“Mabel? What the fuck?” Craig only gave into that one distraction before focusing in on Carr. Striding over, he knelt beside a sobbing Ben. “How bad?” He asked the healer who was on Carr’s opposite side.
“We need to get him inside,” was all Andrea said.
Craig looked at Daniel, who was already shifting on his way over to them. “It’s all right. We’ve won.” He swallowed visibly. “It was bloody awful, but we’re all alive.” He gaze skittered to Carr. “So far. Help me, please.”
The gamma needn’t have asked. Reaching down, Daniel took Ben by the shoulders and raised him to his feet. “You need to give us room, baby. We’ll take care of him.”
“He can’t die.” The omega clutched at Daniel’s arm, digging in his nails. “Don’t let him die.”
“It’ll be okay, baby.” He made the pledge because he couldn’t not do it. Not with those agonized eyes staring up at him as if he held the power of the Gods to make things right. “Stand aside now, so that we can pick him up.”
With a sniff and a nod, Ben did as told. He went to stand beside a now-human Kyle and Joey. The other boys held him close between them and silently watched. The others inside the longhouse did as well. They formed a long wall of support, the adults coddling the still weeping and fussing pups.
Daniel went to kneel beside Andrea and looked at Craig over Carr’s unconscious form. Andrea had moved to the space previously occupied by Ben. She was applying pressure to the belly wound with her bare hands, not unlike how Ben had. It was the worst of Carr’s injuries. Although Craig was a member of the pack, Daniel was more senior by virtue of his being a beta. So, he shoved down his own growing sense of panic and took command.
He slid his hands under Carr’s hip, wincing at the sticky wetness he encountered. His own scrapes and bruises screamed in protest. He ignored them. At his nod, Craig did the same with Carr’s shoulders. “We lift on three. One. Two. Three.”
They both grunted as they hefted Carr’s bulky wolf in their arms. The injured gamma whined. The sound was like a punch to the gut, but he had to shake that feeling off. Time was not on their side.
“To my room,” Andrea said and led the way over to the sliding doors. They were already open and the people and wolves inside parted without being told to give them space to maneuver through.
It seemed like a mile before they reached their destination. Once in Andrea’s treatment space, they laid Carr on a pallet. The gamma’s breathing was even more labored and the blood still flowed past the healer’s hands.
“I need one of you to press here for me,” she said.
Daniel moved his hands in a flash and grimaced at the feel of entrails he encountered. He’s not going to survive this.
A broken sob caught his attention. Ben stood flanked by Kyle and Joey just inside the room. His eyes were wet, but the crying had stopped. Daniel wanted to reassure him, tried for a tight smile, and failed. He couldn’t lie to Ben, not even to spare him fear.
“Here, I’ll take over now.” The healer was back with cloth and bottles and all manner of surgical stuff.
Daniel had to look away. He was no more equipped to deal with Carr’s imminent death than Ben was. The gamma had become like a brother to him. Not simply a pack brother. A blood one. The bond they’d formed over the few short days of caring for Ben during his heat was perhaps unparalleled. He felt it deeply nevertheless. And although he couldn’t stand watching the healer struggle to save his brother, he could offer some comfort.
He slid over to Carr’s head, taking the spot recently vacated by Craig. He rubbed his hands on the pallet to clear away as much of the blood coating them as he could. And, using a gentleness he would have reserved for Ben or a pup, he laid his hand on the large, white head and stroked between the ears.
“You’re going to be fine, Carr,” he crooned. “Andrea is patching you up, so you hold on.” He had to stop and choke back the tears. “Ben needs you,” he continued in a low voice. “His pup needs you.
“I need you,” he added because it was true. “We won, by the way. The pack is safe, and everyone survived. Don’t go and ruin that impressive record,” he admonished and hoped the gamma would appreciate the barb even more than the sappy words of encouragement.
He kept up his stream of words until Andrea sighed and sat back on her heels. “There. I’ve closed the wound. The others can wait.” She wiped her forehead with the back of her gory hand. “The big problem,” she continued in a lower tone to keep it between the two of them, “is the blood loss. I don’t know that he can survive without a transfusion.”
