“Who did this?” I growl, alpha dominance flooding each word.
Raven jumps at my harsh tone, and I feel even worse than I did before. Shit. I don’t want to scare her, and she doesn’t deserve to witness an all-out brawl right now. She’s already shivering so bad her teeth are chattering.
The dark-skinned guy steps forward, his expression twists in pain, but he holds his head high. “I did.”
I move to stand, wanting to skin him alive for bonding my omega, but Raven clings to me harder, not letting me go. “No, it’s not his fault. I… I think I did it?”
“You think?” I ask.
“It’s all kind of fuzzy, but it’s starting to come back to me.” She turns her head to look at the other man. “Did I bite you first?”
He drops his gaze to the floor. “I should have stopped you.”
“Fuck no,” one of the other guys cuts in. He’s covered in tattoos, blond hair shaved at the sides and longer on top. “This was always meant to be. We’re scent matches. This wasn’t a mistake. It was fate.”
Scent matches. That pulls me up short. I study each man more carefully.
Raven gives the man with the tattoos a sad look beforereturning her attention to me. “I just want to get out of here.”
Sick as it makes me feel, I know that’s not a good idea.
“We’ll give you a little space,” the beta says. He’s big for a beta. Athletic. With brown hair, a strong jaw, and kind eyes.
The other guys seem reluctant to agree, until the preppy, All-American looking one steps between them and Raven and half-shoves them toward the hall. “We’ve got to get ready for a game, anyway.”
“Names,” I snap just as they start to disperse. If they’re Raven’s, and she’s mine, we’re all gonna have to get comfortable with each other real fast. It’ll be her choice whether she keeps them or not, but I’m not letting her slip through my fingers now that I know for sure she’smyscent match. Maybe the kid is right, and this is fate. Or maybe he’s wrong and someone fucked up royally—namely, me, for letting her out of my sight. But the damage is done. Like it or not, we’re all gonna have to navigate a way forward together.
The guys quickly introduce themselves, Tanner tacking on that they’re the U.S. curling team. Then they leave Raven and me alone.
As soon as the room drops into silence, my phone buzzes from my pocket, followed by the same noise from Raven’s.
“It’s probably Coach and Harriett,” she says, not moving to answer.
“How do you want to handle this,principessa?”
She sighs, letting out a puff of hot air that I feel against my neck. “I can’t ignore them.” She pulls back to meet my gaze and I’m torn apart by the devastation I see in hers. “Even if I wanted to—which I don’t—I won’t be able to stay with my… withthemall the time. They have games. Harriett has a schedule. We’ll just have to try to be with them as much as we can to avoid the bonding sickness.”
I like that she sayswe. It’s probably just because she knows it’s my job to stay with her, but it makes something warm melt in my chest.
“We’ll have to figure out a way to come back and stay the nights here, but during the day it’ll be hard.” She turns her face away, her long hair hiding her from me.
“I’m sorry I didn’t protect you.” I go to run my fingers over the fresh bond mark, but pull back before I touch her skin. It isn’t my bite, and I don’t want to upset her further. “I should have been there and stopped this. I failed you. And now you’re bonded to strangers.”
“Not strangers.” She laughs humorlessly, lifting her head so it’s only half covered by her hair.
I brush the rest of the dark strands away from her face, studying the odd, bitter expression. “You knew them already?”
“Yeah, from years ago. They were my high school bullies.” Raven shrugs, brushing it off.
My hands curl into fists, teeth clenching as a growl, low and menacing, pushes up my throat.
When she recoils, I squeeze my eyes shut and try to gain back a semblance of control. It’s hard when all I can think about is Raven being picked on. My girl should never feel anything but happy and adored. I take two slow breaths before opening my eyes again.
“Sorry.” I cup her face in my hands, making sure she’s paying attention. “Do you want me to beat them up for you?”
I really hope she says yes.
She laughs again, this time with amusement. “Maybe later.”
