When my arm was placed in a sling and I was told that recovery could take a full month, I was relieved that it hadn't been my dominant one. I had broken bones in the past and could use my opposite hand to write, but it wasn't nearly as fast and fluid as my dominant one. I studied best when I wrote down or typed out notes, so I figured I was a bit more of a visual than an auditory learner.

On the downside, that also meant that I had to work harder at listening to others as I grew older.

Really? I think you're a great listener.

I shot my Alpha a wry smile. The two of us were really starting to get a hold of our rare bond and the fact that we could communicate through our thoughts to one another. Every now and then, it would be embarrassing…like when I felt the need to throw away my 'special' pillow and Lexus laughed for a full two minutes about it. Lex hadn't come out unscathed, either, since the memories of his past dating mishaps assaulted him whenever his mom shared old pictures of him with us. But, most of the time, we treated each other's stray thoughts as candid comments. The more we became used to it, the less it bothered us.

I don't know…if I hadn't been talking so much and goofing off with Morgan, I'd have paid more attention to what was going on around us and we might not have been taken like that.

You were both targeted. They made sure that you were off-guard. No one can be on sharp alert every minute of every hour of the day.

I reached out to grasp his hand with my dominant one. The mere warmth was somehow comforting. But, once again, the image of my best friend all bruised and beaten up rose to my mind. In all the fights that I had been in, whether I started them or not, the safety of those around me had never been a priority. When bristled up with anger, my focus always narrowed down to the danger in front of me and nothing else.

Morgan being a Beta…I never, not once, considered it as a vulnerability before. Morgan was my bigger, brighter brother. He was so kind and relatable to others that I always thought him untouchable. I felt my heart clench as if someone had squeezed the bottom half of it. He had been injured because of me…because someone, somewhere, had some kind of beef with me.

"Come on," Lexus suggested as he urged me onto my feet. "Let's go see how he's doing."

We ended up stopping in our tracks as we neared the room Morgan was in and heard yelling.

"I don't understand why you're being so damn stubborn!" The unmistakable sound of Sabine's voice echoed down the hallway. "You know what? I'm going to the cafeteria to get you some napkins so that you can wipe your mouth," she downright growled as she exited the room. She didn't even look our way as she tossed her hands in the air towards Morgan's direction. "There's clearly still a tiny bit of bullshit around your lips." That being said, she turned on her heel and headed towards the cafeteria.

Lexus and I glanced at each other and I could have sworn I saw the tiniest hint of fear in his eyes. Though, it could have very well been a mirror of the own fear I felt. We've seen Sabine upset a good several times before. But, not that upset.

My face fell when we reached the doorway and I saw the profile of my friend's face. He had quite the torn expression. The swelling on his face had gone down a bit and some of the bruises had darkened. But, it was easy to tell that the emotion on his face had nothing to do with physical pain.

"H-Hey," I called out softly as we approached. "What did the doc say?"

As he turned his head to look my way, he didn't bother to hide how he really felt. Morgan was a very honest man and there was very little that caused him shame. But, I saw it in his eyes…the slightest touch of shame.

"No broken bones, but to expect a lot of soreness for the next several days," Morgan recounted. "Tried to give me the stronger pain meds, but I talked him down to over-the-counter stuff. I don't mess with those strong pain prescriptions."

I placed a hand on his blanket-buried foot. "I ran just like your gramps told us to," I commented.

"Yeah man," Morgan responded with bit of a grin. "That was freaking awesome! I couldn't believe it. Who knew you'd be the one to successfully put grandpa's kidnapping advice into action."

"Oh? But, you attempted it first! You almost got away from them at the very start!" I countered.

The grin slipped slightly. "I should have been more vigilant," the chocolate Labrador replied. "Should have reacted faster-"

"Morgan, I didn't react at all at first! Your instincts are just fine!" I insisted.

He gave me another not-quite-smile and then he turned his gaze to Lexus. "We need to get to the bottom of this," he prompted. "Avion's angered many a rich Alpha in the past."

"My dad's already got someone looking into it," Lex replied.

::::

When we were finally released from the hospital, I felt a small moment of déjà vu and realized that I've been consistently in the hospital one too many times that year. My gaze turned towards Morgan, who was the opposite case. The chocolate Labrador didn't end up at the hospital often and it made my stomach turn to see him so injured.

"Is that what you had to go through?" Morgan asked.

