Page 64 of Fight or Fly

“Then leave me alone, all of you.” The words emerged as an angry snarl, but the unsteadiness behind them was unmistakable.

“We’re not leaving you alone,alef,” Jax said.

A dangerous edge sharpened Alex’s glare. Flynn had no way to see it from his position behind her, but he must have sensed it somehow.

“Oh, just fuck off back to your cot, Jax. Not all of us want to dissect every little goddamned thing. Let the woman have some privacy if she wants it.”

Jax shot him a frustrated look, but he must have decided it wasn’t an argument worth having tonight. We were all exhausted—and if Kam and I were exhausted, I could only imagine how much worse it must be for the alphas.

“Fine,” Jax said. “We’ll deal with things tomorrow. Like you said, it’s not like we’re going to get any useful answers for another few days. I’m sorry I pushed, Alex. Try to get some rest.”

Alex didn’t reply. She looked like a trapped animal, ready to gnaw off an injured limb if it meant she could escape. Part of me wanted to venture outside and search for Irina, just so Alex would stop looking like that—but it was three in the morning, and the compound was teeming with armed guards who might or might not assume I was still supposed to be in a cell.

“I’ll ask one of the nurses if there’s a way to get a message to Irina,” I told her.

Alex gave a single, tight nod, meeting my gaze with something like gratitude for the barest instant before she squeezed her eyes shut and turned her face into the cot’s thin pillow.

Jax still looked like he wanted to stay at her side. I nudged his shoulder until he rose with a grumble and hobbled back toward his cot. As promised, I found a nurse and asked for the message to be delivered, requesting Irina’s presence in the infirmary at her earliest convenience.

Reluctant as I was to be separated from the alphas by even such a small distance as a different cot, the reality was that the blasted things werenotbuilt with two people in mind—particularly when one of those people was over six feet tall and built like a tank. Two smallish omegas were a different story, though. When Kam gestured me toward the empty cot he’d claimed next to Jax, I went along willingly. And if I had to climb half on top of him to keep from falling off? Well, neither of us was complaining.

* * *

Iwoke a few hourslater feeling as though I’d been up until three in the morning and then slept double with someone on a narrow shelf—not surprising, under the circumstances. I desperately wanted a shower. Actually, I desperately wanted a shower, an appointment with my hair stylist in Montreal, a new wardrobe, makeup, and a manicure.

Somehow, none of those things seemed terribly likely.

Kam, who was very nearly as high-maintenance as I was, hadn’t fared much better. His hair stuck out at ridiculous angles, and he had dark circles under his dark circles. I considered commiserating with him about the lack of amenities, but that thought was completely derailed when a slender figure wearing the uniform of Nikolayev’s private guard entered.

Irina’s gray eyes swept around the bustle of the medical ward. They caught on Alex’s back for a long moment. Alex didn’t stir—proof, if any were needed, that their bond was truly destroyed. If it hadn’t been, her mate’s arrival would have woken her from the soundest sleep.

Eventually, Irina wrenched her gaze free and approached Kam and me.

“Good morning,” she said in a cool tone. “I’ve arranged for more suitable accommodations where you and your alphas can recover, once they’ve undergone any additional treatment they may need for their injuries.”

At the sound of her voice, Alex did wake. She stiffened on her cot, drawing in an audible breath.

“Thank you,” I replied uncertainly. “And thank you for coming here. Alex wants to speak with you.”

“I’ll just bet she does,” Irina murmured. Then, more conversationally, “Someone will be along shortly to show you to your suite. Until then, there’s a continental breakfast set up in the nurses’ staff room, I believe.”

With that, she turned with military precision and moved to Alex’s cot. Kam and I watched with trepidation. Meanwhile, Jax and Flynn were both still out cold thanks to a combination of physical and mental exhaustion topped with painkillers.

“Is this going to be all right, do you think?” Kam asked.

“I have absolutely no idea,” I told him truthfully.

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