Page 99 of Running on Empty

“Wants this, does she?” My voice cut across theirs, and I think we were all surprised when they shut up. “This.” My finger flicked back and forth, pointing to each one of them. “This shit is what she wants. Fuck, next minute you’ll be telling Stevie that she needs to keep away from Ronan for her own good.”

I meant that as a reminder of his dumbfuckery from before, but as Ash sucked in a breath, I knew he was about to say something none of us could come back from.

“Shut up,” I snapped. “Shut the fuck up.” My fingers clamped down on the bridge of my nose. “We are not doing this a-fucking-gain.”

“Doing what—?” Ash started to say but I stopped him with one look.

“I get that you’re super anal dude, but while you’ve got a track record of short-term success: our safety, the longer term consequences of your bullshit is largely how we got into this situation.” I hated the way that Ash flinched at that, but fuck, if I could get him to listen with less bluntness, I would’ve used it. “And you.”

Ronan started to shape up as I faced my brother down.

“This whole Murder Boy thing you’ve got going was great when Stevie was on a vengeance bender, but now she’s killed all her enemies, she’s collapsed into herself.” I grabbed the cup of tea I’d prepared and some biscuits. “And that’s where I step in. Someone needs to be the soft place to land in between you two fuckheads.”

I knew the two of them were watching me closely, but I ignored them and went over to the door, shooting Ollie a sharp look, the dog instantly going into a sit. I opened the door, careful not to make a sound and then the two of us crept in.

“Mat.” I barely vocalised this to Ollie, the dog instantly going to the rug on the floor, spinning around three times before lying down to watch the bed. But my omega? A little rapid intake of breath let me know she was waking up, so I set the tea down on the bedside table and then got on the bed beside her.

“Mm…”

This was always the golden moment. She didn’t surface up from sleep often, seeming to need to drowse for twenty out of twenty-four hours, burying her head back into the pillow the moment her eyes cracked open. But when she did, I always made sure I was there for her.

My omega would never wake up alone again, not if I could help it. So I curled around her, shielding her from the outside world with my body.

“Mm…” Another little murmur of a sound, the half asleep omega breathing in deep, then following her nose to breathe in my scent, pushing it into the hollow of my neck. My hand went up slowly, just cradling her close, not able to relax into this position until she breathed out again, flopping limp on my chest. “Is that tea?”

There was something plaintive about her voice and that had me stroking her hair before I reached for it, ferrying the cup over as carefully as if it contained sulphuric acid or something.

“Tea and biscuits, just for you,” I said, as gently as I could, but it still had the same effect. Her eyes flicked open, her brain coming suddenly online as she jerked herself upright. I steadied my hand, managing not to slop the tea everywhere and when she settled, I handed the cup and saucer over.

Stevie looked… beaten. She took it with a furtive yank, hunching her body over her knees, then taking a sip, freezing when she slurped it. I forced myself to smile, nodding hopefully, willing her to take another mouthful and then another. She drank a little more, but then her nose wrinkled.

“I’m gonna be sick.”

“No, you’re not.”

I tossed the biscuits on the floor for Ollie to scoff down and then moved the tea far away from her before pulling her closer.

“I am.” She writhed against me. “I’m gonna…”

I moved her until she was sprawled across my body, begging, pleading her body to accept what I knew was there. She was my omega and I was her alpha, so whatever she needed, I could provide. Mum told me that she held us constantly as kids whenever we felt ill, and that the dads did the same for her when she was under the weather. Skin to skin contact seemed to settle us according to her and I hoped it wasn’t an old wife’s tale. Then I felt the tension leave Stevie’s body and that’s when I allowed my eyes to close for just a second.

“I can make you feel better.” I barely even whispered that, stroking my hand down her back. “In every way you let me. Just let me…”

I’m not sure she heard that, a deep sigh escaping her as her hands curled in, her body going into the foetal position. It didn’t matter. I just held her close, listening to the sounds of her breath, feeling the faint thud of her heartbeat as she dropped off again. I slept with her, but in the way that dogs do, with one ear open for danger.

“Is she—?”

The two of them jumped to their feet the minute I walked out the door. A few hours had passed, or minutes. It was hard to tell because Stevie’s room had a strange kind of timeless quality about it. The blackout curtains smothered the sunlight, putting everything in a constant state of dawn or dusk. But just like my omega, I emerged out of sleep feeling less rested, not more, and when my brothers swarmed closer I had to resist the urge to growl.

“She’s fine,” I said, not meaning it, but if that’s what it took to get them to leave her alone, then that’s what I’d say. “She’s sleeping.”

“Again.”

I heard the condemnation in Ronan’s voice and glared at him.

“What did you think was gonna fucking happen? That the two of you would ride off into the sunset to murder another day?” I shook my head slowly. “You don’t know what she’s been going through.” But that had me frowning. “None of us do. But there’s someone here that does and I’m going to talk to them.”

“We’ll—” Ash started to say.

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