Page 196 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

Behind me, Blaze drags a hand down his face, then nudges his canteen against my shoulder.

"Drink, trouble," he mutters, voice so hoarse it barely sounds like him.

A soft smile pulls at my lips. There it is, a small scrap of my Blaze. Always trying to feed me to bring comfort to us both.

I take the canteen, drink, and pass it back.

"Well, well, well." A familiar voice cuts through the courtyard noise.

"If it isn't the heroes of Blackgate," Everlyn says dryly as she climbs the steps, medical bag thumping against her hip. "You all look terrible, by the way."

Blaze huffs what might be a laugh.

She crouches in front of us and starts with me because she's the greatest friend a trouble-prone Omega could have.

Shade finally lifts his hands from me, but only so Everlyn can check me over.

Her fingers are brisk and practiced as she checks my pulse, my pupils, the half-healed burns on my arms, the bandage at my side. Her mouth tightens more with every injury she finds.

"You’re healing," she says, glancing between me and the men around me. "Just slower than usual. You drained yourself badly, didn't you?"

I huff. "I feel like I've been hollowed out by a rusty spoon."

I wince. My voice sounds like gravel, my vocal cords protesting each word.

"Rut-damn, Sparks. You sound even worse than you look."

She makes me open my mouth so she can shine her small penlight at the back of my throat.

"It's healing, but your mouth is torn up. I don't even know how that could happen."

I do.

Using an Omega Command on thousands of enemy soldiers would do the trick.

She moves down the line after that, inspecting Knox’s torn throat, the ruin of Blaze's back, the angry spread of damage across Viper's skin from the explosion, and then Shade’s head with extra care that makes my insides unclench. When she finishes with him and seems satisfied, I finally breathe a little easier.

"Any of you collapse in the next hour," she says, "I will be deeply irritated."

"Surely war-heroes get a reprieve from your wrath," Shade murmurs.

Everlyn gives him a flat look. "Nope, you're not war-heroes to me. You're the shit-heads that made me sleep-deprived for two weeks."

"We won't collapse, doctor," Knox reassures her diplomatically.

She nods once, and just like that it's settled, then starts packing her supplies away.

She gets halfway to standing before my gut twists and tightens, and I know there is a question I have to ask her. It's long overdue.

"Everlyn."

I must sound serious, because she pauses immediately and looks back at me. Around me, my Pack goes still and Viper’s fingers flex against my knee.

I swallow against the raw ache in my throat.

Before the battle, I told her not to say anything. I couldn't carry one more unknown into that fight and I needed all of me aimed in one direction with no distractions.

But that is over now.