Chapter 48
48
brIAR
I check my phone and send off another reply to Clover before slipping past the groups of omegas and into a small hall.
It’s empty and quiet here, and I use the small break in the endless crowd to catch my breath.
The game ended around twenty minutes ago, but I’m all turned around, mixed in with every designation here tonight.
Being so close to the ice meant having to climb up tens of rows to the exit, and by the time I got to the top, so had everyone else in the arena.
Clover texts back instantly, her worry intensifying mine.
Clover: She’s incredibly uncomfortable.
I’m going to do a cervix check and get back to you.
Me: How’s baby?
Clover: Both baby and Sadie are okay.
Will update in a few.
We’ve been waiting for Sadie to go into labour for what feels like ages.
It’s a terrible coincidence that it would happen on a night where I’m not simply curled up in bed watching a movie, wanting something exciting to happen.
Clover isn’t positive yet, but when she texted halfway through the third period, telling me Sadie’d called her with concerns, I had this gut feeling that the baby was coming tonight.
It’s still too early for the guys to be ready to leave, and honestly, I doubt I could find them in this place even if they were.
I have no idea where I’m going.
They’re probably too busy to check their phones if I called, either.
I try anyway. Jasper’s contact name flashes on the screen as I call and wait, the dial tone drowned out with the noise around me.
With the volume all the way up, I press it hard against my ear to hear.
Seconds go by before I get his voicemail.
My chest deflates as I lean against the wall and try not to freak out.
I’m one more loud laugh away from ducking out of my hideout and booking it out of the arena when my phone starts buzzing.
Landon’s name pops up on the screen.
“Oh, my god. I was so close to needing to bribe someone to smuggle me out of here,” I ramble, not bothering with a normal greeting.
“What’s wrong?” Landon asks, his voice like a whip.
“It’s just really busy in the walkways. I think I’m lost.”
“I’m sorry, Haven. I should have sent someone to your seat before the game ended.”
“Don’t apologize. I’m a big girl. Just a little confused on how to get out of here and to where you are.”
I had Clover with me the last time I was here, and while we did get a little lost, she’s always been the one who isn’t afraid to stop someone and ask for help.
That’s just not me.
Speaking to a stranger—let alone asking one for help with something—makes my skin clammy.
It’s a dramatic and annoying quirk at times, but I’ve long since accepted it and all my other annoying quirks.
“What’s close by? Describe what’s around you,” Landon demands.
I stick my head out of my hideout and search for an answer to give him.
Other than an exuberant number of people still lingering, I can only make out an exit door with a street number above it and a top-to-bottom mural of .
. . Dash?
“I’m beside Dash,” I say.
“He made it to you?”
Shaking my head, I step back into the hall.
“No, I meant that I’m beside a wall with Dash painted on it.”
“Alright. You’re not too far away, then. If you’re staring at the mural, you need to go right and then straight until you see a security entrance. There should be someone guarding it.”
“I’m heading that way now. What do I say when I get there? Please let me in?”
Gripping my phone tightly, I slip out of the hall and into the crowd.
Luckily, they’re all moving the opposite way and have started to cluster on the furthest side of the walkway.
I have more room to breathe this time.
“You didn’t take your VIP pass off, right?”
“No.”
“Just show it and tell them who you’re here with.”
I take a deep breath.
“They’ll believe me just like that?”
“Depending which guard is posted at that door, they’ll probably recognize our scents on you.”
There’s a jolt in the centre of my chest. “It’s that obvious already? Even though we aren’t bonded?”
He pauses, and my cheeks burn.
“Aren’t we? A bond is more than just a bite mark, Briar.”
“You’re right,” I whisper, tapping a beat on my throat as it grows tight with emotion.
“So, I tell the guard I’m with you, and then where do I go?”
“I’m going to send someone up right now to meet you at the door, and they’ll lead you to me.”
“Are you with the others?”
“Not currently. I need to get my knee looked at before we leave.”
I quicken my pace as worry settles.
“Why? What happened? Did I miss you getting hurt again?”
“It’s nothing like that. I have doctor-ordered check-ins after every game until I’m back to normal. Things are nearly there already.”
“Oh.”
His chuckle is a deep rasp.
“I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
“You were amazing out there tonight,” I blurt before we hang up.
“I had reason to be.”
“I’d have been impressed even if you didn’t score a single goal.”
“Yeah, I don’t doubt that. You’re too good to us. Too fucking good to me.”
There’s a slight curve in the walkway before I spot an Authorized Personnel Only door up ahead.
