riley pollard (aknightcomplex) wrote in the_dome, @ 2013-11-04 20:52:00 |
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Entry tags: | 04-13-2017, micah, micah and riley, riley |
I'm Her Alpha
Who: Micah and Riley
Where: The hospital
When: Late afternoon
Riley had gotten it into his head that he needed to speak with Micah about all of this running around in his head. He needed to suss out this Dr. Worthington guy his wife went to every single damned time she had a hiccup about werewolfism. He'd stayed past the end of his conversation with Patrick at the O'Reilly pub, one of other bartenders serving him more beer than he should have had. And now he was determined, crossing the center of town and going straight into the hospital. He was pretty sure he'd recognize the guy at least somewhat since he had been around when Lia had been hospitalized after her attack but at that point he hadn't known Micah from Adam. He'd just been another doctor but he figured he'd still be able to tell. Micah would be the McDreamy or whatever they called doctors who were good looking.
And he was right. He heard a nurse say, "Doctor Worthington," and saw the guy turn around down the hallway ahead. Riley squared his shoulders and echoed the nurse then, raising his voice maybe a little too loudly to call out, "Doctor Worthington. Micah?"
Micah's attention had been on his nurse, looking at the chart she'd handed him when he heard someone else say his name. He looked down the hall, placing the man more by the faint smell of Lia than his face. It had to be her husband. Sending off the nurse he headed that way, feeling a rise of concern about Lia without meaning too. Just a pack thing he supposed. "Yes?"
If Riley'd had his head squarely on his shoulders he would have made some small talk before easing into his concerns, diplomatically feeling things out without being accusatory. Small talk wasn't happening and neither was diplomacy. "I want to know what you've been getting up to with my wife," he said, his voice still too loud even though he was closer to the man now, coming to stop before him and not removing his hat though normally would have in an indoor conversation. He wasn't going to be polite.
Definitely Lia's husband. Micah could pick up the scents better, recognizing something he'd caught off Lia and catching Lia's scent on him more prominently. "I'm not sure what you mean?" He said giving Riley a look to possibly bring his voice down.
Riley's brows shot up. That felt like a stupid deflection and it pissed him off. And he didn't care that he was having this conversation in a hallway, in public. "Right. She talks about you like the second coming of God Almighty or something. You've obviously been up to something with her."
Micah definitely needed this conversation to not happen in the hallway. His nurses and patients didn't know about his condition and they didn't need too. He couldn't help the moment of preening the wolf in him felt, like it was great and fitting that she talked about him like that. Instead of answering right away he guided Riley back towards an open room that he could close the door to. "I'm her Alpha."
Riley allowed himself to be guided, some part of him realizing the necessity of some privacy at least. But when Micah spoke next, Riley's arms crossed over his chest. Even a sober Riley wouldn't have liked hearing that. "You're her what, precisely, mate?" he asked, his tone quiet but full of acid, the last word clipped.
That accent was coming through and mocha got what Lia saw in Riley at least on a surface level. He was gorgeous and the accent just made it better. "Alpha. It's a wolf thing. She's in my pack."
"So you're telling me that my wife wants to run off to you every other minute because you're her Alpha and she's in your pack." His expression said he wasn't buying it, not in the least. He was assessing Micah as well and he'd been right. Hello, McDreamy. He didn't have to be attracted to men to know when one was attractive.
Micah frowned a touch. "I don't think she wants to run off to me that often," he said. "Did something happen?"
Riley's expression slid even further into incredulity. "She mentions it at least twice if not ten times a day. 'I need to ask Micah about this' and 'Micah would know what to do.' I imagine she spends quite a deal of her time with you." In his mind it suddenly clicked that this was probably the reason Lia still hadn't moved in permanently with Riley or told Sophia that Riley was her father.
Did she? Micah felt like he was doing his packmate a disservice if he hadn't answered her questions or reached out to her. At Riley's question, he shook his head. "I don't think she does..."
"You do realize she's married, yeah, mate? To me?" He wanted to take a swing at the guy, his seemingly passive attitude about this was pissing Riley off more thanks to all the alcohol coursing through him.
And she had second thoughts about that, but Micah caught where this was going. "And you realize I'm gay don't you mate?"
Riley looked briefly confused. The guy was gay? Yeah that was a convenient way to throw him off the scent so to speak and he wasn't buying that either. "Sounds like something she would have mentioned since you're her Lord and Savior. And she didn't."
"Maybe. But I don't think my boyfriend would appreciate me sleeping with your wife any more than you might. Are you really worried about this?"
