“I love you,” Rebel said. “If I never see you again, remember I love you.”
Something deep inside Hyatt broke over those words. He wanted to climb out from under the bed and hug his big brother, to reassure him they’d all be okay. His omega instincts demanded he make this better. But his fear and pain kept him under the bed, clutching a ratty old blanket like it could protect him from whatever was about to happen.
“Oh, my goddess!” an unfamiliar voice said, and Hyatt yelped.
“I’m back.” Symon. Thank goddess. “The neighbors called Emergency.”
“Hey, kid, don’t go near him.”
Rebel snarled. Feet scuffled.
“No, stop, it’s okay,” Symon said. “Rebel won’t hurt me, I promise. He’s scared and upset, and my other brother is hiding under the bed. Rebel needs to calm down so Hyatt will come out.”
“If he won’t hurt you, why is Hyatt scared of him.”
“Because he’s omega and has the nose. He can smell Rebel’s anger and it scares him. Not Rebel himself. We can’t smell it like they can, sir.”
The new person must be beta if he couldn’t smell it as acutely as Hyatt and Rebel. Betas had a much less intense sense of smell for most things.
“I still think you should stay out of the room.”
“They’re my brothers.”
“How did we not know you three lived here? I’ve spoken to Edgar. Seen him come and go. Seen his friends come over.”
Rebel snarled. Hyatt shivered at the mention of the men Edgar had sold Rebel to for years. Maybe Hyatt had avoided the fate of being sold to strangers, but Edgar had still taken something from Hyatt that he’d never get back. Something he’d always expected to share with his future mate, not an older beta who treated him like dirt.
“Please, sir,” Symon said. “I’m safe with them, and you’re angering Rebel. Please.”
“I’ll stay in the doorway.”
“Thank you.” Scuffling. “Hyatt?”
This time, Hyatt dared to look past his blanket protection and meet Symon’s wide, red-rimmed eyes. He’d been crying and that hurt Hyatt’s heart to see. “Are you hurt?” Hyatt asked.
“No.” Symon covered his mouth as another coughing fit hit him. “Just confused by what happened. I was trying to sleep, and then I heard Rebel yelling. Thudding. Screaming. Saw blood. Bro, why are you naked?”
Rebel must have heard the final question because he growled again.
Hyatt didn’t want the stranger to hear his shame, so he crooked a finger. Symon slid under the bed, closer until Hyatt indicated he should stop. Hyatt did not want to be touched. “Edgar lied,” he whispered. “He was raping me when Rebel walked into the room.”
A rare, instant fury came over Symon then. “Fuck, Hyatt, I can’t…goddess. He promised.”
“I know.” Hyatt covered his head with the blanket before he lost his shit again. “That’s why Rebel…you know.”
“I am so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.” And it wasn’t Symon’s fault. It was not. Just because the first time Edgar had raped Hyatt, Hyatt had allowed it because Edgar threatened to go after Symon, did not make this Symon’s fault. Any more than Rebel being raped for years was because Edgar had threatened to rape Hyatt.
All of this was Edgar’s fault.
A new ruckus began in the house. New voices and scents, many alphas, and they made Hyatt want to weep all over again. His brothers were led outside, and Hyatt wanted to scream. So many tried to coax him out from under the bed, but he refused. Until Symon was back, tearfully begging him to come out so they could go to the hospital. Promising they were safe, not in trouble, and Hyatt needed to see a doctor. That was probably true. He was so sore. He inched out from under the bunked beds, and Symon helped him wrap the blanket better around his naked body. Paramedics were waiting with a stretcher. Hyatt glared at it, perfectly able to walk out to their ambulance.
The hospital was a special, new kind of hell. Busy. Full of people and voices and questions. Like nothing Hyatt was used to, and the doctors weren’t letting him see either of his brothers. They did something called a rape kit, which was invasive and demeaning, and not even the kind beta nurse could keep Hyatt from yelling for Symon and Rebel. None of this made any sense, and he needed people to stop touching him!
Someone gave him a light sedative, and a while later a constable named Zain Bauer entered his cubicle with a lot of questions. “I’ve already spoken at