The Light in Us

30. Rowan

30

Rowan

I burst out onto the top floor, bellowing his name and shoving through the opening doors without waiting. “Teddy!”

Today was the first time I’ve ever truly felt it. Through the faint bonding mark on my neck, I felt a surge of emotion from our omega, so strong that even a beta like me picked it up. That single pulse sent my heart into my throat, sent me running out of a meeting without a word and leaving a dozen people slack-jawed behind me.

And for good reason.

Because it’s fucking carnage up here.

Fox and Zeke are on top of a roaring Wilder. He twists and bucks, snarling at them as he scrabbles to get closer.

To… Teddy ?

Teddy shakes his head, holding out his arms as I rush over. “I’m fine. I promise.”

He doesn’t look fine.

He looks devastated. His lip is trembling, his hair everywhere as he rakes his fingers through it.

“It’s not me,” he rasps. “It’s Fallon, Ro.”

I turn to look behind me. Emily’s desk, the one Fallon was supposed to use, lies in splintered pieces, the three wrestling alphas clearly more than enough to tear it to shreds. Fox is roaring, barking orders, but even his dominance can barely handle Wilder’s beast on a normal day.

And this version of Wilder… I throw my hand out, sliding in front of Teddy as he locks his eyes on us and snarls. Even his eyes look darker, his teeth bigger.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” I breathe. “What the hell happened? Where is she?”

“In my office,” Teddy whispers. His forehead presses into my back, his cheek rubbing against me in a desperate, silent request for comfort. “She… I don’t know where to start, Ro. And they don’t even know yet. Not all of it. They felt the bond, but I haven’t told them why .”

My heart constricts, He’s standing in front of his door. Blocking the way to Fox, Zeke and Wilder’s scent-match with his own body. Protecting her. “Oh, Teddy.”

“I don’t know what to do.” His words burrow into my back. I can feel him shaking, the pheromones in the room pulling at him. “I don’t know how to help her. And if I tell them—,”

It’s going to go from bad to worse.

Teddy’s fingers grip my shirt, and he whines, his distress clear.

I reach around, dragging his fingers to thread with mine. “Can we go in?”

He nods against me. “I mean, I think so? But she wasn’t moving. She just sort of froze up.”

“Okay,” I say gently, rubbing his arm. “We’re going to go in and see how we can help, okay? Fox is managing things out here. But you need to be away from this too.”

There’s another crash from behind us, and I wince. But there’s no way we can do anything against one feral alpha and two others losing their shit. If anything, Teddy’s misery is making it worse. Fox’s eyes lock onto mine, his face twisting in pain as he looks to Teddy before he jumps back in to try and help Zeke.

“I can help Wilder though,” Teddy insists. “I’ve done it before.”

But not like this. Never like this. Contact, pack , helps, but Wilder’s rage is beyond constraint. The mating bond, newly established and erratic, is ramping his emotions up to unseen levels. And he’s taken the rut-blockers.

Holy fuck.

I twist, keeping Teddy in front of me as I twist the door handle. “In. Now.”

He dives inside without complaint, and I follow, slamming the door and locking it. The bellow that follows almost shakes the frame, and I wait to see if any of them try to come after us.

When nothing reaches my ears aside from the same noise, I turn.

Teddy is on his knees, his hand stretched out. “Fallon?”

She’s shivering, huddled into the corner with glassy eyes. She doesn’t look at either of us. “I’m sorry.”

“I told you before,” Teddy whispers. “No apologies. Okay?”

“But…,” she glances at the door. “I made this happen.”

When she shivers again, I rip off my hoodie. Crouching, I wait for her to notice me. “Hey, Fallon. You look cold, love. Can I put this on you? Or give it to you?”

Her eyes slide from me to the hoodie.

Beside me, Teddy is silent. When Fallon nods, he lets out a shuddering breath, close to a sob. “Fallon, they’re not fighting because of anything you did, sweetheart. It was me. They felt something through the bond, and it made things… a little crazy.”

