Chapter 35
Ryder
Mom gasped beside Coach, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw him shove his chair back from the table, but Hunter and I were already moving. The moment Ken grabbed Scotty, instinct took over. I caught the bastard by the wrist, applying pressure until he spat a curse and released her.
Hunter pulled Scotty against his chest, his Alpha purr loud in the room as he checked if she was okay, while I twisted Ken around and forced his arm awkwardly up behind his back.
“Get your hands off of her,” Ken shouted, either too drunk or too stupid to know when he was in danger. Probably both. “Do you know who the fuck I am? Let go of me.”
“Didn’t I warn you to stay the fuck away from her?” I snarled low in his ear, tightening the hold until his shoulder strained. He shuddered and tried to twist away from me.
This pathetic excuse for a man who dared to put his hands on what was mine. My Alpha demanded I rip him to shreds until nothing remained.
“Ryder, that’s enough,” Coach barked.
My gaze snapped to him. Whatever he saw in my face made his expression flicker, because when he spoke again, his voice carried a note of caution.
“The boy clearly had too much to drink. Leave it.”
“Leave it?” I echoed, my voice dropping to a dangerous register as the words sank in. “He just put his hands on your daughter, and you want me to leave it? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
I didn’t care if he was our coach. I didn’t care if he was about to marry my mother.
The only thing I cared about in that moment was Scotty and making sure this piece of shit never touched her again.
And he wanted me to leave it?
Fuck. That.
Ken stumbled as I shoved him away from the table, dragging him through the dining room while he fought against my hold. The guy was so outmatched it wasn’t even funny.
“Is this why you left, Rebecca?” he shouted, loud enough that everyone in the restaurant turned to stare. “Fucking Omegas and their obsession with knots. I fucking knew this would happen.”
Hunter fell into step beside me as we marched Ken through the dining room toward the lobby. The idiot kept struggling, and I tightened my grip until he yelped.
The pain was only a fraction of what he truly deserved.
“Let me go. She’s my fucking fiancée. I have the right to know if she’s screwing the two of you behind my back.”
“She’s not your anything anymore,” I snarled. “She’s mine.”
We entered a side hallway that led toward the restrooms, the noise of the restaurant fading behind us.
I shoved him against the wall and kept his arm pinned behind his back, barely holding onto the restraint I had left.
Scotty appeared at the end of the hallway, her chest rising and falling rapidly, eyes narrowed to slits as she stalked toward us.
I opened my mouth to tell her to go back to the table, but Ken started shouting again.
“Rebecca, tell these fuckers to let me go, or I’ll ruin their careers.” I slammed him back against the wall hard enough to knock the air out of him.
Scotty ignored him and put a hand on my shoulder. The touch sent a quiet rumble through my chest.
“Let him go, Ry. He’s not worth it.”
I couldn’t.
Not with her standing this close. Not with the way Ken was staring at her.
“Fuck you, Rebecca.”
“Don’t speak to her,” Hunter growled, moving between them. His easygoing nature was gone, replaced with the lethal edge of an Alpha ready to attack. “And don’t ever fucking touch her again!”
“How could you do this to me, Rebecca?” Ken screamed, disgust twisting his face. “I was always good to you, and you repay me by fucking these two losers?”
A rumble of warning vibrated from Hunter’s chest, but Scotty’s voice cut through the tension before either of us could say a word.
“How could I do this to you?” she hissed, her eyes narrowing until they were blazing with fury. “I walked in on you fucking our next door neighbor, and you’re asking me how I could move on from your sorry ass? Fuck you, Ken.”
“That was an acc-”
“Oh fuck right off with that,” she snapped. “You don’t accidentally end up with your dick in someone else’s vagina.”
The sweet cherry of her scent soured, sharp with anger but bruised underneath with hurt. Part of me wanted to stand back and watch her tear him apart with that razor-sharp tongue, while another part needed to step between them and make sure he couldn’t hurt her ever again.
“And these two losers have done more for me in two weeks than you’d done in our entire relationship.
They’re amazing men. Unlike you.” She sucked in a breath before continuing.
“I didn’t deserve what you did to me, Ken, but I’m grateful you did it anyway.
I would have been miserable married to you. ”
“Sweetheart,” I said gently, keeping my tone steady despite the rage boiling beneath it. “Why don’t you head back to the table? Hunt and I have this handled.”
“Yeah, Baby Girl,” Hunter cooed. “We will be right there.”
