Page 10 of Forged Bonds

Searing pain ripped through my stomach and I groaned. Sweat drenched my torso and my limbs felt heavy, but I avoided moving. What the fuck was happening? I blinked my eyes open and bright light assaulted my vision, but when I sucked in a breath my panic calmed.

Coffee and vanilla.

Freya was nearby. Her scent was intense because of her heat, but I didn’t go crazy over it like some Alphas might. It soothed me to know she was close, even if I couldn’t touch her.

Although…

I glanced down and spotted a head of silver hair resting on my torso, her leg hitched over mine. She was part of the reason I couldn’t lift my arms. The other reason was the mass of pillows and blankets she’d surrounded us with. They all smelled like her, with some hints of Caspian and Shan on the fabric. With the tiny size of the cot I was lying on, they’d toppled onto us and warmed me to sweltering levels.

“Cas?” I asked, my voice hoarse.

His head popped up, relief in his expression. “Thank the gods, you’re awake.”

“What happened?”

I remembered the attack, and I remembered ripping through plenty of vampires before everything went a little fuzzy. From the location of the wound on my torso… maybe it was better I didn’t remember specifics. It would have been a gory injury.

“Everyone is fine and the building is secure again,” he said. “Freya refused to leave you.”

If I could warm any further, I would have.

She refused to leave me while she was in heat and built her nest around me. It was flattering to know I mattered so much to her.

“She’s really warm right now,” I said, not commenting on the state of the nest.

Cas frowned. “There are like twenty thousand pillows and blankets on top of you guys right now.”

“Her skin is burning up,” I murmured, feeling the warmth of her cheek on me. There was something damp too, but it could have easily been sweat from either of us.

Shan’s face appeared above the nest too, his hands quick to remove pillows until he could get to her smaller body. With his hand hovering above her cheek, his eyes widened. “Fucking angels. A body temperature this high could kill her. I’m getting the doctor.”

I had a better view with less blankets covering me, seeing I was in an infirmary with curtains for walls and sparse equipment. When I tried to sit up I groaned, the movement pulling at my wound and causing more of the pain I’d felt when I first woke. Caspian’s hands pressed to my shoulders, keeping me flat on my back. “Stay down, Em,” he demanded. “Your body needs to heal the wound so it doesn’t get infected.”

Healing could happen while I was moving, usually. In this case, though, he was probably right.

I disentangled my arms from the nest and Freya’s body, brushing hair away from her face. It was damp with sweat, but that wasn’t the wetness I’d noted against my skin. She also had tear streaks down her cheeks. “She’s crying,” I said, sharing a shocked look with Cas as Shan led the doctor into the room.

Freya didn’t cry.

I’d never seen it, and never thought I’d see the day.

“Tell us what’s wrong with her,” Shan grunted at the doctor, who was staring at the piles of pillows.

“She nested in here and then went to sleep?” the doctor asked.

They nodded.

“That’s not a good sign. The Omega instinct is to nest and then take a knot. Did you turn her down?” The doctor barreled on before they could say no. “Because if she didn’t ask… her body isn’t in a good state right now. Her instincts aren’t working properly. I’m not trying to assume, but I’ve heard rumours. She’s completely unclaimed, yes? And revealed five years ago?”

We had no idea when she revealed, and had assumed it was a late reveal, so where these rumours had come from was a mystery to me.

If she’d gone five years without a knot and without being claimed, though…

Unclaimed Omegas had died in less time.

“Someone needs to claim her, or she’s going to die before her heat breaks.”

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