Page 55 of Toxic Revenge, Part Two (Mafia Omegas #2)

Chapter

Fifty

WEST

I’d known Talia was mine a long time ago, known I would do anything to keep her safe, even if it risked my sanity.

Bonding her when she might still die was no small risk, but for her, I would never regret it. No matter what happened, I had to know that I’d done everything I could to keep her with me.

The agony of her broken bond was ours, now. It flowed between my packmates and I like a river of torment.

How the fuck had she managed even a second of this alone?

I clutched her close, a stuttered purr rumbling up. It was a futile attempt to soothe her pain. She slumped against me as she fell unconscious, her body giving out.

“Fuck. We need to get her out of here,” Mercer said.

He clutched his arm, still dripping blood onto the floor. “Are Jurah’s guys here yet?” I asked Lavinia tersely.

“Did Benjamin… did you…?” Lavinia’s voice was faint and pained.

I let out a frustrated growl. “Are they here?”

Emilia responded. “Outside. They just pulled up.” She sounded stunned too, but not to the extent her older sister was.

Conrad stood, hoisting Talia into his arms so I could stand too. Mercer swayed as he got up, his face pale. I glanced at the blood staining the floor and his clothes. There was too much of it—if he kept going like that, he was going to pass out.

I grabbed the hem of his shirt and ripped through the material until I had a strip of it detached. My shirt was already gone, laid on Benjamin’s body from when I tried to stop the bleeding.

Using the strip of Mercer’s t-shirt, I wrapped his arm and tied it tight. Hopefully, that would keep him from bleeding out as we navigated away from this damn warehouse.

Men burst in the same way Conrad and I had, guns drawn. They spread out through the space, threatening and detaining the mercenaries who hadn’t escaped out the back.

One came over and checked Benjamin’s pulse, but I shook my head. “He’s dead.”

His bond with Talia wouldn’t have broken if he was still holding on. Our claiming bites wouldn’t have stuck if she still had a bondmate who wasn’t part of our pack. That was the most reliable proof of death there was.

“Talia needs to be checked by a doctor,” Mercer barked an order to the team like they were his to command.

“He needs stitches,” Conrad added, tilting his head to Mercer.

The man who’d stopped to check Benjamin’s pulse stood, holding his arms out. “Miss Talia should come with?—”

All three of us snarled in a feral symphony.

I pulled out my gun again, pointing it toward the floor in front of the man. “She stays with us. I won’t hesitate to fill you all with holes if you try to take her.”

He backed up, placing a finger on his black earpiece. “Fine, that’s been approved,” he said. “Let’s move.”

As if he was going to be able to stop us if it wasn’t approved. Yeah, they had bigger guns and more bullets, but would they risk shooting the daughter of their boss while trying to take her from her mates?

We were her mates, now. Despite the bond connecting our souls together, it didn’t feel real. I doubted it would feel real until we knew she was going to live.

God, she had to live.

We’d all die without her, wasting away without her sweet bond to nurture.

I kept my gun in my hand and followed beside Conrad as Jurah’s team led us from the building. Lavinia was waiting outside with Emilia, their surveillance van abandoned. She rushed up when we stepped outside, grabbing one of Talia’s hands.

“Oh my god. She’s…” She trailed off, tears dripping down her cheeks.

“Benjamin shot himself,” I said. “He’s dead.”

She sniffled. “Then, Talia is going to die.”

“No, she won’t,” Conrad barked. “She’s our scent match, and we all have complete bonds with her now. She has to live.”

Lavinia scanned Talia again, apparently noticing the fresh bondmarks for the first time. Her gaze snapped to Conrad’s neck, then found the matching omega bite marks on Mercer’s and mine.

Grabbing Lavinia’s hand, Emilia pulled her away from us. “Lav, let’s go. We’ll know more when the doctor has checked her over.”

The group of Jurah’s guys led the way to another van, this one black and equipped with bench seats in the back. We all slid in, and an Alfieri-employed paramedic went to work on Mercer’s shoulder.

He hadn’t gone feral yet, so we had to assume Talia was right about them not using the poisoned bullets. Mercer was way luckier than Conrad had been, for once.

It was a solemn ride, the only sounds coming from the rev of the engine and Mercer’s pained grunts. There were no windows back here, so I couldn’t tell how far we’d gone or how close we were to home. Eventually, we came to a slow stop, and someone pulled the back doors open.

I was the first out, eager to get inside and have Talia checked over, but I didn’t get far.

A harsh impact sent my head snapping to the side. I cursed, grabbing my weapon as I spat blood onto the ground. I had it half lifted when Lavinia stepped in front of me and I realized we weren’t under attack.

We were safe and sound on the Alfieri Estate again.

