Page 56

Chapter

Thirty-Six

DARREN

T he world tilts sideways, and I can't fucking breathe.

My skin feels like it's on fire, and my blood like it's literally boiling.

Real heat, not the game-induced sweat I'm used to, rips through me like a goddamn wildfire.

The suppressants were supposed to prevent this.

Were supposed to keep me safe, keep me functional, keep me from becoming exactly what I am right now, which is a pathetic omega going into heat in front of thousands of people.

Zayn's hands are on me, dragging me through the tunnel, and I want to lean into his touch and run from it at the same time.

His leather scent is overwhelming, making my head spin worse than it already is.

Everything smells too strong, too much. The arena reeks of alpha aggression and my own humiliation.

"Just a little further," Zayn mutters in my ear, his grip tightening as my legs threaten to give out. "Come on, Brick. Stay with me."

Brick . The nickname feels like a mockery now even though for once, he's not being a dick. He's being caring and attentive and protective, and somehow that makes it so much worse.

Some fucking brick I turned out to be, crumbling at the first real test. All the suppressants, all the pretending I could still be the player I was before, and for what? To end up proving everyone right who said an omega couldn't hack it in the NHL?

They shove me into a room, either some kind of VIP suite or green room, but I can't tell through the haze, and suddenly I'm surrounded. Jax, Dmitri, Zayn, and then Aidan stumbles in, his knuckles bloody, his face wild.

"Is he—" Aidan starts, then stops when he sees me slumped against the wall. "Fuck, Darren, I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry."

"For what?" I manage to croak out, though speaking feels like swallowing glass. "For defending me? For doing what I couldn't?"

Because that's the real kicker, isn't it? I couldn't even defend myself. Just stood there like prey while Morris came at me, while the whole arena watched me fall apart. If Aidan hadn't?—

"I went too far," Aidan says, and there's a haunted quality in his green eyes. "I nearly killed him. I couldn't stop, I just… When I saw him coming for you?—"

"You did what you had to," I cut him off, because I saw Morris's face too.

Saw the feral look in his eyes when he caught my scent, when he realized what I was.

That wasn't going to end with a clean check into the boards.

My gut churns with revulsion at the thought of what he would've done if he'd gotten to me. "Would've been a bloodbath either way."

"Darren's right," Jax says, his captain voice cutting through the chaos in my head. "Morris crossed a line. We all saw it. We'll all vouch for what happened."

"Fucker's lucky to be breathing," Dmitri adds, his accent thicker with anger. "Coming after pack like that."

Pack . The word makes my chest hurt.

But fuck, the way they're looking at me.

I can see it in their eyes, the way their nostrils flare slightly, the tightness in their shoulders.

They're affected by my heat, trying so hard not to show it, to be good teammates, good packmates.

Jax's jaw is clenched so tight I'm surprised his teeth don't crack.

Dmitri's standing further back than usual, hands fisted at his sides.

Even Zayn, who's still got an arm around me, is breathing through his mouth while trying to keep as much space between us as he can.

I spent so long fighting my designation, convinced it would change everything, but here they are. Still treating me like a teammate. Still looking out for me. Still trying to give me space even though this room smells like a fucking rut house.

What did I think? That my teammates, the men I've played alongside for years, were going to do a sudden one-eighty the moment I went into heat, like that bastard out on the ice?

The realization that reality couldn't be further from the truth is at once a comfort and a source of shame. I can rely on my pack, but can they rely on me? After tonight, I'm not so sure.

"Stop that," Jax says sharply, and I realize he's reading my face. "Whatever you're thinking, stop. This doesn't change anything."

"Doesn't it?" I laugh, but it comes out more like a sob. "I just went into heat in the middle of a fucking game. The whole world saw. The press is going to?—"

"Fuck the press," Zayn interrupts, finally stepping back. "We need to get you somewhere safe."

Safe. Right. Because I'm an omega that needs protecting now. The irony isn't lost on me. The Brick, who spent his whole career protecting others, reduced to this.

"Where's Lexie?" The question tears out of me before I can stop it. Because if I've ruined things with my own career, that's one thing. But Lexie... "She saw everything. She was in the VIP box, she?—"

"Dmitri already left to get her," Jax assures me.

I look around the room and wonder when the hell the mountain of an alpha disappeared. Fuck, my head is clouded.