The question made me frown in confusion. But, Morgan didn't even look my way, his gaze elsewhere. What part did he mean? "I was ordered around a lot in the past," I responded. "But, I always fought back whenever those orders ended up with me in pain…" I let out a soft snort. "Ok, now that I think about it, I fought back even when it was only my pride that was hurt."

I saw Morgan clenching his fist and wondered, once again, what was rolling around in his head.

"I've been Alpha Commanded by my parents, family elders, scholars...but, never by any strangers or anyone my age," he admitted. "...and never by anyone that really wanted to hurt me and actually got off on it." The last part was a whisper.

I finally understood what he meant. "You mean Ashur, don't you?" I questioned as an involuntary shudder ran through me.

"Was Nestor the same back in high school?" Morgan asked.

I shook my head. "No, definitely not," I affirmed. "Nestor let out his frustrations. But, every time he did anything that ended up with me getting hurt, I could tell he regretted it immediately afterwards. It was like he just lashed out without thinking, like he couldn't control his anger all the time."

"Anger management issues?"

I shrugged. "I think so...I mean, whenever I cried out to him to please stop, he usually did. That day that he went too far, he wasn't himself at all. He didn't respond to anything anyone said except for Ashur...it was as if he didn't even see me," I pointed out as I rubbed my arms. "The fact that he didn't express any emotions on his face that day was what scared me the most."

"So, there isn't any kind of vendetta he might have against you even now?" Morgan inquired.

"Where are you getting at with this? Do you think Nestor was behind this?" I responded. "I haven't seen him since."

"Be that as it may, he was Ashur's best friend, wasn't he?" Morgan alluded. "And we put his best friend away."

I couldn't argue that logic. "It's because we put Ashur away that I thought it could be Ashur's parentsthat did this," I countered. "That Commander said that I was being 'fought over by the rich,' and you did say his parents were wealthy enough to be top patrons for MU."

"Lexus said his dad's looking into that side of things, Ashur's parents. Seems like they came to the same conclusion," Morgan replied. "Still, I think I'm going to have Sabine tell me what she knows about where Nestor relocated with his partner."

"No way, if you're going to talk to him, I want to come too!" I insisted. I was already a bonded Omega. If anyone was in danger of Alpha Commands right now, it was Morgan and Sabine. "Come to think of it, what was Sabine arguing with you about back at the hospital? She sounded really upset."

A steely expression formed on Morgan's face. "She wanted us to complete the bond and I told her no."

"What? Why?" I asked incredulously. "You can't mean you're still hung up on having a career first…being bonded doesn't mean you have to get hitched and make babies right away. Derrick and Deziray are a testament of that."

"It's not that," Morgan hissed as he slumped down onto the couch. "I mean, yeah, that's part of it. The thing is that she's only pressuring me into completing the bond out of fear. Yeah, we were both kidnapped and bad things happened," He continued as he hunched down with his elbows on his knees, raking his hair back with his hands. "And, yeah, I can still be commanded around by an Alpha. But, shouldn't we complete our bond when we both have clearer minds? What if she regrets it? What if she was meant to be with someone better than me?"

"Morgan…" I called out as I sat down next to him and carefully placed a hand on his hunched back. "Doesn't the fact that she's so frightened of losing you mean that she's already chosen you?"

Morgan took a shuddering breath as he covered his face with his hands.

"I think Sabine's made up her mind long before all this," I concluded.

"All of this has been kinda like a wake-up call to me, Avion," Morgan stated. "This is going to be my life from the moment I earn my badge. I'm more determined than ever to become an officer and to help bring shady groups like the guys who grabbed us to justice." He let out a long, downtrodden sigh. "I don't know if I can take seeing her so worried all the time over me…seeing her suffer like that."

A bittersweet smile formed on my face. "Ever stop to think that she loves you enough to push through that suffering just to be by your side? I don't think any of this is gonna stop her, brother."

The sound of the doorbell interrupted our conversation. When Morgan opened the door, it was to the sight of a large bouquet of golden roses and a frowning Sabine. It was as if we had somehow summoned her by merely talking about her.

"Yeah, I'm just going to wait for Lexus to come pick me up outside…" I suggested as I walked around Sabine and headed out the door. "I have my phone right here in my hand," I assured Morgan before closing the door. As soon as I knew they couldn't see me, I broke out into a huge grin. Try as he might, there was no way my best friend could deny how deeply he felt for Sabine. I truly hoped that they could find a compromise when it came to their bond.