bite mark now permanently embedded there.
Nebula bonded me? There isn’t any way to reverse a bond, it’s forever. If he realizes what he’s done–who he has bonded himself to–and he rejects me… Why would he do this to us both?
My eyes fly open and I search his throat, sighing in relief when I find it bare of new bites. Technically our connection is incomplete since I didn’t bite him back. At least if he chooses–
“I’m not going anywhere, Omega,” he growls. His dark eyes are fierce as he grips the rail at the bottom of the bed and leans forward. He bares his teeth at me, his expression savage. “You are mine, exactly as you were always meant to be.”
I’m spared from responding when someone knocks on the door. It opens to reveal both Doctor Russell and Donovan. They both seem relieved to see me awake.
