Page 28 of His Gentle Omega
Only to be met by one nearly naked, brawny, angry alpha.
“Where have you been with my son?” he growled.
Chapter Ten
Shay
Waking up, I could feel the stillness of the house. The kind of stillness that comes from no one being home. There was no noise from the other rooms, no soft murmur of voices that had been there before when I had woken briefly, then fallen straight back to sleep. No sound of a television playing, no cabinets being open and closed.
Just stillness.
Forcing myself to sit up, I listened intently for just the barest of sounds. Nothing. No one was home.
Heart pounding, I stood up. My legs shook, refusing to hold me, and I found myself falling back on the bed on my ass. Taking as deep a breath as I could, which seemed to be an improvement from previously though still not great, I focused on gatheringwhat little strength I possessed. I felt as weak as a newborn foal and just as shaky.
I needed to find Lucas. Where had Bennett taken my son? I had trusted him. Had felt safe, for just a minute. And now Lucas was gone.
Pushing myself gingerly up from the bed, my head swam dizzily, but I refused to give into the need to sit back down. Grabbing onto one of the heavy four posters of the bed, I waited for my head to clear.
When the dizziness had passed and my legs felt more stable, I slowly made my way across the room to where my clothes were still folded neatly. I was breathing heavily from my trek, sweat beading my brow, and I was thankful there was an armchair that I could sink into.
Fuck. Just crossing the bedroom left me winded. Now that I was well and truly awake, a pressing need was making itself known by way of my bladder. Noticing the open doorway not too far from where I was seated, I could just make out what looked like an en suite.
“You can do it.” Muttering encouragement to myself, I shuffled into the bathroom, flipping on the light. Once my bladder was taken care of, I washed my hands, staring at myself in the mirror.
Goddess, I looked as bad as I felt.
My face was an interesting mix of reds, purples, blacks, yellows, and greens. The grayish pallor from my illness made it all look twice as bad. Tilting my head to the side, the fingerprint marks Edward had left on my throat were still dark, but they were now tinged with some yellow and green. I looked like an extra from a horror movie.
The air conditioning kicked on and I shivered as the cool air blew across my bare skin. Which probably meant I was still running a fever, even if it was now a low-grade one. I had a pair of sweats in my duffel, which was still in my truck. Hopefully it was safe in the hospital parking lot, because I didn’t need a towing bill on top of the bill I would no doubt be receiving from the hospital.
“Those are tomorrow problems, Shay.” Slowly, holding onto furniture as I went, I managed to make it back to the chair. “Maybe even next week problems.”
Taking a moment to huff and puff, I noticed my duffel bag sitting next to the dresser on the floor.
“Thank you…someone.” Not knowing if I had Bennett or someone else to thank for retrieving my clothes, I was just pulling my gray sweats over my hips when I heard the muffled sound of a car door slamming.
Hurrying out of the bedroom and down the hallway as fast as my shaky limbs and treacherous lungs would allow, holding onto the wall for support, I heard a key slide into the lock. Soft voices and a child’s laughter.
Lucas.
Yanking the door open, I glared at Bennett and growled, “Where have you been with my son?”
Bennett nearly dropped all the many bags he was holding, and Lucas looked just as startled. Then his blue eyes lit up with joy at seeing me upright, and mostly alive and coherent.
“Daddy!” he exclaimed, pushing past Bennett and nearly toppling the smaller man over. “You’re up!”
He threw himself at my legs, hugging me tightly, and nothing had ever felt so good. Holding him to me, I bent and nuzzled his soft hair. Closing my eyes, I imagined his hair smelling like hisstrawberry shampoo, a scent so familiar to me. I would be glad when I got my sense of smell back.
Bennett, to his credit, didn’t take offense to my snarling or Lucas nearly knocking him over. He just brushed past us with his plethora of bags, without saying a word. I could hear him rustling about, no doubt sitting them down on a kitchen counter.
I should apologize. Bennett had been nothing but kind to us and had gone well beyond what most people would do. He had taken us into his home, taken care of me, and made sure my son had a safe place to sleep. I should stop being an ass, but I had been terrified when I realized Lucas was gone. And I didn’t know if I could verbalize just how frightened I had been.
Finally, Lucas released me, bouncing back on his toes, his face lit up with a bright smile. It was wonderful to see after so many days of seeing nothing but questions in his eyes, followed by fear. He was holding a plastic bag and he moved to the sofa, where he unceremoniously dumped its contents.
“We went to the store, Daddy,” he explained, “they have all the things there! Did you know that? Bennett let me pick out something for helping him. I got play doh! He said it’s okay, that it cleans up easy, so you don’t have to worry. He won’t be mad if some falls on the floor.”
Closing my eyes briefly at Lucas’s innocent words, I blinked away the memory of the fight Edward and I had over Lucas being allowed play doh. Clearly, despite my best efforts, Lucas had heard us.
