Carefully sliding his mate from his lap, Linus took one of Dyllen’s legs with Urkane taking the other.
Brite and the bulky beta Yash took an arm each as Dyllen thrashed, trying to get free.
There was some strength in the movements, but it felt oddly lacking and the alpha was easy enough to hold down.
Skye pulled the alpha’s pants down and Linus could almost hear the dirty joke die in Caige’s throat as an oozing bandage was revealed.
Skye cursed again as he held his hand over it, the silver glow showing his healing Diyari being activated.
“It’s festering. I need a small sharp knife sterilized by fire, clean water, and the medical kit.”
Caige and Lejend leapt to gather the required items as Skye slowly pulled away the haphazard bandage.
Dyllen groaned in pain and the smell of disease and rot hit all
Skyefrowned down at his charge as he reached out with his healing to assess how the wound was doing.The few hours he had rested brought little change to the alpha, other than a heightened fever, but that wasn’t unusual.The body could take a long time on its own and Dyllenwas still too weak to heal again.Britehad kept a cold compress across Dyllen’s forehead and a sharp eye on his features, looking for any of the tell-tale signs that he was deteriorating, but so far,he had remained stable. That was a plus, at least.The biggest problem now was that all they could do was wait.In the past,when he was training in Aldea, he would have other patients or some task that needed his attention to occupy his time. Now though, they were all stuck until Dyllenwas well enough to be moved and that would be at least another day or two.No one seemed to mind, other than Caigewho keeps mak
The river was within sight of their camp but they were heading downstream to where it apparently opened up into a small pool that’s good for swimming.Rockethad found it the day before when he was out hunting with Caige. Terniand Linus were already stripping out of their clothing and they looked up at his approach.Ternislipped into the small inlet off the main river with a contented sigh while Linus waited for him to get closer.“Britegot sick of me hovering and shooed me off to come for a swim too,” he explained, feeling a little awkward suddenly.He felt almost like hewas intruding somehow, but Linusgave him an easy smile before turning to wade into the water.“The water’s nice here, if a little on the cool side. A swim should take your mind off of things.”After a moment of dithering on the shore, Skyeshucked off his clothes and gingerly dipped a
Dyllen’s fever broke that night.It had gotten worse during the afternoon, to the point that Skyewas truly fearing for the alpha, but thankfully,he pulled through. For the first time since that morning,he slept peacefully, undisturbed by lucid dreams.He had healed the wound further as well, so it looked like Dyllenmight finally be in the clear. Of course, they couldn’t be fully certain until the wound healed all the way but the omega was feeling confident now.Only once he had told the rest of the band, watching them visibly relax bit by bit, did he realizejust how tense they had been under the façade of normality. He had been too stressed himself to notice.The omega was changing the bandage on the alpha’s thigh, gently pressing in a healing compress to help his body along while keeping the wound infection free, when a gravelly voice interrupted him.“Fuck that hurts,&rdqu
The next morning,Skyewas able to heal Dyllen’s wound enough that they could begin to travel again.It still wasn’t fully closed and could be easily re-opened if he wasn’t carefulenough, but the alpha had been quick to promise his cooperation.Whether because he wanted to avoid Skye’s stinging herbs or the look the other three alphas gave him when he hesitated, he wasn’t sure. It was enough that the alpha was keeping his word.The band had set out on the beaten dirt road, passing a few travelerson foot, and Skyefound himself riding beside his mate with Dyllenon the other side of Linus.The air around the band had been relaxed and joking and Skyelearnt that they weren’t far from their destination.Pearlcrosswas a large coastal trading town on the border of the kingdom known for exotic goods from across the seas. It was a prosperous town for merchants loo
Linusdidn’t reply, only gave Dyllena look that told him he thought he was being stupid.It would take a lot more than him scolding him for being an idiot to get through that thick skull, especially after what had happened to him in the past.Dyllenhad to nearly die to even begin to accept Skye, what would it take to get him to believe he was worth more than dirt?Although Skye’s sudden anger and backbone towards Dyllenwould go a long way to earning his respect.Companionable silence fell over them and Linustook a moment to enjoy the soft breeze ruffling through his hair. The easy banter of the band, the laughter and jokes made a nice backdrop for their travels.While it was possible to have a private conversation on the road, it was rare that anyone chose to and as such,someone was always butting in. It made their travels far more interesting and fun though, a far cry from his time as a
Struggling not to sway in the saddle, Skyedesperately tried to pretend everything was fine.Linusseemed to be keeping a close eye on him and it was making it so much harder to act normally but he recognizedthe symptoms he was beginningto experience.The tiredness, the heavy limbs, the need to be pressed against his mate, the need to be tucked up in a warm, safe nest.He tried to push the feelings away. Now was not a good time for his heat to hit but he knew he couldn’t fight it off forever.Still, if he could somehow hold it off until after their contract was complete, that would be best.His healing ability meant that he could heal himself unconsciously of any sickness or injury and since heat was never a disease or injury but a normal physiological function of an omega, thus it cannot be healed. Though he had found out that he could hold back his heat using it.It was a conscious effort that took
Whatever Linushad expected when Lejendcame running to grab him, it was not to find Dyllencarrying his mate to him.As soon as he had gotten close, he immediately realizedwhy.Skye’s face was flushed, eyes glazed, and as soon as Linusreached out to take him, the scent of an omega in heat washed over him.He had never experienced something so powerful, so instantly consuming before and all the stories about alphas losing their minds over omegas in heat suddenly seemed more realistic.He had no experience dealing with omegas, let alone one in such a state. The few ones who had tried to seduce him with their heat, he can and had easily been able to ignore.But now, his instincts kicked in with a roaring force and it no longer mattered.Dyllenbacked off after telling Traceto find them some place safe, and the snarl Linusdidn’t even realizehe was giving the other alpha
The first light of dawn streaked the sky in oranges and reds when Linusfinally carried Skyeback to camp.The omega’s heat had quickly eased but the last dregs of it had lingered for many hours. They both stink of sweat and sex and Skyehad been very clingy with him even once the last of the heat fled his system.The alpha had put little thought into it before but his mate was always independent, so it had surprised him when he wanted to be carried back.It made a nice change though and it soothed his alpha instincts to hold the omega in his arms, especially after his heat. His scent hadn’t changed after the heat had fled so Linusassumed that his mate hadn’t fallen pregnant this time and he wondered how his alpha side would have been affected if he had.Not surprisingly,most of the band were still sleeping but Briteand Lejendwere already up like usual.Britegave him the b