Chapter 79 79
Damien POV
She needs to feel what she’s feeling every jagged edge of it. If anger is what’s tearing through her, then she should let it burn its way out. I saw it at the graveyard, just a flash of it, raw and lethal. She wanted to tear into that short, fat bastard who took Dominique… who dared to raise a gun and aim it at her. I won’t insult her by assuming she’s angry because I took a bullet.
As she disappears from view, the door opens.
I’d been so focused on her on Dominique that I don’t notice Fabrice enter the room.
Neither do the doctors.
But I notice him now.
A growl rumbles low in my chest as my eyes lock onto him. He helped raise my children. Kept their identities hidden. My wolf bristles, itching to teach his wolf another lesson in respect.
He doesn’t look away.
Not once.
The doctors continue floundering, unable to make a single decisive move under the crushing weight of my aura. The air is thick, suffocating, and they’re panicking. Fabrice flicks his gaze back to me, a slow smirk tugging at his mouth as my staff stumble around uselessly.
“Everybody out!” he roars, releasing his beta command into the room.
Even Lucas growls in response my beta.
“Excuse me?” one of the pack doctors snaps, turning toward Fabrice.
“You heard me. Out. Time’s up I’ll sort it.” He strides to the door and throws it open.
His aura crackles with anger. I can’t tell if it’s frustration at watching their incompetence… or the fury of a protective beta.
Maybe both.
“Alpha?” Every gaze snaps to me. I lean back slightly, intrigued. Let’s see how good he really is.
“You heard him. Out.”
They bare their necks in submission and file out, though they linger in the hallway, hovering.
Only Lucas, Maurice, and Geneviève remain.
Fabrice arches a brow, making it painfully clear he’s the only medical authority required in this room.
“Lucas,” I say calmly, “you heard him.”
“Yes, Alpha.” Lucas nods, though not before shooting Fabrice a dark look. Reluctantly, he leaves.
Fabrice turns to the remaining two.
“I’m staying,” Geneviève declares sharply.
“The fewer people in here, the better I can concentrate.”
“I’m not leaving,” she snaps. “He can.” She jerks her head toward Maurice.
“He’s an Alpha who helped save his life,” Maurice replies smoothly. “I’ll remain. Only an Alpha can restrain another Alpha.” He stresses the he, earning a murderous glare from Geneviève.
“I’ll be fine,” I tell her evenly. “A coffee would be good.”
She hesitates, then snarls, “Fine. But don’t take long.” She shoots Fabrice a venomous look, which he ignores completely as she storms out.
“Bloody hell,” Maurice chuckles, dropping into the armchair and propping his feet up against the gurney. “Rein it in, Damien. No wonder the staff were losing their minds.”
“The anger is stopping the poison from spreading,” I grind out as Fabrice inspects the wound.
Maurice smirks. “Thought you were Aurélie’s beta?”
“I am,” Fabrice replies coolly from behind me as he applies a liquid to my back.
My muscles lock instantly.
Alcohol-based. Cleansing. It burns like hell.
“A beta and a doctor,” Maurice whistles. “She’s landed on her feet. Man of many talents.” He winks at me, ignoring my glare telling him to shut the fuck up.
Fabrice moves to a cabinet, retrieves what looks like an oversized pair of tweezers, and tears open the sterile package as he returns.
“Well,” he says calmly, “Alpha Maurice if you can hold Alpha Damien still, I’ll attempt to remove the bullet.”
He glances at me. “Ready?”
“Yes, Doctor,” Maurice grins, springing up and wrapping his arms around me.
“Hold him steady,” Fabrice warns. “It’s lodged deeper than I expected.”
I’m almost immune to pain but he’s right to have Maurice restrain me. When he pulls, the pain is savage, white-hot, and my wolf surges violently, clawing for control.
I imagine my wolf tearing Maurice’s apart bone, blood, fur.
Strangely enough… that helps calm him.