He opened his mouth, then closed it again. At least he wasn’t about to tell me he was fucking fine. It was obvious he wasn’t.
That word infuriated me. Only people who werenotfine used it.
“She told me what happened.” He pulled out his phone and showed me the picture on the screen.
His sister was gorgeous, there was no denying that, but she also looked sickly. Her skin had a greenish tint, her cheeks hollow, eyes a bit sunken. She was all skin and bones after the ordeal.
“They found her like that,” he said, his voice a haunted whisper. “On the floor. Kieran… she was half dead. The doctor said if she hadn’t made it to her phone, I would’ve lost her.”
“You didn’t lose her,” I said firmly.
He blew out a breath. “I wanted to go kill them. She won’t let me. She wants to see how long it takes those stupid fucks to realize she even left. According to her, she hasn’t seen them for months.”
I already hated the Narwhals, but now I wanted to drive to North Crossing myself and beat the hell out of every one of them.
“The league makes allotments for packs,” I said after taking a hearty swig of my beer. The cool, bitter liquid did little to settle me. “There’s no reason they should’ve missed a thing. Did they even have games?”
He waved that off. “Of course they had games. But nothing they couldn’t have postponed. Theychosenot to. She said she called and reminded them, but they barely listened. Then she called again when it hit, and they didn’t even fucking answer. She called them one by fucking one. She showed me their texts and calls. I call my favorite pizza place more than that.”
Red-hot rage bubbled inside me. That poor omega was lying in a hospital bed as a direct result of their stupidity.
“Why aren’t we killing them?” I asked again.
“Because I love her more than I need to take my anger out on them.” He ran a hand over his face, then upended his beer and drained it far too fast.
I didn’t call him on it, I just grabbed him another. I understood better than anyone what he stood to lose.
“She’s coming to live with us,” he said, almost like a challenge.
“Okay,” I agreed easily. We wouldn’t argue against it. He was our best friend, even if he wasn’t pack. “What can we do?”
“Convert the guest room. They said there’s a last round of labs to check, but I think the doctor’s stalling to get a social worker involved or something. Not that it’ll do any fucking good. My sister’s as stubborn as I am.”
“Just don’t forget to talk to Coach about her staying here,” I suggested. “I don’t think he’ll have a problem since we all agree, but you don’t want issues down the road. Then leave the rest to me. I’ll rally the guys and grab furniture and necessities.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Yeah, okay. She said something about wanting to start over. She plans to donate almost everything she owns. They wronged her, and now she’s washing her hands of them forever.”
“I kind of admire her for that,” I admitted.
“God, her face is haunting me,” he said, emotion clogging his throat.
I remembered that phone call just as vividly. We were finishing up a late practice. Only a handful of us were left in the locker room when she called. Conrad answered, then shouted for someone to call an ambulance, switching between murmuring to her softly and barking orders. I’ve never seen the alpha so unsettled.
No one should have to watch someone they love fading on screen. Heats already burned through an insane amount ofcalories. She was left completely alone, no food or water. It was a miracle that she’d managed to stay alive.
The worst part was if she hadn’t made it, and they barely went home… how long would she have been there?
I shuddered at the thought, chasing it away quickly.
Anger replaced that fear. Fuck them. They deserved to face consequences for this.
I’d have to force myself to remember that she wanted to see how long it took them to notice she moved out. A sick, twisted part of me wanted to know that, too. I couldn’t imagine going that long without seeing someone I cared about.
The fact that she tried to call every single one of them and not one answered was deplorable, especially since she didn’t seem like someone who called for help easily. They had to know it was serious.
They never deserved her.
At least, now she had Conrad and us. We might not know her yet, but if Conrad cared about her, she was family. We’d make damn sure that she was safe and settled. No alpha in their right mind could watch an omega suffer like this.
