Jaxon's voice cut through the chaos. Where Luca's control was fracturing, Jaxon's had already shattered completely. I could hear it in the growl that vibrated through his chest as he shoved through the crowd.
"Don't touch her," Luca snapped at him.
"Fuck you, I'm not leaving her..."
"Your scent is making it worse!"
They were fighting. Luca and Jaxon were fighting and it was my fault. Everything was my fault.
Another Alpha lunged forward and I don't know what he was trying to do, comfort me or claim me or just get closer, but Luca's fist connected with his jaw before he made it two steps. Blood sprayed across the concrete. Someone else grabbed Luca from behind and suddenly the entire hallway erupted into violence.
I couldn't breathe.
My back hit the wall as I slid down, my vision tunneling. Through the chaos I could see Jaxon fighting his way toward me, his eyes wild and unfocused. Behind him, Luca was holding off three Alphas at once, his movements surgical and brutal.
They were protecting me.
They were destroying each other.
"Stop," I tried to say, but the word came out as barely a whisper. "Please stop."
Jaxon reached me first. His hands were gentle when they cupped my face but I could feel how badly he was shaking. How hard he was fighting his own instincts.
"I've got you," he said, his voice rough. "You're okay. I've got you."
But I wasn't okay.
My scent was still pouring out of me, uncontrolled and vicious. I could see what it was doing to them. To all of them. Jaxon's pupils were blown wide, his scent shifting into something dangerous and possessive. Behind him, Luca had stopped fighting and was just standing there, fists clenched, staring at us like he was watching his world end.
Security finally arrived.
They pulled Jaxon away from me and he fought them, snarling and snapping like an animal. It took four of them to drag him down the hallway. Luca didn't fight when they grabbed him. He just let them, his eyes never leaving mine.
I tried to tell him I was sorry.
I tried to tell them both.
But then my mom was there, her face white with fury and fear, and she was wrapping her coat around me and pulling me toward the exit. She was saying something about protocols and suppressants and how could I be so careless.
The last thing I saw before she shoved me into the car was Luca and Jaxon being separated by security.
Luca's jaw was bleeding. Jaxon's knuckles were split open. And they were both staring at each other with something that looked like hatred.
Because of me.
I'd ruined everything.
Three days later, my mom enrolled me in an all girl’s prep school in another state. I never saw the inside of that rink again.
I never saw Luca or Jaxon again either.
Not for twelve years.
Not until the day I walked into NIHL corporate headquarters and my knees nearly buckled. The scent that had filled my nostrils and had my skin prickled with goosebumps. The smell of cold ceadar and clean ice with a hint of metal had haunted my dreams for years.
Not until the day I realized my body had been breaking down for over a decade.
Because it had been trying to get back tothem.