In that split second when we both looked at Scotty, Ken made his move. With a violent twist, he wrenched himself free and slammed his elbow straight into Hunter’s jaw.
Hunter didn’t even flinch, but our little Omega was pissed. She launched herself at Ken and slapped him so hard his head snapped sideways.
He stared in shock before his face twisted into a nasty snarl.
“Fuck this,” Ken spat, his voice dripping with contempt. “I never should have settled for someone like you.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Scotty cut in, her palm raised to silence both Hunter and me before we could argue.
Her voice shook, but she forced the words out anyway.
“But it doesn’t fucking matter. It’s over.
Whoever you find next, I really hope you treat her better than you treated me.
She deserves to feel special. Like you’d burn down the world just to keep her warm. ”
“The whole goddamn universe, Sweetheart,” I growled, the promise ripping straight out of my heart.
“You’re going to regret leaving me. Fucking watch, Rebecca.”
“Threatening my Omega isn’t going to end well for you,” I snarled, fucking done with his shit. “I’m going to fuck-”
“That’s enough.” Coach’s voice sliced through the tension, sharp as a skate blade on fresh ice. He barreled down the hallway toward us, eyes narrowing as they cataloged the scene before locking onto his daughter. “How long has this been going on? Whatever the fuck this is?”
Scotty’s shoulders lifted slightly like she was bracing for impact. It was a small movement, the kind most people probably wouldn’t notice, but I’ve been paying an embarrassing amount of attention to her since the day she crashed her car into my Range Rover, so I caught it immediately.
“They’re my scent matches, Dad,” she whimpered. “I know you don’t approve, but I care about them. I lo—”
“Don’t,” Coach barked. “I am so fucking disappointed in you, Rebecca. You had a good life in Blackridge, and you fucked it all up.”
“She’s not the one who fucked it up,” I yelled, my anger ready to boil over as I glared at him. “Blame the fucking guy who cheated on her.”
“Stay the fuck out of this, Ryder,” Coach snarled, his eyes never leaving Scotty.
“I was miserable, Dad,” she said hoarsely. “Being with Ken destroyed who I was.”
Coach laughed. “And you think dating these two will be any better? You’re smarter than that.”
I shoved Ken backward into Hunter’s grasp and lunged forward, my body becoming a shield between Scotty and the man who was supposed to protect her, not tear her down.
“That’s enough, Coach,” I snarled, my hands clenching into fists at my sides. “I get that you’re pissed, but you don’t get to talk to my Omega like that.”
He stared at me like I’d just announced I was quitting hockey to become a professional clown.
“Your Omega?” he repeated slowly. “Won’t allow me? She’s my daughter. I’ll speak to her however I fucking want.”
Scotty whimpered behind me, and I reached back and pulled her against my side, my arm curling around her waist as my purr rumbled low in my chest.
“Being her father doesn’t give you the right to treat her like shit. Would you rather she stayed with a piece of shit like him-” I jerked my chin toward Ken. “-or be with the two men who would move heaven and earth just to see her smile?”
“The scent match made it impossible to stay away from her,” Hunter added from behind us, still holding Ken by the back of his neck like he was restraining an aggressive raccoon.
“But even without it, I would’ve fallen in love with her.
She deserves more than a cheating prick. So. Much. Fucking. More.”
Ken barked out a laugh. “Are you seriously buying any of this bullshit, Rebecca? You’re just an easy fuck to them. How long do you think they’ll stick around when this ruins their careers?”
“My career is worth ruining if it means I get the rest of my life with you, Sweetheart,” I said, looking straight at Scotty.
“Same, Scotty,” Hunter promised. “Anything for you.”
“You’re just an easy hole for their knots until they find someone who isn’t a shitty lay,” he sneered. Then his eyes flicked to me. “Whatever you do, don’t bond with her. The bitch stopped putting out the second I proposed.”
I was already moving before the thought fully formed.
Scotty slipped from my grasp as I stepped forward and grabbed Ken by the front of his shirt.
He swung at me, drunk and sloppy, and the punch barely grazed my shoulder before my fist connected with his face.
The impact snapped his head back with a sickening crack, and he dropped to the floor in a heap.
“Fuck you, Ken,” Scotty shouted. “I stopped putting out because I ran out fucks to give. A girl can only fake an orgasm so many times. And no, it’s not normal that your dick is the size of a french fry.”
I would’ve laughed, but all I could think about was how satisfying it would feel to break the rest of his face.
