Page 7 of Untamed Omega (One Wild Alpha #2)

Markus

“Good morning.” I entered to find my patient awake. “I brought you some scrambled eggs, lean ham, and toast. A few beautiful ripe berries. It will be easy on your stomach.”

“Hello.” The omega’s voice was ragged. We hadn’t actually had a chance to meet last night, and I hadn’t asked Reggie for his name Though I’d given him bag after bag of fluids, the omega still sounded parched.

His Adam’s apple bobbed. Most people thought that hunger was a rumble of the stomach, but it really was felt in the back of the throat. “I…bathroom.”

Of course. All those fluids. “Yes. I’ll help you.”

I walked him to the bathroom and supported him while he urinated. While I gave him as much privacy as I could, I had to stay close. He looked like he might topple over any second.

When he was back in bed, I observed his breaths. The beat of his heart. Tested his temperature and blood pressure. All were low but normal for someone with these kinds of injuries and starvation.

“Do you think you can eat?” I asked.

“Yes.” I brought the plate over and he went after it with gusto. Poor omega.

“Slowly, okay? I know you’re hungry, but we don’t want you to have a stomachache.”

“I overdid in the truck last night and made myself sick.” He nodded. “I can’t even remember the last time I had strawberries. I think I forgot what they taste like.”

“I’m so glad. Take your time. Do you mind if I ask you some questions? I’d like to get a proper medical file set up so we can get you on the road to health.”

He barely looked at me. His focus was solely on the food in front of him. “Sure,” he said with a full mouth.

“Let’s start with something simple. What’s your name?”

He swallowed and if I wasn’t mistaken, there was a look of disappointment that his ham slices were gone. “Sam. My name is Sam.”

My bear struck me dead in the chest through the bond we shared.

Mate. Ours. Our omega.

I flinched at his statements. No. Our omega was gone.

He’d been kidnapped on the night we were supposed to be celebrating with dinner.

His car had broken down and I wasn’t there for him.

His alpha, the one who was supposed to care for and love him, keep him safe, wasn’t there to stop the awful humans from taking our mate.

He was gone and there was nothing I could ever do to fix that.

“Is something wrong?” Sam asked.

“No. Of course not. I once knew someone named Sam, that’s all. Had a flood of memories come up.” Every. Single. Day.

“Can you tell me how long ago you were taken?”

Sam sighed. “I’m sorry but I don’t know. At first, I tried to keep track in my mind, but there was no sunlight. No difference between night and day. There was no schedule when…those people would come in. No regular meals to help me. It felt like decades.”

I put my hand on his, and he gasped. Shoot. I knew better. He probably still didn’t trust me. That was okay. “That happens a lot. The days imprisoned can run together. Whatever you can remember would help.”

“Okay.”

“Can you remember what they did to you? Did you hear them speak about any specific things? For example, we have an omega here, and they were trying to put another shifter animal inside of him.”

Sam stopped eating. “That sounds painful.”

“It was, but he’s more than fine now. He was here yesterday. Do you remember?”

The omega squinted and scrunched his nose. “Not really. A bit?”

“He’ll be back around. Do you remember anything?”

Shaking his head, he popped another handful of blueberries in his mouth.

“I wasn’t a success. That’s what they said.

They would chain me up and strap me to the beds, but I always got out.

They beat me and punished me, and there were all those strange meds, but I didn’t really give them the opportunity to do much to me. ”

I breathed out a sigh of relief. At least they hadn’t tried to change his animal or add another one like they had Kellan. A small reprieve. “I see. How is your stomach feeling?”

“Good. I’m still very hungry.”

“I can imagine you are, but I’d like to see how the food settles, if you don’t mind.”

Sam shook his head. “I…thank you and the other people for helping me. I didn’t really get a chance to tell them.”

“That’s okay. We don’t do what we do for the thanks.

We do it because it’s the right thing.” I was about to ask about his birth date and medical history before he was taken, but Sam let out a loud yawn.

“I am going to let you sleep a bit. We are all here. Not far away. If you call out, someone will come.”

“Thank you. Thank you for everything.”

“You’re welcome.” The word omega hung on the tip of my tongue. “We’ll get you some more food when you wake up.”