Page 8 of His Bonded Omega Mate
After rifling through the bag, I shook my head. My focus turned to the food, the smell making my mouth water.
My wolf stirred with interest at the plate piled high with crispy bacon and fluffy scrambled eggs. A side of well-buttered toast with them and a glass of orange juice.
While my laptop booted up and I started looking through emails, I shoveled food into my mouth, barely chewing in my haste to fill my aching stomach.
“Easy!” Larken chided. “Doc said there had been some internal bleeding. Part of why he couldn’t heal all the breaks.”
Slowing, I raised an eyebrow and chewed carefully. “Better?”
“Yes —“ His words were cut off with a call to his phone.
I tuned the conversation out and read the latest update from the council instead. More sick. More dead. With each day, the situation seemed to get worse.
“Just heading to the gate. The delivery is here from The Spell Shop.”
The pack used the witch run store in Northarbor for most of their spell needs. We had a great relationship with Poppy, the new High Witch for the area. My relationship with her was improving now that she could see my position in Kade’s life would not be an issue or prevent him from being with his true mate.
Larken returned with the wards. “There’s a note from Poppy. She thinks she knows who is responsible for the spells used. I’ve sent what they left back with the delivery driver so she can check them. Poppy’s some woman.” He searched the large paper bag. “Fantastic! Some pain relief poultices, too.” He set the wards carefully, following the guide to the letter, then crawled into his bed and fell asleep. The guy could fall asleep instantly where I often had problems sleeping, unable to switch my brain off.
My eyes fell onto Larken’s sleeping form. The shifter in the bed next to mine was a bit of a rarity. As a Komodo Dragon shifter, he was part of a rare shifter tribe from Indonesia that had left their lands to prevent them from dying out.
Reptilian shifters were the rarest of all shifters, with wolves being the most prolific. Another reason the shifter knot theory that Rincoln had taught Jasper made sense to me.
While Larken slept, I worked my way through my inbox. He’d been sleeping for a few hours when there was a disturbance from the main floor.
“Roan!” I heard my name shouted from a few voices.
Putting my laptop down, I got up from the bed, wincing at the pain in my leg, roused Larken and headed for the stairs.
“Easy,” said Larken, as he wrapped an arm around me.
It seemed to take an age to get down the stairs. My body stiffened from hours of sitting in one position.
There were a couple of gasps from some mated omegas that helped around the mansion as they took in my condition.
I observed the crowd with narrowed eyes, my wolf trying to sniff out the scent of guilt. Within seconds, I had it narrowed down to a group of five alphas that may have been involved. The scent of anxiety clung to them and they shifted on their feet.
“Lark —“ I whispered.
“I see them,” he muttered back. I squeezed him, thankful for his friendship and support. If it wasn’t for him, I’d have considered leaving the pack, taking lodgings in Sweetwater proper, anything to get away from the compound and the toxicity that had risen in the alpha’s absence. My initial stubbornness had waned in the light of these injuries. They could have killed me.
“Roan.” Micah, a red panda shifter, stepped forward. “There are elves here that say they are to discuss arrangements for care of the betas with you.” He turned with an embarrassed glance at the female elf. “I’m sorry. I didn’t ask for your names.”
The female stepped forward with a careful grace that no mortal could emulate. “I am Teagan, and this is Hakeem.”
A huge male with darker skin moved to her side. “You are Roan?” He looked unerringly at me.
“Yes, Sir.”
His lips twitched in amusement. “Sir is unnecessary. We are to be friends, you and I.”
I couldn’t help my small smile in response. “Welcome to the Sweetwater pack mansion. I apologize, but our Alpha isn’t here to greet you.”
“No apologies required, Roan. We met with Alpha Blake earlier today and discussed the council’s pact with the elves. We are here to assist you in the treatment of the afflicted betas. If possible, we will also try to locate the source of the sickness. How it is passed and such.” Teagan had a melodic voice that put me at ease.
“In fact, we were able to be with your alpha when his brother woke,” Hakeem said.
There were murmurs around the room.
