Page 20 of Alpha Heat

“Youlookupset,” Xan reiterated, his eyes hard on Urho.

“I apologize if I’ve overstepped with your omega,” Urho said quickly. Heat prickled him all over as he gazed at Xan. His heart pumped faster, as though he was in the wrong to be here, trying to help this man who was, supposedly, a friend. “He was only being hospitable in your absence.”

Xan raised a brow and said nothing.

Caleb cut the vibrating silence. “If you won’t go back to bed, then I suppose you should come in and take a seat. Have some manners.”

Xan crossed the room slowly. He kept challenging eyes on Urho, only sparing a glance for Caleb when he sat down on another soft chair next to him, wincing as he did.

Clearly, the damage to his anus was sufficient to still bring him pain the next day. Urho opened his mouth to scold Xan for not asking him here as a doctor and a friend to deal with it, but then he shut it again.

Xan had said the night before that he deserved this, and, by the Holy Book of Wolf, if he did go seeking out this kind of thing, then perhaps he did. Urho shuddered in disgust, but he didn’t know if it was at himself, the Holy Book, or Xan. He was in over his head and he didn’t know where to begin.

Caleb seemed to have no such reservations. “You must have Urho examine you.”

Xan snorted, but his gaze darted away from Urho’s finally, dropping to the floor. He reached for Caleb’s hand and when it was granted, he held onto it. Urho stared at the two of them trying to understand. Why did he feel as though he’d walked into an upside-down world, one he both wanted to comprehend and to run very far away from?

“You’re injured and I’m scared,” Caleb said. “As your omega, I demand you allow it.”

Xan squeezed his eyes shut, his cheeks flaming, but he nodded. “Dr. Chase—”

“We’ve been friends too long for that.” The repressed emotion under all this civility was making Urho itch.

“Urho, then,” Xan said, his eyes landing on him with anger burning down deep inside. “My omega would appreciate it if you’d examine me. He’s concerned for my health.”

“As he should be. You look terrible.” Urho took a deep breath, taking in the scent of Xan’s skin, the other layers of odor over and around him. He frowned. “There could be a hint of infection already.”

Caleb’s eyes went wide and he clutched at Xan’s hand, knuckles going white.

“Now youareupsetting my omega,” Xan said darkly. “But let’s get on with it.”

Urho’s head swam. He felt as though the tea had been drugged. He stood when Xan did and watched through a fishbowl of confusion as Xan kissed the top of Caleb’s blond head and then motioned for Urho to follow him to “somewhere more private.” Since when did an alpha need to keep anything private from his omega?

Xan led the way toward the staircase, but when he glanced up at it, his shoulders rounded in defeat. “I’d rather do this on the ground floor.”

“We could return to the drawing room. Surely Caleb would want to be present for…”

“You need to stay away from him,” Xan muttered.

Urho frowned. “I have no designs on Caleb. What do you take me for?”

Xan laughed, though it held little mirth. “I’m not concerned about that. Caleb is special.”

“All alphas think their omegas are special.”

“Perhaps, but I want to keep him safe.”

“From me?”

“From things that upset him.”

Urho huffed. “I imagine the bruises on your face at this moment must upset him much more than anything I could say or do.”

“We both know that’s not true,” Xan said ominously, beckoning him down a narrow hallway. “One remark to imply that you intend to go to the authorities over what you know about me would undo him.”

Urho let out a breath laced with hurt. Is that what Xan thought of him?

Xan finally opened a door to a small, un-renovated but well-lit room with a very dated daybed tucked against the front wall beside a table and chairs. It looked like an old nursery. Perhaps it had been for the previous owners. He knew Xan had purchased the house in an estate sale after the death of a widowed omega.