Chapter 26 #2
But this? Seeing this fucking waste of space here makes me want to go down there, grab someone’s skate, and slit his fucking throat.
“I didn’t realize he got traded,” she sighs. “I’ve been so happy...”
“Nope, we aren’t going to do that,” I tell her. “You are happy, and you’re going to fucking stay that way. Is that understood?” Like hell am I going to let this fucker take that away from her. He’s already taken enough.
I manage to convince her to watch the game, keeping my hand in hers, being the support she needs. It doesn’t help me, though. The whole time, I’m focused on that monster and all the ways I want to hurt him. He’s ruining this game for me. I should be watching my guys, cheering them on.
She isn’t completely settled, but she is determined to last the whole game. I’m proud of her, she’s such a strong woman.
Sometimes I find myself wishing I were more like her. She’s always been able to take care of herself. Meanwhile, I was forced to move back home with my witch of a mother.
Nope, Addie, we are not going to add another stressful thing to our minds right now.
I keep up small talk, trying to distract her, and before we know it, the Scented Scorpions are announced as the winners.
Jumping to my feet, I cheer, smiling big, forgetting for just a moment about the monster on the ice.
“Let’s get out of here.” I turn to Cae. She looks out at the ice for a moment before we make our way out of the stands.
It’s insanely crowded, so we keep our hands locked together so we don’t lose one another.
Someone pushes me, making me squeal in surprise. My heart starts racing, and a panic I’m not used to settles in. I don’t like this. I can’t breathe. I want to get out of this crowd, now.
“That was the door to head to the locker rooms,” Cae says loudly as we’re pushed past the door in question. Shit.
You know what? Fuck this. Fuck these assholes. You wanna push? I can do it too. “Time to be less nice,” I say, shoving my way across the crowd.
In the process, someone pushes Cae, and her hand slips from mine. Fuck!
“Addie!” she yells.
“Cae!” I shout back, going onto my tiptoes as I try to search for her, but I can’t find her. No. No!
I dive back into the sea of people, looking for her, pushing my way through. “Cae!” I shout, my heart racing as tears prick the backs of my eyes. She’s okay. Everything is okay. She just got separated, it’s not a big deal. God, I hope it’s not a big deal.
There are just so many damn people.
“Where’s Caelia?” Spinning around, I look up at Coach Miles. “Did you lose each other?”
“I was holding her hand, and someone broke my grip,” I tell him, tears running down my cheeks. “I turned to find her, and she was being pushed. Miles, she thought someone was watching us in the stands today. I don’t think she was being paranoid either.”
“Show me,” he tells me. I turn to find an older lady I remember the guys introducing me to, their PR manager, Marilyn. “Tell Santos to come find me, please,” Miles says to her.
She nods, looking at me. “I’m going with him,” I say, rubbing the tears away from my eyes. “She was pushed into a hallway, a little farther down. There are just too many people.”
“I’ll fix that,” Miles mutters, his hand on my shoulder as we walk. “Move the fuck out of the way! I have an emergency."
People start to move, giving us room.
“Miles?” I ask softly.
“Tell me,” he demands.
“One of the Alphas who hurt Caelia played tonight,” I tell him, voice shaking. “He was on the ice. What if...”
“Fuck. Who?” he demands as he breaks into a run.
“Luis Meyer,” I rasp, running after him. “It couldn’t have been him who pushed us apart, right?” They just got off the ice. There’s no way he could have made it back here so quickly. Not with being in full gear.
“I wouldn’t put it past the dead head,” he mutters.
He hands me his phone. “There’s a group pack text. Tell the guys where I am.” He takes off, not looking back.
It’s when I hear Cae’s scream that my whole heart breaks.
I want to go after him, to make sure my best friend is okay, but I’d only be in the way. He has this. He will help her.
With shaky hands, I open the group chat and send them a text, praying back up gets here soon.
Then I take my phone and call Carson and Reid. It goes to voicemail. “Fuck.” They’re in the locker rooms. They should have their phones by now. Where are they?
It doesn’t take long for Santos to show up.
“Where?” he growls, and I point in the direction Miles just went.
He takes off, and I decide to follow after. I’m not sitting by while someone is potentially hurting my best friend.
When I get to the room, I gasp, hand to my mouth, as I push my back against the wall.
Santos is holding Cae while Miles is curb stomping a guy on the ground. I stand there in shock, wondering what the fuck is going on.
The men share words, but I’m too focused on my best friend. She’s bleeding, and she looks scared.
“Caelia,” I whisper, my body working again as I push off the wall. “I’m so sorry, your poor face.”
