Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Kayla
When Beck said they had a new coach and kissed my temple, I’d only been partially paying attention because I was focused on Brian and suppressing my urge to kill him.
I’d followed Brian down the hall and around the corner when I heard him say to whoever he was on the phone with to double the bet.
I didn’t know much about the sports world, but what I did know was that anyone in United Alpha Sports whether it be players, coaches, or other support staff wasn’t supposed to be betting on games.
Things were starting to come together now that I’d heard that little tidbit of information right from his sleazy mouth. He’d switched my pills so I’d go into heat and make the pack more aggressive. That was some hopefulness on his part that it would happen by the championship.
But then again, I’m sure there was more to it than that. I wondered if they would let me torture the information out of him. I could see him now; venomous scorpions latched onto his nipples, knife precariously close to cutting off his dick.
I probably need to cut back on reading dark mafia romances.
My heart was in my throat as I stood on the sidelines of the Alphaball field. It was much more intense being up close to a game and hearing the noises and facial expressions the teams made. Whoever had decided that throwing weighted balls at opponents as a form of defense was sick.
N’Pact was at my back, acting as my bodyguards in a way. After they rocked the house singing the National Anthem, they had a brief conversation I wasn’t able to hear, but they’d come over to surround me.
They felt more like brothers if anything, and just like when I’d gotten a ride from them, I felt comfortable being around them despite none of us being claimed.
The Killer Gnomes were on the third round of their game against the Raging Skeletons, and it had been close the whole time. Both teams had easily beaten their opponents in their first games, the wins only seeming to make them even more aggressive.
The crowd roared as Rylan ran toward the Gnomes’ goal, the thirty-pound ball tucked under one arm but situated slightly in front of him.
The other team still had their ten and twenty in play and while one of their players headed for their own goal, the other was running after Rylan with the ten-pound ball.
With an overhead, two-arm throw, the Skeletons’ player threw the ball at Rylan. The game was quite barbaric with throwing balls at each other, but it wasn’t much different than being tackled.
Beck had been running along with the two and as the ball released, he dove in front of it, taking a hit right to the chest just as Rylan made it within scoring distance.
“And with a brutal save to the chest, Thomas is down, saving Abbott from what might have been a repeat from last year’s playoffs.
Abbott is nearing the goal! Will he… he scores!
Gnomes just need ten to win!” The announcer’s excitement was amping up the crowd to near deafening loudness.
I was glad I had a headset that muffled the roar.
“And Thomas is up! He has the ten! But Dominguez is right behind him! Thomas throws! Oh, ouch! Dominguez takes him to the turf! The Gnomes win!”
The headset crackled on, which I got to wear as their coach—not that I did anything besides relay anything important to the team. “We need a doctor for Thomas. He hit his head going down.”
My heart jumped into my throat as those on the sidelines swarmed the field in celebration and Beck left my line of sight.
I started to move forward onto the field and Payne grabbed my arm. “Let me go! Beck’s hurt!” I didn’t know if he could hear me, but he must have, because he said something to the rest of the pack, and they tucked me between them before moving out onto the field.
Payne put his arm around my shoulders as we shoved through people. For being the quiet broody one of the group, he had been surprisingly sweet.
We got to the goal area, and I shoved my way through the throng of people to find Beck just sitting up, a grin on his face.
The whine that left me drew every alpha’s attention as I bolted forward the final few feet and threw myself onto him. He rocked back a bit but stayed upright, wrapping his arms around me.
His purr started and he nuzzled his face into my neck. “I’m okay, little omega.”
I was pretty aware of all eyes on us and felt my cheeks flame. “What did I say about calling me that?”
“Guess you’ll have to punish me later.” He chuckled and then moved me off his lap so we could stand.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” He looked fine, but concussions couldn’t always be seen. “We should get you to the hospital.”
He kissed my forehead. “The doctor will check me out when we’re back in the locker room.”
“Sorry, man.” The player who had tackled him to the ground stuck out his hand to Beck. “Good game. Looking forward to kicking your asses next year.”
Rylan came up behind me and gave me a bear hug, lifting me off the ground. I squealed and spun as soon as my feet were touching down. He had a huge grin on his face and dove in for a kiss.
Warmth and comfort enveloped me on all four sides as my pack surrounded me. They’d won, and as excited as I was, I knew there were more serious matters we needed to deal with.
I knew as soon as we set foot in the tunnel from the field that something was wrong. My omega senses were tingling, and I squeezed Rio’s and Beck’s hands as we walked toward the locker room. They must have sensed it too because their relaxed demeanors were quickly replaced with tension.
We turned the corner, and there was a group of OPS agents and police officers outside the locker room. Their heads immediately turned our way and my stomach plummeted.
“This should be fun,” Rylan muttered. “Didn’t the security guards take Brian to the security office?”
“They’re here for me. I ran from them at the house.” I pulled free of Beck and Rio and walked farther in front of them.
