Page 38 of Omega's Tempting Fate
Chapter 14 - Wes
The nightmare of the potted plant falling directly at Cody’s head played over and over in my mind. The last thing I’d seen before the darkness closed in.
Was my mate safe? Had I made it in time? I didn’t know as the scene started over again.
Then there was pain, and noise. My head throbbed.
The light seared my eyes as I opened them, but I had to know. I searched the whiteness until I spotted Cody sitting slumped in a chair, dejection etched into his gorgeous face.
“Cody…” I whispered, realizing that even the soft beeps of medical equipment seemed too loud.
“Wes!” he sobbed, rushing to my side.
“Are you ok?” I asked.
“Thanks to you,” he nodded, wiping tears from his eyes.
“That’s good,” I smiled, settling back against the pillows.
He was silent for several minutes, and for a moment I worried that he’d meant what he said about leaving. Then he spoke again. “Why? Why’d you do that?”
“Huh?” I asked, turning to face him.
“I’d just told you to leave, but you still saved me.”
I smiled. “Of course I saved you.”
“But why?”
“Because I love you. Maybe it’s fate talking, but I’ve loved you since the moment I saw you.”
“But I kept pushing you away…”
“You were scared of something. I don’t know what, but I could see that much.”
He started crying, and I felt helpless as all I could do was watch.
“I’m sorry,” he said, over and over. “I’m so sorry.”
I waited until his sobs had almost stopped before I spoke again. “What are you so afraid of Cody? Maybe we can face it together.”
“My family is cursed,” he whispered. “Or maybe fate just hates us…”
“What do you mean?”
He wiped away his tears with the back of his hand. “Both my papa and my grandmama had fated mates, but lost them soon after mating.”
“Why do you think you’re cursed though?”
“How many omegas survive the early death of their mates? Grandmama only had a few weeks with hers, and papa several years. Even the doctors said that the only reason they lived was because they were pregnant at the time, and they were able to fight for the lives of their babies.”
He paused. “I used to listen to papa cry at night. I was the third child, and it was only my little brother after me, the one whom papa had fought to live for. But even us kids, we couldn’t replace that lost bond, and papa never really got over it. Grandmama was worse, papa was her only child. Both of them were strong and fought, but the sadness was always there…”
It was starting to make sense, if all he knew was that alphas in his family died so soon.
“I’m not strong enough,” Cody wailed. “I couldn’t have you, just to lose you again. I wouldn’t be able to fight like papa and grandmama. But I thought that if I pushed you away… if we never mated… I thought you’d be safe.”
My poor omega. Was this what he’d been holding inside this whole time, terror that simply being with me put me in danger?