A pair of Ken’s teammates materialized and yanked him to his feet before I could land another blow. They didn’t look interested in fighting. Mostly, they looked like they were trying to keep their idiot teammate from getting himself killed.
“Look at the fucking spectacle you’ve caused, Rebecca,” Coach snapped at Scotty. “I hope you’re happy. Fuck! I wish you’d just stayed in Blackridge.” His glare swung toward Hunter and me. “You’re both done. You’ll never play for the Wolves again.”
“Dick,” Mom gasped in horror. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“You can’t do that, Dad,” Scotty cried, shaking her head as tears finally spilled down her cheeks. “They were defending me!”
“Just… go away, Rebecca.” Coach rubbed a hand over his face like the sight of her physically pained him. “You’re not the daughter I raised. I can’t even fucking look at you.”
I was going to kill this motherfucker.
I surged toward Coach, but Hunter’s strong arms locked around my waist, yanking me back before I could get my hands on the bastard.
Normally, I could’ve broken that hold easily.
We were evenly matched in strength, but Hunter was the only person I’d ever let hold me back from a fight.
His arms tightened around my waist, and I let him pull me away.
Scotty’s eyelashes fluttered against her skin as she fought the tears, but stubbornness wasn’t enough to hold back the flood. They spilled down her cheeks anyway.
“You have such a problem with how I ended up, Dad?” she said, her voice shaking but still carrying that familiar bite that made me fall for her in the first place. “Guess what. I’m not overly thrilled with the father you turned out to be either.”
She shook her head and started backing up towards the exit.
“Scotty!” Hunter shouted, finally letting go of me as he moved toward her.
She paused just long enough to glance back at us. Her eyes were red, her cheeks wet, and for a second, the stubborn fire that usually lived inside her expression flickered through the grief, but before either of us could get to her, she turned and pushed through the crowd.
Hunter and I both tried to go after her, but Coach stepped in front of us. “Stay the fuck away from her,” he spat, shoving Hunter backward with both hands.
“Move,” Hunter growled, stepping into his space until their noses were practically touching. “Or I’m letting Ryder break your nose.”
“Richard, if you don’t fucking move, I’m going to punch you myself,” Mom hissed from behind him, stomping forward like she was absolutely prepared to follow through on the threat.
Coach gestured in the direction Scotty disappeared. “They’re just going to hurt her.”
“Go fuck yourself, Dick,” Mom snapped, poking a finger into his chest. “The only person hurting her is you.”
“Fuck this.”
I shoved Coach hard enough to send him stumbling into the wall, and Hunter and I didn’t waste another second.
We bolted down the hallway, pushed through the restaurant doors, and burst out into the cool night air.
I scanned the lot immediately, my eyes moving across every car, every shadow, every corner of pavement where a small, furious Omega might be hiding.
But the parking lot was already empty.
A guttural sound of rage tore from my throat and echoed across the empty parking lot.
I stalked straight toward the valet stand, where a teenager in a wrinkled vest looked like he was reconsidering every life choice that had led him to this job.
“Did you see a woman in a blue dress?” I growled.
The kid nodded so fast I was surprised his head stayed attached to his neck. “Y-yes. She got into a car with two other women and left about three minutes ago.”
“Go get my car,” I snapped, and he scurried off.
I was being a complete dick, but I ran out of fucks to give. The only person who mattered right now was Scotty.
Part of me was relieved she wasn’t alone when she left. Millie and Ella would take care of her. Those two had been glued to her side since she came back to Evercrescent, and knowing they were with her meant at least someone was there to look after her.
The rest of me was furious she’d needed them instead of us.
“She should be here,” I muttered under my breath. “She should be with us.”
“I know,” Hunter said, sounding devastated. My fucking heart broke when I saw the anguished look on his face, his gray eyes full of tears.
His hands fisted in the front of my shirt as he buried his face against my shoulder. I wrapped him up instinctively, one hand sliding up to the back of his head while I murmured into his hair, trying to comfort us both.
“Why didn’t she wait for us, Ry?” he asked, his voice breaking.
“She’s hurting, Babe,” I whispered, resting my temple against his. “But she’s not fucking getting away from us again.”
“You think she’ll come back?”
“We won’t give her a fucking choice,” I growled. “Even if we have to kidnap her and tie her to the bed. After enough orgasms, she won’t ever think about leaving again.”
Hunter huffed out something that might have been a laugh and nuzzled his nose against mine before pulling back and looking at me with that stubborn determination I loved so much.
“Let’s go find our girl.”