The man standing in front of it is leaning against the wall, his ankles and arms crossed.
“It’s funny, I was just thinking the same about all of you,” I tell Landon.
The guard regards me with a curious lift of his brow before pushing away from the wall.
He peers at the VIP badge hanging from the lanyard around my neck, reading the words there.
Landon leaves my statement alone, and I let him, knowing I’ll have the time to bring it up again later if I wanted to.
That’s maybe one of the biggest changes between me and him.
He’s so much more open now.
“My guy is on his way up the stairs to you, Briar.”
I offer the guard in front of me a sweet smile while whispering into the phone, “See you soon.”
The man waits until I’ve hung up the phone and lowered it to my side before speaking for the first time.
“Family doesn’t usually use this door.”
“I’m still learning the do’s and don’ts. And I absolutely got lost up here after the game.”
He blows out a breath.
“Yeah, it takes some getting used to. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before. If you give me your name, I’ll call and get approval?—”
There’s a knock on the door behind him before it opens.
The guard takes a quick step forward out of the way and whips his head around to stare at the person who appears.
It’s an older man, maybe in his early fifties, with soft grey hair and a relaxed expression.
He fixes calm eyes on me and asks, “Briar?”
“That’s me.”
“You can follow me downstairs. Landon said to bring you to the treatment room.”
The guard laughs lowly and nods, waving a hand for me to pass him.
“Well, it was nice to meet you, Briar. I’m sure I’ll see you around. Say hi to the Montgomery pack for me.”
“Yeah, you too,” I reply before slipping into the stairwell.
It’s well-lit, but I know if I were alone, I’d be freaked out going this way.
Next time I’m here, I’ll be figuring out an easier way to meet up with my pack.
Preferably in a more open space.
The older man with me doesn’t speak as we climb down the stairs, and I don’t force him to.
I’m too busy worrying about Landon’s freaking knee to think of anything to chat about with this stranger anyway.
It doesn’t take long to get to another door.
I wait for him to swipe a card through a locking system and pull it open before following him into a hallway.
It’s brighter here. The chunky brick walls have been painted white and blue, and there are several people walking this way and that, either dressed in track suits or slacks and ties.
“It’s this way,” the man says, leading us further down the hall.
We reach a bulky, very clearly alpha man hauling a huge duffle bag over his shoulder.
He stares curiously at me, a smirk appearing as he passes.
At least I know the same de-scenter that blows in my old apartment building is in the vents here.
It’s a reassurance that I’m even more grateful for when another two alphas pass by.
We stop in front of a door left cracked open a few inches that I assume is the treatment room Landon mentioned and thank the man before he wanders off.
I knock once.
“Come in!”
The female voice has me holding the handle a little too hard when I shove the door open.
My chest tightens, but I ignore the discomfort and step into the room.
It’s bigger than I was expecting.
That’s about the only good thing about it.
“You must be Briar. I’m Tiara, the physio who’s been working on Landon’s knee for the last couple of weeks. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
She’s crouched down in front of him.
Her hands are on his skin.
He’s wearing shorts and nothing else.
There’s a pile of supplies and a bucket of ice on the floor beside her.
Bright green tape is stretched up Landon’s calf and over his knee.
He’s wearing sneakers I’ve never seen before, and the pink hue to his cheeks .
. .
There’s a different look to him in here.
A vulnerability that I’ve only ever gotten a glimpse at.
I’m frozen, forced to watch as the woman brings another piece of tape to his leg and presses it to the dark-hair-flecked skin.
She rubs the end with her palm before doing the same with the rest of the strip.
By the time she’s done, something ferocious explodes inside of me.
I stare at her helplessly and take in the smile she flashes before rubbing his leg again.
There’s a low rumble filling the room, and I immediately look up at Landon, assuming it’s coming from him.
If he thinks he can growl at me for barging in on him and Tiara , he’s insane.
A total alpha-hole who’s going to get his ass?—
“What’s wrong?” he asks, quickly hopping off the exam table and starting toward me.
The growling cuts off when I open my mouth to speak.
Shock filters through the rage in my mind.
That was me?
“I’ll just leave you to finish,” I snap.
His brows shoot up. “What?”
“I didn’t mean to interrupt. I’ve got to leave, actually. Work.”
Landon rubs a palm along his jaw and keeps walking in my direction.
He doesn’t stop until I take a step back and shake my head, lip curling viciously.
His vanilla and cinnamon scent pushes past the thick chemicals and attacks my senses.
My knees shake when I refuse myself the opportunity to go to him.
If I’d just marked him already, there wouldn’t be a reason to need to mark my territory here.
