The Light in Us

41. Fox

41

Fox

I stride into our house, Teddy and Rowan on my heels. Wilder is in our reception hall, talking to the doctor we keep on retainer for Teddy with a strained expression.

But he hasn’t lost himself, hasn’t given in to the animal inside him. Relief almost has me stumbling as Doctor Miersen turns to face me. “Your mate is fine, Fox.”

“ Thank god .” Teddy goes to push past me toward the stairs, but Rowan pulls him back.

“Wait.” We all look at the doctor.

He shifts under our stares. “The omega – Fallon, is it? I believe she’s under the influence of heat-blockers. Nasty things.”

My heart flips over. “ Heat-blockers ?”

Wilder looks as angry as I feel, a tic appearing in his jaw. “I didn’t think heat-blockers caused a reaction like this.”

“Normally, no.” The doctor pushes up his glasses. “But if someone takes them over a particularly long period of time, they can cause chaos inside the body. Add in proximity to her scent-matches, and you have a perfect storm waiting to happen.”

“How do we help her?” I take a step closer, my fists closing. “What do we do ?”

“Zeke is already doing it.” Miersen points to the ceiling. “Hold her. Ground her through touch. She’ll likely tell you what she needs through body language. Not much to be done for the pain, unfortunately, but she should be fine in a few hours. You may find that it comes back in short bursts. And given that she seems to have been taking these on and off for a long time, it’s possible that your interactions may bring on a much stronger heat than she’s experienced before. Heat-blockers weaken over time. It’s only delaying the inevitable at this stage.”

We all stare up at the ceiling as if we can see her.

But I can feel her. Scent her. It fills the air around us, drowning the usually potent scent from Teddy and filling it with oranges and nutmeg.

“I will say,” the doctor says carefully. “I found some elements during my examination that suggest she has not been well cared for, more generally speaking. Some vitamin deficiencies. And her pain tolerance is well above normal levels, which suggests long-term—,”

“Pack ostracization,” Teddy whispers. His face is pale. “That’s what you found.”

The atmosphere plummets as we all turn to look at him. He sways in place. “Fox—,”

My voice is hard as I turn back to the doctor. “Is he right?”

Pack ostracization.

He hesitates. “I… believe so. Quite a severe case.”

Being part of a pack, but permanently on the outside, looking in. For anyone, it would be difficult, but for an omega, it’s emotional abuse on a scale I can’t think about, because if I do, if my fucking scent-matched mate has been subjected to that—

Forget Wilder. I’ll tear this whole damn house apart.

No.

I’ll tear them apart. Whichever assholes had a treasure like Fallon and let her fucking wilt.

The roar rips from my throat as my knees slam into the floor. I slam my hands over my face, trying to keep myself together.

Wilder. I have to keep myself together, to keep him together.

Rowan throws himself down, his hands on my face and his voice urgent. “We’re going to her now, Fox. She’s going to be fine. Okay? We’re her pack. Her real pack. You, Wilder, Zeke, you’re her mates. Not… them , whoever they are. We’re going to be everything she needs, and she’s never going to feel that way again.”

“I don’t know,” Teddy interjects. He sounds tearful. “I don’t know who they are. Fox, I’m sorry . She didn’t want me to tell you, not yet, and I couldn’t break her trust like that. I didn’t realize it was this bad.”

I can’t respond. The agony in my chest spreads.

My mate has been hurting for… a long time. In the same city. Within the same fucking radius. And I had no idea.

Teddy whimpers, a matching echo of his agony reaching me through the bond. “Fox, please .”

I can’t breathe. But I hold out my arm as he dives for me, his tears soaking into my shirt. Teddy babbles apologies into my neck, the devastation in his voice clear. “What do we do?”

“Wilder,” I rasp. “Where is he?”

Rowan stiffens. “He was here—,”

I explode into motion past them. Taking the stairs three at a time, I race up them, following the scent of my damn mate .

I slide to a stop in the doorway of Zeke’s bedroom.

Fallon is asleep. She’s curled up against Zeke’s chest, his arms wrapped around her. He holds a finger to his lips in a silent message, and I nod.

This room is soaked with her scent.

Wilder… Wilder is pressed against Fallon’s back, his hand tangled in her hair and his body curved protectively over hers, his arm banded over her waist.

And the eyes that gleam at me… there’s nothing of Wilder in them at all.