Chapter 35
Chapter
Thirty-Five
Lana
“Let’s get started,” Roxie said as she sat down at the dining room table.
She had a laptop and notepad in front of her.
“Since my new bestie asked for my help, here I am. I’ve got several contacts that I can call on because I’ve done interviews for other teams in the AHA.
I’ve sent out messages already, now I’m just waiting to hear back from them. ”
“I’m not going to, but you could absolutely reach out to my ex pack. Maybe see if Sutton would be willing to speak out. He will lose his job like every other delta if this goes into effect. It’d be in his best interest to hear us out.”
She scribbled down a note. “Do you have his number?”
I rattled it off. It was one of those things you didn’t forget easily, even after severing ties.
Kieran chimed in next with his own findings. “We’ve reached out to a few of our buddies as well. Hopefully between us, we’ll have enough people to stand up. There’s been rumors of a hockey-wide strike we should keep an eye out for.”
“Good,” I said. “The more people that speak up, the better.”
“Now for the not-so-fun news,” Roxie said. “I’ve done a bit of research into the original picture you sent me.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked. “Did you find whoever was behind it?”
“I’ve linked it to a rival gossip site. My best guess is it was just a right-place, right-time kind of thing.
They just happened to see you, whipped out their phone, and took the photos.
If they were waiting for you, it would be a clear shot, not this mess.
In other words, I don’t think you’re in danger from them specifically, but I think they’re trying to milk the story for all it’s worth. ”
“Fucking vultures,” Lennon growled. “It’s not the first time these lowlifes have tried to spread shit to gain traction.”
“They really are,” Roxie confirmed. “I’ve had my share of run-ins with them.
They’re led by this really creepy dude who thinks he’s a genius.
Regardless, at the end of the day, they’ve done what they wanted and created a storm.
Their site has blown up with traction and earned them plenty of money.
You should be left alone by them now that it’s spun out of control.
We just have to clean up the mess now. That’s what people like them do, they stir the pot and then slink back into the shadows to watch it unfold. ”
“I did a little research of my own,” Cade said. He pulled out a stack of papers he had clipped together in a giant binder clip. Flipping through it, he snagged a highlighter off the center of the table. “I went for statistics. They said the facts would help.”
“Did you find anything useful?” she asked.
“I think so. I discovered that in the last twenty years of deltas being involved in the AHA, fighting has actually gone down by ten percent. They’ve realized that mixing in betas and deltas into the team helps stabilize the alphas more.
Kind of like in a pack that has multiple designations. There’s a balance to it.”
“That actually makes sense,” I said, excited that our work was paying off. This was exactly the kind of ammunition we needed.
“There’s even an article from several years ago by one of the leading news channels.
They were talking about the profitability of having more variety on teams, how it’s brought in new viewers.
There’s a whole list of different revenue streams. I highlighted the relevant ones.
I truly think we’ve got a case. It would be insane for them to ignore this. ”
“Anyone else?” I asked, looking at the others.
Wilder nodded. “I’ve been scouring mixed-designation team success rates versus the all-alpha teams,” he said. “And the all-alpha ones have consistently fallen behind in terms of AHA Cups and accolades.”
“Hell yeah, this is the exact kind of stuff we need,” Roxie said.
“This is reassuring,” Kieran agreed. “It’s also reassuring to hear that you think this will be helpful.”
“I found the original interview with the AHA officials on why they allowed the deltas and betas in. I’m still looking through it, but a lot of it goes along with the stuff you guys found,” I said, adding my own article to the growing pile.
Needing to move for a little bit, I got up from the table and started on some snacks. It was going to be a long night so we may as well make the most of it.
A loud knock on the door echoed out in the silence. Everyone startled, glancing up before the two alphas rushed toward the door.
Of course, every single one of us followed, curious to see who was interrupting us.
No one knew we lived here outside of Conrad, who would just walk in, and the coach.
The last people I expected to see at the door were my old pack.
All of their faces still had a yellowish tint from the bruising and they looked rough. Their stubble was days old, and the circles under their eyes were prominent.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Kieran growled. “How did you find us?”
“Look,” Dean said quickly, holding up his hands. “We know that we’ve lost her. We just want to say our piece.”
He looked past my alphas and spotted me behind them.
“I’m assuming you didn’t read the letter?”
“I did read it,” I said, annoyed they were assuming anything about me now.