The police were the ones that reacted though. They walked right past me. “Beckett Thomas?”
“That’s me.” He sighed, seeming to already know what was about to happen. Why else would they be asking him to identify himself?
All the happiness I’d felt over the win vanished as one of the officers stepped forward. “You’re under arrest for possession and use of heat stimulant pills.” The officer took out his cuffs. “Turn around.”
“What the fuck?” Beck took a step back. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
“You have the wrong guy. Brian Stokes was taken by stadium security for tampering with her pills.” Rio didn’t move from where he was standing but put his hand on Beck’s back, stopping him from retreating.”
“We’ve found heat stimulant pills in his bag matching the same pills that were given to Ms. Sterling.” One of the OPS officers held up a clear evidence bag with two containers of pills. “We also found the heat suppressants that we believe belong to Ms. Sterling.”
This couldn’t be happening.
“That’s insane! She’s my mate, I wouldn’t do something like this to her!” Beck’s face turned red, and his hands were shaking at his sides. “I haven’t seen those pills before.”
“Are you going to make a scene or are you going to come willingly?” The officer never took his eyes off Beck. “Given the circumstances, I would suggest your full cooperation.”
“Just go, Beck. I’ll call the lawyers.” Rio had his phone out and to his ear.
“Wait! Don’t I have a say in this? I think it’s a little soon to be making arrests when you haven’t dusted for fingerprints or done anything else. They could have been planted there!” I put myself between Beck and the officer, ready to protect him from being taken from me.
“Ms. Sterling, you’re going to have to come with us until we get this sorted.
We might have found the pills in Beck’s possession, but the entire pack is implicated in this.
” One of the women who worked for OPS stepped forward, a saddened expression on her face.
“I know this is tough, but let us run our investigation.”
“You can run your investigation while I stay at the house with my pack.” I was almost twenty-three freaking years old; they couldn’t force me to go to an omega compound.
Could they?
“The other alternative is to go with your family. We’ll have to send two beta OPS agents with you, but it should be fine since you are no longer in your heat.
I’ll need to confirm with your mother when her last heat was.
Either way, you aren’t going to be able to stay with your pack while we ensure your safety. ”
My shoulders slumped, and I felt like I’d been kicked in the gut.
“She only gets them once a year now and she just had it about a month ago.” If there was no way they were going to let me stay with the pack, then going to my parents was at least something.
“What about Brian? He was betting on the game.”
Everyone seemed to be forgetting about that slime bucket, and I wasn’t about to let him get away with something so heinous. It was one thing to switch out my heat suppressants, but to replace them with heat accelerants…?
Only omega doctors could prescribe those, and only under certain conditions. Omegas that took them usually had a medical condition of some kind or their heats didn’t trigger their mate’s rutting, meaning they couldn’t get pregnant.
But for an omega in good health to take them? No wonder it had been like World War III in my womb.
“Let’s go grab a bag from the house and then we’ll do a formal interview at OPS’s headquarters before we take you to your parents’.” The other OPS agent came forward and gently put her hand on my arm.
“Go, Kayla. It’s better that you aren’t in the middle of everything.” Beck stepped around me and looked over his shoulder. “It’ll be okay. Let us get all of this situated so you can come home to us.”
“But… I…” The OPS agent gently pushed at my shoulder to get me moving. “Wait. Let me say goodbye.”
I moved back toward Beck and threw my arms around him. He sighed into my neck, kissing me there before pulling away, his jaw set with tension and anger. “He won’t get away with this.”
“No. He won’t.” I kissed him before he went to the officers who didn’t handcuff him, but placed him in front of them as they headed toward the exit at the end of the corridor.
“Kayla girl, it’s going to be okay.” Kane turned me to face him, and I buried my face in his chest as he started purring. “Think of this as a little vacation to see your family.”
It wasn’t going to be much of a vacation knowing OPS were going to be breathing down my back the whole time I was there. It’s not like omegas that were born into a pack could just return home whenever they wanted. There were too many variables when it came to omega safety.
“We should be celebrating and bonding, not… this.” My eyes filled with tears, but I refused to let them fall. “It’s not fair.”
“When this is all over, we’ll go on a nice long vacation somewhere secluded where it’s just us, okay?” Kane stroked my back and pulled back to tilt my chin up. “We aren’t going anywhere.”
Kane moved out of the way and Rio took his place, kissing me gently. “We’ll make sure Beck’s taken care of. Don’t worry, this will all be figured out.”
Rylan took my hand, and I moved into his arms. “There’s nothing you can’t handle, curly. You’ll be back in our arms in no time at all.”
A tear escaped and he wiped it with his thumb. I’d just given in to the idea of them as my pack, and now they were being taken away from me.
With shaky legs, I joined the two OPS agents, one a beta and one an omega, and they flanked me on both sides as we headed down the hall away from my pack.