Page 29 of Truth or Lie

I understood that Beckett’s condition was more of an emergency right now, and I didn’t begrudge him the doctor’s attention—but it did feel like Alex was something of an afterthought at the moment.

“Time for real talk,” Jax said.

Kam nodded. “Beckett was able to calm her down—probably due to his pregnancy pheromones. Unfortunately, he’s not in a position to help now. I know this is complicated by the fact that the four of us are mated and she isn’t part of that, but I intend to help her if there’s nothing the doctor can do medically to interrupt the rut.”

Flynn shifted uncomfortably in place. “It’s complicated, all right. Alex is still pack, though—even if she won’t admit it to herself. But, Ginger Tea, you’ve only got one place for that knot to go... and it’s not a place that’s gonna stand up well to an alpha in full rut. She’ll tear you up bad.”

“We’ll tag team her,” I said without hesitation. “I can try to take the brunt of it. Does anyone here know how long this is likely to last?”

Please, let it not be days on end, like an omega heat.

There was a longish silence, broken only by Alex’s ragged breathing from the bed.

“I’m not sure we can predict it with any accuracy, since it’s not a natural rut,” Kam said eventually. “And honestly, these days ruts are more of an urban legend than anything else.”

“I’ve only ever heard about them happening during the last day of a heat coupling,” Jax said. “And to be fair, thingscanget pretty intense around that time.”

“So, maybe a day or so, but we don’t really know for sure,” I summarized. “It’s already been three hours, and the sedative will keep her under for a while. I mean... I don’t suppose the doctor could just keep her sedated through the whole thing?”

That would almost certainly be the best option, at least for Alex’s peace of mind afterward. I wasn’t at all sure how she’d react to having been fucked without her consent—even by Kam and me.

Who was I kidding?Especiallyby Kam and me.

“You can’t drug an omega through a heat,” Kam said dully. “The required dose just keeps getting higher and higher, until eventually it would kill them to keep trying. This is probably similar.”

Well, shit. I tried to recenter my brain around logistics rather than emotions. “We’ll need a way to ensure she can’t bite.” I saw Kam’s small flinch, quickly hidden. He’d clearly thought about that possibility already. “We might want to be mated to her,” I said, more gently, “but she’s made it clear she doesn’t want to be mated to us. We have to make sure it can’t happen accidentally.”

“I’ve got something for that,” Flynn said in a flat tone.

I didn’t waste any time being incredulous over Flynn’s vast stockpile of sex aids, opting instead for practicality. “You mean you’ve got something here? Not in our luggage in Belarus?”

“It’s here,” Flynn said, unrepentant as always when it came to his sex toy collection. “Got it for Kam in case he might like it, but it’ll work for this, too.”

“She’ll need to be restrained the whole time, so she can’t hurt you,” Jax said, sounding like the idea made him sick. “You have to be able to get away from her if you need to.”

“And we’re going to be present, in case something happens and you need muscle.” Flynn didn’t make it seem like a negotiable point.

“Having other alphas in the room could enrage her,” Kam said. He sounded every bit as queasy about the whole thing as Jax had.

“As opposed to how mellow and chill she’s gonna be if we’re not there?” Flynn asked pointedly.

“He’s right,” Jax said. “We won’t bend on this one, you two. Alex is our pack, but she doesn’t get to hurt you. Period.”

A faint rumble of a growl sounded from the bed. We turned as one to look at Alex, but she subsided after a moment and lay unmoving.

“Sounds like we’re not gonna have loads of time to iron out the details here,” Flynn said unhappily.

Kam sighed. “I’ll go and let the doctor know she’s stirring. Hopefully he can leave Beckett long enough to at least run some basic tests on her.”

He ducked out. Once the door swung closed behind him, Jax turned to look at me.

“He’s thinking about taking advantage of Alex’s condition to mate her,” he said, keeping his tone even.

“Everyone in this room has thought about it,” I shot back, a pulse of reproach escaping me to thrum through the bond. “And that doesn’t mean any of us would actually act on it—Kam included.”

The doctor bustled into the room, with Kam in his wake. He wasted no time undoing the top few buttons on Alex’s rumpled white shirt and pressing a stethoscope to her chest. He checked her pupils as Kam had done, strapped a blood pressure cuff to her arm, and finally drew a vial of blood. When the needle slid into her vein, Alex whined and jerked weakly before subsiding again.

“I can’t rule out a mild concussion from that bruise on her temple,” the doctor said. “Her pulse and blood pressure are elevated, but that’s to be expected. You understand there’s not a whole lot I can do for her, and I’ve got an emergency on my hands in the other room.”

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