Page 43 of Mask and the Magnolia

She’s afraid of him.

I shoot my arm out in front of Vin in anticipation of his next move, one that will surely mirror mine as we both mindlessly move toward our omegas in order to protect them, but what actually happens next surprises me.

Ivan drops the poolstick he was holding, the wood clattering against the tile floor as he fully emerges from the rec hall. Bishop and Lochlan step out of the shadows to our left, both of those crazy assholes grinning like they just won the lottery and I’ll be damned, but I think this group of fucked up murdery dipshits might actually give a damn about the docs trying like hell to help us.

”Where I come from,” Ivan says, his voice deep, his words emphasized by a hint of a Russian accent. “Alphas who put hands on omegas like that”—he nods to the Blackhurst who quickly releases Maggie—“lose those same hands.”

My jaw drops, right along with everyone else’s because that is by far the most Ivan has ever said to anyone since being here, then, because I’m probably the most unstable of all of us, I start fucking laughing.

Isaak and Magnolia both turn slowly, shock written all over their faces until I really start to lose it, cackling from my guts over this entire fucking scenario. That’s when both of them, at the same time, in our direction and everything, smile.

Smile like they fucking mean it.

They might be small, they’re definitely full of concern, but Maggie and Isaak are both smiling at us and fuck if it doesn’t make the inevitable consequences of my actions worth it.

TEN

REALITY CHECK

ISAAK

Magnolia was magnificent.

The way she stood up to her father, how she supported me and our work, the way she defended our residents.

There was a fire lit under her today and I have never found myself more proud, or aroused, than I was while she burned.

I hated to see those flames die.

It was perplexing if I’m being honest.

She went from riled up and ready to fight to almost cowering in no time flat. Everyone saw it, I know they did, and they could feel it. I believe that’s why the residents rallied around her the way they did.

That was another curiosity I hope to discuss in group if I can get the men to open up. I’m rather impressed by their behavior and I’d like to know why it happened, and positively reinforce it if possible.

While it supports everything I said about having a rapport and their trust, it was a little intense with all those alpha hormones engulfing the room. I can’t deny that. It was almost scary to see the extremely dominant and relatively unstablealphas we deal with every day take their normal intense energy and send it into orbit. That’s what it was. A complete shift in their auras, their energy, and they went from dangerous to something I don’t think there’s actually a word for, butferalcomes to mind.

“I need to leave.”

My stare shifts from the door Dean Reynolds and his pompous sidekicks exited, to my lovely partner, who is bent over at the waist with her hands on her knees, breathing heavily and shaking.

Shit.“Magnolia.”

I reach for her on instinct, wanting to hold her through what is clearly a panic attack but stop myself. She was firm in her stance earlier and I shouldn’t violate that under the pretense of helping her through something like this.

In my defense, this is very different from what started our fight before their arrival.

Evelyn Blackhurst, another promising psychiatrist on Ward B and apparently Magnolia’s best friend, FaceTimed to invite my colleague to a bar tonight.Drinks, dicks, and karaokewas how she phrased it. Something that made my hackles raise, and I think that may be why I was invited to tag along.

I’m not very good at hiding my feelings.

Not ones of jealousy, anyway. I’ve never had them before, which means I’ve never had to hide them, and the idea of Magnolia and her friend going out to finddicksbrought them racing to the surface so quickly I physically reacted.

By balking at their plans like an ass. And rolling my eyes. And possibly making a face of disgust while I mumbled under my breath.

Evelyn’s solution to my tantrum was to invite me along, Magnolia’s was to hang up on her friend and call me out on everything that’s happened since we’ve been working together.

It was embarrassing to say the least but it was also validating because now I know my feelings are not one sided.