Page 43 of Dragon's Revenge

“It’s okay,” Adar whispered. “I won anyway.”

One last blink, and he passed out. Jermon’s heart went cold. “Is he okay?” he asked Maz, who was examining Adar.

Maz shook his head. “He’s not. See those bruises here?” He pointed at Adar’s belly. “He took multiple full hits on his spleen, and his belly is now distended. I fear he’s bleeding internally. We need to get him to the clinic as fast as possible.”

ChapterSeventeen

Time was a funny concept, wasn’t it? An hour could pass as quickly as if it were a minute or as slowly as a whole day. Right now, as Oliver and Delton were waiting for Adar and the others to return, it was the latter.

They had long since given up on trying to make conversation. Instead, they’d all gathered in the meeting barn once again to wait with both packs and the clan—what was left of it anyway, since a lot of the dragons were involved in the mission. Not the new omegas, obviously, though Zack had joined. Not that Oliver had expected anything else. He was the dragon version of Sivney, and Oliver admired the hell out of him for it.

Oliver leaned against Delton, who had his arm wrapped around him. He’d never felt this close to the beta, so at least that had come from this, but he was worried sick about Adar. And about the others, but his main concern was Adar. Why had the alpha been so confident he’d be fine? Wasn’t that tempting the gods or whatever it was called?

“The omegas will be here in ten minutes,” Sivney announced. “I spoke to Zack, and they’ve got all of them.”

A loud cheer went up, and it took a while for the barn to quiet down again. “What about the other group?” Delton asked when he could be heard again.

Sivney sent him an apologetic look as he shook his head. “I haven’t heard anything, and Zack didn’t know either. Apparently, their earpieces stopped working shortly after arrival.”

Magic. It had to be magic at work. Why had Fallon not blocked that? He should’ve been able to, especially with help from Jermon and Erwan. He had the White Dragon with him, for heaven’s sake.

Maybe he hadn’t been able to because something had gone wrong. Something bad.

Oliver groaned as he buried his head in his hands. No matter how much he tried to tell himself he shouldn’t keep running these worst-case scenarios through his head, they kept popping up.

“Oliver,” Delton whispered, rubbing his back.

“I can’t help it. My brain keeps going there.”

Delton kissed the top of his head. “I know, baby, but let’s try to focus on the positive. If Zack said they got all the omegas out, that means the mission was a success.”

“Not if the alphas got hurt…”

In response, Delton held him tighter.

Those ten minutes seemed to take forever, but then Sivney got word from the team of guards that the omegas had arrived. “I need all former Murphy omegas, please,” he said. “Help us welcome our new friends and make them feel safe and welcome.”

Oliver immediately got up.

“You too, Delton,” Sivney said. “They’re gonna need you. Enar and Lucan are already waiting to render first aid and medical care where needed.”

Those little things made such a difference, Oliver mused as he followed Sivney and the others outside. Technically, Quico—who was a pediatrician but still a doctor—would’ve been a more logical choice than Lucan, but Quico was a big alpha, whereas Lucan was a smaller beta. He wouldn’t scare the newcomers. And Enar might technically look like an alpha, but anyone who spent more than ten seconds with him felt safe with him. Even Oliver had, and he’d been afraid of his own shadow.

The group of omegas slowly came closer, and Oliver spotted the first familiar face. “Wendell!”

He hurried over to the young omega, whose eyes lit up when he recognized Oliver. “Oliver… Gods, you look amazing.”

Oliver hugged him carefully. The teenager—he was barely sixteen—was nothing but skin and bones, his hair thin and dull and his skin pale. He looked much older than he was, like someone who had seen more in his young life than anyone should in several lifetimes.

“I can’t believe you guys came back for us,” Wendell whispered when he finally let go of Oliver. “I thought we were done for. Things have been…” His voice broke. “I thought I was gonna die, like Shane. He died, did you hear? They…”

Oliver gently squeezed his hand. “I know. He’s free now, honey. No longer in pain. But you’re here. You’ve made it.”

Wendell hung his head. “I can’t believe it. It feels like a dream.”

“I felt the same way. Took a while for it to sink in.”

“And you’re talking again. I’d forgotten what your voice sounded like…”

---