Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
SILAS
Anight on the ice in a packed stadium with fans screaming from every direction as the winning shot of the night is all up to you doesn’t compare to the storm brewing inside me right now.
A lot of information came out, and none of it I want to address, especially not with the distressed omega kneeling on the floor of her trashed house.
So I don’t.
Instead, I scoop Noa into my arms. It seems her body instinctively molds to mine as she sobs into my shoulder, and I instantly calm down with her in my arms. Otis is still on his leash, hanging off my wrist. He’s about as clueless as I am as he sits next to my foot.
I’m so grateful his heel command is coming in strong around all these broken items. I really shouldn’t have him here, but I don’t have the heart to leave Noa either.
The moment Thorne shut the door to her nest behind him, I knew they’d been in there. She did too. I watched as the last flicker of hope died in my omega’s eyes.
Carrying her in my arms, I just hold her close. Unsure where to take her, uncertain of literally everything else besides needing to hold her close.
Logically, I know there was a reason she hadn’t shared this information with us, but I can’t say it doesn’t sting to find out from her parents that another Pack is involved. I get we’ve only been on two dates. We didn’t know each other all that well, despite feeling like I’ve known her forever.
Still, another Pack… are they courting? There aren’t bond marks on her, but… fuck, I don’t know. Were they the ones who did this to her house? Are they dangerous?
I growl, low in my chest, at the thought of this Pack hurting Noa.
“I don’t think it’s safe to be here,” I murmur against her hair. She shakes her head no, and I kiss the top of her head. She knows I’m right. Whoever did this, maybe her last Pack, is gunning to hurt her. This isn’t safe at all. “We should go back to our house.”
“This is my home. I can’t leave.” Her lips wobble uncontrollably as she stares into my eyes, and mine move to Havoc’s. Could we do this? Stay here, keep her safe?
Havoc rolled up his sleeves and pulled back his hair as he paces the room, his gaze tracking the windows—his boots crunching under debris.
His slight nod answers my question, and I hold her tighter against me. Her hair is soft against my cheek. Nothing’s a guarantee. If they found her here, which we need to find out how, they could find her anywhere. I weigh the risk of staying or forcing an omega out of her home.
I don’t have the heart to hurt her. I can’t. As Pack lead, I need to be stronger than this, but as her tears roll down, I can’t tell her no.
“One night,” I say as if I’m really the one in control. This little omega has all three of us wrapped around her finger.
I know we’ll have to figure this out. We need answers, even if she’s not ready to give them.
Havoc does his best to clean off Noa’s bed, washing the sheets and tucking all our shirts into the pillows to create a barrier between the lack of scent from heavy use of scent blockers and the room's destruction.
After getting her tucked in well past midnight, the night wasn’t over for us. We spent hours putting her house back together as much as we could. A long night before a game is never a good idea, but we couldn’t let her wake up to this mess again.
Havoc plays security, as Throne and I sleep cuddled together on her torn apart couch for the remaining hours of the night.
We had about an hour and a half of sleep before we were up again, wanting to make this day as normal as possible for Noa.
Thorne is in the kitchen making breakfast despite all her kitchenware being gone.
Nothing left but a few pots and one pan.
Throne makes it work, cooking box-ready pancake mix.
Thank God for twenty-four-hour grocery deliveries.
She wakes to the house smelling of us and pancakes, and I hope she’s okay with that. She walks into the kitchen, standing at the mini-island next to me. Her eyes wander around the kitchen. “Where is Havoc?”
“Right here, sweetheart.” His voice is grumbly as he walks in after his hourly patrol around the house. His past with the mafia has made us more comfortable, but him more paranoid.
He walks around the house, inside and out, at uncoordinated intervals to throw whoever is trying to hurt Noa off. I stare at the bags under his eyes as he tries to smile at her.
The right side of his lips lifts, but his eyes and weathered skin tell a different story than the one he’s trying to portray.
That everything is okay.
Thorne slides three pancakes onto a paper plate and sets the syrup and butter in front of her.
She smiles one of her little smiles, and I nearly melt at the sight, but then reality hits me again.
The situation that’s been running in loops in my head is about this other Pack and about the damage done here.
I try to wait until she’s done eating to bring things up. Tapping my plastic fork against my own pancakes. I don’t miss the way Thorne is glaring at me for not eating, I’m sure. Havoc stands by the door. Maybe he’s unsure where he should go?
I hand him my plate, which is instantly replaced by another, along with a deeper glare and a scowl.
“Havoc,” Throne grumbles as Havoc attempts to give the plate back, but Thorne drops another pancake on his plate. Thorne turns his attention back towards me. “Eat.”
“You telling your lead what to do?” I snap with no bark. I snicker at the eye roll the comment earned me.
“Yeah, when he’s being stupid.”
“Yeah, well—” I stop. Unsure what to say, holding back my smile at Thorne’s protectiveness.
The grump cares so deeply, and rarely does anyone get to see it.
“I know, we need to talk,” Noa breaks the silence as she slowly takes a bite of her food. “But we have lives to live. I have work, and I know you have a game and Havoc?”
He freezes and stares at her, and it hurts me every time he does this as if he’s not used to people talking to him.
That’s another reason Noa is our perfect mate. She includes all of us.
We’re not the hockey guys. The hockey guys plus one. We are the Gray Pack. We are one.
“What do you have planned for today?”
“Being with you.”
“Before that.”
He considers her for a moment. He stares into her eyes more than he’s ever stared into anyone’s eyes, and I hear the click of his tongue, his sign that he’s decided.
“I was going to go to my shed.” Her eyes light up at his words as she stares down at her plate. Thinking. She wants something. Something with his shed, and like a light bulb, I have an idea that could help us all.
“What if Havoc goes to your consultations as a safety precaution, and then when you’re done, you can go do art with Havoc?” Thorne and I will be gone until past midnight. Game days are long and not as rewarding as they used to be, so it’s the last place I want to be.
“I don’t need a babysitter; it’s fine.” She says. I can tell, then, I’ve worded this all wrong.
“No, um, it’s just that—well, we’d feel better if you were with one of us today. We couldn’t leave you alone before we knew someone was out there trying to hurt you, and now—”
“Nothing’s changed.”
I met her eyes. As much as I can tell, she truly wanted to believe that. I’m not that kind of alpha. “Noa, that’s not true.”
She huffs, focusing on the syrup dripping from her fork. “I guess not.”
“How long do you work today?” Thorne asks as he washes the few dishes he used to make this impromptu breakfast.
“Half a day, I can do my appointments and then close up shop.”
“Then you’re free to spend the day with me?” Havoc asks in a low, almost shy voice, and I nearly blush from the anticipation of her answer, even though we all know what it is.
“Yes!” Her eyes light again, this time aimed at Havoc, whose white chocolate scent blooms in approval.
“Alright, then it’s settled,” I say, trying to calm my racing heart. Why does the thought of leaving her rip through my chest like this?