Chapter 45 Freaking the Fuck Out
Freaking the Fuck Out
Skyla
Breathe. Just breathe. Then tell them what happened.
But my heart won’t slow down, no matter how tight I pull the blankets around me. Every inhale tastes like panic—like the moment before an explosion—every muscle locked from the effort of not completely unraveling.
“Sky.”
Knox’s voice cuts through the fog, low and steady but filled with worry. The bed dips as he sits on the edge of my nest. He’s talking again, but I can’t focus on the words until his tone sharpens. “What happened?”
Dakota answers before I can. His voice is quiet, careful. “I don’t know. She called her mom. Alex and I were in the garage.”
The room hums with tension—Knox’s power pressing heavy through the air, my heart hammering so loud it almost drowns it out. I squeeze the blankets tighter in my fists, trying not to shatter.
The sound of the front door slamming open cuts through the air. There’s a thud of boots on hardwood, a sharp curse. Then another crash, something heavy scraping against the wall.
Tadeo.
He barrels down the hall like a rolling boulder, slamming into doorframes in his rush to get to me. The noise makes my pulse jump painfully, but before I can sit up, he’s already in the room—wild-eyed, chest heaving.
“Skyla—”
Alex startles, his whole body jerking as he spins toward him. “What the hell—how did you even know to come home?”
Knox doesn’t look away from me. His voice cuts through the tension, calm but edged with steel. “Because I called him.”
Alex’s brow furrows. “When—?”
“When Sky started spiraling.” Knox finally lifts his head, eyes sharp. “I felt it through our bond.” His gaze snaps to Alex, then Dakota. “At least one of you answers his fucking phone.”
Dakota flinches, guilt flashing across his face. Alex opens his mouth—maybe to argue, maybe to apologize—but the words die before they form.
“Please… don’t fight,” I whisper, barely loud enough to hear.
The sound cuts straight through the tension. Every alpha in the room goes still.
Alex’s mouth is still half open from whatever sharp retort he was about to throw back. Knox’s shoulders drop, the anger in his expression dissolving into worry. Tadeo’s hand tightens on the edge of my nest, and even Dakota—sweet, nervous Dakota—stops fidgeting.
In an instant, all of them are focused on me. The argument, the blame, everything else disappears.
Knox speaks, his voice is soft—low and careful, the one he only ever uses for me. “Hey,” he murmurs, leaning in just close enough that I can see the concern etched between his brows. “Sweetheart…what happened?”
My throat burns. I try to speak, but all that comes out is a shaky, broken sound.
“I—” I swallow hard, gripping the blanket tighter in my fists. “I yelled at him.”
Knox’s brows pinch, confusion flickering in his eyes. “At who?”
I shake my head, the words tangling on my tongue. “He said… he said he’d hurt them. My parents.” My voice cracks, splintering apart. “And I just—I screamed. I didn’t mean to, I just—”
The rest of it breaks off. My chest caves inward, a sharp, trembling breath hitching through me. The room goes quiet.
Knox’s hand finally settles on my back—steady, grounding, warm. “It’s okay,” he murmurs, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “Let’s call your parents. Just to check, all right?”
I open my mouth to tell him that Brayden is going to answer, but nothing comes out. It’s like there’s a disconnect between my mouth and my brain.
Knox’s hand slips around my back, hugging me closer as he scrolls through his contacts, his thumb moving fast, jaw locked. The moment he presses the speaker button, I feel every muscle in his body go tense beside me.
One ring. Two. Three.
Each one drills into my chest like a countdown.
“Hello?” My father’s deep voice comes through the speaker—calm, a little surprised. “Knox? Is everything all right?”
“Hey, Robert,” Knox exhales, the tension in his shoulders easing just a fraction. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Sorry for calling out of the blue. I should’ve called you back sooner, but things have been a little crazy.”
“Oh, no worries, son. I know how these things go. Omega’s heats have a way of rearranging everyone’s schedule, huh?”
My stomach flips. Oh my god. Did Knox talk about my heat with my parents?
Heat rushes up my neck so fast it makes my ears burn. I shouldn’t be so embarrassed, not with everything else going on right now, but hearing my dad’s calm voice has some of my senses returning.
“Yeah.” Knox winces slightly, but keeps his tone polite. “It was a bit unexpected.”
“I bet,” Dad says easily, still chuckling. “Glad she’s got you boys to look after her.”
A faint rustle filters through the phone, followed by muffled voices in the background—too soft to make out at first. Then a door shuts somewhere on their end, cutting the noise in half.
