Chapter 80: Come Back to Me

Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Come Back to Me

For one terrible instant, he saw the same man bleeding in his arms, barely conscious after the collapse that had brought them to Saha.

The memory struck so hard that the room seemed to tilt.

Then the red ocean flashed behind his eyes.

Something pulled at his jaw.

HOLD HIM.

Nero crossed the remaining distance and caught Sebastian beneath the shoulders, lifting him from the mattress before drawing him against his chest.

His hands were trembling.

He could feel Sebastian’s heartbeat through the thin fabric of his shirt, fast and irregular, while the unstable pheromones continued escaping from his body in waves that made the surrounding equipment sound increasingly urgent warnings.

Nero lowered his face into Sebastian’s hair.

"I’m here."

His voice came out rough.

Sebastian did not respond.

Something inside Nero twisted violently.

He tightened his embrace, one large hand spreading across Sebastian’s back while the other supported his head, and allowed his pheromones to flood the room without the careful restrictions he had maintained throughout the transition.

The collision was immediate.

Fire and smoke swallowed Sebastian’s unstable output, burning through it with small purple sparks that flashed along the edges of the bed.

Nero could feel his enigma reaching into Sebastian’s pheromonal field. Trying to find something buried beneath the violent discharge.

And somewhere behind his eyes, the red ocean moved.

Nero’s jaw clenched.

He could still feel that impossible weight between his teeth, accompanied by a terrible instinctive certainty that whatever he had been holding was slipping away.

He looked down at Sebastian.

"My moon."

Sebastian didn’t wake, but something in Nero’s mind told him that his moon was screaming for him.

The sensation was unbearable.

Nero could hear the medical equipment, the hurried footsteps approaching outside the observation suite, and the faint crackle of electricity from the emergency systems struggling against the pheromonal pressure filling the room.

Yet beneath everything, he could feel Sebastian.

His pheromones were tearing through his body, violently rejecting the changes that had kept him alive for the past several weeks. Whatever had triggered the collapse was pushing him toward berserk, overwhelming the fragile stability of his developing omega glands.

Nero lowered Sebastian onto the mattress, keeping one arm beneath his shoulders while his other hand moved to cradle his face.

His moon was pale, his dark hair damp against his forehead, and the restructuring glands along his neck were glowing faintly beneath the skin.

Sebastian’s breathing was becoming increasingly shallow.

Nero bent over him.

"Sebastian."

He brushed his thumb over Sebastian’s cheek before pressing their lips together.

The kiss was gentle at first, a desperate attempt to reach the man who had stopped responding to his voice.

Then Nero released his control.

His pheromones surged forward, flowing through the contact between their lips and entering Sebastian’s body with an intensity that made the equipment beside the bed emit another warning.

The enigma’s power responded immediately.

Dark smoke and fire swept through Sebastian’s unstable pheromonal field, forcing their way past the violent discharge that had been building inside him.

Nero could feel the resistance.

Sebastian’s alpha instincts were fighting the intrusion, reacting to the overwhelming presence of another dominant alpha even as the developing omega glands attempted to accept the pheromones they desperately needed.

Nero tightened his hold around Sebastian’s shoulders and deepened the kiss.

He had spent weeks carefully regulating his output, allowing Sebastian’s body to adjust gradually to the transition without overwhelming his remaining alpha characteristics.

That consideration was no longer possible.

The berserk was advancing too quickly.

Nero’s pheromones pressed deeper, surrounding the unstable glands and suppressing the violent discharge before it could spread through Sebastian’s nervous system.

The resistance was immediate.

Sebastian’s body jerked beneath him, his fingers curling against the sheets as another wave of unstable pheromones escaped from his skin.

Nero refused to retreat.

His own power responded to the aggression by becoming heavier, denser, until the entire observation suite was saturated with the scent of smoke and burning wood.

Purple sparks flashed across the bedside monitor.

The overhead lighting flickered.

Nero barely noticed.

He could feel Sebastian’s heartbeat against his chest, fast and irregular, while the remaining alpha pheromones struggled against the enigma’s influence.

Then something began to change.

The violent pressure inside Sebastian weakened.

His developing omega glands responded to Nero’s pheromones, drawing them deeper into his body as the unstable alpha output gradually retreated.

Nero felt the moment the berserk stopped advancing.

He maintained the kiss, allowing his pheromones to continue suppressing the remaining discharge until Sebastian’s body began accepting them without resistance.

Only then did he lift his head.

"My moon?"

Sebastian did not answer.

Nero’s hand remained against his cheek, thumb resting beneath the dark lashes that had yet to move, while his pheromones continued surrounding them in a dense, protective field.

The monitors were still sounding.

But the numbers were falling.

Nero looked toward the diagnostic display, watching the violent fluctuations gradually settle into something approaching a recognizable pattern.

Then Sebastian inhaled.

His fingers tightened around Nero’s jacket, pulling weakly at the fabric as his eyebrows drew together.

"Nero..."

The sound nearly undid him.

Nero leaned closer, pressing his forehead against Sebastian’s while a terrible pressure loosened inside his chest.

"I’m here, my moon."

Sebastian’s eyes opened.

For several seconds, he stared at Nero without recognition, his breathing uneven and his expression caught somewhere between confusion and exhaustion.

Then his gaze sharpened.

"Nero?"

"Yes."

Sebastian swallowed.

His hand moved against Nero’s chest, searching until his fingers found the open collar of his shirt.

Nero caught it immediately.

Sebastian’s lips parted.

"I wasn’t..."

His voice faltered.

Nero brushed the damp hair away from his forehead.

"Don’t speak."

Sebastian shook his head weakly.

"I wasn’t fine."

Nero went still.

The words struck harder than anything else that evening.

Sebastian was remembering their promise.

"I know," Nero whispered.

His moon’s fingers tightened around his.

"I tried to wake up."

Nero’s expression changed.

The red ocean flashed behind his eyes, accompanied by the phantom sensation of something cold caught between his teeth.

He pushed it away.

Sebastian was awake.

That was all that mattered.

Nero leaned down and kissed his forehead, allowing his pheromones to settle into a gentler field around the bed.

"You did well."

Sebastian’s eyes closed briefly.

"You’re late."

A startled laugh escaped Nero.

He pressed his face against Sebastian’s hair, relief moving through him so violently that his arms tightened before he remembered to be careful.

"Apparently."

Sebastian shifted against him.

"Love..."

Nero lifted his head.

"What?"

"You’re crushing me."

Nero immediately loosened his embrace.

Sebastian’s mouth curved faintly.

Nero lowered his forehead against Sebastian’s again, his smile disappearing as the last of the adrenaline left him trembling.

He had almost lost him.