An Intangible Pattern - Fate Bound.

Stitches

She looked up into the leering, ruddy face of a middle aged man and tried desperately to wiggle free from his grasp, but he was too strong.
Another man with dark hair and an unshaven face came into view, he leaned his face into her neck and sniffed. The tickling sensation made her shiver and moan involuntarily. Tears of humiliation and disgust fell from her eyes.
The man groaned and said, "This one is ripe. I bet she tastes sweet." With that he ran his tongue up her neck and along her jaw to her ear. She tried to move her head away and let out a desperate cry. The ruddy man pushed his companion aside and growled, "I saw her first. You get your turn when I'm finished with her."
His companion laughed and stepped back. "Fairs, fair. How about you fuck her from behind and I'll give her something to keep her quiet."
"No!" squeaked Alex, tears streaming down her face. The man pinning her grabbed her jaw roughly and crushed his lips to hers. She recoiled at the rancid taste of his breath, heavy with cigarettes and alcohol. He fumbled with her belt as he pulled away and huskily murmured, "Don't worry, sweetheart. We're going to take good care of you."
Suddenly, his head was violently thrust forward into the wall beside her. She shrieked in shock as it was dragged back again and smashed into the wall several more times with such force, that the man's nose shattered and blood poured down face. His grip on her relaxed as he slumped forward, unconscious. She scrambled away in horror as Noah, snarling like a furious beast, dashed the man's head against the wall with terrifying violence.
"Stop!" She screamed, "You'll kill him!"
A flash of light in the corner of her eye made her glance at the other man. As though in slow motion, she saw he had a knife in his hand and he was winding up to thrust it into Noah's back. Without thinking, she threw herself forward into him with all of her strength and they tumbled sideways onto the floor, the knife clattered on the ground by Alex's ear. The man roared furiously and clambered on top of her gripping at the front of her shirt. He reared back, his legs straddling her hips and pulled a fist back to strike her. Without thinking, Alex's right hand closed on the handle of the knife and she plunged into his side.
A look of surprise passed over the man's face and a sudden choked sigh, almost like a cough, escaped his lips. He tumbled sideways, groaning and fumbling for the knife sticking in his back. For a moment Alex couldn't move. She felt cold and numb as she stared at the man bleeding on the ground beside her. She felt herself dragged up to her feet and stared in confusion at Noah's blood smeared face. She realized he was saying her name.
"Alexandra? Move! We have to go!"
He awkwardly grabbed her hand and dragged her behind him. Numbly, she followed him as he ran along the back streets. Her head began to clear as they ran and she became more aware of her surroundings. She saw that Noah's coat was torn and a large black stain was blooming around the ripped fabric. He was panting heavily, and his hair was damp around his neck. They reached a car park behind a supermarket and he stopped at a silver car. He turned to her, pale faced and gasped, "I don't think, I can drive."
The car clicked to indicate the doors had been unlocked and he held out his key to her in a shaking hand.
Without thinking she took the key and got into the driver's side. As she adjusted the seat and looked around at the controls, Noah staggered into the passenger seat and closed the door. She looked over at him and could see he was pale and trembling.
"Lean forward," she commanded.
Without looking at her, he did as she asked, wincing slightly as she helped him out of his coat to examine his back. She looked at the gruesome slash across his shoulder blade dispassionately - it needed stitches. She bunched the material of his shirt up and pressed on either side of the wound to stem the bleeding. He drew a breath sharply between his teeth.
"Where's the hospital?" she said.
He didn't answer. She tipped his head back and saw that he had passed out.
All thought left her mind except that the wound needed to be treated. She started the car and drove to the only place she could think of: Cat's house.
He came to as they left the town and looked around groggily.
"Where are we going?"
"Home, you need stitches," she answered in a monotone.
He grunted in pain, "How bad is it?"
"It's not too deep but it's long. You were lucky."
He glanced over at her. She was pale and expressionless, her knuckles were white as she tightly gripped the steering wheel. Though she seemed composed, he guessed she was still in shock.
She turned up the track, past the white cottage toward her sisters home. He winced as the car bounced along the rough track but she paid him little attention.
She pulled up into the drive by the house and switched off the engine, brusquely got out of the driver's side and marched over to his door and opened it.
"Get up," she said unceremoniously, "I can't lift you, you'll have to walk."
He clenched his teeth and climbed out of the car. Silently, she supported him into the house and to the kitchen.
"Sit" she said, indicating the breakfast bar. He took a seat and leaned forward on the counter. With a pair of scissors she cut the bloody shirt exposing his back. He grimaced as she pulled the sticky fabric away from his wound.
After inspecting it, she turned back to the sink and turned on the water. Nothing came out. She swore and opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water then opened the cupboards, looking for something to boil it in.
"For fucks sake," she snapped in irritation. She picked up the frying pan from the draining board and inspected it, then put it down on the hob. She left the room for a few minutes and he heard the sound of a car door being slammed. She returned with a first aid kit.
