unseen proved to be easy. The room they were in had a direct door leading into the hallway. “Now what?” Lucan whispered.
“We follow the smell,” Maz said, his face grim. “And brace yourself because it won’t be pretty.”
They turned the corner into another hallway with several doors. Lucan put the key into the lock of the first door. Much to his relief, it smoothly slid in, and when he turned it, the lock clicked. He pushed open the door, and they stepped into a large barely lit room stacked to the max with small triple bunk beds …all of them occupied. Lucan closed the door behind them, just as a weak voice spoke to them. “Water… Can I please have some water?”
Maz cursed his human eyes, which had so much more trouble adjusting to the lights than his wolf would have had. But finally he could make out the shape of a frail omega on the middle bunk bed right in front of him. What was left of his blond hair matted against his forehead.
“Lucan…” Maz said.
“I’ll see if I can find some,” Lucan said.
Riordan still stood by the door, his back pressed against it as he took in the room. His eyes were wide with fear. Or maybe horror? Maz couldn’t blame him. The stench was nauseating. As a doctor, he was used to strange smells, but even he almost threw up.
Maz crouched so he was on eye level with the omega. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
The omega looked at him as if he were an alien. “Who are you?”
“I’m…I’m a doctor.”
That didn’t result in the reaction he’d expected. The omega immediately inched away from him, fear filling his eyes. “No, no… It’s okay. I don’t need water.”
Oh god. Why was he afraid of doctors? They needed to gain trust, and they needed it fast because Maz doubted they could hang around long before they’d be discovered. “I’m not with the army,” he said quietly. “We sneaked in here to find out what was going on. We’re…external auditors, so to speak.”
“Don’t believe him,” another voice spoke. “He’s lying, and he’ll report right back to them and get us all killed.”
Something awful was happening here, and Maz didn’t know what to do. He meant them no harm, but how could he convince them? He stood no chance as an alpha. “They have an omega with them,” someone else said.
“We’re here in the name of Lidon Hayes,” Lucan spoke behind him, and a wave of power rolled through the room.
“Y-you can’t use that name like that,” the man who’d accused them of lying spoke. A bed creaked, and then he stood in front of them, an itty-bitty omega, barely five feet tall and a hundred pounds, if even that. “That name holds power.”
Lucan stepped closer to him. “I know it does…and we speak with his full authority.”
Gasps echoed around the room. “Did you feel that?” several people whispered to each other as an enormous ball of energy rolled through the room.
“Prove it to me,” the omega demanded.
Lucan glanced at Maz, who nodded. They needed to get their trust, so they’d have to do whatever it took. Lucan quickly took off his uniform and dropped it on the floor, the men looking at him with fear. Then in a flash, Lucan shifted. The little omega swayed, and Maz could step forward just in time to catch him, then carefully sat down on the floor.
“You’re… He’s…” the omega on the bunk bed stammered. “He’s a wolf. You’re…you’re with him, with Lidon Hayes. You’re speaking the truth.”
“I am,” Maz said. “And I’m also a doctor, so please tell us what’s going on here.”
Lucan shifted back, which resulted in more gasps. He put the uniform back on again. “Where can I find water?” he asked.
“There’s…there’s a bathroom at the end of the hall, but we can’t go in there. You may, though, with your uniform, though most soldiers don’t wanna come in here so you may stand out. They’re scared we have infectious diseases. Mostly the docs come in and some nurses, all decked out in protective gear.”
This came from an omega who slowly lowered himself from a top bunk bed, then kneeled next to Maz. “Is Em okay?”
“I think so. He fainted. Do you have infectious diseases that you know of?”
The omega shrugged. “Probably, not that they’d tell us. They don’t tell us anything.”
“I’ll see if I can find that bathroom,” Lucan said, but the omega on the bunk bed, who’d asked for