Chapter 28:
“He overextended himself,” Fiora said. “It’s dangerous, yes, but he’s out of the woods.”
“So you’ve said.” Oberon sat at Fenrir’s bedside, clutching his omega’s hand in both of his. He’d lost track of the time, refusing to leave his side even when the medical team had worked on Fenrir’s injuries.
His shoulder had been dislocated, and his leg was pretty badly burned. There’d been nineteen shards of broken glass and six pieces of plastic embedded in his back, thighs, and backside, and it’d taken well over an hour to dig them all out.
“It doesn’t really seem like you’ve heard me,” Fiora replied. “Or, at the very least, as though you’ve comprehended anything.”
They’d gone over it all already.
He’d been listening.
According to her newly minted expertise on all things Shout, Fenrir’s survival instincts had sent him into a primal state that had momentarily taken over. His trauma revolving fire, and the fact he’d been locked in a burning room had no doubt been the cause. He’d somehow managed to break down the door in those conditions which was impressive, and she’d theorized that he’d inadvertently tapped into his untouched potential.
Having experienced a taste of what that Shout rage could produce when he’d overreacted at the mansion and pinned Fenrir to the couch with an audience, Oberon sort of understood Fenrir’s actions had been entirely out of his control.
Energy was no joke.
“He turned the entire auction house into an ice rink,” Koah exclaimed on the other side of the room. He’d been eyeing Fenrir’s unconscious form differently ever since they’d returned from the operating room.
“It froze the bodies rather nicely.” Fiora smiled fondly. “He preserved them for me perfectly. He’s definitely a keeper.”
“Hebityou.” Koah stared at the bandaged area of Oberon’s neck where Fenrir had chomped into him.
“Shouts claim their mate the same way alphas do,” Fiora explained. “Since he’d been pushed into that primal state of being, it makes sense that he acted on instinct. Especially with so many other alphas around at the time. His need to mark his mate before someone else could probably overwhelmed him.”
Fenrir had burned himself out at both ends. His pheromones had spiked, and his energy could practically be tasted. It’d tasted a lot like the air after a lightning strike, cold and metallic and unique.
Oberon had momentarily been caught off guard by the smell, the taste, and the feel of Fenrir all around him. It’d been a consuming feeling, forcing all sorts of sensations on him at once.He wondered if it was like that for omegas, though he’d been told there was a blissful, erotic pleasure to an alpha’s bite.
O hadn’t been turned on in that moment.
He’d been…fulfilled?
He didn’t know how to explain it, but the second those teeth that penetrated flesh, he’d felt something solid form between the two of them. Something invisible, yet miraculously tangible all at the same time. That feeling still lingered, right at the center of his chest, there whenever he reached for it. It was an odd sense of awareness that didn’t necessarily lead anywhere…it just…was.
His guess? Fenrir’s Shout had tried to form a bond with him, but because he wasn’t a Whisper, it hadn’t taken the way it was meant. Instead, it’d tangled with the bond they’d formed between an alpha and omega, enriching what they already had in an inexplicable way.
Oberon wasn’t mad about it.
On the contrary.
“Wake up and talk to me,” he murmured, bringing the back of Fenrir’s hand to his cheek. He was slightly cold to the touch, but Fiora had assured him that was normal while the omega’s body recalibrated.
Again.
“He’ll be fine, Purse,” Fiora said. “He’ll wake when he’s ready.”
“He froze—” Koah began, then snapped his mouth shut when she sent him a warning look.
“How did it go at the estate?” Oberon asked. Now that Fenrir was out of surgery, he could turn part of his attention to the mission. Not that he gave a shit if Levi got what he wanted out of this. He mostly just welcomed the distraction. He hated that there was nothing more he could do for his omega thansit here and fret over him like some weakling. “Was your spy successful?”
Koah sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Yes and no.”
“She was able to locate the vials,” Fiora explained. “But was ambushed on her way out. One of Michelle’s people managed to steal two doses of Rebirth before making a run for it.”
“It’s just two vials,” Oberon said. “That hardly seems like the end of the world.”