Page 6 of Beneath His Alpha's Wings
Then, he tilted his head slightly for another bite and I was suddenly struck by how handsome he was. He swallowed another large mouthful and I was almost mesmerized as I watched the motion of his throat. His tongue darted out over his lips and I felt mine do the same.
I got so caught up watching him, I didn’t even notice that Dev was back until he spoke.
“Avery is on the way with some equipment. Teddy, I’m afraid he says it’s too early to listen for a heartbeat, but he’ll bring a test for you.”
“Okay,” Teddy said nervously.
“Why don’t you clean up a bit and rest until he arrives?” Tagger suggested. He nodded to me. “You too. There are changes of clothes in the dressers in your rooms. And shampoo and soap in your bathrooms.”
“Thank you.” Teddy stood and headed out of the room.
I felt like everyone was watching me. As much as I wanted to get away from the wardens, I felt like I didn’t trust them alone either. What if this was all an act and they changed their tunes as soon as Teddy and I were gone? There was no way I’d risk showering and being even more vulnerable, although I couldn’t deny some fresh clothes sounded good. I cleared my throat awkwardly and stood, slowly making my way to the door. It was a relief when nobody followed me to the room.
The drawers were indeed full of clothes, in a variety of sizes. In order to find pants that comfortably fit my waist, I had to settle on some sweatpants that were way too long. Luckily the ankles were elastic and easily held the mass of extra fabric off the ground. I also had an overly large shirt, but it settled over my stomach more comfortably than the smaller one I tried first.
I was pleased to find a few pairs of flip-flops in a drawer too. They wouldn’t be any good if I needed to move fast to escape, but I couldn’t move very quickly anyway. They were nice and easy to slip on, which was a welcome change considering my inability to bend over and my swollen feet.
It was only after I was dressed I considered the implications of drawers full of different sized clothing. Did they frequently kidnap and keep people here? Why else have an assortment like this in the room? Why even have a room like this at all. There were obviously at least two, since Teddy was in one as well.
The sound of heavy footsteps caught my attention. I slid to the door, not wanting even my flapping flip-flops to give me away, and pressed my ear to the crack. The footsteps went by and continued down the hall.
Before I could sigh in relief, I heard a voice call.
“What did the Parliament have to say?”
It sounded like Kessel. The footsteps paused, then came back close to my door and Larkin’s deep rumble answered. “They wanted to know if I had more information since we contacted the last night.”
“And?” I could hear the amusement in Kessel’s voice.
“And I told them.”
“You’re so helpful, Lark. Oh my god.” I stifled a laugh at Kessel’s playful tone.
“Lark-in,” he grumbled. “I told the we have to omegas, one pregnant, one possibly. That’s at least three turns we know of. I will let them know if Teddy is pregnant too.”
“Better. Anything else?”
“They’ll send someone once we capture the feral bear.”
I heard another set of footsteps, followed by Tagger’s voice. “And Dev says Avery is on the way. We need to figure out what to do with these omegas.”
Do with us?I held my breath and pressed my ear even closer to the door.
Tagger continued. “Adam is safe with Nolan, but we can’t keep these two here. We need to make other arrangements. The feral shifter went after Adam, and he wasn’t pregnant. There’s no way he’ll let us take one, if not two, of his cubs without a fight.”
“Agreed,” Kessel said grimly. “Where can we take them?”
“Teddy will be easy, I think,” Tagger said. “He trusts us and believes the feral bear is dangerous.” I swallowed hard at that. Was Teddy wrong to think that? “I’m going to call Verona Silvanus. Teddy will be safe enough on her island.”
“It’s pretty close to Half Moon,” Larkin said. “It’ll be easy for him to escape.”
“I don’t think Teddy is the escaping kind. He wants us to protect him from the feral bear,” Tagger said. “And that works in our favor. He won’t leave the Silvanus’ island, and even if the feral looks for him, it’ll be tough to get there unseen. Plus, Verona will look after him like a son. And with Carrick and the others crawling around, he’ll be well protected.”
“And Lucas?” Kessel asked. “Shouldn’t he stay there too?”
“Lucas was with the feral for two months. We don’t know what lies he was fed or his feelings for the feral.”
“You think we need to worry about a case of Stockholm Syndrome?” said Kessel.