Fallon doesn’t reach for the sweatshirt, so I edge forward. She doesn’t resist when I slowly reach for her arm, unfurling it and threading it into the warm material. “There we go. And over your head, okay?”

Tears are trickling down her face, her amber eyes swimming with them when her head pops out. “I caused so much trouble.”

I don’t move back. Instead, I keep her hand loosely clasped in mine, trying to rub away the cold. Her hands are like ice. “Teddy’s right. You didn’t do this. Wilder… well, we mentioned that he has some feral tendencies. It’s all a bit heavy out there right now, but they’ll be fine soon.”

I hope.

This isn’t the first time we’ve had a situation like this, but it’s definitely the worst I’ve seen.

There’s no way in hell I’ll tell her that, though.

“Can I…,” Teddy leans forward, his voice rough. Needy. “Can I sit by you?”

She shuffles over, and Teddy scoots into the vacated space, leaning against her. I take them both in, the way that Teddy presses against her, the steadying breath that Fallon takes.

As if they’re pulling something from each other.

An echo of the scent-match, perhaps. It’s interesting.

Because both of them start to relax, tucked up against each other.

Teddy shifts, holding out his hand.

I slide my body into place beside his. Teddy blows out a breath, his body relaxing further as I carefully slide my arm around him.

When my fingers brush against Fallon’s shoulder, I yank them away. But a moment later, I feel it again.

I lean forward to see her eyes closed. She’s curling herself into Teddy, and her head brushes my fingers. Gently, I stroke my fingers over her hair, trying to give her a little comfort too.

She pauses. And then she shifts a little closer, until the three of us are so closely pressed together that I wonder how Teddy is still breathing.

But none of us move away. I keep holding onto them, stroking Fallon’s hair until the shouting on the other side of the door begins to fade.

I don’t miss that it coincides with the perfume filling the air around us fading. The panic, the distress begins to fade. Replaced by an almost sleepy scent, drowsy and warm. Fallon’s pretty orange blossom twists with Teddy’s chocolate, the bitterness replaced by something sweeter.

I watch the door, waiting.

It takes a while, but there’s a quiet knock.

Fox waits for a minute, waits for us to refuse him entry before he eases his head around the door. His tight jaw eases as he takes the three of us in - his eyes lingering on Fallon, then Teddy, before they slide to mine, full of apologies he doesn’t need to make.

“We’re okay,” I say before he can ask. “All of us. How’s Wilder?”

Fox swallows. Shakes his head. “Beyond devastated.”

My heart hurts for him. Slowly, I move my arm away from the two sleeping omegas beside me. Both of them exhausted from the emotional barrage.

But it’s my alpha who needs me. Fox lets out a shuddering breath, his face dropping to my neck as I wrap my arms around his waist. “She must think we’re animals. I could feel her fear. So could Wilder. It was a mess, Ro.”

I consider Fallon’s words. “She wasn’t scared of you. She was scared because she thought it was her fault.”

Fox stiffens. “What?”

“And Teddy thinks it’s his.” I roll my eyes, even though he can’t see me where I’m pressed against him. “Something happened between them. She told him something that upset him.”

“Something I’m not going to like, so he wouldn’t tell me,” Fox finishes, his voice grim. “He stood in front of that doorway for her. God, look at them.”

I’m realizing that Fallon seems to have that effect on our entire pack.

Even… even me. “They wouldn’t settle without the other. It’s an interesting dynamic.”

I don’t know any other scent-matched packs with two omegas. But now I wonder if there are any studies on the effect, on how the mating bond filters through.

But it’s clear that the full mating bond – once Fallon is bitten in – is going to be a damn force to be reckoned with.

“Think I can go over?” Fox asks quietly. There’s so much uncertainty in his voice that I pull back. He stares back at me. “Zeke took Wilder home. I just…I need to be close to them.”

