Page 10 of Dark Goodbye

“Yes, Ladria. I’m real.” Emotion clogs my throat, impeding my speech.

Normally, my patients don’t get to me. I’ve been able to stay clinical and detached, even when I knew the person. But that one question guts me, driving home just how defenseless she is. Though it was her that chose to run all those years ago, I can’t help but feel responsible somehow.

Running my thumb over the back of her hand, I reach up to stroke her hair, doing my absolute best to remove Malus’s taint from her body. Once I get her back to my house, I’ll clean every inch of her, starting with cum that still coats her body. But until then, all I can do is give her the only comfort I know.

Closing my eyes, I search deep inside, drawing on the lessons I received in both my Alpha training and medical school. Though some doctors choose to use their purr to alleviate their patient’s discomfort, I never resorted to that. I didn’t need to, didn’t want to, unless on extremely rare occasions.

With Ladria, however, it’s different. It physically pains me to see her like this. She’s the only one I care enough about to do this for. Searching deep within myself, I find the atrophied muscles and allow them to rumble, filling the air with the deep, throaty sound.

The moment it washes over her, I watch as her body relaxes, and her eyes flutter closed. It can’t be the drug, not yet anyway, but the deep wrinkles that scrunched up her forehead slowly start to disappear. Her fingers twitch in my grasp, and I glance down to watch as she forces her way in between mine to intertwine us.

My heart thumps at that small gesture, so reminiscent of our time as children together. I lived for these touches, hung on every word she said. And now, there’s a chance that all can be put back the way it was. No. Not a chance. It will happen. I can’t go through that again.

When they searched high and low for her and couldn’t find her, she was pronounced dead. Fuck, I went to her funeral. I didn’t cry then. I couldn’t. Try as I might to conjure up at least one tear, it was impossible for me. But my heart was torn out of my chest that day and never returned.

Now that she’s here, with no marks on her body that denote a claim, I can never let her go. I refuse to go through that agony again. The fact that I almost lost her once more isn’t lost on me. It chisels through my brain like a rodent looking for food and coming up empty.

There will be no going to Jaxxon with this. In some ways, Malus did me a great service by pronouncing her dead. Now, I can keep her with me, hidden away and safe. No doubt, the new king would find some objections, especially with his views on omegas and the freedoms they’re supposed to have, but I cannot allow her to be harmed again. My way is the best way.

Placing my hand over her heart, I ignore the siren call of her body. That will come in time, but for now, it’s all about getting her back to sleep. After several minutes of constant purring and steady pressure on her breastbone, her eyes finally drift shut as her body goes slack.

With her out of pain for the moment, I turn my attention back to Malus. Now that I no longer have to worry about purring for her, my snarl of discontent rattles through my body as I stalk my way over to his passed-out body. His jaw is slack and at an odd angle as ragged snores pour out of his mouth.

A small smirk of satisfaction eases its way across my face as I stare down at him. At least I was able to inflict some sort of pain before I knocked him out. Breaking his jaw wasn’t the original plan, but he won’t need to talk for what I have planned anyway.

Still though, anything he wants to say to me, he can certainly try. Walking past him, I glance out in the hallway, and it’s thankfully bare. I walk back over to the main consoles and put everything back in its place before slipping my feet back into my shoes.

I stop and take a breath, shooting up prayers to the gods. In all of this, the last thing I need to forget is my gratitude. Once I’m done, I turn toward the main ward and enact the second part of my plan. Taking a brisk pace, I make my way back down to the nurse's station and glare at the women as they still titter about. I need them working and out of sight.

“Oh, Healer Alpha,” the ringleader of the trio calls out to me, sashaying her way over.

CHAPTER 6

Davix

I resist the urge to roll my eyes, as she bats hers in my direction. No amount of discouragement makes her stand down. I don’t even waste time remembering their names, but that doesn’t seem to bother her at all. “What do you want,” I snarl, noting the slight tinge of red as it blooms across her face. “I don’t have either the time or the patience right now to deal with you.”

She pokes her lips out into a pout and shakes her head, smirking when I don’t respond. “You always seem to have time for the other doctors,” she fairly purrs. What about me?”

“Are you a doctor?”

“Well no, I’m-.”

“Then you have your answer. I need all three of you to see to your jobs, not hanging about as if you have no occupation that needs to be tended to.”

“But Healer Alpha. We have no-.”

I raise my hand to cut her off before pointing at the stacks of paperwork piled up on the counter. Lowering their heads, all three of them grab part of the stack and then look at me in expectation. Doing paperwork isn’t going to clear the room, however. I need something more, something urgent.

Thankfully, one of the other doctor’s voices sounds over the intercom, asking for assistance. With a feigned sigh, I take the folders from them and motion for them to move as I slide in behind the desk. With a soft bow, the trio race off, leaving me alone. But how long will it last?

Unwilling to tempt fate, I race over to a nearby gurney and drag it behind me. The loud clicks as the wheels clatter along the tile drumming in my head. My time is limited, and there’s no way I can keep an eye on things. I’ll either succeed or fail, and failure is not an option.

Once I’m back into the surgical room, I waste no time pushing the gurney down toward the floor and locking the wheels. The massive Alpha seems to weigh a fuckton as I push and pull, maneuvering his bulk onto the cot. After securing him down, I push on the valve that brings the table back up and cover him with a sheet.

At best, they’ll think he’s dead and carried off to the morgue. At worst, they’ll demand to see the body. My title and status only go so far, and it certainly won’t help if anyone suspects foul play. With that urgent thought entrenched in my brain, I push the gurney forward, once more sending up my prayers.

Turning behind me, I stare over at Ladria’s still form, and my heart seizes for a moment. If I was able to detect her frantic scent, then surely others would as well. The internal clock starts to tick in my brain as I reach over to close the door containing the bulk of her scent into the room.