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SAMUEL

" H oly fuckin' shit," Oliver huffs quietly with an anxious laugh.

I thought I was the hothead in our group, but Vincent proved me wrong. With our backs pressed against the white wall inside Amaya's hospital room, my brother and I watch our new pack alpha throw that shithole of a doctor right out the door and demand another one.

I smirk watching the nurses gasp and scramble to the furthest corners of the room. Vincent whirls around and slams the door behind him. I don't realize Emmett is on the verge of exploding too, but I don't have to worry for long after I notice his clenched fists, red face, and glare aimed at the door.

With a one-track mind, Vince stomps over to Emmett and latches a hand around his throat. "Enough," he snaps.

"Damn," Oliver basically moans next to me.

Emmett's frown deepens. "But?—"

"No. I'll handle it." Vincent growls, walking my friend backward and forcing him to his knees. "Watch over our omega while I find the best fucking doctor in this place."

Our omega... Amaya!

I rush toward her now that Vincent's sheer dominance has dissipated enough for me to move.

Like a switch has been flipped, we crowd around our mate lying shocked on the bed looking so fucking tiny it hurts my heart. Whipping around, Emmett basically falls against her sheets and snatches her hand in his. Vincent is swift to drop a lingering kiss on her forehead and whispers something in her ear, to which she nods, before running out of the room.

Emmett chokes on a sob just staring at our mate.

"Em," Amaya whimpers. "I?—"

Her heart rate monitor starts beating double again. Oliver jumps toward her, but I grab the back of his shirt. We need to take it easy with Amaya, I think. She doesn't need us on top of her, especially while there are still a few nurses shuffling about.

"Shh, girl. Let's get you checked over," a nurse with a bob coos and starts tapping on a computer on the other side of Amaya.

I place a palm on Emmett's shoulder and Oli crouches down beside his alpha. My omega watches the beta nurse with so much emotion my heart nearly splits wide open. The feelings flooding the room without Vincent's alpha energy to dominate the space are so overwhelming I'm not surprised when Maya's eyelids start drooping.

"It's okay. You can rest while we wait for the doctor," the nurse says softly, giving my petal a gentle smile and nod.

Before Amaya crashes, she takes one final look around all of us and whispers, "Thank you."

She never has to thank me for anything. Ever. I'll cross any line, any fucking boundary, just to see her beautiful golden eyes.

"There she is," the new doctor whose name I don't really care to know says when Amaya stirs ten minutes later. I'll hand it to the middle-aged beta though. He doesn't look the least bit worried about Vincent hovering beside him with a deep scowl and fighting stance.

"Hi, beautiful," my brother murmurs, petting Amaya's head. A small smile curls my lips when she leans into his touch. Thank fuck she's not flinching away from us.

"My name is Doctor Carter. Ms. Rose, I need to talk to you about your care and our next steps. Would you like anyone to leave?"

My lips curls back in a silent snarl. I'm not fucking leaving . Even Oliver looks ready to unleash a growl.

"Just the nurses," Vincent demands, but Amaya stiffens. Of course, the big alpha notices her reaction and flicks his eyes to the nurse with a bob. "Except for you. She wants you to stay."

The fearless doctor waits for Amaya to say something, and my mate just nods, agreeing with Vincent. "Alright then. Chrissy, can you stay, please?"

The other two nurses file out of the room, keeping space between themselves and Vincent. Chrissy smiles and pats Amaya's shoulder gently. "I got you, girl."

Envy flashes through me fast and vicious when my omega relaxes even further for the stranger. A hard kick to my shin snaps me out of it, so I aim my negative vibes at Emmett.

My friend just raises a brow in challenge, and I roll my eyes in return. I can't be the only one to set my mate at ease, I know that. Doesn't mean I don't wish it was me that has her sinking further into her papery blankets.

I am glad though. During Amaya's quick nap, Emmett was able to take a deep breath and get his emotions under control. Now that he's standing, he looks a lot better, especially with his arms wrapped around Oliver.

The pack bond is much more leveled out now, at least.

Speaking of the pack bond... "Tell me. Now," Vincent demands, eyes hard on the doctor.

'Alpha.'

The word rattles around in my head and I swear I feel it echoed back in acceptance from Oli and Emmett too. The way Vincent busted Amaya's hospital door down not minutes after she was wheeled away from us and took control of a really fucked up situation changed the structure of our pack. Vincent isn't even entirely part of our pack bond, but even with his half tether to Emmett, my alpha is roaring his acceptance of our replacement.

The bond will only strengthen once we all bond with Amaya, but until then, or even if it doesn't happen for some of us, our friendship and pull to each other keeps our pack bond alive.

Sidestepping our new pack lead, the doctor moves to Amaya's other side and starts tinkering with the computer. "Ms. Rose, we will need to continue to monitor your vitals for a few days. You have some bumps and scrapes. The four lines on your forearm should heal up just fine; no scarring would be my bet, along with the other abrasions. To put it simply, you drowned. We need to take some precautions. Blood pressure and oxygen saturation are our main concerns besides your ankle."

I step around Emmett, needing to be closer to Amaya as we take in the bad news. "Her ankle?" I'm studying the covers where I know her feet are, but of course I don't see anything.

Dr. Carter nods. "We will need to do some imaging to figure out what's going on, but based on the swelling and odd angle, we may be looking at a fracture. To prevent further complications, we need to move on it now. Do you understand?"

Amaya nods. "Okay," she croaks, but I sure as hell don't understand.

"What the fuck do you mean fracture?!"

"Sam—" Oliver hisses, but it's Amaya's soft fingers connecting with my wrist that halt me in my angry panic. She shakes her head with a sad little smile that physically hurts me. Sighing, I drop my head between my shoulders.

"Chrissy," Dr. Carter says, and the whirl of activity that follows makes my head spin.

Please be okay, Petal.