Page 146 of Ember

“How are you not sure?” I snapped.

Through the bond, Ember seemed far away. Asleep.

The doctor spread his hands. “No drug is considered safe to dissolve bonds. The combination of drugs for that alone would cause complications, but then he tried to induce a heat.”

All the alphas in the room, Raina and Zephyr included, stood up and snarled at that.

The man looked momentarily terrified. “We’re going to inject some counteragents to lessen some of the effects, but we can’t do too much until the rest of the drugs clear out of her system.” He held out a clipboard. “We need your permission…” He paused, not sure which of us to talk to. “To administer the counteragents. The side effects could be severe.”

He described all sorts of awful things. She could have a seizure, a stroke. It could impact her ability to go into heat, and it could alter the connection we had with her. The bonds might not feel the same afterward.

Ben looked at Alejandro and then at me and West.

“Shit,” West said. “Fucking asshole. I’m going to kill him.”

“Get in line,” Raina snarled.

The doctor looked at Ben and Alejandro. “As her bonded alphas?—”

“They have a say, too.” Alejandro gestured at me and West.

“What do you think?” Ben looked at West.

West sighed. “We have to risk it, don’t we?”

“I think so,” I added. The thought of not feeling her brightly through the bond was killing me, but I’d rather have her in my life.

“Do it,” Ben said. “Give her a chance.”

The doctor brought a nurse into the room. Ember’s eyes popped open, unseeing, and screamed about no more needles. Ben and Alejandro held her arms, hoping their scents would calm her, even though it killed them to do it.

She passed out almost immediately. Her temperature spiked and we waited long hours to see if she would settle. She never did. She whimpered and whined. We sat on the bed with her, taking turns telling her stories. I pushed every bit of love and concern I had for her into the bond I had with Alejandro and Ben, bitterly wishing omegas could bond each other.

West held her hand. “Come on, Ember. You can do this.”

We slept in weird snatches, and in the early hours of the morning, Ember woke up.

Feral.

Chapter 58

Ben

When Ember woke up, I knew something wasn’t right. Her scent was off. It wasn’t bitter and burnt anymore but deeper, wild. I rubbed my cheek on her face. Rian was curled up on my hip, and Alejandro and West spooned her other side. My neck and shoulders ached from sleeping in a cramped angle.

I didn’t care. I reached out for her in the bond but only felt…distant apprehension. She whined, and I touched her face. “It’s okay, honey. We’re here.”

Her scent turned bitter, and she snarled.

“What?” I looked around, cursing the hospital and my lack of ability to change the smells and lighting. A quick sniff told me a nurse had come into the room.

“I’m here to check her vitals,” the nurse said.

Ember snarled, her entire body freezing up like she was a hissing cat. She shifted, trying to lay on top of Rian and West at the same time if her body movements were any indication.

“It’s okay, mi preciosa,” Alejandro soothed her, his voice thick with sleep. “She’s trying to help.”

Angry possessiveness raked through the bond. Instinctively, I crowded closer to her.

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