Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
AIDEN
Something about Mia is different tonight. The way she sang was more… intense in a way I can absolutely identify with. I’ve had those nights too, where something so raw just takes over and comes out on stage. But it makes me regret leaving her on the tour bus alone and heading over here because clearly whatever phone call she was on when we left changed something about her.
I can’t help but watch her instead of the crowd during our set. I catch Noah and Leo’s gazes, too, as if they can feel something in our omega has definitively changed.
But by the time our set is over and we’re offstage, Mia’s all smiles and hugs, flitting from one of us to the next with embraces and kisses that draw more than a few glances. Someone’s designation is no one’s business, and so many other bands are also packs. But it’s not like we’ve advertised our pack being official.
“Mia?” Noah asks as she hands each of us a bottle of water from the fridge in the ready space.
“Yeah?” Mia opens hers and takes a long drink. As she lowers the bottle from her mouth I spot the tightness in her eyes.
“Is everything okay?” Noah presses.
She nods with a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “Yeah. Why?”
Leo holds her hand. “You seem different, that’s all.”
Mia shakes her head a little. “My parents called as I was getting ready. I… didn’t exactly tell them about Exit Fate or Knotty Tour, that’s all. They’re not fans of any of this.” She glances at Noah then looks away. “They’d rather I be at home enrolled in Juilliard.”
Noah’s lips press into a thin line. “Right. Well, you’re kicking ass here, so I think you made the right choice.”
“Me too.” Mia’s voice twists my gut. Does she regret going on tour? No, I don’t think so. But I can’t quite pin down what about her entire demeanor right now screams something has irrevocably changed since we left that tour bus.
I let it go while we hang out with a few other bands in the ready space. One of them is an all-female pop-punk trio, Moira, who Leo seems to know well. He introduces us and they get on with Mia as if they’ve been friends for a long time.
“I caught them playing a festival one time back home,” Leo says, grinning while he recounts the story. “They nailed their set and I did everything I could to connect them with the right people to get out there.”
Sophia laughs and elbows Leo in his side. She’s the lead singer and guitarist who looks to be Mia’s age and has a shock of bright pink hair dye in her blonde hair. “He says it like it didn’t help a ton. We’re signed, but this Knotty Tour is the biggest thing we’ve done and we’re only on the Maine stops.”
Leo waves her off. “Moira will be on the full tour next year, just you watch.”
Finally, we head off back to our tour bus after the sun’s set and the parking lot has turned into a party scene. We’ve got our lawn chairs set up outside and are minding our own business when the drinks in our cooler run dry.
“I’ve got it.” I grab the cooler and head back into the bus.
Our fridge could do with a restock on our way out of town, if not sometime before. But I manage to pull a beer for everyone and some waters. Since the drinking incident at our first stop, even I’ve cut down to two beers a night if anything. Enough to enjoy and celebrate the strides we’re making on tour without causing issues.
I toss some ice in on top of it all and then stop in to use the restroom. As I make my way out after, I hear a phone buzzing nonstop in the back room where Mia’s made her nest.
My parents called.
Were they calling her again? It seems important, whatever it is, as it keeps buzzing, so I duck my head into the nest and, sure enough, find Mia’s phone lit up on her makeup counter. I reach for it in aims to just bright it outside to her but can’t help looking at the screen.
Sable’s name is there a few times, which doesn’t surprise me. I’m so happy Mia’s got a close friend like Sable in her life.
It’s the missed call from a number Mia doesn’t have saved that I recognize that stops me dead in my tracks.
And then a message from that same number, the preview of which makes my blood run cold.
Hi, Mia. Wonderful set tonight. I was wondering if you’ve given our conversation any other thought. No rush. Just checking in.
From Jordan. My old band manager.
My jaw locks hard as Mia’s phone feels like fire in my hand. I consider tossing it to the nest and forgetting I even came in here. But why the hell is Jordan offering anything to my omega?
My blood thrums with fury and betrayal and hurt. I’ve gotten over what Jordan and Designation Outsider did to me. But this…
I pull out my own phone and before I can stop it, my thumb is dialing a number I was never planning to ever call again in my life. But my alpha’s rearing to fight and protect what belongs to this pack.
The phone rings four times before Jordan picks up. “Aiden—I didn’t expect to hear from you again.”
“Why the fuck are you contacting me—” I cut myself just short of saying my omega . “My bandmate?”
Jordan laughs amiably. “Miss Moore? I was just getting to know her.”
My eyes narrow. I catch my reflection in the mirror hanging on the wall. My gaze is dark, my body stiff as I process Jordan’s words. “Not sure you need to as we already have a manager.”
“That doesn’t mean she can’t explore options.” Jordan’s tone is purposely even to knock me off-kilter—and it’s working.
“She doesn’t need options ,” I growl. “Exit Fate is her band.”
Jordan pauses a moment—a move that makes me want to reach through the phone and strangle him. “It is right now , Aiden. But bands, you know… they have a way of not staying together, and should Exit Fate follow the same path as many, she’ll need options for after.”
He keeps saying band. I know he means band . But I hear pack instead. That this pack won’t survive, or that we’ll kick someone out like Designation Outsider did to me. That it will leave Mia out on her own without a pack which is not something I would ever fucking let happen. Even the idea of Mia joining another pack makes me want to rip my own skin off.
