Page 43 of Sanctuary
Standing in the gap between their curtain and the one around the bed next to Ori's was a man. A tall, tall man, taller than anyone Patton had ever met in his life. He smelled shifter and Patton had just enough time to push Ori behind him before the smell of omega came to him too.
It was the omega he'd smelled earlier.
"Patton?" Ori's voice crept into the tense silence. He put a hand on Patton's shoulder and moved up to stand next to him. "Are you going to tell on us?" He directed the question pointedly to the strange omega.
"No." The omega shook his head.
"You don't think someone's going to come looking for you and find us?" Ori demanded fiercely. "Then why did you come?"
"To give you this." He dug in his pocket and held out a small packet. "No one's going to come look for me. I mean, would you?" He gestured at the long length of him. "But knowing you're worthless gives you a bit of freedom." The corner of his mouth curved up and he winked. "I don't much care what they say to me because it doesn't make a difference. And I'm big enough to take a slap or a punch." He wiggled the packet. "It's not much, but I always bring a little money with me in case something goes wrong. Take it." He pushed the folded packet of bills at Patton, then reached for Ori's hand and wrapped his fingers around them. "You heading to Canada?"
"Not your business," Patton said shortly.
The omega nodded. "Okay, I get it. You don't' know me, that's fine. Take the money, and go wherever you're going. But once you're safe, will you let me know?"
"Why?" Ori asked. This time, his voice was softer, less defensive, as if he truly wanted to know. Patton glanced over at him and was puzzled by the concern in Ori's expression. Ori's gaze caught his and Ori mouthed, I'll explain later. Patton nodded and let Ori do whatever strange omega thing it was that he so obviously wanted to do.
The tall omega shrugged and, for the first time, Patton was able to see the hurt his size caused him. "I just want to know it's possible. To get your happy ending." That tilted smile crept out again, this time tinged with sadness. "I'll never have it, so I try to make sure others do. Let me know?"
Ori nodded slowly. "I will. What's your name?"
"Felix. Felix White River."
"Thank you, Felix White River, for your help," Ori said in slow, formal cadence. Then he let go of Patton and shuffled forward to give Felix, a full head taller than him, an awkward hug that surprised the White River omega, if the expression on his face was anything for Patton to go by. "As soon as we're where we're meant to be, I'll write to you." He stepped back and reached for Patton again, his face white. "We should go."
Felix frowned and peeked around the curtain. "I probably should too. Ward--my brother, he broke his arm--went with a doctor and he could be back any minute. Ethan—he came with us to drive—thinks I’m in the bathroom."
"They didn't send you with a chaperon?"
Felix snorted and glanced back over his shoulder. "Look at me--do I need one?" He winked and again there was that hint of sadness about him, and then he was gone, slipped out through the gap in the curtain with more stealth than a man of his size should be able to manage.
Ori sighed and sagged against Patton. "Get me out of here." His voice had gone gravelly and he'd closed his eyes, as if he couldn't bear to look at the world.
"Come on."
They made it halfway down the hall, heading for the orange line on the floor, when the young man from Hope's Home caught up with them again. "Leaving already?" He moved around in front of them and bent down to peer up at Ori's face. "The doctor's letting you go like this?"
"We can't stay," Patton said and took an aggressive step forward. "Move."
The young man did as Patton had said, though he didn't seem frightened. More thoughtful. "Family find you?" he asked.
Patton sucked in a sharp breath and bit down on a growl--the human was too damn smart for comfort. "None of your business."
The human shrugged. "It happens. They don't want you to be gay so they threaten to kick you out and then when you leave, that's an insult too, so they want to get you back and 'straighten you out'. You're not the first one to run into family members and have to make a quick getaway." He got his shoulder in under Ori's other arm and led them toward a chair. "Put him down there while I talk to the doctor. Don't go anywhere. I'm going to try to get a prescription for some pills and then we can load him in the car." He made a face. "They're getting busy now, I'm sure they'd be glad to have the bed emptied." He cast a worried look at Ori, then smiled at Patton. "Don't worry, we'll fix him right up. You'll see." He worked his way through the crowd to the desk and Patton watched him lean over the edge to talk to one of the nurses. She turned her head to look in their direction, then nodded to the human and disappeared out of sight behind a wall. The human waited at the desk, fidgeting and tapping his fingers as he scanned the crowd. Looking for what, Patton couldn't tell.
"Pat?" Ori sounded sleepy and Patton moved close so Ori could lean against him. "He doesn't know. Martin. The Hope guy. He thinks we're lovers, that our families threw us out when they found out."
Patton couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped him. "Well, if they had found out, that's probably exactly what would have happened."
Ori's answering chuckle cheered him. "Yeah, I soothed my conscience figuring it’s not exactly a lie." He sighed and leaned more heavily into Patton. "I think, if we're careful with our story, we can trust him." He bit his lower lip and rolled his eyes up to gaze at Patton. "I wonder if we can use him to get us things that will help us get to Mercy Hills? Money. Maps." And in a voice not much above a whisper, "Human identification."
Disguises. Patton looked down at his mate and marveled again at the hidden depths inside him. But still… “How long will that take?”
“I don’t know, but we have to decide on a story and make sure we get the details right.” He frowned, then the corner of his mouth twitched. “Kind of like the time you and Deaghan broke that window and you were terrified the Alpha was going to murder you.”
The story behind their cabin in the woods. “And you dragged us out to build our cabin with the scraps from storage shed they’d torn down the day before.” Patton hadn’t known about it, but Ori had, and by the time the Alpha and Patton’s dad had found them, they had what looked like solid cabin half built in the trees and Ori shouting orders to a sweaty Patton and Deaghan while he relaxed in the shade of a nearby fig tree. But, it had looked like they’d been there all day, and they’d spent the first part of the afternoon practicing their stories until even they almost believed it had happened that way, and so they couldn’t have been the ones to break the window. "I'm glad one of us is smart in this relationship."
Ori closed his eyes and rubbed his cheek against Patton's side. "You're smart. Smarter than a lot of the alphas I've met. I think that's why I love you so much." He settle more comfortably against Patton's side. "Do I smell meat?"
