Lake rarely cried, it showed Davian just how much he had been affected by his absence. At this point, it would have been better to take the Omega along with him on his business trip.
"I won’t." Davian said simply, meaning every word.
He had wanted to be useful to Lake and take some of the burden of running the Mafia House off his shoulders but clearly all he needed to do was stay by his side.
Lake looked pale, his eyes sunken. Davian didn’t like the sickly look Lake sported, his hands gently wiping away his tears.
"Do you still feel nauseous?"
Lake held his wrists and leaned into his palm, the Omega looked frail right then, it made Davian’s middle churn with worry.
"Not anymore," Lake said with a sniffle. "I’m hungry."
"Want me to cook you something?" Davian indulged.
Lake wanted to say no, Davian had spent hours flying back to him, the Alpha had to be exhausted. But he simply didn’t have the energy to keep up appearances anymore, he wasn’t as strong as he put in a front to be. What he really wanted was for someone to put him first every time.
"Yes, please." He said in a small voice that was unlike him.
Davian took that as his cue to pick up the Omega, he would have Dr. Perez stay over tonight in case they needed the doctor’s assistance, but other than that, he was getting Lake fed.
They bumped into Jael on the hallway, the Beta had a napkin in hand and a curious expression.
"Leaving?" He asked simply.
"Yeah, have one of your men drive us." Davian said shortly, sweeping past him. Lake’s arms were thrown around his neck, his breathing quiet like he had already fallen asleep.
Jael already had his phone out, this wasn’t unexpected, if he were in Davian shoes, he would have done the same. Caspian wouldn’t be happy about his friend leaving without saying goodbye it wasn’t wise for Lake to be around him until he was completely recovered from his heat.
Worried that he still hadn’t heard a thing from them, he slowly meandered to their wrecked bedroom. To do that, he passed by the room they had moved to and it was quiet inside.
Jael just stood in the middle of the ruined room and made mental notes on what needed to be fixed. Currently, no news was good news.
He still considered stubbornly bringing food to their room when he heard footsteps behind him.
It was Asher, the Alpha wore his pants low slung, visible red teeth marks and vicious scratches littered all over his body.
"I was just about to mow the door down." Jael said dryly to mask his acidic worry.
Asher pushed a hand through his wild hair, he looked like he had been jumped by a band of feral cats. "We’re fine, one more than the other." He tagged on.
Jael cocked a brow, "I hope Caspian’s the better one."
Asher held out his arms with a deadpan expression, "What do you think?"
Jael winced, the younger Alpha did look like he had been put through the wringer. "You’re probably not going to like what I have to say."
Asher went on high alert at that, all the mania gone from his hazel eyes. "Spill."
"Lake got nauseous from Caspian’s scent so his doctor had to make a trip down, and I had a conversation with him about Caspian’s induced heat."
Asher had come here because he had heard footsteps and he knew who it would be so he followed. Caspian was fast asleep, his temperature had finally started to cool, his scent lightening.
"Is Lake okay?" He cut in to ask, worried about the pregnant Omega that had to deal with Caspian all by himself.
"Davian’s got him. He had to come back."
"What did the doctor say?" Asher strode in, needing to take a seat before he fell flat on his face. He had exerted too much energy today, his body could barely handle it.
"He said inducers have been banned by the High Council, so it’s not some over the counter drug. The hospital couldn’t even have it."
Asher’s expression turned grave, "What’s going to happen to Caspian?" He asked seriously.
"A one-time use brings on an abnormal heat that lasts for a short duration, and it interferes with heat suppressants. Caspian is going to be having his heats as usual after this."
"And?" Asher prompted, propping his elbows on his knees, his hands clenched into veiny fists.
"Multiple doses would completely ruin his chances to have kids." Jael let the other shoe drop.
Asher’s expression twisted into a snarl, "Who the fuck is so invested in whether my mate is pregnant or not?"
"I wish I fucking knew," Jael muttered, just as frustrated as he keep hitting dead ends in trying to figure that out. "Right, Caspian’s bodyguards found the fake replacement."
Asher’s eyes went wide at the constant influx of information.
"She was already dead. It was at a random motel on 4th Avenue. This is going to be a one time thing," He added his speculations.
Asher’s teeth were gritted, he still hadn’t found a middle ground concerning kids with his mate, he didn’t need external factors muddling things up further for him.
"But we’ll deal with that later," Jael said decisively, there was nothing else to be done right then. "I’ll go get dinner for you and Caspian, let’s talk about this tomorrow.
"Jael?" Asher called to him as he started for the hole in the wall.
"Yeah?" He stopped and glanced over his shoulder, Asher looked hunched over, his exhaustion showing.
"Thank you," He said quietly, sincerity dripping down the two simple words.
Jael hesitated, he had been about to reply with something witty but he couldn’t commit to it so he just waved a hand and continued on his way.
The kitchens moved fast, already aware that something was going on in the mansion. Patty lurked at the door to the kitchen study but she didn’t approach even though it was clear that she wanted to ask about Caspian.
Jael didn’t make the move for her, pushing the mobile tray out of the kitchen. He half expected to be told to leave the food at the door, his eyes going wide when it opened as soon as he knocked, Caspian standing behind the door.