That woman would already know he’s mine.
Spinning on my heel, I clench my fists and swallow another round of venomous words.
I haven’t been this angry in a long, long time.
It’s unnatural and unnecessary.
Extreme.
The picture of another woman knelt in front of my alpha—touching him—continues to flash in my mind, intensifying the burn of rage until I’m sweating.
Landon’s mine. And this woman, a beta if my guess is correct, was far, far too close to him.
They’re comfortable with each other, clearly.
This is the person who’s been treating his injury.
How many times have they been here in this room together?
Alone ?
I take hold of the door and whip it all the way open.
It’s like my mind isn’t completely my own right now.
Landon glides in front of me and slides his hand around the back of my neck, holding it in a vise grip as his thumb rubs my scent gland.
It’s impossible to leave now.
My omega won’t allow it.
The longer he holds me in this position, the more she craves to roll over and submit to him.
“Talk to me, Haven,” he demands, voice deep and demanding but lacking the bark that would no doubt have me telling him everything I’m thinking.
“No.”
The knowing smirk that forms on his lips doesn’t help calm me down.
“Tiara, I’m good here if you want to head out.”
That rumbling noise starts up again at the sound of her name on his tongue.
“Alright! I’ll see you in a couple days, then. Have a good night,” she rambles before rushing past us on her way out.
I keep my eyes on Landon so I don’t rip her throat out when she nearly brushes my shoulder.
I’m not myself right now.
I’m getting hotter, my temperature out of control.
There’s sweat dripping down my spine and beneath the strong fingers still pressed into my neck.
An ache grows in my belly, but it lacks teeth.
It’s more like a weak cramp that swells in intensity before disappearing.
Pulsing, almost. They don’t stay away for long.
Another appears, then another.
“Ohhh,” I whine, clutching my middle.
Landon releases my neck and covers my hand with his, guiding them to rub in a circular motion.
His nostrils flare when he inhales.
“You need to tell me what’s going on, Briar.”
His hand feels cold.
But when he pulls mine away from my stomach and brings it up between us, the glistening of my palm tells me that’s not the case.
I’m just so hot that he feels cold in comparison.
I shake my head, a panicked sense of arousal drifting into my subconscious.
“No.”
He reaches out to shut the door, and I stand still, refusing to move a muscle.
Another cramp grows, this one sharper and lower.
“Christ, you’re burning up. Tell me what to do here, baby. I—Is this another spike?”
Oh, he sounds so sexy when he’s worried.
The low rasp of his voice is even growlier than normal.
I lean into him, pressing my breasts against his chest and mewling at the pleasure that sparks from the light pressure on my nipples.
It washes some of the pain away.
“Landon,” I moan, lifting my hands to rub his bare shoulders.
“You’re so hot. I want to lick you all over.”
“Not here. Not yet. We’re at the arena right now.”
My hold grows stronger as I expand my exploration and trace his thick abdominal muscles.
His hair tickles my fingers while I push up on my toes and bring my nose to his throat.
“I need to call the guys. You smell?—”
His words get lost in his throat when I scrape his skin with my teeth and blow a trail of hot air over the mark I leave.
“Yes, call them. I’m going into the early stages of heat, Landon. I need you to knot me right now while we wait for them to get here to take the edge off.”
His snarl isn’t aimed at me.
“You can’t go into heat here. It’s not safe like home would be.”
“Too late. Maybe if you hadn’t let another woman touch you in front of me, I wouldn’t be,” I hiss, the return of my anger slipping through the haze of lust.
Landon’s breath hitches, and I realize a beat later that I’ve bitten down on his throat, keeping the pressure light but threatening as I don’t break skin.
A stuttered purr breaks out, vibrating in his chest.
“Mark me right now and you won’t be leaving this room until your heat is over and that tight pussy can’t take another knot, Briar. Your first heat will take place in your nest. But that doesn’t mean I won’t help you enough that we can leave here without you being in too much pain.”
I release his throat with a whimper.
The cramps are no longer teeth-free.
My entire body jerks when another appears, and I clench around nothing, too empty.
“Just do something to help before I can’t make it home at all,” I beg.
Landon’s attention leaves me when he twists us and moves me further into the room.
The door shuts again, and I cling onto him.
“It’s Jasper,” he murmurs, stroking my hair.
I moan, needing nothing more than his name to grow hotter, my mouth bone-dry.
“Jas.”
“I’m here, love. We’re going to take the pain away, okay? We’ll show you what a heat looks like when you have an entire pack at your beck and call.”