The Omega Slave

Alpha Jackson

The phone rings three times before his calm, velveteen voice comes through the phone. "Hello, little one. Are you alright? Do you need anything?" Talia tenses when she hears his voice. The deep baritone that slowly makes it's way into her mind and slowly starts to calm her body. She doesn't like the feeling. Doesn't trust it. "Yes...yes, I'm okay... I...I'm just hungry." There it was. She said it. She cowers into a corner, expecting him to come barging in to beat her. She nearly drops the phone when he talks again. "What do you want to eat, little one? You can have anything you want." Talia's head starts spinning. She had no idea what she wanted to eat... She had never had that option before. It was always just scraps or moldy bread she had been allowed to eat. "I...I don't know... I've n...never been able to c...choose." Her words are timid, and he can clearly hear how frightened she is. He sighs.

"Okay. I'll order something and come to you with the food. You can eat what you can, and try differing foods if you wish." Talia's entire body goes rigid. He's coming back to her room... With food that might have been poisoned.

Her head is spinning while she waits for the dreadful knock that will inevitably come on her door. She can feel an anxiety attack coming, and she knows she won't be able to help it or stop it.

Talia's head snaps up when she hears footsteps in the hallway. Her fight or flight mode kicks in, and then the knock. Three times, and then the door opens. Her legs react before her head, and she bolts into the hallway, rushing past Alpha Jackson and straight for the stairs. Her heart hammers in her chest, and she can hear him calling after her, but adrenaline and fear has taken over completely. She turns her head to see if he follows, and doesn't see the stairs before it's too late. She falls, head first, down the stairwell with a loud scream. Her head smacks into the wall with a sickening thud, and she lays limp on the floor at the bottom. Jackson runs to the stairs and practically jumps down the entire staircase to get to her side. "No... no, no, no. Please, Goddess, let her be okay!" He crouches down next to her and sees all the blood. Her unconscious body lays in a sickening angle. Through the mind-link, Jackson calls for the pack doctor, begging that she will make it.

Alpha Jackson

He knew she would be scared, but that he would see a flash of black and white as she bolted past him and out the door to her room, he didn't expect. He hadn't chased her, in fear of making it worse, but when she turned to see if he followed and flew down the stairs, all color drained from his face. His feet began moving before his mind could catch up, and then the sickening thud as her head smacked into the wall... He could feel his entire future shatter at the sound, praying to the moon Goddess that his mate wouldn't die. He couldn't be without her now that he had finally found her. But he also knew she couldn't sense him. Her wolf is dormant, and he can smell it on her. She barely has a wolf scent, and if she will ever get her wolf, he doesn't know. But to him, that doesn't matter. She is Talia, and that's all he wants.

The pack doctor arrives as Jackson is stroking Talia's hair away from her face. "What happened, Alpha?" Dr. George asks. Jackson doesn't look away from Talia's tender face as he answers. "She got scared when I came into her room... She ran, and turned around to see if I followed, fell down the stairs and hit her head on the wall... Please, tell me she'll be alright... I can't lose her." Dr. George crouches down towards Talia and examines her head wound. He palpates it softly and nods. "She'll be alright, but she likely has a concussion. Keep an eye on it for a little while. Jackson visibly let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Perry." The doctor nods. "Of course, Alpha. I'll come back tomorrow to check on her. You can carry her back to her room. Sit with her. Let her get used to your company." Jackson nods and gathers Talia into his arms. He carefully carries her to her bedroom and lays her down on the bed. He pulls up a chair next to the bed and grabs her hand.

Talia

Her head hurts when her eyes finally begins to flutter. She looks around the room and notices Alpha Jackson sitting in a chair next to her. His eyes are red, and his face is grim. "What happened?" Jackson's head snaps up when he hears her voice and sighs. "You fell down the stairs, sweetheart. You hit your head and passed out... I thought you were dead for a moment..." Talia's green eyes look into his eyes, and she sees the truth of it. She frowns slightly. "You're telling the truth..." Finally, she understands that he means well. She can see that he doesn't want to harm her. "How are you feeling? Any pain?" His voice is raw, and she hears the lump in his throat. He's been crying... Because of... her... "I'm okay... A little pain, but I'll be fine." He grabs her hand and starts kissing it. Warm tingles shoot up her arm at his touch, and she feels her heart starting to race. Her mind starts running through possibilities as to why she reacts to him, but she doesn't have to wonder for too long. "I thought I lost you, mate."

Talia tenses and her entire body goes rigid. "Y...you're my... mate?"