“Hold on a second,” Dad says, his tone shifting—no longer light. “Phil, get over here.”
There’s a short pause, the low creak of the phone being passed. When my other dad—Pops—speaks, his voice is quieter, tighter. “Knox? You still there?”
“Yeah,” Knox says, every line of his body going rigid beside me. “What’s going on?”
My mind is already spiraling, terrified of what my dad is going to say next.
Pops sighs, and the sound chills the room. “We didn’t want to worry Skyla,” he starts carefully, “but…Skyla’s old pack alpha, Brayden, came by a few days ago.”
My blood turns to ice.
Knox’s eyes snap to me. “He what?” His voice is calm—but not really. It’s the kind of calm that comes right before something breaks.
Dad’s voice joins Pop’s, grim and steady. “He showed up, telling lies that Skyla had run off.” His tone shifts into an angry growl, making my shoulders curl inward. “He was spewing absolute bullshit.”
“We cut him off right then and there,” Pops says. “We told him that we knew what a piece of shit he was, and that he needed to leave her alone.”
“Is Mom okay?” I blurt out, unable to hold it in.
The line goes quiet, both of my fathers clearly surprised to hear my voice.
Dad’s voice softens, though I can still hear the tension underneath. “Mom’s fine, kiddo. Why?”
His words hit me like cool air after being underwater too long. Every muscle in my body goes loose all at once, trembling from the release. I pull in a shaky, uneven breath that almost turns into a sob.
I shake my head, voice a little shaky but lighter now. “No reason,” I lie quietly. “I just wanted to make sure.”
The tightness in my chest eases—just a little. Enough that I can breathe again without feeling like I’m breaking apart. Knox’s hand rubs slow circles on my back, grounding me as I close my eyes and let the relief wash through every sore, trembling part of me.
“I’ll call her later,” I say, leaning into Knox’s touch.
“Okay,” Pops says, a little hesitant. “When you do, call Dadda’s phone. I, uh…lost mine the other day.”
Dad huffs a soft laugh. “Probably at the bottom of the lake by now. You know how he gets when he’s fishing—drops everything but the rod.”
Despite everything, I smile. It’s small and weak, but I’m so relieved that my parents are okay.
Pop chuckles under his breath. “We love you, Sky. All of us. You call us soon, okay?”
“Love you too,” I whisper.
The line clicks off, and the silence that follows feels impossibly heavy.
Knox’s hand stays firm on my back, but his voice is careful. “Who threatened your parents? Was it Brayden?”
I hate hearing Knox say his name.
“Yes,” I force the word out before I lose my nerve. “When I called my mom…” My throat tightens, the air sticking halfway down. “Brayden answered the phone.”
The silence that follows is deafening.
Tadeo’s head jerks up, eyes wide. Knox goes still beside me, every muscle in his body tense. Alex’s face twists with something like fury and disgust.
“Skyla,” Dakota crawls into my nest opposite Knox. “That must have been so scary.” He wraps his arms around my middle.
“What did he want?” Knox asks, his voice deep and hard, filled with so much restrained rage. But it’s not for me.
“I don’t—” My voice cracks, breaking on the weight of it.
“I don’t know how, but I can feel him. In my head.
” The confession leaves me trembling. I wrap my arms around myself, trying to hold everything in.
“Somehow, after you mated me,” I look up into Knox’s green eyes, “our bond suddenly worked. He’s been in my head for weeks. I just didn’t realize it.”
Tears stream down my face. There’s no sobbing, no gasping—just a soft, helpless sound that feels like defeat. “I thought,” I whisper, sniffling loudly. “I thought I was free.”
Alex takes a sharp step forward, jaw tight, eyes burning. His chest heaves like he’s holding himself back by sheer will alone. “That son of a bitch—” he snarls, voice breaking low. “If he’s still in your head, I swear to god—”
“Alex.” Knox’s voice cuts through, deep and calm, even though I can feel his rage humming through our bond like an earthquake.
I press my palm against my temple, shaking my head. “I don’t know what to do,” I sniffle again. “He said he’s coming to get me. That he’d kill anyone who tries to stop him.”
For a moment, no one breathes. The weight of it sinks in.
Then, Knox leans back slightly, his expression unreadable. “He’s coming here?”
I nod, dread pooling low in my belly.
And to my absolute shock, Knox smiles. Not a kind one. A dangerous one. The kind that sends a shiver straight through me.
“Good.”