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AMAYA

M urmuring slowly rouses me. "...when we get home."

'Mates.'

I hum a little internally to tell my omega I heard her, but I'm too damn tired to do much else. A soft purr vibrates around in my head as my omega curls up to rest, too, after shaking off the nightmare that haunted our dreams. Our pack is here; we can sleep safely now.

"What if she doesn't want us, though, Sam?" a timid voice breaks through the Zen I just started to slip into.

"We'll still do anything and everything for her, Oli. Even if she cuts us out of her life, we'll still be there in the shadows, okay?"

"Enough." 'Alpha!' Vincent. "Nobody's going anywhere. Now kill the anxiety please. Amaya doesn't need that around her."

There's some grumbling that warms my heart. Hope that they've gotten closer since I've been gone makes me eager to open my eyes and see them.

With each tiny blink, the buzzing in my chest increases. It takes me a moment to register that it's not my aching lungs but my bond with Vincent. I can feel his unwavering strength not only for me, but for all of us. Beneath that, though, my alpha is terrified. He's focusing on what he needs to do and ignoring what his soul is screaming to feel.

There's something else behind the beat of my alpha's love for me. It's tired, anxious, and so full of eagerness that isn't Vincent. My alpha is buzzing with energy, hiding his exhaustion from me, I think, so what I'm feeling isn't him.

What's happening?

My own nerves light up, giving my eyes the jolt of electricity to open. There's an intake of breath, and the cramp in my lungs and throbbing in my head tells me it was me. I'm breathing . Tears burn my dry eyes as gratitude for oxygen sweeps through me. I'm so relieved to feel each painful breath of air that I almost don't notice the conversation around me has stopped.

Blinking, I'm relieved the warm lights are dimmed. Nothing like the emergency room I was taken to when I got here. I notice the leather couch on the far wall first and slowly drag my awareness through the room.

It's nice. Comfortable. But it doesn't smell like home. I catch whiffs of my pack, but the bleach and medical stench steal the effect my scent matches have on me.

The room darkens, my eyelids drooping again. Why is it so hard to be awake? I barely get a look at my mates now moving toward me as my head lulls to the side.

I blink. Then blink again, forcing my sight to clear. Emmett lays hunched over the side of my hospital bed with his head buried in his arms a few centimeters away from my thigh; he's not touching me. I wish he was.

It takes far more effort than I thought it would to get my hand to move, and even then, I barely make it off the sheets. My eyes tingle again; the need to run my fingers through my alpha's hair is so strong it's choking me.

My bottom lip trembles while I fight for my tired limbs to work. I need him. Why can't I get to him?!

Just as the monitor by my head starts beeping faster, a shadow moves in my line of sight, and a large, tan hand reaches for Emmett. Long fingers gently curl in Em's hair just like I crave to. A tear falls from my lashes, sadness coursing through me.

"We're here, golden girl."

I gasp, breaking out of my depressing trance of watching Emmett's black hair tangle in someone else's hand. "Vince?" I whisper, eyes snapping up to see my bonded alpha standing over Emmett and me with a look of pure love and longing.

The bond crackles and a fissure bursts in the hardened wall of strength. A tear slips from his ocean eyes. "I'm here now. We're here, Amaya."

Before I can turn into a blubbering mess, Vincent tugs on Emmett's hair and forces the alpha to wake with an annoyed grumble as he shoots a glare up at Vince.

"Ow, what the fuck, man?"

Vince doesn't say a word nor does he stop looking at me like I could disappear at any moment. Emmett, confused and a little cranky, untangles Vincent's hand from his hair and finally, fucking finally , looks at me.

All at once, a rush of excitement roars to life in my battered body, soon followed by a niggling sense of fear. But I'm not afraid.

"Amaya," Emmett chokes, reaching forward as if to touch me, but he hesitates. "Maya," he repeats in a pained whisper.

"I—" I swallow, my pinky grazing the side of his hand. My eyes widen, the fear doubles. "I feel you. Em, I feel you."

He's beautiful and so full of emotion it's breaking my thundering heart. Panic flares just as Emmett whips a worried gaze up to Vincent, making the panic double in my shaking limbs as mine meets his.

I don't care how I can feel him right now; I just can't lose him! "Don't. Please don't leave me," I plead. I'll beg if I have to, but I can't handle them trying to leave me again. I won't survive it. A girl can only be rejected and abused so many times before it ruins her.

Emmett's shocked gaze lands on me again as the bed dips on my other side. Oliver's voice tickles my left ear, and his palm settles over my belly. "We aren't ever going to leave you, baby girl. Not even if you want us to."

Turning my head, my lips brush his cheek as he pulls back. "Oli," my voice trembles.

"Yeah, baby," he says softly and lifts my tingling hand to his scarred lips.

Over his shoulder, I find Samuel hovering, his hands in his pockets. His eyes twinkle with unshed tears, but he's keeping his distance. "Don't want to overwhelm you, Petal."

Oh. I frown, not liking his reasoning. "Please?"

Sammy's face softens, and he pulls his hands from his pockets. He doesn't make me ask twice, already sitting beside his brother by my knees.

I want to stay awake so badly, but my eyelids betray me. My body weighs heavily on the bed, and darkness sweeps me under. I fall asleep, cocooned in the safety of my pack and Oliver's sweet song that coaxes me into serenity.

"I'll always be here to dry your tears... and chase away all your fears."