“It didn’t change anything, though. Every one of your letters talked about how this affected you and how it made you sick, and while I’m glad to know you didn’t just see those pictures and call me dramatic, it doesn’t mean I’ll ever want anything to do with you again. ”
“We know,” Dean said. There was defeat in his tone this time, and his voice cracked. “I just can’t believe we let it get this far. I understand that you’re done, and you have this pack now, but Lana, we’d quit hockey for you.”
“Oh, look,” Roxie said, unamused. “There goes the point sailing right over their head.”
Dean looked at her, confused. They truly had no idea how misguided they were, even now.
“It was never about hockey,” I said. “I’m with hockey players. It’s the fact they balance having a pack and the game. You chose to marry your job and to neglect me, and that’s a decision you now have to live with, whether you like it or not.”
Tears finally spilled down his cheeks at my harsh words. Sutton looked just as upset, but didn’t argue.
“Look, I truly forgive you,” I said, softening my voice a little while still staying strong. “I forgive you for the pain you put me through, even if Conrad never will.”
“Wait… you forgive us?” Milo asked, confused.
“I do,” I said with a shrug. “But forgiving and forgetting are not the same things. I forgive you because I don’t want to hold onto a grudge.
I forgive you because that pain isn’t going to get me anywhere in life.
But I won’t forget how that felt. All the lonely nights.
The times you made me feel like I didn’t matter.
The pain of spending a heat alone on the floor of my nest, waiting for you to walk through the door. ”
“You didn’t tell us you were going into heat,” Sutton argued, his frustration loud and clear. My pack let out a warning growl, and he stepped back again, his anger cooling instantly.
“That’s not true. It was in your calendars, and I reminded you the week before, but you didn’t want to listen. You spent that entire time barely talking to me. You were so caught up in your life that you didn’t have room in it for me, and you don’t get to find the room now. It’s too late.”
“Okay,” Milo croaked, looking at me, begging me to reconsider.
It wasn’t going to happen.
“If you ever want to find another omega again, one that you want to fucking keep, I strongly suggest you work on yourselves first. Take a step back from hockey and learn to have a life that’s more than your career.”
Roxie called out to them before they could turn away.
“I have to know. What did you guys do all those nights you left her at home?” Her tone sharpened like a blade as she finished her question.
The rest was left unsaid, but I needed to put it into words, especially as guilt took over all three of their expressions.
“Did you cheat on me?” I demanded. “All those times you left me at home for months… were you sleeping with other people?”
“No,” Milo said firmly. “Everyone knew we had you at home.”
“And yet they didn’t question that you literally never came home?” I laughed, throwing up my hands. It was all so fucking absurd.
“They gave us shit all the time for it,” Dean admitted, his voice thick with tears and shame.
I found a bit of satisfaction in that.
“Well, now you don’t have me, so you can live in that fucking hockey house with all the other bachelors. I hope you enjoy it. But we’re done here. Stop contacting me. Stop trying to convince me that this is right. There will never be any going back. It’s over. Forever.”
“For what it’s worth,” Milo said quietly as he turned to leave. “Something you said in that interview didn’t sit right with me. We didn’t choose you because of your name, Lana. We didn’t even know your name until after we already decided we wanted to make you ours.”
In a strange way, that was nice to hear. It was always an insecurity of mine.
“Thanks for telling me that,” I said. “I just wish you would’ve made it known sooner that you gave a single shit about me.
It wasn’t fun spending all those nights alone, wondering what I’d done wrong.
I know now that wasn’t the right question.
The question was why I stayed so long. Seriously, be better for the next girl. ”
“We will. Goodbye, Lana. We’re sorry,” Sutton said, pulling Milo and Dean away. Dean let out a sob, and Milo pulled him closer, offering reassurance.
Kieran let the door close, and I sagged against Wilder, who pulled me into a hug. Today, it felt like a lot of doors were officially closing.
I hated that once again the attention was on the wrong things. We should be focusing on this hearing, not hashing out my exes failures.
“Oh, shit,” Roxie said, rushing past us and out the door.
When she came back inside, she gave me a smile. “They’ll be at the hearing to speak. That’s another group willing to stand against all this.”
“Back to it then,” Kieran said, leading the way to the table where our piles of articles and research were waiting.
I couldn’t let my pack down, and more than that, I couldn’t let the team down.