YORK
“You should be in a hospital for this.”
I’d lived in Pandora all my life. Sick and injured Omegas came to the shelter more often than I’d care to remember. There were times when Ruby and I had our hands full trying to nurse a young Omega back to health.
But the injuries I had to deal with now were like nothing I’d ever seen before.
“Is it that bad?”
Hunter smiled at me. Despite how bruised and bloody his face was, his perfect white teeth shined through. I giggled despite the circumstances.
“Lion’s claws are sharp,” I said. “The wounds are deep.”
“They’re not that deep.”
“No, they’re not… But there’s a lot of them.”
Hunter was already injured going into the fight. It was hard to tell what was caused by Golden and what was already there from Valentine’s attack.
I worked tirelessly to wipe away all of the blood. Saxon knew people in Pandora to get me the tools I needed to tend to Hunter’s wounds. I lost track of time as I stitched Hunter up the best I could. It was a miracle that he stopped bleeding.
“There,” I sighed as I stitched together the last wound. “I think that’s everything. Though you should still think about going to the hospital.”
“It’s just a flesh wound,” Hunter replied. “It’s not anything serious.”
I looked down at Hunter’s naked body and shook my head. So much blood. So many bruises. There was no telling what kind of broken bones he had from the collisions with Golden.
“Why are Alphas so defiant?” I asked. “You already won. Why can’t you put your pride to the side just once?”
“Because you’re worried.”
“Yes, I’m worried.”
“I want you to know that there’s nothing to worry about. All I need is to lie down and get some rest.”
“Saxon…”
I turned toward the Beta who had been watching me fix Hunter up this entire time.
“…What do you think?” I asked. “Do you think he should go to the hospital to make sure everything is all right?”
Saxon looked at Hunter. The two of them exchanged smirks with one another.
“In all my years in Pandora, I’ve seen a lot,” Saxon said. “I’ve seen some of the most barbaric fights between Alphas on the streets. You remember how I saw some of the fights between packs in the Timberlands?”
“Yeah,” I replied.
“This isn’t any different. It doesn’t matter if they fight in the woods or the streets or some fancy arena. Alphas will always live to fight another day. So will Hunter.”
“I don’t want him to fight another day. I just want him to live.”
“He will.”
Saxon moved closer to the bed and patted Hunter gently on the shoulder.
“He’ll be just fine.”
I rolled my eyes at the arrogance of the two men. I sighed knowing that I wouldn’t be able to convince either one of them to see things from my perspective.
“How much did we win?” Hunter asked Saxon.
“You’re thinking about the gold?” I said. “At a time like this.”
“It’ll take a long time to count,” Saxon said. “I don’t think there was a single person in the building who placed a bet on you. But you can rest assured that you’ll get what’s coming to you.”
“If nobody bet on Hunter, that means everybody is pissed at him. They might come looking for him. Valentine, too. He already attacked Hunter once.”
“I don’t think so,” Hunter said. “Did you hear them before we left? They were clapping.”
“Those folks have more money than they know what to do with,” Saxon said. “A rich jaguar Alpha like Valentine might have lost something but he’ll get it back. His people own the mines. Gold might as well be dirt to someone like him.”
I clenched my jaw as I went over everything in my head.
Hunter had made it through. He was breathing… barely.
“We should celebrate,” Saxon said.
“Celebrate?” I exclaimed. “Hunter is going to be stuck in bed for weeks!”
“What do you feel like?” Saxon said to Hunter, ignoring me. “How about a big flask of whiskey?”
“That sounds nice,” Hunter said with a laugh. “But right now. I’d like nothing more than to take a nice, long nap.”
“I’ll get something for you. I can’t let the best fighter Pandora has ever seen celebrate by going to sleep. The night is still young. Ha!”
I’d never seen Saxon in such a good mood before. He danced out of the room with a bounce in his step, leaving me alone with Hunter.
I sat on the bed next to the Alpha, looking down into his eyes as they remained half-open.
“Crazy Alpha,” I said as I ran my fingers through his hair. “You had me worried there for a second.”
“Always worried,” he responded, his voice soft. “Just like an Omega.”
Looking into his eyes, I felt a flood of emotions beginning to wash over me. The feeling in the pit of my stomach made me feel like I was going to explode. I couldn’t believe it was finally over.
“I… I meant it,” I whispered.
“What do you mean?”
“I meant what I said when you were in the cage. I would have gone back to Pandora. I would have gone back to working for Rip. I would have done anything to make sure you stayed alive. You don’t know how much you mean to me.”
He smiled softly, raising his hand up and caressing my cheek.
“I know,” he said. “I know you meant it. And I would have done anything to make sure you didn’t have to go back to life in the slums.”
“You’ve already done that. You’ve done that every single time. Everything you’ve ever done since I met you. I… I don’t understand.”
“I’ve never been with an Omega. Not one like you.”
“Hunter?”
He reached down and took my hand in his. He moved it closer to his chest and held it there.
“Do you feel that?” he asked. “In my chest, my heart beats. The heart of an Alpha. A heart that longs for an Omega.”
“And I long for you,” I whispered. “My heart is empty without an Alpha.”
“Then you have nothing more to worry about. We can complete each other. Let’s be together, York. Alpha and Omega.”
I quickly wiped the tears from my cheeks and leaned forward. A gentle kiss made me forget about all of the pain and hardships we had to endure. There was nothing else now except for just us.
He caressed the side of my face and smiled as he whispered.
“I love you, York.”
My throat shifted as I swallowed. I clenched my jaw, no longer able to fight the smile from coming to my face knowing that everything was finally over.
“I love you.”