Chapter 32 Raven
RAVEN
Iaccidentally bonded my high school bully. I can’t believe this.
The morning light glares through the window like a reprimanding teacher, making the pounding in my head even worse. I stare at Orion with utter and complete shock as I try to wrestle through the events of last night. Everything is hazy. Nothing makes sense.
“You don’t remember,” he whispers.
I close my eyes, shaking uncontrollably.
“Oh, fucking shit,” he groans, tugging his hair.
Yeah, fucking shit is right.
I bonded Orion West. How did this happen?
Clutching the blanket, I search for my things. I can’t stay here another second. I need to… I need… Foster. He’ll help me. I have to get out of here as quickly as I can.
“Where’re my panties?” I ask, flustered.
Orion looks sheepish. “Um… I kind of tore them.”
Great. Just great. “And the rest of my things?” I glare.
“In the common room.”
With the blanket around me, I dash to the door, keeping a wary eye on Orion. He looks pained—no, tormented. Which is exactly what I feel through the bond.
The. Fucking. Bond.
I rip open the door, but skid to a halt. My exit is blocked. The beta I met last night tumbles into the bedroom, falling on his back with a hmph like he’d been leaning against the door. Tanner and Vann are on the floor in the hall, lying on pillows, but they’re not asleep.
“What the hell are you all doing out here?” Were they here all night? Just out here listening to us? Probably laughing about how gullible, scrawny Raven fell for their trap. Shit, what have I done?
“How could we leave you, birdie?” Vann says, shifting positions so he’s on his knees in front of the door.
“Don’t call me that,” I snap, picking my way over Rhodes—that’s his name right? We barely talked last night, so I can’t be sure, but he moves out of my way, letting me pass, and for that I’m grateful.
Vann and Tanner aren’t so gracious.
“You can’t leave,” Vann says, grabbing my hand.
Tanner jumps to his feet and blocks my path, crossing his arms over his massive chest. The man is too ripped. Hockey players are the ones known for being hot, not curlers. But these guys should be on the cover of a magazine. It’s ungodly how attractive they are.
And their scents. The hall is saturated in the crisp scent of snow, warmed by black tea that’s been spiced with cardamom. Butterscotch sweetens the bite of the chai that I want warming me up from the inside out. It’s so overwhelming my poor, hungover head spins. I really need to get out of here.
Tanner stares me down like he knows I’m about to make a dash for it.
“Don’t even think about it,” he growls.
“So you’re holding me hostage here? All you did in high school wasn’t enough? Now this! I thought you were trying to be better. What happened to apologizing and starting fresh?”
Tanner slumps, a hand going to his gut as if he’s been punched. “We’re not trying to kidnap you, Raven. I’m just trying to protect you. Think about it. You’re newly bonded…”
That takes the wind out of my sails. Bonding sickness. It doesn’t usually last long. Maybe a few weeks. But it can be brutal. I pull the sheet tighter around me. “I’ll deal with it.”
“What about Orion? You’re just gonna make him suffer that?”
“I’ll be fine,” Orion says from where he’s now standing with Rhodes in the doorway. But he doesn’t look fine, and his anxiety is clear through the bond.
Shit, I don’t want to hurt him. Even if this pack hurt me, I’m not the vindictive type. I just want them to leave me alone. “I can’t stay here. What’ll I tell my coach? My publicist? My bodyguard?”
I bend over, hands on my knees, heaving in deep breaths. The thought of telling Foster I’m bonded makes my heart race in the worst way. My lungs tighten, and it’s a struggle to get oxygen into them. Panic. Pure panic.
“Tell them the truth,” Vann says, shrugging.
“Fuck.” Tanner spins away from me, looking at his packmates. “She’s right. This can’t get out. Everyone who thinks omegas shouldn’t be here will use this to prove their point.”
Orion growls, and I glare at him, willing him to stand down.
“Not to mention the kind of heat we’ll be under for bonding an omega against her will,” Tanner adds.
A memory tickles my brain. My teeth meeting his flesh.
Orion crouches, head in his hands. Nausea rolls through the bond. “It wasn’t… I didn’t… fuck. Fuck!”
He really does seem remorseful, but that doesn’t change the facts of the situation.
“Okay, we all need to take a step back and think about this strategically for a minute,” Rhodes speaks up for the first time.
“I imagine your publicist and coach won’t want this to get out either.
So we can probably trust them with it.” He paces the small hallway, biting his knuckle while he thinks.
“How well do you know your bodyguard? Do you trust him?”
My cheeks heat, and my core clenches. Orion, Tanner, and Vann all snap their heads toward me. Shit, they can feel that.
I avoid looking back at them. “Um… I trust him.”
“Okay, good,” Rhodes goes on, oblivious to the tension firing through our newly formed bond. “We’ll call him and have him come here, explain the situation, and we can all come up with a plan together.”
“No. I don’t… I can’t…” My legs finally give out, and I sink to the floor, bringing my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms tightly around them.
Making myself as small as I can. Telling Foster.
Harriett’s disappointment. Coach’s judgement.
Ana already thinks I only made it into the Olympics because of my designation and don’t deserve my spot on the team.
Especially after that fall. If she hears about this…
No, I can’t let her find out. “Just Foster. Not the others.”