Riley still wasn't buying it but Micah wasn't budging so he moved on. "Do you think I'd be here asking if I didn't think there was something going on?
Micah wasn't sure why Riley was still so upset about this. At this point, with having admitted to being gay and having a boyfriend, he would have thought that Riley would get it. Maybe even apologize and they could laugh about it. It made him wonder if this was the right man for Lia in the first place since he was clearly dense. "No, I suppose not. Did something happen?"
"Haven't you been listening? She's on about you like you're the Messiah. So either something's going on between you or ..." And he stopped because the thought he had next was very fuzzy but it had surfaced just enough to sober him up some. Of course. That must be it. In his muddled brain he was sure he understood now that she wanted rid of him and what better way to do it than to constantly go on about another bloke. And a safe one at that if he was gay.
"I've told you nothing's going on beyond being her Alpha. I'm still learning the finer points, this is new to me too, but I take care of your wife, just as I would my own family." Micah was starting to realize what his pack included, Lia and Nic being the obvious answers, but he was feeling far more protective of the nurses in his hospital and beyond that, his patients. It was a haphazard sort of thing, but apparently anyone in the hospital was his in their own way, just as Lia was. "Or what Riley?"
"That's just it," he said, his voice flat. "I'm supposed to take care of her. I'm supposed to be her family." This time there wasn't accusation but resignation in his tone. It would always be thus, wouldn't it? She'd never let him take care of her. She'd always either do it herself or lean on someone else because he was head of her pack. Before they'd even had a chance to really work on their marriage, this werewolf shit had made him obsolete and irrelevant. He shook his head, not answering the other man's question. Pride wouldn't allow him to stand there any longer so he turned and walked out of the room.
Micah almost let him go. Just let the man walk out and leave and be out of his hair, but he had a feeling he was going to do the same thing to Lia, which Micah definitely did not want. Sure, he was doubting why Lia liked this man in the first place, or now at least, but he wasn't about to ruin things for her. Letting out a sigh he followed after Riley, catching his arm before he got too far. "You are her family," he told Riley, giving him a hard stare. "But you weren't for a lot of years. Remember that."
Riley almost, automatically clocked Micah before he realized what was happening. He managed to only make a fist but he didn't swing. He didn't like this guy getting in his face and talking like he was inside his marriage when he wasn't. And the fact that he knew that they'd been apart for years was like a sock in the gut. "Since she's obviously told you so much you'll also know that wasn't my choice. I was told she was dead." He wrenched his arm away from the other man and continued to leave.
"And you're going to throw it away now? Because of me?" Micah said, not following after Riley this time, just standing with his arms crossed, daring look in his eyes. They had earned themselves some more attention, he could hear the whispers, but he ignored them. He could dispel rumors later. "You're an idiot if you do. People don't come back from the dead."
"You don't know me, mate." And that was all he was going to answer to that. Being frustrated and drunk didn't equate to throwing anything away in his mind. Where'd that bloke get off anyway? Riley sure as hell wasn't going to confide in Micah the way Lia did. Micah wasn't his Alpha. What he did next wasn't Micah's business until Lia ran off to tell him all about it.
Micah raised his chin a little. "I'm not afraid of protecting her from you as well," he added, though despite the assurance in his stance and demeanor, there was something in his tone that said he didn't want it to come to that. Technically, if Riley was committed to Lia, he'd wind up being pack too, but at the moment he was being an idiot and Micah was thinking that wasn't worth his time. "But if you have to hear it from someone, she cares about you. Far more than she cares about me."
"No, I don't doubt that, not for a second," he replied because he saw far too clearly how this was working. And what could he do against a werewolf? Nothing. He'd just barely saved Lia's life when the wolf attacked her the first time and only because it was focused on her and thought nothing of him. "I'd never lay a finger on her so no worries, mate. You won't have to ride in on the white horse." He lifted a brow at Micah's last statement, his expression unreadable. All the piss had run out of him and he tipped his hat to the doctor. "Good day, Dr. Worthington."
Oddly enough, Micah had never thought that Riley would try and hurt Lia physically, but that didn't mean she wasn't vulnerable around him. He didn't add to things though, just shook his head. He wasn't a knight that was going to come swooping in, he was just going to be there to pick up the pieces. And sadly, not in the way that Lia would need long term. Lovely as she was, she didn't belong with him outside of a brother/sister sort of manner. "Bye Riley," he said with a half wave, determined not to move and to watch the other man the whole way out.