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Chapter forty-six

Kit

We’re all shell-shocked, but the nurses take one look at me and drag me away. After a battery of tests, I get a report from a concerned doctor.

Freddie gave me fractured ribs, a broken nose, and a lot of bruising. They also sat and quietly probed to see if it was domestic violence. I assured them it wasn’t, but I’m relieved the doctors are being so thorough. After what I went through as a child, I’m glad to see things have changed a bit.

I limp back out to the waiting room. The whole team is in there, but I have eyes for my pack only. Ryann sees me and stands up. We rush towards each other and collide in a mass of tangled arms. Her face is pale, and she looks like she’s been through hell and back.

“I thought I was never going to see you again,” she whispers and kisses my throat.

I close my eyes, hating that she went through that, but it feels so good to hold her in my arms.

Wren comes up slowly, his hand in Callan’s. I raise my eyebrows, and Callan shrugs with a wide grin.

“Short version is that Wesley got to his ex, and she delivered the photos of Bailey in an attempt to run Wren off. He went there to protect us. We also think she’s the one that tipped off the press.”

I exhale in a whoosh. “Is there any part of our lives this guy didn’t touch?”

“Have you seen my son, Raider Raines?”

I turn and find part of the Raines clan staring back at us. I’m not sure which side I’m more intimidated by, the family or the team. His mother has been crying, that makes me feel awful .

A guy in leather comes towards us and smiles. “Keys.”

I blink at him. “What?”

“I need your keys. I’m going to find out how he knew what he knew.”

“That’s Mills,” Lia says. “He and Ranger are going to take the rest of the guys to the Demon’s rooms and your house and see how he did it.”

“Why didn't you do that before?” Callan asks.

“Because it would have tipped him off into acting earlier, and, to be honest, we weren’t sure, but now, every trace of him needs to disappear so you can be safe. So pass over the keys.”

It makes sense, but I don’t want people in our house. I don’t want spy equipment in there either. I reluctantly hand over the keys, and the leather-wearing guys leave, all except the one with crazy in his eyes.

I think it’s Ianto that has stayed behind. I look away, I don’t care.

The doctor comes out. “Raider- oh, look at all of you. Well, that is quite a support system. He’s a very lucky alpha!”

“Is he okay?” Ryann rushes to ask.

“Raider is fine. He’s had a bit of an adverse reaction to the drug that was used, but he’s recovering now. He’s just going to need plenty of rest and recovery. Now, he has done significant damage to his leg. I’m sorry to say, but I think his days of playing professionally are over. Did he get his skates back on and go back on the ice?” She looks between us with a frown. “No matter, it's done now, and it can’t be undone.”

I hold Ryann’s hand tight because I don’t want to break Raider’s heart with this news. I don’t want to steal his dream.

“You can go in and see him now, just a couple of people.”

I suck in a breath and exhale. “Auggie, do you want to go in with Callan, Charles, and Ryann.”

Auggie takes half a step and stops, shaking her head, obviously seeing the disappointment in Wren. “No, it's not my place, you and Wren should go in.”

I’m not going to argue with her. I need my alpha. Ryann takes my hand and leads the way.

Raider is lying in the bed asleep. His face is pale, and he doesn’t look good, but he’s sleeping peacefully. That’s something.

Ryann goes to him and takes his hand, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Raider, you idiot, you should have gone to the hospital.” She starts to sob, great, big, huge, whole body sobs. She’s been holding it in all this time. Too much has happened. I swallow hard and look away so I can get myself under control. Wren draws her into his arms and holds her while she cries. She clings to him like he’s her life raft .

I sit down and put my head in my hands while Callan leans down to whisper to Raider.

My body trembles, and it aches badly. We almost lost everything tonight. I have never been more scared in my life. I start to cry, swiping at my eyes. Callan turns and kneels before me, he grips the back of my neck and pulls me down until our foreheads are pressed together.

He repeats the same words over and over.

“It’s over. We survived.”

It doesn’t feel like it. Not yet.

Zaden places everything he found in front of us. There are journals, videos, and external hard drives. Some of it goes back years and years.

He even had the footage of Rusty running down Danyal. There were multiple listening devices and a motion detecting camera in the woods. In the teams rooms, Zaden found he had gotten access to the medical files of Wren and Raider and was blackmailing the coach and manipulating everything.

He showed us old photos of Rusty, and as I stare down at the young guy, I wouldn’t have thought in a million years that Wesley and he were the same person.

But it was everything we would have needed to convict him. Mirakill might have their hands clean of this, but Despair MC’s hands are bloody.

His body won’t be found, but neither will Freddie’s. I don’t even feel a little bit bad over it.

Wren took everything and went with Callan and burned it all. We don’t want even the slightest bit of evidence to point in our direction. And just like that, Rusty Diernan or Wesley Carter disappeared from our planet completely, his whole existence erased but for some team photos that do not record his name.

A few days later, Ryann asked about the coach. Wren had told us all a couple of days earlier, and we’d agreed to wait until she asked.

