Chapter 338

Elliot

I look at my reflection in the hospital mirror.

The bruises are fading. The cuts are healing. But I still look wrong. Hollow. Broken. Not the face I want her to see.

I can’t see her like this.

Before those bastards attacked me, it was going well. She was looking at me, listening to me, seeing me. Three days of walking through her garden, sitting by her fountain, talking about things that mattered. Three days of her attention, her focus, her time.

We were close.

Things were progressing.

I touch my face. The bruise under my eye is yellow now, fading, but still there. Still ugly. Still wrong.

This just had to happen.

Just my fucking luck.

"Elliot?"

I turn. Dr. Wang is in the doorway, his face soft with concern.

"You should be resting."

"I can’t rest." I turn back to the mirror. "I look like—"

"You look like someone who survived something terrible." He crosses the room, stands behind me, meets my eyes in the glass. "Someone who’s healing."

He hugs me from behind, his arms wrapping around my waist, his chest warm against my back. His pheromones release—that familiar scent, clean and clinical, meant to comfort, to soothe, to control.

I lean back into his touch.

Dr. Wang is a nice guy.

But he’s not the best Alpha for me.

I’ve seen how he treats his staff when no one is looking. The coldness. The dismissiveness. The way his smile never quite reaches his eyes. I see through his persona.

The perfect doctor, the kind healer, the safe one. It’s a mask. A good one, but a mask nonetheless.

Daphne isn’t like that. When she looks at me, I see what’s there—disinterest, mostly, sometimes annoyance, sometimes something softer I can’t name. But never a mask. Never performance.

She’s real.

But I’m an Omega. I can’t do much without an Alpha. The world doesn’t let us.

The hospitals, the banks, the laws—all of it built by Alphas for Alphas, with Omegas as accessories. Beautiful, necessary, powerless.

So I’ll stay with him.

For as long as it takes.

As my safety net.

"Any updates with the police?" I ask.

"No. It was dark. They couldn’t see faces." His arms tighten around me. "But don’t worry. I won’t rest until those bastards are found."

I turn in his arms, wrap my arms around his waist. He hugs me tighter, kisses my temple.

I close my eyes.

It would be so nice if it wasn’t him right now.

If it was her. Her arms around me. Her lips on my temple. Her voice in my ear, telling me everything would be okay.

If it was her. Her arms around me. Her lips on my temple. Her voice in my ear, telling me everything would be okay.

But it’s not her.

It’s him.

And I’m grateful. I am. He’s here. He’s safe. He’s enough.

For now.

***

Dr. Wang

I squeeze him gently. He flinches.

"Sorry, Ellie." I kiss his temple again, softer this time. He hugs me tighter, pressing his face into my chest.

I hold him there, stroking his hair, breathing in his scent.

I wish I didn’t have to resort to such drastic measures.

But looking at how successful I am,how close we are, how he needs me, how he trusts me.I can’t bring myself to regret it.

He’s safe now. Protected. Mine.

The bruises will fade. The cuts will heal. And when they do, he’ll forget this ever happened. He’ll forget the fear, the pain, the dark alley where strangers’ hands found him.

He’ll remember only that I was there. That I saved him. That I’m the only one who’s always there.

I hold him tighter.

"Ellie?" A voice cuts through the quiet of the hospital room.

Elliot stiffens in my arms, then pulls away, turning toward the door.

"Gary, I told you didn’t have to come." His voice is different now. Softer. More real.

"Whatever." The boy in the doorway shrugs, but his eyes are fixed on Elliot’s bruised face, his bandaged hand, the IV still taped to his arm. "I was in the neighborhood."

"It’s a forty-minute bus ride."

"You said you were going to call when you woke up."

"I was going to."

"Sure."

Elliot laughs a small and tired laugh. "Come here."

Gary crosses the room, dropping his backpack by the chair, and lets his brother pull him into a one-armed hug. He’s tall for his age, I notice.

Gangly, like he’s still growing into his limbs. Same blond hair as Elliot, same green eyes. But where Elliot’s face is soft, open, available, Gary’s is closed. Guarded. Watching.

I smooth my shirt, straighten my coat, step out of the bathroom.

Gary’s eyes find me immediately.

"You." His voice is flat.

"Gary." Elliot’s tone carries a warning. "This is Dr. Wang. He’s been—"

"I know who he is." The boy hasn’t looked away from me. "He’s the one who’s always at the clinic. The one who calls you all the time. The one who—"

"Gary." Elliot’s voice is sharper now. "Be polite."

***

Gary

I love my brother. I really, really do. But he is what some may say .....extremely popular. Who am I to complain when our living conditions have changed because of the affections of these Alphas?

The apartment. The school. The food in the fridge that doesn’t come from a discount bin. All of it, because Ellie has five powerful men fighting over him. Because Ellie knows how to be wanted.

It makes me sad, sometimes. He does this probably because he wants to give me a better life. But sometimes I think Ellie has a bit of a narcissistic streak. He loves the attention. He needs it, like other people need air.

Anyway. Ellie is my brother. I would love him no matter what he did.

I look at the man in front of me, in the coat.He’s handsome, they all are. Sharp jaw, expensive haircut, that polished look that says money without saying anything at all.

And there—peeking out from under his sleeve—a watch. Platinum. Limited edition. The kind of watch that costs more than our apartment.

Bingo.

Time to lay on the charm.