“Jordan, stay the fuck away from Mia,” I snarl. The hair on the back of my neck is rising and my fist is curled tight around my phone.
“Aiden,” he replies like a parent trying to calm a child. “Mia is allowed to make up her own mind. I feel as though I shouldn’t need to remind you that she is her own person. If she wants to field a conversation from me about potentially joining Designation Outsider, who am I to say no?”
My stomach drops. Does that mean Mia contacted Jordan ? She wants to join my ex-band? My ex- pack ?
No. I don’t believe it. But I do want to know what the fuck actually happened.
“Stay away from her,” I say again before hanging up the call and heading out of the tour bus. I nearly leap down all the stairs in my rush just to come face to face with her.
Noah and Leo stand as if they can immediately sense that everything in the energy between the four of us is now different.
“Aiden?” Mia asks as she jumps back in surprise. “Hey, watch out.” She chuckles. When I don’t laugh back, her face goes slack. “What’s wrong?”
I lift her hand and firmly place her phone inside it. “Jordan called and left you a message or two.”
Mia’s eyes go wide—and then narrow. “Were you reading my messages?”
I let go of her hand. But then I’m not sure what to do with my hands as my body coils tight with hot anger, so I shove them into my jeans pockets. “No. Your phone was going off a lot, so I thought maybe it was your parents and you’d want to see. I saw his number on the screen when I went to grab your phone for you. Are you leaving us for Designation Outsider?”
Noah’s jaw slides open. “ What? ”
Leo raises a hand. “Hey, this all seems pretty hot at the moment. Let’s take a step back here.”
Mia throws her phone down into one of the chairs. “I am not .”
I figured not. But for some reason, hearing it from her mouth suddenly isn’t enough. “Then why is Jordan so convinced you are?”
A look so full of betrayal fills Mia’s eyes. Then they sharpen like knives as she cocks her hip. “I thought you said you didn’t read anything?”
“Nothing that wasn’t on the preview screen,” I admit because I suppose there isn’t a point in not doing so. “But I called Jordan because what the fuck ?”
Mia laughs harshly. “Excuse me?”
Noah walks up to us. His brow is furrowed, his eyes drawn. “Mia, what’s going on?”
She shoots him a harsh glare. “Aiden’s taken to getting involved in my business, that’s what.”
Leo meets my gaze over their heads. A question lingers in the air between us.
I shake my head. “If you’re still such a fan of Designation Outsider that you’d rather join them than stay with us, just say it, Mia.” I’m not sure why I’ve gone from not believing Jordan to making my stand with what I just said, but I’ve done it. “Jordan’s got a way with words and promises he never keeps. Just a warning.”
Mia bites the inside of her cheek. Her eyes go wide as she nods at me a little bit, like someone gearing up for a tirade, but then she shakes her head. “I cannot fucking believe you. Have I ever given you any indication I want to be anywhere else but here? With all of you?”
No one says anything because the venom in her voice is thick.
Mia swipes her hand through the air. “The answer’s no. I haven’t. And need I remind you all I was a solo act before that day at Carnation Studio. I was doing just fine. But I joined Exit Fate because this is everything. It’s magic. It’s our pack. So no, Aiden.”
She fixes me with a glare that melts me where I stand. I’m convinced I’m becoming one with the gravel beneath my boots.
“I’m not taking anything Jordan offered,” Mia says. “And I was going to tell you all that he showed up on our tour bus and fucking cornered me after you left earlier. But I didn’t want to ruin tonight’s set or the vibes after. I was going to tell you tomorrow. But thank you for breaching my privacy anyway.”
Leo closes his eyes A look of clear disappointment crosses his face. “Not cool, man.”
“More than not cool,” Noah cuts in. “What the fuck, man?”
Mia’s cheeks are flushed and her eyes are filling with tears. “I know they screwed you over, but I never would, Aiden. Never. But now I know you don’t trust me. So at least that’s out there.”
“Mia—”
“No,” she says. “I’ve got my parents all pissed I’m after this life because they think I don’t know what I’m doing. And now I know you don’t think so either, when I’ve never done anything but be committed to this band. I mean, fuck—for a while I’d even put this band above the pack.”
And there I’ve done it. Put a crack in the foundation of something so wonderful all because of Jordan .
No, not because of him. Because of my own bullshit I clearly didn’t get over. Stuff I still need to work through. Losing a band I put so much of my life into and a pack that felt like home throughout all those years really messed me up. But I don’t need to take that out on Mia or Leo or Noah.
Maybe Jordan was right about bands falling apart.
“Mia, I’m sorry,” I say as all the pieces of this fall around me. “I shouldn’t have gotten involved. I just… I saw his number and…”
Mia’s face softens, but not by much. “You should have trusted me. But I should have said something sooner.”
I shake my head. “No, you were right to not say anything before the set.” Even though we definitely all knew during it that something was wrong. “That fucker just has a way of weaseling his way into everything .”
“Well, that’s not a very nice thing to say about the man who made you famous,” someone says. Someone new. Someone not in my pack.
I turn my gaze to the three men who just appeared between tour buses. Three alphas I grew up with.
The three alphas who discarded me and everything we worked for in seconds.
Designation Outsider.