"I should just go to the hospital."
"Shut up," she replied disinterestedly as she rummaged through the first aid kit pulling out what she needed. She turned on the hob and poured the water into the pan, when it was boiling away, she pulled out some dental floss and dropped a long strand of thread into the boiling water. She pulled on some latex gloves and began to clean the wound with a sterile wipe.
"It's clean at least," she muttered as she worked.
"Do you have a lot of experience with this kind of thing?" He asked in a strained voice.
"Some," she replied calmly, "I was studying to be a nurse. I can patch it to stop it bleeding but you might want to get a doctor to check it."
"You're a nurse?," he asked curiously.
"No, I dropped out when I found out I was an omega." she said dispassionately.
"Why?" He asked.
"I couldn't work with strangers any more." She turned and threw the bloody wipes in the bin, then picked up a pair of tweezers, some cotton wool and a sharp needle.
He looked up at her sadly as she passed the needle through the flames of the hob until it was red hot.
"I'm sorry," he said sympathetically.
"Why?" She replied blankly as she fished the thread from the boiling water and awkwardly threaded the sterilized needle.
"Just that you had to give up your dream job."
She turned back to him and placed her hand gently on his back,
"I don't know that it was my dream job," she said absentmindedly as she pinched the edges of the wound closed, "I don't think I've ever known what that is. I just wanted to make myself useful. This will sting."
He felt the sharp stab and tug as she put in the first stitch and gritted his teeth against the pain.
"How often have you done this?" He complained. She tugged the next stitch more firmly in response and he gasped.
"Enough. Don't worry, I'm good with a needle." She answered pointedly. He shut up, choosing not to irritate her further.
"What about you? Did you always want to be a scientist?" She asked to distract him as she stitched, bound and snipped away at the thread,
"I never really had a chance to think about it. My grandfather wanted me to take over the company, but this was more important."
"Why?"
"I just...couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand losing control and hurting someone," he heaved a sigh, "so I thought I could make it stop."
Alex considered this thoughtfully then asked, "Who were they?"
"Hmm?"
"The person you didn't want to hurt."
Noah hesitated a moment, uncomfortable that she had correctly read between the lines then, choosing to be honest with her, replied:
"A friend. We were eleven... I went into rut and beat him. That was how I found out I was an alpha. It was how he found out he was an omega... we were just kids."
"What happened to him?"
Noah was quiet for a moment. When he replied, his voice was heavy.
"He went off to a sanitorium for a while, then he was groomed by a gang and forced to be a prostitute... it's not a pleasant story."
Alex didn't press further, it was clearly a difficult memory for him. Instead, she asked, "So that's why you became a scientist? To stop that kind of thing?"
He nodded and sighed bitterly, "For all the good it did. Then there was you."
"Then there was me." she acknowledged blankly. "Have you ever hurt anyone else?"
"Just you." He said gravely.
"Noone else?"
He shook his head. It was strange to be having a conversation with her like this.
"Why are you helping me?" He asked uncertainly.
"You need stitches." She replied simply.
"No, I mean after everything I've done, why are you doing this?"
She shrugged. "You raise a good point."
She was silent for a moment as she couldn't entirely answer that question to herself, but she tried to share her thoughts, "I looked you up after... online I mean. I don't know you Noah, I don't know if you are a good person who did something horrible or a horrible person who hides behind doing good..."
Noah looked stung by her harsh assessment, but she continued regardless of his discomfort.
"...but you are the first alpha I've heard of who admitted they have a problem. You are the only one who tried to fix alphas instead of shifting the blame to omegas. You seem to get that this isn't how things should be... so I am choosing to believe you. I know I'm an idiot, I know I'm gambling with my life, you could easily kill me if you wanted to right now and there's nothing I could do about it... But I'm going to choose to believe you won't and hope you won't let me down again."
Noah was speechless for a moment An odd emotion washed over him and his chest grew so tight he could hardly breathe. It wasn't exactly forgiveness in her voice, but it was an absolution of sorts. The weight of her fragile hope bore down on him, a feeling as though he were handling something as thin as crystal, that he could clumsily and cruelly crush in an instant.
"It's funny," she said vaguely, "I'm not in heat now."
"Fight or flight." He confirmed softly, "Survival takes precedence over everything else."
She stopped at the mention of a fight then, as she knotted the last stitch, she vacantly said, "I think I stabbed someone."
She set the needle and the scissors down and examined her work.
"You defended yourself." He said firmly.
"Why did you follow me anyway?" She asked cautiously, remembering that at the time, she was hiding from him.
"I wasn't going to," he said to reassure her, "but you were heading to the docks. It's a dangerous part of town, especially for women."
She silently ran another sterile wipe over his back. He shivered at her touch as she gently swept his hair out of the way while she taped a dressing over the wound. The tips of his ears turned red and she found it oddly endearing for a moment, then she turned away embarrassed and began to tidy up.
