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“How?”he asks.

I’m getting the grunted replies now. He wants just the facts, and then he’ll tease out the details as he needs it. Riley appears to have better social skills than I do, but it’s really a mask. I know he enjoys pulling things apart to see how they work, and prides himself on being able to put them back together so they run better than before.

It’s one of the reasons he’s in medical school.

Now that he can hear how upset I am, he’s going into a clinical space of mind so he can fix it.

This is why I’m coming to him. I need to get Nina out of that damn institution.

“Her mother is a cunt,” I say, taking a small sip of air. Fuck, Ijust can’t get a full breath. Is this how it’s going to be from now on until I get her back? “Nina chose to leave Georgia and come to Minneapolis for school to get out from under her thumb. She’s a scholarship student despite her family’s wealth because she knew her mother would cut her off for wanting to be more independent. Vivian’s response was to have Nina committed to a seventy-two hour stay at Weeping Willow Institute.”

“Just like that,” Riley mutters. “One of my professors mentioned that there’s an increased rate of omegas who are being committed. He said he believes it’s because they’re more delicate of mind without a pack, but that’s bullshit. It is however a long standing opinion of medical professionals, and one of the reasons why many omegas will not seek mental health services unless forced to. Anyway, I think these so-called institutions are really just an excuse to ‘fix’ behaviors that are normal.”

“Unfortunately, you’re right in this aspect,” I say. “Are you home? I’m five minutes away from your apartment. I’m not dealing with this very well. My dad’s lawyer can’t get her out because the institute is stating that Nina committed herself. I know she wouldn’t have done that because she fought the orderlies, and they forcibly sedated her.”

“The only reason why a doctor would make a house call typically is if the person is suicidal,”Riley says.

“She’s not,” I grumble. “Vivian is clearly working with the doctor and the institute to change who Nina is. She was always trying to dictate to Nina when we were growing up together.”

“To answer your question, I am home,” Riley says calmly.“You haven’t seen your step-sister in years you said, right? I know you felt a connection with her the couple of times you saw her around campus. Mind telling me why she’s important to you?”

He knows. I know he has to at least suspect, and I have to keep myself from closing my eyes in defeat.

“She’s Dad and my scent match,” I confess, parking my car on the street in front of his apartment. “Can I still come up?”

“Yeah, I think you’d better,”he says, hanging up.

Riley

Ethan has a scent match.Fuck. A part of me was fine staying casual because I knew this could happen. I just didn’t think it would be his Rainbow Brite.

The only thing I can do is help him in whatever way I can. My mind is already thinking about how I can get a clinical rotation at the institution she’s at. I’m not only good at playing video games, I can also code. I’m a dangerous enemy to have.

The knock on the door pulls me to my feet, and my brain stutters as I see Ethan outside as I open it. He looks as if he hasn’t slept in several days, and he’s wheezing.

“Come in,” I say quickly, assessing him as he walks. “Why do you look as if you’re going to keel over?”

“I can’t breathe,” he croaks out. “My chest hurts too.”

I know from my studies that scent matched alphas can sometimes feel the pain their omegas are going through, even if they aren’t bonded yet. If it’s this bad after three days, I don’t want to imagine how much worse it could get. His scent of blood orange and chocolate smells over ripe and sour due to his emotions, and my nose wrinkles uncomfortably at it.

“I got you,” I promise, shutting the door behind him. “Your instincts want to protect her, so I’m going to start with showing you how I can help her.”

Ethan looks at me like a man searching for water or a lifeline, following me to the couch where I grab my computer.

“I am going to go into their database to see if they have any open jobs,” I explain, my fingers moving over the keys. “If not, I’m going to discuss with my professors if there’s an option of getting a clinical rotation there because I’m suddenly very interested in learning about how tortured minds can be molded to be rehabilitated for society.”

“Someone is going to have to keep me from putting her in abubble when she’s out of that place,” Ethan says. “Dad will be twice as bad, and may just chain her to him.”

My lips twitch because they have very specific proclivities when it comes to their sex games. That’s what it is, though. The male or female always has a choice. I enjoy relinquishing control when I’m with Ethan. Still, I imagine this mysterious Rainbow Brite may need a buffer when it comes to those two hard headed alphas.

It’s a passing thought, but one I feel may haunt me for a while. It’s a way to possibly have the best of both worlds, and perhaps keep Ethan in my life. I’m not going to force anything, however, the possibility is enough for now.

I am a very patient man when I need to be.

“They don’t have openings,” I muse as I look at both the classifieds online and then hack into the medical network for current medical openings. Sometimes, they try to keep things in house between the different institutions, and I’m seeing that there are several linked asylums of this kind across the country.

They also seem to offer the ability to transfer between the different locations when there are openings.