It took a moment for her words to sink in. As soon as they did, he held out his arm. “Take from me.”
The healer gave him a wan smile. “Thank you, Beta, but it’s not that simple. First, the donor will have to be in wolf form. For some reason, blood compatibility is only an issue in human form. Second, it will have to be a direct transfusion. I don’t have the right equipment to take blood from one, store it, and then pump it into another.”
“No problem. I’ll shift right now and lie down beside him. Okay?”
She held out her hand before he could move a muscle. “It’s dangerous, Beta. If I don’t stop the flow at the right time, I risk not taking enough to help the patient. Or I take too much and kill the donor.”
Daniel raised his eyebrows. “Have you done this before?”
“No.”
He nodded. “Well, I trust you to get it right.” With that said, he shifted in the blink of an eye, the speed making him dizzy.
He lay down on his side next to Carr and fought to stay in control when the healer approached him with her needle. Through his wolf’s eyes and using his human brain, he saw and registered the meaning of the sharp needle and the tubing. It was hard to let himself be prodded and pricked. At least his wounds from the fight were sufficiently superficial that shifting back and forth had mostly healed them.
And, he kept his gaze trained on Carr as the healer connected their bodies. Soon, the gamma and he would truly and forever be blood brothers.
****
“They’re both still out?” Kyle asked the question in a hushed tone and walked silently over to join Ben on the floor.
He sat between their pallets by their heads, lightly petting their hair back from their foreheads and watching their chests rise and fall on steady breaths. So far they both remained unconscious, yet appeared to be sleeping rather than in a coma. Andrea had reassured him that notwithstanding his passing out, Daniel was no worse the wear for giving up a lot of blood. And, Carr’s wounds were healing nicely in large part because of the transfusion. They’d both shifted back to human within a few hours, and that was the best sign of all.
“They’re going to be fine.” He gave the reassurance more for himself than for the alpha mate. “They have to be.”
Placing his hand on Ben’s shoulder, Kyle gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Of course, they are.” His hand dropped down. “Everyone is fine. Mostly. Other than these two, the worst of it is Liam. His thigh needed a lot of stiches and he’ll be laid up for a while, and the guy is not happy about it. Poor Joey is going to have essentially two pups to take care of for a while. At least Liam is distracted by his own wounds, so he hasn’t had a chance to fully appreciate just how bad an omega Joey was during the battle. It’s giving Joey a reprieve.”
Ben winced. “Joey shouldn’t be in trouble for what he did. None of you should. It was the bravest thing I ever saw, and it saved Daniel’s and Carr’s lives. I’m sure of that.”
Kyle rolled his eyes. “Tell that to my mate. His human half gets it intellectually, but his wolf is beside himself.”
“You’re not going to be punished, though, are you?”
“I have a feeling that once Lorcan has a chance to focus on it, I’m going to be tethered to him like a fifth appendage. At least for a while. Poor Mabel is literally tied at the waist with Craig. The guy won’t let her out of his sight and he looks like he’s going to burst a blood vessel. He keeps
barking ‘what were you thinking?’ every so often.”
“What you three did was amazing and your mates should appreciate how important you were for winning the battle. I do. Thank you.”
“I agree, and you’re welcome.” Kyle huffed. “Haldon’s pack took heavy losses. No surprise there. He was never one for training or discipline, and he’d taken on a lot of ferals to fill out the ranks. Like the ones we dealt with in the back. They weren’t very good fighters.”
“Good enough,” Ben replied in a quiet voice, his gaze fixed on Carr’s bare chest and the cloth wrapped around his middle.
“That was my sire’s oldest and most trusted beta who got the drop on Carr. I’m not surprised he stayed back until the end.” Kyle blew out another breath. “My sire is dead.”
That declaration caught Ben’s attention. He turned his head to stare at the alpha mate. “Truly? I’m sorry.”
