Crave

16 - to live is to be caged

Woo felt annoyed by the fact that Zaire was acting as if he was okay when clearly, he wasn't. The alpha kept his mouth shut as they waited for the doctor. Liam came forward and began running his hand in Zaire's hair.

"What's torturing you inside, Zaire? What caused you to become like this?" The blond man asked and the omega tightened his hold on Woo's warm hoodie, refusing to answer Liam's questions.

The omega whimpered in pain and hid in Woo's chest. He felt the alpha hold him tighter and Zaire closed his eyes. Everything felt tiring but being in the older man's arms soothed his distress. He could smell Woo's scent and it eased his aching heart. He almost went into dreamland but the alpha nudged him gently.

"Stay awake, omega. Don't disobey me and fall asleep." Woo's deep voice sounded far away to the smaller man.

"O-Okay."

Twenty minutes passed in complete silence. The tension was heavy in the living room but no one dared to say a word, fearing Woo's anger. Another five minutes passed before they heard a doorbell. Joon walked to the door and opened it to see Dr. Amina. She was a kind middle-aged African woman who had been treating Woo for years for all his health concerns.

Two male nurses followed behind her as Joon led the doctor to the living room. Woo greeted the doctor who gave him a kind smile. Her eyes twinkled when she saw a beautiful omega lying in Woo's arms. While he was cold to strangers, the alpha was like a little kid when it came to Amina. The doctor was the only person who could nag him without fear.

"What's going on, Woo?" The woman asked.

"Dr. Amina. This omega fainted earlier and he's lost weight." The alpha replied.

Zaire peeked up from Woo's embrace to see a tall woman. She met his eyes and smiled at him kindly. "Hello, my nurse will do a quick check-up before I examine you."

One of the male nurses came forward and lifted his hand, wanting to hold Zaire's wrist. The group gasped when the omega hid his face in Woo's shoulder. "N-No..no alphas.."

"Zaire, it's okay. This alpha is a nurse, he won't hurt you." Jonathan said to comfort the trembling man but Zaire whined.

"I'm scared." The omega said in a low voice, that only Woo heard.

The older man held Zaire's chin in his hand and made him look up. "Look at me."

"Bu-"

"Look up, omega." A deep voice ordered and the omega looked up to meet a strong pair of onyx-colored eyes. "Why are you acting scared? You think another alpha can misbehave with you while you're in my arms?"

"W-Woo.."

"Answer properly."

"N-No." Zaire answered. "I know you won't let any alpha hurt me."

Woo held the smaller man's waist closer, so tight that his fingers left red marks on his hip. "Then be good and let them check you. I'm right here."

Zaire nodded and pursed his lips to hold in his protests. He kept his doe eyes on Woo as a cold hand touched his wrist. The nurse checked his pulse and instructed Woo to pull up Zaire's sleeve to uncover his thin arm. The alpha did as he was told and watched as the man wrapped a cuff around Zaire's upper arm. His pulse and blood pressure were checked and reported to the doctor.

The moment the cuff was removed, Zaire wrapped his arms around Woo's neck. Dr. Amina looked around to see why the omega was nervous. She saw that there were too many eyes on the poor man. The woman looked at Woo and made a request.

"Your omega seems nervous because there are too many people present. Can we move him elsewhere where it can be only me, you, and him?"

The wolf nodded and stood up with Zaire in his arms. Liam tried to follow but the taller vampire stopped him. Jonathan shook his head and sat the blond man down. "I know you're worried but we need to let Woo handle this situation."