Breaking the news to Ryann about her uncle was awful, she retreated into herself. I think she’d idolized her uncle while she was on the run. He was the last of her family, so she built him up to be a hero. Ripping that curtain open had her needing to reassess and grieve a whole different part of her life.

Auggie, Charles, Sol, and Wayne stayed in town, and they have been over almost every day getting to know us, trying to make it up to Raider. The Raines are proving that family doesn’t give up, it tries harder. They are showing Raider and Ryann they are not alone .

They are showing me they are sorry for all the years of overlooking my relationship with their son.

I can’t help but see the similarities between Auggie and Ryann. Both betas are strong and capable with huge hearts and so much love in them. Their blossoming friendship is something special to see.

When I couldn’t take anymore of the smothering of the Raines, I called my family and Wren’s, and the packs descended. My mothers embraced Ryann wholeheartedly, just like I knew they would. My dads were impressed by her and loved Wren.

She was hugged and kissed and teased until her head was spinning, and that was just from my side. Wren’s sisters adores her. When Wren’s mother had seen Ryann, she’d hugged her for a long time with silent tears running down her cheeks.

“Thank you for loving my son,” she’d said to all of us.

Louise Turner is one of the most beautiful souls I’ve ever met, and her daughters and son have that same inner fire.

Our families mingled and merged. The Raines with the Turners with the Mogels.

It was sad to see Ryann with no one, but as she pointed out, we had more than enough to share with her.

Callan’s dad made it out, too. I’d watched him warily as he’d awkwardly hummed around an apology. The desperation and misery in his eyes had me whispering to Callan to forgive him.

He’d come in, and, to my surprise, he hadn’t said one offensive thing. He’d gotten along with the families and was respectful and kind. He was trying to change, which is more than I ever dreamed for Callan.

My very unsure alpha and he had gone off and had a talk, and they’d both come back red-eyed and sniffing. Callan said later that his dad was so lost in missing his mum that he was just hurting everyone around him. It wasn’t until he left that he realised he was going to lose Callan.

He’s trying to change.

Isn’t that all we can ask?

Raider’s surgery went well, and Wren retired, making the trade void. Our families have backed off a bit, giving us the semblance of privacy tonight for a couple of hours.

Raider comes out of Callan’s office looking dazed.

“What’s wrong?” I ask in concern.

“They want me to stay at the club, they want to train me in whatever I want to learn. I could become a coach or any position I want. I just need to let them know, and they will help me with the study and get me set up. The Demons don’t want to lose me! And they want to sponsor the youth team that Wren is setting up! ”

Ryann screams and throws herself at Raider, kissing him hard. He pulls her tight against him before they break away from each other. Wren approaches slowly, I can see he’s struggling with his emotions.

I’d have thought the two would have needed to talk, but Raider just pulled Wren down and kissed him. If they ever discussed what happened, I don’t know. But the rift was healed, and that’s all I care about.

I inhale and exhale. “So, would now be a good time to tell you I’ve decided to open that online store?”

Ryann screams again and rushes me this time. Her soft curves meet my body and set me on fire.

I flick the button on her jeans, but she struggles free.

“We can’t,” she says with regret.

“Why?” I moan.

“Because our family is coming back over.”

I put my forehead on her shoulder and growl. “But I want to make you feel so good you purr.”

She giggles. She’s lighthearted, happy, her smile is joyous, but those shadows return at odd times. She still can’t leave the house without scanning the neighbourhood, and sometimes, at night, I catch her at the window.

Her emotions hit like a storm. It’s a lot to process, and I’ve found our pack a therapist. We’re going to need it. But whatever it takes to not find her curled up on the couch crying silently, too afraid to walk into another room.

The doorbell rings, and I watch in bemusement as hockey players and their families storm our house. They set up a barbecue out the back and crack open the beers.

This is our other family.

Raider and Wren might not be part of the team anymore, but I think that bond is for life.

I circulate around them, and no one treats me as less or like a freak. They treat me with respect like I’m a friend or family.

When the Raines arrive, Bethany approaches Ryann first, and the two hug. Whatever animosity was there before is gone. No one is holding grudges or hostility anymore. It’s all over.

Everyone’s having a good time, lights are strung up illuminating our backyard, the grill sends out an eye-watering amount of meat. Salads appear, people chat in a loud symphony of sound. The mix of alphas, betas, and omegas should be overwhelming, but they aren’t. Not for me, not here .

Wren and Raider lean on each other while Ryann grabs a stick and shows a few of the packs omegas how to hit a puck the right way. I have a feeling when Wren starts teaching kids, she will be right there with him, following her father’s footsteps.

It’s the most perfect night.

Callan wraps his arms around me from behind. “Are you having a good time?”

I nod my head, I’m not anxious or panicking. I’m safe with these people. For me, that’s a really good time.

“I am.”

“Good, let's talk about those bonds.”

I suck in a breath as my alpha grinds his hard dick against my ass.

“I want them tonight,” Callan growls in my ear.

I bite my lip to hold back a groan. “Okay,” I breathe. We’d talked about this off and on, but I need them as much as he does. “Let's convince the others.”

“Thank you, Kit.”

Now, it’s the perfect night.