“Dr. Stetson’s the best for this kinda stuff,” I nod, stepping behind her and lacing my fingers with hers.
I need to touch her, to try and offer her some reassuring physical contact, especially after tonight, where I wasn’t allowed to touch her at all, unless it was to put on that stupid show.
I know I’m not an alpha, but from what I’ve learned, physical contact in general is a big thing used to help with omegas in distress. And Mirabelle is definitely in distress.
“Dunno about the new guy,” Ash says with a teasing huff towards Griffin, “But Rage and I have survived worse. Like I said, you’ve got nothing to worry about, Shortcake.”
“Hey, I pulled my weight during that fight, doesn’t that mean I’ve graduated from the ‘New guy’ label?” Griffin snorts in response.
Mirabelle watches anxiously as Dr. Stetson patches all three of them back up. I don’t think she takes a full breath until the doc finishes up patching up Rage and gives the all clear.
Even though she seems to be a little more relaxed, now that she’s seen and spoken with all the guys after the fight, I know that I’m not bringing her to any of the other fights.
If only I knew how badly that would backfire on us.
CHAPTER 30
Mirabelle
Rowan’s been in a terrible mood all day.
I keep on finding him furiously tapping away on his phone before shoving it into his pocket when he realizes I’m watching him.
“Are you worried about the fight tonight?” I murmur softly, perching myself on the couch cushion beside him.
His shoulders are tense and he’s radiating the frustration that would suffocate to be around if he were an alpha.
“Something like that,” he mutters, scrubbing a hand down his face before trying to relax his expression. “You have nothing to worry about though. We’re gonna go out and win. Your job is to sit pretty and stay here.”
I nod slowly, picking at my cuticles.
It’s been a couple weeks since the last fight and I still haven’t been able to get the flashes of violence from that night out of my head. They’ve worked their way into my dreams. Sometimes I’ll wake up to Rowan shaking my shoulder and telling me it’s not real.
But it was real.
I watched it happen with my own two eyes.
I’m not sure why I’m so bothered by that fight night. It wasn’t like that was my first experience with violence. I watched Jett beat Rowan into the floor, and even though it was terrifying, there was just something about watching my alphas fight that’s stuck with me.
Maybe it’s because that was the first showcase I’ve seen of why the label “feral” is used to describe them. The kind of violence that occurred in that ring was different than the sadistic beatings Jett is fond of.
There’s an animalistic, uncontrollable, overwhelmingly vicious air to those fight nights.
“I know we’ll be gone for the entire weekend since this is a bigger showcase. They moved it out of town since some Northsiders were apparently sniffing around some of the other locations used, but you have enough food to last you the week,” Rowan continues after it’s clear that I’m not going to fill the silence between us. “I got you extra alfredo.”
“Thank you.” I offer him a smile that’s a little tight around the edges. “I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too, Sugar,” he says with a sigh, standing from the couch.
“Make sure the guys are okay,” I call after him as he picks up his backpack.
“I will. They’ll come back in one piece, promise. You stay out of trouble here too, ‘kay? I know you wouldn’t cause any, but you should probably stay inside.”
“I know.”
“Ah, that reminds me, I have a gift for you.”
Rowan digs in his backpack and pulls out box about the length of my arm.
