Chapter 49 Raven
RAVEN
“Is there something you need to tell us?” Harriett shoves her phone in my face before I can react or even shut the door to my hotel room. We were just on our way to meet them in the restaurant downstairs when they ambushed us.
I blink at the screen and see the pictures we took in front of the mural, but they’re not the ones of just me. It’s the one of Vann spinning me around, Orion looking on in the background with hearts in his eyes.
“How did they get these?” I ask.
“There were plenty of people around,” Harriett says, brushing off the question.
She scrolls up to the top of the article.
There’s another picture, this one of me and Foster holding hands as we left the hotel to go to my doctor’s appointment.
There’s also one of Orion and me coming out of the arena after our date.
His arm is around my shoulders and he’s leaning in to whisper in my ear.
There’s even one of Vann kissing my cheek in this very hall just last night.
The headline reads: Alpha Obsessed Omega Ruins Her Shot at Medaling
“What’s going on, Raven?” Coach Ana asks.
I can hear Foster gathering his things in the room behind me, sense him getting closer.
“Are you feeling alright?” Harriett asks when I remain silent too long, head quirking to the side. There’s something in her tone I can’t quite place. Does she suspect I’m nearing a heat? Should I tell them?
“Give us a minute,” Coach Ana says to Foster before reaching past me and closing the door in his face, leaving him on one side and me on the other.
“Hey!” I reach for the handle, but she’s still holding it.
“Tell us what’s going on,” Coach demands. “You’ve been spacy, unfocused, running off with that bodyguard. And now the curlers?” She points at Vann’s face on the screen. “He’s got a rep for getting into fights and starting trouble. He’s not a good guy, Raven.”
“There’s more to him than that.” I feel surprisingly protective of the overeager alpha. I’ll be the first to admit he makes a lot of mistakes. But he can also be sweet and supportive, even romantic.
“We should have expected this,” Ana grumbles, turning away. “I tried to tell the committee, but they wouldn’t listen.”
Harriett lets out a resigned sigh. “Omegas can’t help it.”
I’ve never felt so small, like a child they think is incapable of any kind of self control.
“It’s not like that,” I say, trying to harden my voice, fighting the instinct to cower.
“What’s it like then?” Coach asks. “Are you trying to trap them into something?”
“No! Of course not.” I already have. The thought comes so fast and so hard I nearly lose my resolve.
But, no, they wanted this. They wanted it even more than I did.
Still, I acted without reason, I bit Orion without his consent, just like everyone feared.
But it wasn’t my fault. Someone made me vulnerable.
Someone did this to me by messing with my suppressants.
I pull back my shoulders and stand straighter.
“It’s not like that,” I repeat, squaring off with Coach in a way I’ve never dared.
“They’re my scent matches. And I’m not going to stop seeing them just because of how it looks to other people. ”
Harriett’s eyes go wide for a moment before she schools her expression back to disdain.
Coach puts her hands on her hips. “You know what’ll happen if anything indecent occurs…”
“What I do with my body doesn’t concern them.” I hold my chin high, even though I’m shaking all over. “It isn’t against the rules for competitors to be involved with each other.”
“It doesn’t matter what you do or don’t do.” Harriett tucks her phone back in her pocket. “Just the assumption does enough damage.”
“What does it matter? I’ve already failed.” The last word comes out strangled.
“You still represent the USA, and if you want to keep up with this career you need to keep those legs shut until you get home," Ana spits out.
Before I can even process that vitriol, Harriet steps between us. “Don’t do anything for now.” She knocks on the door, letting Foster know he can come out. “I’ll put out a statement about how you all were friends in high school, and we’ll try to redirect attention with the fundraiser tomorrow.”
“What fundraiser?” I ask, eyes swinging from Harriett to Ana.
I don’t remember a fundraiser on my schedule, but it’s impossible to keep track of everything Harriett has planned.
And she’s right. I have been unfocused. It’s hard to tell how much of the spaciness is from exhaustion and how much is the bonding sickness.
“The Hart Foundation is putting on a gala,” Harriett says as Foster steps out of the hotel room, scowling.
“Are you alright?” he asks, hand coming to the small of my back.
“I’m fine.” Truthfully, I’m still shaking from standing up to Coach, but I feel lighter than I have in a long time.
Harriett watches me carefully as I lean into Foster’s touch. “We should get going.”
“Actually, no.” I take Foster’s hand in mine. “Cancel everything. We already have plans today.”
Foster gives me the biggest smile I’ve seen from him yet. Harriett and Ana look outraged, but I don’t give them time to respond before walking away, hand still in Foster’s.