Taking my sweater, I wrap it around her waist. The fact that this man was about to rape my best friend settles in, breaking my fucking heart.
“I’m fine.” She whispers, her trembling body hugging mine. I don’t believe that one bit.
After we share what happened with Marilyn, the guys walk me to the car. I don’t want to be in that building anymore. I need air and a moment to think before I lose my mind and start crying again.
Grabbing my phone, I try for another text with my guys, and I see that I have a missed call.
It’s from Carson, followed by a text that says Reid left his phone at home, and his is about to die, and they will meet me out front in a few.
When Cae’s Alphas drop me off at Carson’s car, I give my best friend a big hug, tell her I love her, and ask her to text me when she gets home.
It’s not until I’m locked in the front seat of the car that I let myself break. I burst into deep, heavy sobs, my body shaking.
This whole night has been a blurry nightmare. One that was supposed to be a fun time to hang out with my best friend and support my Alphas.
But it turned into a nightmare, one where my best friend nearly had the worst moment in her life repeated.
I can’t stop thinking about what could have happened if we hadn’t gotten to her in time.
“Addie.” Banging on the door makes me scream. My eyes fly open to see Carson and Reid peering at me through the window. “Baby, what's wrong? Open the door.”
After unlocking the door, Carson throws it open and pulls me to my feet.
“Are you okay?” He wraps me up in his arms, and Reid steps up behind me.
“We’re so fucking sorry, baby. My phone died, and Reid left his at home.
We thought you were waiting for us by the locker room, but when we finally got out, we noticed you weren’t there.
Fans tried to bombard us, so we had to push our way through the crowd.
When we couldn’t find you, we were ready to burn the whole fucking place down. ”
“We’re sorry we worried you, baby. So fucking sorry."
“I’m not crying about that.” I sniff, my face buried in Carson’s chest. I breathe in his scent, letting it settle over me like a comforting blanket.
“Did something happen? Did someone hurt you?” Reid growls.
“Not me.” I break out into another fit of sobs. I’m drained. All I want is to go back to their place and cuddle in my nest surrounded by my Alphas. Except, not all my Alphas are here, which makes me cry harder.
They manage to get me to calm down, and I tell them about everything that happened.
“Fuck,” Reid curses. “Addie, baby, we’re so fucking sorry. We should have been there. We had no idea there was a safety issue for Cae.”
“I know,” I sniff. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Is she okay?” Carson asks.
I nod. “She went home with her pack.”
“Why didn’t you come find us after they left?”
“Because I was seconds away from breaking down." I huff. “I didn’t want to be in there anymore. I needed to be alone for a moment to process.”
“Come on.” Carson nods toward the car. “Let's get you home.”
“We’ll order in and cuddle. How does that sound?”
“Perfect.”
The whole car ride home, I sit in the back, cuddled into Carson, clinging to him like my life depends on it. I check my phone when we pull into the driveway, thankful to see that Cae got home safely. I check in on her, and she insists she’s okay.
I know she’s not, but she has her men, and they will make sure she will be. I hope those fuckers make sure Luis loses everything.
“Are you okay?” Reid asks as we walk to the house.
“I’m a little hot.” I fan myself. “Maybe I’m coming down with the flu?”
“Could be your body reacting to the overstimulation.”
“Maybe.”
We head inside and straight up to my nest. I step out of my clothes until I’m fully naked, the feeling of freedom after my clothes felt so restricting.
I moan when I lie down in the sea of blankets and pillows. “This feels nice.” I nuzzle into the softness.
The guys give me a look, but don’t say anything.
I make them get rid of their clothes before coming into my nest, only their boxers on as they cuddle in.
Using the projector they set up for me, we watch a movie, cuddled up together.
I’m unable to sit still, making it clear that my body is feeling off. Carson and Reid manage to get me to eat something, but it’s not until I start to perfume, my head growing heavy, body aching, that I realize something is really wrong.
“I don’t feel so good.”
“Shit,” Reid hisses. “Sweet Girl. I don’t want you to freak out, but I think you’re going into heat.”
“No,” I whine. “No. I can’t. Not yet. I have a few weeks.”
“I think it’s happening a lot sooner than expected.” Carson brushes some sweaty hair away from my forehead.
“No.” I shake my head. “I can’t. Not without Damien. I need Damien.” I start to cry at the idea of doing this without him. “I need all of you. I don’t want my heat without all of you.”
“Shhh.” Reid soothes me. “I’ll call him, okay? We’ll get him here, I promise.”
“Damien,” I whimper as I roll into Carson, grabbing FooFoo and burying my nose into her fur. “I need Damien.”
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