Kyle gazed at the floor and shook his head. “It’s his own fault. If he’d only left us alone.” He took in a deep breath. “Anyway, Lorcan just told me. They fought one-on-one. Lorcan said that despite everything my sire had done, Lorcan still gave him a chance to surrender. Haldon didn’t. so…”
Kyle shook his head again. “I suspect Lorcan also didn’t want to have to look me in the eye and tell me he gave my sire the killing bite. It’s sweet in its way, but what my mate doesn’t understand is that in many ways, my sire died for me a long time ago.”
Ben went back to studying Daniel and Carr, looking for signs of them being better, or worse. “I kind of know how you feel. My sire is a real asshole, too. It kills me to think of how he has his claws in my younger brother and might sell him off like he did with me. If he hasn’t already done it.”
“I only want something good to come out of this fight. I want the pack safe, to give Hope and your pup, and everyone a chance to be happy.”
“That’s what I want, as well. A pack to live and raise my pup in without fear and misery. It doesn’t seem like a lot to ask.”
Kyle snorted. “It’s not. And, I think we’ll have that thanks, in no small way, to these two. They were fierce last night.”
Ben smiled and pride swelled inside him, even though neither of these men was his to claim. Not yet anyway. “They were magnificent.”
“You love them both, don’t you?”
“Hmm.” He flicked his gaze from one to the other. “I do.” He settled on staring at Carr’s pale, masculine beauty. “But, I’m only in love with one of them.”
“I thought that might be the case. So, why didn’t you mate with him?”
Ben shrugged. “I wasn’t ready to make that decision. I’m not sure I am even now. I only know that after what life was like with Kurt, I’ve been wary of dominant men.”
He wiggled his numb butt and focused on first Daniel’s hair, then Carr’s, rubbing the strands between thumb and forefinger. “First, I thought Daniel would be just like him, you know taking me only for his own use. When that didn’t happen and he brought me here, I thought he was selling or pawning me off to another. Then, when Lorcan made it clear that I had choices, I was overwhelmed. I’d never had that kind of power before.
“I didn’t know what to do. Daniel was so sweet, and Carr noble and exotic. I liked being with them both. Once my heat started, there was no more thinking.”
“I heard Andrea talking to Lorcan. She thinks that because of, you know, your time with Kurt that you needed more attention during your heat than any one guy could give you. You were lucky to have two that you trusted to see you through it.”
Ben grimaced. “I was. It was like a living nightmare, but they stuck with me in a selfless way that shouldn’t be possible for a dominant shifter. Even after the heat, they’re still here with me. Except Daniel is going to leave, and Carr’s staying. Mating with him makes sense.”
Reaching over, Kyle put his hand on Ben’s arm. “You don’t have to mate with Carr simply because he’s available, you know. Lorcan’s been clear on that.”
“I know,” Ben replied with a firm nod. “I’m not settling and I don’t feel pressure. Seeing Carr nearly die, watching him right now and begging him silently to open his eyes, have made me realize how I feel about him.”
He gazed steadily at the alpha mate. “I love Carr and want to mate with him. There’s no question in my mind. I only hope that Daniel will understand.”
“Of course I do, baby.”
Ben sucked in a breath and looked down at Daniel’s face. The beta’s eyes were half open, and he was giving Ben a weak smile. “You’re awake!” He stated the obvious in a low voice.
“This is my cue to leave,” Kyle said, standing. Good luck, he mouthed as he left the room.
Ben leaned down to kiss Daniel’s forehead. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. Carr?” The beta craned his neck to get a look at the gamma lying on the other side of Ben’s knees. “How is he?”
“Andrea says he’s going to fully recover, thanks to the blood you gave him. Thank you,” he added with a watery smile.
“No thanks necessary. Carr is my brother, and I’m happier than I can say that you want him as your mate.”
“You are, really?”
“Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?” He gave Ben a tired smile. “I love both of you and want you to be happy. Being together as a mated pair makes the most sense. And, the Rogue Pack will hopefully be a safe place for you to raise your pup now.”
“Lorcan told Kyle that he dealt Haldon a mortal blow.”
Daniel sighed and closed his eyes briefly. “Good. That’s very good. I bet the rest of his pack will scatter.”