“Go.” He shifts past me, and I watch as he crouches in front of Teddy. Slowly, he reaches out to brush his finger over his cheek.

When Teddy opens his eyes, it takes a second for his haze to clear. He and Fox stare at each other. And then Teddy looks down at Fallon, his face softening. His voice is a whisper. “I can’t tell you, Fox. She asked me not to.”

Fox’s whole body tightens. “Teddy.”

“She’s not in immediate danger,” Teddy murmurs. His eyes start to mist again. “But it’s not good. She needs help, Fox. But she needs a little time, too.”

We both watch our alpha, watch him wrestle with the words. I can see the strain in his face, the strain to push for more, to bark , even. He could yank the knowledge from Teddy in a second.

But that’s not who Fox is. He’d never abuse Teddy’s trust like that.

“Damn it,” he breathes finally. He stares at Teddy. “You promise you’ll tell me if I need to intervene?”

Teddy nods. “We do. But just… not until she tells us.”

“Okay,” Fox says roughly. I can see how much it hurts him to say it. His eyes travel across Fallon. Her hair, her face. He swallows. “Is there anything I can do now?”

“You’re already doing it.” Teddy’s smile is sad. “But… Ro. She needs an ID. And a bank account.”

I snap upright. “I can do that.”

“Fuck.” Fox shakes his head, sinking it into his hands with an exhale. “I’m going to struggle with this. I don’t even know what the others are going to say about it.”

When I move over to him, he leans back against my legs. “Tell me there’s something else I can do. Anything. Please .”

Teddy prods him with his foot. “Go and get us some sandwiches. I’m hungry.”

It’s such a plaintive, normal response that a laugh unexpectedly ripples in the back of my throat. “God, I love you.”

“That’s because I’m very lovable. And handsome.” Teddy sniffs. “Please, Fox. My insides are about ready to eat themselves. I need six inches of beef, stat .”

A small noise comes from next to him before we can respond to that statement as Fallon begins to stir.

She blinks at us drowsily. “Did I… I fell asleep?”

Clarity returns to her gaze, but Fox drops back down to his knees.

“Fallon.” His voice is gentle, so gentle that I wonder how he can even manage it. “I’m going to get us some food, okay? What’s your favorite?”

Teddy gives her an encouraging nod.

“I don’t… I don’t mind. Anything, really. Whatever’s left.”

I can almost see Fox puffing up in outrage, so I nudge him in the back.

Maybe more of a kick. “Get a selection, and we’ll work it out. In the meeting room.”

Now is not the time to tackle her about her sandwich preferences.

“Fox?” Fallon’s voice is tiny. “I’m really sorry. About… all of it.”

My alpha closes his eyes. His response is ragged. “Teddy has informed me that I can’t ask you what’s wrong. So I’m not going to, not until you’re ready to tell me. But let me make one thing very clear, Fallon. Not one single thing about this is on your shoulders. Okay? And when you’re ready to talk, I will be right here. But in the meantime, Teddy and Rowan are going to look after you, and I’m going to get you some food so I can at least feed you .”

His words trail off into something that might be a growl, and I kick him again.

A loving kick. A love tap.

Her eyes are wide. “Okay.”

“Good.” Fox rises to his feet. I just know that he’s going to buy every single sandwich from the family-owned deli across the street and bring them back here so he can work out Fallon’s favorite. “We can pick up the work side tomorrow, when you come back. For now, I just want you to rest with these two. Take it easy this afternoon.”

If he can’t fix what’s wrong, he’s going to go all out on the protective alpha front at every possible opportunity.

“Cool,” Teddy breathes. “Movie day in the meeting room. I’ve been talking about doing this for months. Ro, get the projector.”

I have work up to my eyeballs, and so does Teddy. Fox too. But in that moment, nothing on earth could stop me from running back down to my office and grabbing a projector.

There’s nothing that can’t be fixed with a movie and popcorn.