Chapter 68: Don’t look at him. Don’t look at him. Don’t—

Elias’s POV

Lucas and I are glaring at each other in the rearview mirror.

He’s talking to Noah too much.

Noah’s blue eyes are sad and void. It’s not a good look on him. He looks better when he’s panting like a dog and laughing like he ate sunshine.

Maybe I’ll take him to the field and have him roll in the grass again.

"Hey, can you park? Noah feels sick again" Lucas says and I keep my attention on the dashboard.

Don’t look at him. Don’t look at him. Don’t look at him.

Damien slows to a stop and Lucas takes Noah out.

Lucas guides him off the road and the omega’s high-pitched whimper cuts through my chest like a scythe.

My hand pats my thigh the way I would have patted his back.

From the corner of my eye, I see Lucas talking Noah through it.

Noah is dry heaving and when he finally throws up, it’s just water.

That’s a bad sign.

He hasn’t eaten breakfast yet.

"You can just get out of the car and tend to him, you know?" Damien says, pulling out a blunt from his front pocket.

Was I being obvious?

"No smoking" I say blandly and my older brother gives me a ’watch me’ expression before pulling out a lighter.

"Mom is going to hear about it from me" Kai, the little devil, says from behind us and Damien slides the blunt back into his pocket.

"Fuck you, saint whore" Damien says to Kai.

"Fuck you too, asshole" Kai throws back at him.

"He’s falling in love with you by the way" Damien turns his attention to me and I slowly turn my head to look at him.

"He’s not" I say the blatant truth.

He’s in love with Roman Stiles. Loving me would be a mistake. I haven’t done half of the things I planned to do.

His city will get a second raid. I will kill the prisoners sitting in my family’s basement. I will find everyone who was involved in Winslow’s crime and murder them. And I will cut Roman down like a cherry blossom tree.

"Trust me, he’s falling for you. He has been crying" Damien says, playing with the cap of his lighter.

"He cries a lot" I say.

Noah cries a lot and it makes my alpha feel unsettled.

"Your loss, I guess. Look, he’s still peeking this way to see if you’re looking. He’s so cute" Damien teases and Kai kicks the back of his seat.

"Stop bothering him" our youngest brother murmurs.

I sneak a glance at the mirror. Noah is swaying on his feet. He must be dehydrated.

"Give him the water" I pass my bottle of water to Kai, and he sighs before going out with it.

I keep watch on him through the sideview mirror as he helps Noah with the bottle.

As Kai passes the water to Noah, the omega looks at me through the mirror, and I avert my eyes.

His neck shows no sign of what I did last night, yet guilt is eating me from inside.

The omega has been looking at me, and I have been avoiding him. I’d like to keep it that way till I know what is wrong with me.

"Sorry" Noah apologizes when he returns to the car and I stop patting my thigh.

The golden-haired man sits near the window for air.

Tired of fighting myself, I shut my eyes, but doing that only makes my situation worse.

With my eyes closed, my sense of smell and hearing is heightened, and Noah is invading my head.

His breathing is unstable. His smell is even more unstable. Strawberry. Pain. Fear. Strawberry. Pain.

He’s getting worse.

I risk turning my head to look at him and his head is resting against Lucas’s shoulder.

Maybe I should have given him one of those drugs yesterday.

I crank up the A.C. and Damien looks at me, and to stop him from saying something, I point at Noah with my eyes.

The omega has sweat beading on his forehead. His eyes are screwed shut. And his nostrils are flaring with every difficult breath he takes.

"Fuck, it looks bad. You don’t have an STD, do you?" Damien whispers to me and I sigh to avoid slamming my fist into his face.

A few more hours and we’ll be home. A few more hours and Noah will get the medical attention he needs.

For the rest of the ride, Noah stays asleep.

When we arrive home in my city, I stay out of the way for Lucas to carry Noah into the house.

If I put my hands on that man, I won’t let go. And the last thing he needs is me. He needs help, not me.

"I’ll talk to mom" I leave them and head for my parents’ room.

Ignoring how hard my heart is pounding is hard, but I do it. Rationality is superior to emotions.

I burst into the room without knocking and I find mom sitting at the edge of the bed. My dad’s head is on his lap, and dad is kneeling in front of him.

Irrelevant.

"Noah’s sick."

"I told you we should have had only one kid" dad complains, lifting his head to glare at me.

"You messed with every birth control plan I had; you shouldn’t have an opinion" mom says and I shut my eyes, dragging air into my lungs to keep from yelling.

"Mom."

"I’m coming" he pushes dad’s head off and gets up to leave with me.

They are still in the hallway. Noah had vomited again by the sound and smell of it. Lucas is holding him up and he’s barely conscious.

"Oh my goddess...what happened to him?" mom asks, rushing to the omega’s side.

Some maids hide in the corner to see what is going on. I’ll deal with them later.

Mom takes Noah’s face in his hands and opens my husband’s eyes by pulling his eyelids down.

"He’s out cold. We’ll have to take him to the hospital" Mom says, and Lucas adjusts Noah in his arms.

I want him back. I don’t want him in the hospital too. I don’t trust the hospital.

"Luna, I know what’s wrong with him" a woman says from behind us and I snap my head in her direction.

It’s the woman I saw with him in that room. The one from the day I bought Noah his shoes. For the first time, I notice that she has been working actively with the other maids.

"Noah is a devotee of the goddess" she starts.

"Who are you?" Mom asks with authority, voice cold and protective.

"Freya. I’m a priestess, and I’m Noah’s caretaker" she says with softness and my mother eyes her.

"What is wrong with him?" Mom asks.

"He has to go back to the temple, and I have to carry out a rite for him" Freya says, earning a hiss from Kai.

"Superstitions" Damien scoffs.

"Go ahead and take him to the hospital and see if they help" the woman says with confidence and my mother looks at me.

I look at Noah.

He’s turning paler. His usually bright complexion is fading fast. And his breathing is stuttering.

"Fine" I say in defeat.

"Fine?" Damien asks.

"Take him and bring him back when he’s better" I say and turn around to leave.

I can’t watch Noah being taken from me. He’s supposed to be in my bed. He’s supposed to be glaring at me defiantly.

Damn it.

Someone stops me by grabbing my arm.

It’s my mom.

"You’re not going with?" he asks and I give no answer.

I have no answer.