"All done. Try to keep it clean and dry. See a doctor if you get feverish or there's any sign of infection. You should get them removed in about ten days."
He stood up and pulled off the remains of his shirt. As he stood, bare chested in front of her, she she couldn't help staring at him. Sitting down with his back to her, he seemed less threatening, vulnerable even; however, now that he stood in front of her, tall and imposing, lean and powerful, with his hands bruised and cut across the knuckles and dried blood on his face and hair, she was reminded again what he was. She suddenly felt very alone in an empty house with this man.
Catching the look of panic on her face, his expression grew desolate and sat down in front of her so she stood a head taller than him. He reached out and gently took her hand.
"Alexandra," he said softly, looking up at her with solemn eyes, "I know I won't ever be able to take back what I did. I can't even say with confidence I can control it, but I will do everything I can to prevent it happening again."
"Have you found a solution?" she asked hopefully.
"No, but I know what went wrong."
"What is it?"
"The suppressants didn't stop working, they did what they were designed to do. But we're picking up on something other than pheromones. I ran a comparison of our DNA and it was complementary..."
"We're a fated pair?" She interrupted scornfully. He gave an ironic smile at her evident distaste for the term, then frowned and said, "Yes, we are a match. At least in a biological sense. I just don't understand the trigger mechanism, it doesn't work the same as what I've studied in the past."
"So there's no hope?" She choked, pulling her hand from his grasp.
"There is. I'm only dangerous around you, so I will leave." he replied, his face set in a determined expression
"What do you mean?"
"I intend to leave the country as soon as I can and continue working on the problem abroad."
She choked a laugh through her tears and sniffed, "Seems excessive."
"It's the best I can do for now."
She nodded and swallowed looking down at her feet. For the first time she noticed the blood smeared on her jeans.
"That is, if we don't get arrested first." she gasped.
They were both silent a moment as the full enormity of what had passed that morning sunk in.
"Shit! What if I killed someone?" She whispered desperately, gulping for air. Noah caught her arm to steady her as she swayed and gently guided her to a stool beside him, holding her shoulders to keep her from falling.
"Look at me, Alexandra. Just breathe." He inhaled and exhaled slowly, encouraging her to follow the tempo of his breath. Gradually her short, sharp gasps slowed into shaky breaths. They sat like that for a few moments longer, just breathing until the panic eased within her enough to think clearly. She glanced up at his face and met his eyes. They were gentle and reassuring, so far removed from the ferocious creature she recalled from the first time they met. He blushed and glanced away, looking ashamed.
" I should go." He said, releasing her shoulders.
"Can you drive?"
"I think I will be ok now. It's not far from here." he confirmed standing and turning his back to her. "Listen, go get changed and bring your clothes to me. Don't worry about what happened. If anyone asks, you know nothing, I will handle it."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'll incinerate your clothing at work. You were never there, do you understand?"
"But if I killed that man..."
"You didn't. I did."
"You don't have to..."
"Yes, I do. I owe you that much." He answered sternly. He glanced back at her, his jaw set stubbornly. "You've suffered enough because of me. If it comes to it, I'll claim I was ambushed and defended myself. Two against one."
"That's ridiculous!"
"Please, Alexandra. Just... let me do this at least," he pleaded.
She sighed and did as she was asked, traipsing to the bedroom to change her soiled clothing. When she returned downstairs, he was waiting in the entrance hall, holding the trash bag with his own bloody shirt and the tissues she had used to clean his wound. She handed him her clothes and he added it to the bag of evidence. He turned to leave but stopped as he opened the door.
"Alexandra...It was nice, you know, despite everything... it was nice just to be able to talk to you like this. I wish everything had been different."
As he turned away again, she stopped him.
"Wait...Noah." He glanced at her questioningly.
She rummaged around in the hall dresser for a scrap of paper and a pen then scribbled down her phone number and handed it to him.
"This is not for social calls," she warned. "But we should be able to warn each other if there's a chance we might run into one another. Can I trust you not to misuse this?"
He stared at the paper. "I won't abuse it. Thankyou Alexandra."
"It's just Alex. Noone calls me Alexandra." she said matter of factly.
He smiled and nodded, turned away and closed the door behind him. As soon as he was gone Alex sank down in a heap on the stairs and buried her face in her hands.
Outside, Noah got into his car, readjusted the seat and let out a long sigh. He sat for a moment with his hand on the ignition key staring into space. He was relieved to have finally left Alex without further disgracing himself, but for a moment he had come close. It wasn't the dreadful compulsion that accompanied a rut; that crazed, mind obliterating lust that drove him to have sex no matter what, but he had definitely had an overwhelming and bittersweet urge to kiss her. He cursed at himself and started the car. The last thing anyone needed was for him to actually develop a crush on Alex. He drove the short distance home, planning out what he would do next and definitely not thinking about her