Page 52 of Alpha Dragon's Mating Contract
Walren had fainted in the middle of the procedure. By the time he woke up, he was in a hospital, and the omega was nowhere to be found.
I never got to thank him.
All he knew was that the omega had bright orange eyes, and he had been on the verge of fleeing, that entire time.
“Why do you say it’s ugly?” Raptor asked, bringing Walren out of his thoughts.
“It’s... It’s all scarred up,” Walren mumbled. “It can’t bend. If the damage were just skin-deep, maybe I could ignore it. But I walk funny now. Sometimes it hurts to walk the way I do. And sometimes people think I’m stupid, just because I don’t walk right.”
Raptor’s eyes blazed. “Who?”
Walren shrugged. “Just random people on the streets. My friends treat me like a normal person.”
Raptor growled anyway. “If anyone says a single bad word to you, you’ll tell me immediately.”
“That’s a lot to bother you with.”
“You’ll tell me,” the alpha said, low and fierce. “No one gets to treat my—my employee like that.”
“Okay.” Walren blushed again.
They stared at each other for a long moment, until Raptor nodded to himself. Then the alpha sat on the edge of his bed,carefully propping Walren’s leg on the mattress. Raptor covered Walren’s scars with his hand. “This isn’t ugly, sweetheart. It’s a part of you that was broken, and you’ve done your best to heal around it.”
Walren’s throat tightened. “Oh.”
“You’re still pretty,” Raptor said quietly. “You don’t need pretty clothes to prove that to me.”
Walren’s eyes began to burn. “I don’t know if I believe you.”
The alpha shrugged. “That’s okay. Take as long as you need. Wear the panties, prove it to yourself. Gods know I wasn’t born this way.”
“Y-you weren’t?”
Raptor shook his head. “I used to be less crazy, but that’s a story for another day.”
Walren had so many questions, but Raptor’s expression said he didn’t want to talk about them right now. “Okay.”
“Now.” Raptor narrowed his eyes and lightly squeezed Walren’s scars. “Who did this to you?”
Walren fidgeted. “The short story is that an omega sewed me up.”
A low growl started up in Raptor’s throat. “And the long story?”
Walren told him. Not Larei’s name, nor how long his stupid younger self had stayed with that alpha, but the hike. He told Raptor about the rusted iron rod, dropping his gaze when Raptor’s shoulders tensed and his eyes glowed bright red.
“What’s his name?” Raptor snarled.
“I don’t know if I should tell you,” Walren said nervously. “I don’t want you to fight him and get hurt!”
“I’m not going to get hurt,” the alpha said.
“But what if you go into rut? I—I don’t want to be near him, and you’d have to bring me along.”
Raptor stared at Walren for so long that he squirmed. “Fine. I won’t hunt him down.”
He looked as though the compromise had cost him an entire arm.
“I can’t believe he hurt you,” Raptor muttered. “You were his omega! Who the hell hurts their omega?”
