Page 77 of The Alpha's Fake Mate
“But if he stops taking it, which he might already have done,” I began.
“We can run. I have the resources.”
“And become fugitives? Forever? There has to be another way. There has to be a way I can fight for my own right to choose!”
Orion slowly shook his head.
I swallowed hard. I leaned forward and grasped Orion’s forearms.
He lowered his face and would not look at me.
“Is there way,” I asked. “A way you could induce a Burn?”
Now he glanced up. “I never thought of that.”
“Well, hormones cause it. So we trick your body somehow. Make it think you’re in the Burn.”
“Hormones. Yes! I should have thought of that.” He picked up his phone and started scrolling. Then he pressed down hard.
“You’re calling Doctor Wilde?”
“I know you don’t like him, but he’ll help me if he can. He’s known me since I was born and he and my dad were good friends. He’s always been good to me.”
The phone picked up and I heard the voice of Wilde’s husband.
“Doctor Wilde’s office. Maybe I help you?”
“This is Orion. I need to speak with the doctor right away.”
“Can I put you on hold?”
“Yes.”
A faintly tinny sound emanated from the phone. Something that perhaps once tried to call itself music.
As we waited, I felt myself lose upper balance just sitting on the side of the bed. My body fell forward until my forehead rested against Orion’s chest.
Orion’s arms came around me, the fingers of one hand combing through my hair. “No matter what,” he whispered into my hair, “he will never have you.”
I couldn’t imagine hiding with Orion for the rest of my life. If Bosk stood before me right now, and I were holding a gun, I knew I would not hesitate to kill him.
I did not like that aspect of myself, but it was the truth.
Finally, a voice piped up from the phone lying on the spread between us.
“Orion. Good to hear from you. What do you need?”
“My Omega might be taken from me at any moment if I don’t create a mate-bond. But my Burn is not due for a month. Is there a way to speed up that process?”
“There is. And I can help you with that. But the hormone shots I would administer to you are different for everyone. And there are side effects.”
“Tell me.”
As the doctor spoke, I continued to lean against Orion. He held me to him, his hand brushing up and down my spine. But nothing could alleviate the tension. My body was taut, strung tight, my muscles quivering.
Wilde’s voice spouted off a hell of a list of problems. Orion could experience stomach aches, headaches, vomiting, no appetite, severe mood swings, weird cravings. But all that seemed normal. Alphas in the Burn were no picnic, even the sane ones from what I’d been told. But when Wilde listed the prolonged side effects which might lead to more severe problems like blood clots or stroke, I balked.
I shut my eyes. I couldn’t have him risk his life for me. That would just be stupid. If he died, Bosk would have me anyway.
