Page 63 of Omega Forged (Hartlock Omegas #2)

Tully was one of the strongest Designated I knew.

Her softness only made her resilience even more incredible.

I leaned over Tully and breathed in the salt of her skin.

They’d given her some kind of suppressant because her scent was muted, dull, but distressed.

I nosed her soft skin, my teeth ached at her closeness.

Her pulse throbbed as I brushed a kiss against it.

I’d struggled to be an alpha, but in this moment, I was glad it was me. I had the power to tether her to me.

“I’m sorry, angel, but I can’t lose you.”

“W-what happened?” Tully slurred, and her eyes fluttered open, unfocused.

Dr. Stanson came closer and checked her eyes with a light. What he saw made his lips thin.

“Miss Hartlock, you have a partial bond on your shoulder. Do you know who gave it to you?”

Tully trembled and her mouth fell open.

“Y-yes but, I don’t want—” She looked at me and her fingers found mine.

“I know. I know, angel. But it’s poisoning you. I can bond you and it will expel his mark.”

“If you don’t—” Dr. Stanson started to add, but I waved at him until his voice trailed off. I didn’t want Tully to decide thinking it was life or death. If she refused, we could explain why it was imperative.

Would she say no? I was as much a poison as CJ was, a dark mess she should avoid.

But Tully had never thought that, had she?

She’d seen me on my knees, eyes glazed, hung over, and falling apart.

She’d never judged. Her little chin trembled as it dipped and I exhaled sharply.

Her lucidity didn’t last and her eyes rolled back as she became slack in my hold.

My hands dragged down her biceps as I held her in readiness.

Claiming Tully should have been a momentous occasion.

The joy was brittle, laced with sharp poison.

But I was too selfish, too desperate to stop.

I’d spend the rest of our lives atoning, but at least we would be together.

There was no space for gentleness, and while I didn’t want to cause Tully more pain, I was thankful she wasn’t awake.

My teeth sank into the juncture where her neck met her shoulder.

Iron-flavored euphoria flooded my mouth, and my eyes rolled back into my skull.

Tully was so sweet my gums ached, and she let out a whimper as her velvet link unfurled inside me.

Our souls, anchored by a thread.

She felt like the perfect run of my fingertips over piano keys.

Each note hung in the air with a sound that tasted sweet in the back of my throat.

She looked at herself as if she were small.

Insignificant. But inside of me, her tendrils sang and pulsed with vitality.

I tasted her like the pages of music. Pressed so deep into my cells that the way I moved, spoke, and thought would never be the same.

I pulled my teeth out as the back of my eyes stung.

Walden was my first love, my powerful alpha, but Tully was my salvation.

I could see us nestled like this in the future, but it wouldn’t be with the sharp chemical scent that tickled the back of my throat. Or the barely concealed growls that rolled like waves through the room.

I lapped at her blood until saliva closed the wounds. Tully shivered underneath my ribcage. Even unconscious, she was distressed. My heart thumped with the echo of her panic. I pressed my forehead to hers, pushing my love and safety through the connection.

You’ll never hurt like this again.

“It’s working already.” Dr. Stanson examined the partial bite with a hum of satisfaction.

My overriding claim made the other mark fade. The angry red drained of color. Dr. Stanson reached out to touch Tully’s skin, and I slapped his hand away.

He stepped back, holding his hands palms up. Pleased rather than annoyed. “You’ll feel protective while the bond settles, but your mate still needs medical attention. Will you allow a beta nurse to tend her?”

“I’m not leaving her side.”

I focused on the ball of warmth inside me.

Hoarded it like a dragon. The idea of anyone around Tully made my skin crawl with unbearable heat.

Even the amount of people in the room was making my chest tight.

I was more alpha than Pan right now. For a moment, a flash of blistering anger stole everything but the need to run them off.

They’re pack , I had to remind myself.

I blinked back tears as I realized another thing.

I’d always wondered what it felt like to be an omega.

To have that malleable soft sweetness. Now I tasted it in my blood.

Between my ribs and exhales. She filled every empty, lonely space I’d loathed all my life.

I wasn’t an omega, but I could touch it with her bond.

What a gift.

Lloyd stared intensely at my mark, leaning on his fists. “Thank you,” he breathed. “For doing what I couldn’t.”

Ajax slumped against the door. Walden clenched his fists and his breaths came ragged. I crawled into bed with Tully and pulled her into me. I’d marked my body with dozens of tattoos. Some meaningful, and others purely for the prick of pain and spontaneity.

I never thought the most important mark I made wouldn’t even exist on my body.

“She’s tender, be careful,” Beatrice warned, and her eyes flew open as I sent a growl in her direction.

I rattled off with a curse. “Sorry, it’s just—”

“You’ll be emotional and possessive until the bond heals. Keep her close and it will pass,” Dr. Stanton explained.

Beatrice crept closer and peered at Tully with a hooded gaze. Walden put his arm around his sister, and she squeezed him.

“We did the right thing, didn’t we?” Beatrice whispered the question on the tip of everyone’s tongues.

Dr. Stanton tucked his hands in his pockets.

“Our options were limited. But time is a magical thing. We just need more of it for Tully to heal.”

Ajax made a noise, and I knew he wanted to be in my place.

He didn’t form relationships like I did.

Reckless, selfish. I consumed without thinking.

Ajax wasn’t built for passing fancy or malicious greed.

For Ajax, need rolled deeper than ocean trenches, thicker than blood, and richer than the marrow in his bones.

He wanted Tully, and the flicker of fear on his face told me he was worried he might never have his mark on Tully.

I hoped what I’d just done hadn’t ruined his chances.