“Why?”
“I’m a fixer. I’m here to make sure my clients have long, lucrative careers, and they can’t do that with you.”
“They’ll never forgive you.”
“And they’ll never believe you if they find you with another Alpha during your heat.”
I grab for my back pocket to take out my phone, and he rips my forearm roughly, taking the device from me. My last life line is in his hands as he grins at me ferally and walks out of the room.
He slams the door, and I hear him drag a chair or something against the door handle. I wait a few moments and attempt to open it. The cramps are nearly debilitating, and fear is laced all throughout me. How am I going to get out of this? Nothing he’s saying warrants what he’s doing, and I know I’m dealing with a psychopath. It sounds like he’s going to send other Alphas down here. I can’t let that happen. I look throughout the room, and it looks like a physical therapy facility.
My skin is so hot, and my tears feel cool as they run down my face. I drag one of the tables and place it in front of the door. I grab my stomach as pain lances through me. My mind is getting more and more unclear every second, but I know that I have to barricade myself in here. I grab another table, putting it in front of the door. Next is a peddle bike, and luckily it has wheels on the bottom. I toss shit in front of the door haphazardly, just hoping it’s enough that someone can’t open the door. I toss a few chairs for good measure and make sure everything is locked into place.
They won’t know until the game is over. It’s going to be hours before they come and find me. That is, if no one else finds me in the meantime. I weep ugly, fat tears as I remove my clothes, wanting the aching itch of the material to go away and cool down my skin.
What if this gets taken away from me too? I just need them. I need them so badly.
In my haziness, all I can do is finger myself, which brings me no relief. It’s a pathetic attempt to remove the pain, but it’s all I have.
I have no one; I have nothing.
Chapter forty-six
Theonlynegativethingabout Charlotte being in the box is that I can’t see her while I play. The game goes smoothly. Mikael only goes to the sin bin twice. I only let the Penguins get two goals in, and Eli is just one goal short of a hat trick. We’re going away with a win as the buzzer sounds, and all I want to do is take all this gear off and get to our girl.
Fuck post-game interviews, the coaches pep talk, I just want Charlotte in my arms. I’m still bitter that Mikael told her he loves her first. It’s my fault for not saying it after this time, but I have got to say it tonight, or I might explode. She needs to know how I feel. We need to move this pack forward with bond marks, sharing a house, being together every moment that we possibly can.
I sent off a quick text to Charlotte letting her know that we’re running behind.
Me:Meet you in the box soon,Kulta.Half hour tops.
But we’ve gotta deal with this bureaucratic bullshit first. I get an obscene amount of stick pats to the ass as we skate back to the locker room. We tap gloves to the fans holding out their hands. Eli looks the most exhausted out of all of us as we sit on the bench.
Jake comes into the locker room with a beaming smile on his face. “Great game, boys. Eli, I’ve got a deal with Nike lined up for next week.”
Eli sips his water and nods his head. I inhale, and Jake smells different. He honestly smells like bleach. I shake off the intrusive scent and take off all my layers of gear.
“Larsen, Beckford, Babinin, and Martel, you’re on deck for the press tonight.”
“Fuck,” Mikael and Eli hiss in unison.
“Jake, can you let Charlotte know to wait up for us?”
“Oh, I think she left,” he says.
“She what?”
“Something about needing to go take care of something?”
“Was she feeling alright?” Mikael asks.
“Seemed fine to me, except she did mention someone named Carter?”
“Who?” Eli asks with a growl.
“If I see her, I’ll let her know, but you guys are needed for the press.”
“What the fuck?” Eli says next to me.