Nico had just greeted me by punching me in the fucking face.

I shoved the weapon into its holster again, growling under my breath. I couldn’t say I didn’t deserve the violence. Talia had gotten hurt because of this plan, and I’d promised to protect her.

Would have been nice if he’d announced himself first. I’d thought he was an attacker coming for Talia.

“Nico, stop it!” Lavinia snapped.

He glared past her at me as I rubbed my aching jaw. “He promised to fucking protect her.”

“This was Talia’s plan. Hurting them is the same as hurting her, now.”

Nico spotted the mark on my neck, and all the colour drained from his face. His fists relaxed, and he stared at his daughter as Conrad carried her out of the van.

“Get her inside, immediately.” Jurah came up behind his packmate, shouting the order. “The doctor is waiting in her bedroom.”

Conrad nodded, holding her gingerly as he kicked up into a jog. I made sure Mercer got out of the van without needing help, then ran after him with my packmate by my side.

Her entire family crowded around as the doctor checked her over. He attached various machines to her, checking vital signs and hormone levels. More blood was sent away for additional tests.

By the time he’d completed his assessment, his eyebrows were drawn together in confusion.

“You said her bondmate died?” he asked.

I nodded.

“And you weren’t bonded to her until after that bond broke?”

“Exactly,” Mercer said. “We bonded her right after we realized he was dead.”

“That’s curious.”

“Curious isn’t a diagnosis,” Lavinia snapped. “Is she going to be alright, or not?”

The doctor cleared his throat, glancing around the full room. “I can’t make any guarantees, but her vitals are promising. They’re far better than they should be for an omega who lost her sole alpha.”

“We’re scent matched to her.” Conrad stroked his fingers through her hair. “Could that have something to do with it?”

“It certainly could. I’ve never personally overseen a case like this before. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to do some additional research. Miss Talia should wake up soon, once the IV fluids have rejuvenated her a bit.”

He left the room, and everyone stared at Talia’s sleeping form until Violet awkwardly cleared her throat. “It might be best if we don’t crowd her.”

Talia’s mom managed a small smile as she hung on Hart’s arm. “You’re right. She needs her mates to be with her for her recovery, but having everyone here when she wakes up would be overwhelming. Let’s go, all.”

Jurah helped her usher everyone out. Before he left, he gave us each a firm look. “The second she wakes up, you tell us.”

“Of course, Sir.” Mercer nodded. “We’ll let you know.”

The silence felt deafening with only the four of us in here. I wanted to shower off the day, but not as much as I needed to stay by her side. We all stripped down to our underwear and curled around our omega in the nest.

Until she woke up, all we could do for her was skin-on-skin contact and constant purrs.

“West?” Talia’s rough voice woke me from my attempt at a nap.

It had been hours of her unconscious, with us passing her back and forth so we could tend our bondmarks and scent mark her sallow skin. I had her wrist against my lips, the mark healing rapidly under my care. Her body was draped over mine.

When I looked down, I found her eyes half-lidded, but open. My grip on her tightened. “Fuck, little omega. You’re awake.”

“Talia?” Conrad shifted himself closer to us, draping his hand over her. “Took you long enough to wake up, princess.”

She laughed softly. “My bad. How long was I out?”

“Few hours,” Mercer grunted. “Maybe more. How do you feel?”

She cuddled against me. I licked my bondmark on her wrist again, giving it more of the proper tending. I felt our bond pulse and grow stronger as she gave a content little groan and relaxed into the touch.

“Better, now that I’m bonded to you three,” she whispered.

I tried not to clutch her too tightly. I could easily hurt her accidentally if I wasn’t careful, but it was hard not to tighten my grip. She was awake and talking, which was more than I’d dared to hope for when Benjamin died.

“We’ll take care of you, sweetheart.” Mercer brushed a strand of hair away from her shoulder, kissing the bite he’d left there. “Keep your bonds open and share all of your pain with us, OK?”

She shivered beneath the touch, a small smile curving her lips. “The bonds are open, but the pain… It’s gone.”

I probed at her emotions immediately, trying to figure out if she was lying or making it out to be less painful than it was. She wasn’t. Our bond was wide-open, and the only thing filling it was love.

“That isn’t possible,” I said. “Your bond broke.”

“And it was excruciating when it did.” Talia tipped her head to the side, giving Conrad access to tend his bite on her neck. “But I have you now. I think I’m going to be OK.”

The joy I felt from my pack and mate was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. It made me feel light, ecstatic, like the world could give me everything I wanted.

As the feeling lingered, I realized that maybe it wasn’t all from my bonds.

Most of it was from me. With Talia by my side, I could have joy instead of dread. Forever.