Chapter 29
Chapter 29
Aria
“It looks like your vitals are strong. How are you feeling?” The doctor asks me when he comes in to do rounds.
“Much better,” I tell the doctor.
I glance at Noah, and he gives me a small smile.
“We recently claimed your Omega. Since it is so recent, you need to be sure to stay close. Most Alpha and Omega bondings are cemented completely within a week. When you two separated, it caused some side effects. So you need to manage that time together. I can write up an order to be sure you have that time. Most employers already have paid vacation time for this kind of situation.” The doctor explains.
“I work with family, so they are aware of what happened. I’ll be sure to take the situation more seriously.” I assure him.
“Good. We can discharge you now. We will move Mr. McCain to a single room.” He says before heading over to examine Xander.
“Wait, is it okay if I stay with him?” I ask.
The doctor looks between us. “Are you bonded?”
My heart sinks a little. “Well, no, but we’ve discussed it, and I’d planned to soon.” It’s a white lie.
We had discussed it, and I decided only recently to bond with him, and this is the first he’s hearing of it. When I glance at Xander, he’s smirking in that annoying way Daniel does. I swear those two planned all this somehow.
The doctor looks at Xander for confirmation, which he gives with a fervent nod from my soon-to-be Beta.
“Very well. We’ll have that bed removed and another sleeper sofa brought in.” The doctor says before moving on to examine Xander.
I walk over to the other side and slide my hand around Xander’s. He gives me a small smile, and I can feel my face heat up a little. I’m going to bond with this guy soon, and yet all that fear I had felt before seems to wash away. He’s a good man, and he helped me find the strength I needed when I needed it most. He has been a good friend for years and has never pushed me.
“Well, the wound looks clean. Your throat may still be a little sore for a while, but other than that, everything looks good. We’ll keep you for another night just to be safe, but I don’t see why you can’t go home tomorrow.” The doctor says.
“Thank you, doctor,” I say, and he gives me a nod before leaving the room. “How do you feel?”
Xander clears his throat and cringes. “I feel okay. Don’t worry.” His voice is more of a hoarse whisper, but I’m glad to hear it anyway.
The thought of him with all those tubes in his mouth will haunt me for a while.
“That’s good. I-“ The sound of my phone ringing cuts me off.
Daniel walks over to my purse and pulls it out. “It’s Buck.” He hands it to me, and I answer it.
“Buck? What’s going on?” I ask.
“Hey, kid, how are you doing? I would have come to the hospital, but shit is going down, and I had to move quickly. Sorry.” He sounds out of breath.
“No, don’t worry! I’m fine, and the doctor said Xander should be released tomorrow.”
“That’s good. Look, kid, I need you at the compound as soon as you guys are out of there. Don’t go home. I don’t know how much the Raggers know, and I’m not risking you getting hurt.”
I glance at each of the men in the room, and when I open my mouth to reply, the door opens and in walks Noah’s friends.
“I understand. Will you have enough room for seven of us?” I ask him.
“Seven?” He asks.
I sigh. “Daniel, let me know you might need some extra space, so we’ll make sure you get it. Be safe, kid, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“You be safe too, Pops.” I end the call and glance between the three men standing in front of me. “Why are you guys here?”
It doesn’t come out as sharp as I wish it would, but I’m too tired to play tough right now.
“We discussed it, and we want to join the pack. We understand the danger we would be taking on, so if you’ll have us…” Roman says, trailing off.
Again, I look at each one of them and stop on Ezra. “Can I talk to you outside?”
He looks nervous but nods. I walk toward the door, and he follows. He closes the door behind him and faces me, looking almost regretful.
“Look, Aria, I know-“ I cut him off.
“You’re an asshole. Have been since I met you.” I say, crossing my arms over my chest.
He nods. “I have been told I’m not the easiest to get along with.”
I let out a scoff/laugh. “I’d agree. But what I really want to know is are you going to continue being an asshole, or are you going to accept that I’m the Alpha? That means staying on my good side.”
His lip quirks up a little. “Yes, Alpha.”
A small shiver goes up my spine at the low way he says those words. I ignore that feeling for now.
“Good. Because shit is going to get crazy, and the last thing I need is to deal with an asshole giving me a hard time at every turn. This isn’t the time to be dealing with clashing personalities.” I say, running my hand through my hair.
Just thinking about what we need to do tomorrow is starting to stress me out. He opens his mouth to say something, but his eyes catch on something over my head. I turn to see what he’s looking at and spot the cops coming down the hallway.
“Shit!” I grab Ezra’s hand and walk back into the room. “Cops are here.”
“God dammit,” Daniel says pulling out his phone and making a call.
“What do we do?” Noah asks.
“We don’t say anything. We keep our mouths shut.” I say, just as there is a knock at the door.
A nurse walks slowly inside and smiles politely. “I have some officers here to talk to you.”
I nod. “Thank you.”
She opens the door wider, and the two men walk in. “Hello, officers, how can I help you?”
I swear the cop on the left eye twitches a little. “It’s detective.”
“Oh, I'm so sorry. Detective, how can I help you?” I take a step forward so that all of the guys are behind me.
I might only be Noah’s Alpha for now, but I want these cops to know the rest are mine too.
“We need to speak to you about an event at the bar on Seventh and Carpenter. There was an assault of three Alphas and you. Care to tell us what happened?” He says with a look on his face that makes me want to march over and slap him.
“Why don’t we discuss the attack on Buck’s bar last night? Are you investigating that?” I snap back.
He looks down at me and smirks.