Page 36 of Outback Mate
I speak fast, the fury of the storm doing its best to drown me out. The building is shaking from the strength of the wind and rain.
“And you’re sure the contractions are coming faster?”
I strain my hearing.
“I’ve timed them.This is it, Doc. June’s being brave, but we can’t go out in this storm.”
The plan was for June to give birth here in the clinic with Matilda and I tending to her. She’d be surrounded by her community with the Royal Flying Doctors on speed-dial to launch a plane if something went wrong.
Giving birth in the middle of a storm complicates things a bit. They can’t get to me, so I’ll have to go to them.
“No, don’t panic, mate. I’ll be there.”
“It’s wild out there,” Ben says after hesitating. He won’t tell me not to come, not when I can hear his Omega crying out from a contraction in the background. He’d move heaven and earth to protect June.
I’m starting to understand that compulsion.
My eyes flick back to the dark examination room. I can’t see Poppy, but I know she’s watching me.
“Keep her hydrated and calm. I’ll have this sat phone with me, so keep me updated. It might take a few hours in this weather, but I’ll get there.”
And then I’m moving. I rummage in the top drawer of the reception desk until my hand wraps around a flashlight. A beam of light flickers into existence, and I set about collecting the equipment I’ll need.
“Doc?” a small voice calls.
I hesitate, clenching my jaw.
I can’t deal with this right now. Not when my friends need me and I have a job to do.
Even thinking about Poppy makes my heart race and my breathing come faster. I shake my head, shoving my thoughts and feelings for the Omega behind the icy wall.
Even with the cacophony of the storm, I still know she’s approaching me. A small tug in my chest alerts me to her presence. I refuse to name what the newfound ability is.
I clear my thick throat and focus on shoving supplies into my bag. “I have to go on an emergency call out. You need to stay in bed. I’ll set an alarm to go off every two hours so you wake up.”
I’m not running away.
It’s a legitimate excuse, but even with my justification, I know it’s wrong to leave her.
A gut-wrenching sob from tears through the room, followed by a whimper. “Alpha, please. Don’t leave me.”
Slowly, as if I’m about to face the gallows, I turn to face her.
The glow from the torch illuminates her sweet face stricken with agony, and once again, she cracks my aura sickness’ icy walls.
Despair and guilt flood through me.
I’m weak, giving into my desires to fuck like a common knot-crazed Alpha. And, even worse, I claimed her as mine.
I’m herdoctor. It’s my duty to keep her safe, instead I tied her to an grumpy block of ice for life.
She unraveled me effortlessly. All it took was a few flirtatious glances and some teasing words for me to abandon my morals.
I’d vowed to never take a mate. Spent years preparing to die alone and mateless. It wasn’t ideal, but I’d come to terms with it.
Now, I’ve burdened this young, perfect Omega with an unwanted bond. She doesn’t know it yet, but she doesn’t want this. She’ll learn that I’m not good for her.
Regardless of my earlier statement, she will struggle to find an Alpha who is willing to bite over another Alpha’s claiming mark. I said it in panic and now I feel sick. The idea of her carrying the mark of another on her neck makes me want to tear my own skin off.