Ben frowned. “What will happen to the non-combatants, the sigmas and the pups?”
“I don’t know, baby. I’m just glad that you and your pup and the rest of this pack are safe. I know that Carr will keep you that way.”
Ben hadn’t stopped petting Daniel’s hair. He stopped and laid his palm on the man’s head. “I wish you’d stay. I know that sounds kind of crazy and is definitely selfish of me…”
Daniel caught his hand and brought it down to kiss it. “It’s neither of those things. I’m simply not cut out for pack life. I love the city, and as selfish as I am, I know that’s not the right place for you or the pup.” He paused. “Besides, you’re in love with Carr, and I’m sure he’s in love with you.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah, I do, and…wow.” His brows furrowed.
“What is it?”
“I can hear his wolf.”
“I’m sorry?”
Daniel stared off in the distance and nodded. “Yeah, I can hear him. He’s calling to mine, whining a little because he’s hurting.” His sharp gaze shot up to Ben’s. “You need to get the healer and have her give him more meds to ease his pain.”
“Oh!” Jumping up, he raced out of the room. He almost ran right into Andrea in the hallway. “Carr’s in pain. He needs something more for it.”
The healer blinked back at him and smiled. “He’s awake already?”
“No.” Ben frowned. “Daniel is, though, and he said Carr’s wolf is whining.”
“Indeed? Interesting.” She rushed back into her room and grabbing a bottle, continued over to where the men were lying. “He’s in pain you say, Beta?”
“Yes, ma’am. His wolf is calling to mine. I don’t understand how that can be.”
Ben joined them. “I thought that was only something mated pairs shared.”
Andrea lifted Carr’s head with one hand and pressed the open bottle to his lips with the other. “Come on, Gamma, drink up.”
Carr’s unconscious mind and wolf responded to her command. His mouth opened enough for her to dribble the liquid into him. His throat swallowed convulsively until she stopped. She placed his head down again gently and touched his brow.
“No fever. That’s good, and he seems to be sleeping.” She looked pointedly at Daniel.
“He’s better now. Thanks.”
“I
t’s the direct blood transfusion,” she said in answer to his earlier question. “You shared the essence of yourself with him, and now your wolves have bonded. In a brotherly way.”
“I have brothers,” Daniel remarked. “And, I can’t hear their wolves.”
“This is a different kind of brotherhood. You are forever linked in this special way. Or, so I’ve heard. I’ve never witnessed it before.”
“Forever, huh?” Daniel grinned. “I’m okay with that.”
Ben smiled broadly. “That’s way awesome. And,” he added with sudden insight. “If Carr and I mate, maybe my wolf and yours will have a link, as well, through him.”
“Is that possible, Healer?” Daniel asked.
“Yes. Very likely, I’d say.”
“That makes it perfect, then, doesn’t it, baby?”
“It does.” Ben’s heart and wolf were leaping for joy. “It really does.” He was going to sit beside his two favorite guys again when he heard Daniel’s stomach rumble. “Oh, are you hungry?”
He gave him a sheepish grin. “I guess I am.”
“I’ll get you something to eat. Be right back,” he added before the beta could object.
He trotted past Andrea, down the hall and into the kitchen. Right as he got there, the alarm sounded once more. His breath caught, and he skidded to a halt. But, before he could turn around and go back to the healer’s room, he saw some of the others leaving the longhouse. More curious now than afraid, he followed them and stood on the front porch to watch the drama unfolding.
The beta and two gammas came first. They crawled on their bellies in wolf form, approaching Lorcan who stood flanked by Deidre and Destin. When they’d reached a few feet away, the strange beta whined and rolled onto his back with his neck crooked for full exposure. The gammas did the same, and all three lay there waiting for Lorcan to decide their fate.
Off in the distance by the trees, the others waited in a long line—sigmas of both sexes, a male omega, and pups. They were in human form and they stood quietly, other than some of the pups who whimpered and even cried. Many were too little to understand what was happening, yet picked up on their elders’ fears.
Omega in the Middle (The Rogue Pack Book 5) Page 17