"She's probably worried sick," Aidan mutters, clearly still beating himself up for beating the ever loving shit out of Morris out there. Have to admit, I didn't know the rookie had it in him.

He's right. She must be worried. Or disgusted. Or reconsidering everything about being with someone who just proved he can't control his own biology. The thought makes me want to curl up and die.

"Darren," Jax says, his voice gentler now. "Breathe. We're going to figure this out."

But how? How do you figure out that your teammate just outed himself as an omega in heat on national television? How do you figure out that everything I've worked for just went up in flames?

The door bursts open, and suddenly she's there. Lexie, still wearing my jersey, her face flushed from running, Dmitri right behind her. I expect her to stop at the door, to look at me with disgust or pity or disappointment.

Instead, she flies across the room and drops to her knees beside me.

As soon as she reaches me, it hits me. Her scent.

Oh, God, her scent.

It's… perfect.

Pumpkin spice, like Aidan originally pointed out, but also… everything. Warmth and sex and the gentle brush of her skin against mine when we're curled up in bed together. Every good thing in this world, all blended into one scent.

And I know from the moment her eyes lock on mine, she feels it, too. My scent and hers, mingling, meant for each other.

She was always meant for me. For us.

"Are you okay?" Her hands are on my face, checking me over like I might be physically hurt. "Darren, talk to me. Are you hurt?"

I stare at her, unable to process. "You're still here. You still want to…?"

"Want to what? Be here? Of course I'm here." Her brown eyes flash with ferocity. "Did you think I'd run because of this?"

Yes. That's exactly what I thought. What I've been thinking since the moment I presented.

That if I let the omega show, if I couldn't maintain the beta mask, everything would crumble.

That she'd see me as less than, as weak, as not worth the trouble.

That my team would start treating me like a liability.

"I'm in heat," I say stupidly, like she might not have noticed.

"I know," she says, her lips twitching in a smile. "You smell… fuck, Darren. You smell amazing. I didn't know an omega could affect me like that."

Her words strum something deep within me, but it can't fully replace the embarrassment. "So do you, but I… Lexie, I went into heat in public. Everyone knows.”

"I don't give a fuck what everyone knows,” she says, and the vehemence in her voice makes me blink. "I care about you. Are you okay?"

The question breaks what's left of my composure.

Because no, I'm not okay. I'm burning up from the inside out, my skin too tight, my head spinning, every alpha scent in the room making it worse and better at the same time.

But she's here. She's touching my face with gentle hands, looking at me like I'm still worth it.

"We need to get him out of here," Jax says, all business now. "The press is going to be swarming. We need a plan."

"Fire exit," Dmitri suggests. "I'm sure building security can help. We could create a distraction at the main entrance."

"I'll do it," Aidan says immediately, guilt still written all over his face. "I'll go out front, give them something else to focus on. After what I did, they'll want to talk to me."

"I'll go with him," Lexie says, and my hand shoots out to grab her wrist.

"No. Don't leave." I hate how desperate I sound, how needy, but I can't help it. The omega in me is screaming at the thought of her walking away. I need her here, with me, where I know she's safe.

"I'm not leaving you," she says firmly, covering my hand with hers. "But if Aidan and I go out front together, it'll be a bigger story. The pack's new girlfriend and the alpha who just beat someone half to death? They won't be able to resist."

Aidan looks like he wants to stuff himself into a locker, but he doesn't argue.

She's right. I know she's right. But every instinct is screaming at me to keep her close, to not let her out of my sight.

"I'll go with them," Jax says, clearly picking up on my hesitation. Probably sharing it. "Make sure nothing happens. You three get Darren to the car and back to the rental."

The rental. Right. We'd arranged a house outside the city since it's less conspicuous than the close quarters of a hotel. Just in case I needed somewhere private to ride out a heat. I'd thought they were being paranoid.

"Can you walk?" Zayn asks me, and I want to say yes, want to pretend I have any control left. But when I try to stand, my legs shake like a newborn colt's.

"I've got you," Dmitri says, moving in to drape my arm over his shoulder and take some of my weight. His pine scent washes over me, and I have to bite back a groan. Everything is too much.

"The plan?" Lexie asks, sounding admirably confident despite the worry in her eyes.

"We go out front in five minutes," Jax says. "Make a scene, draw the cameras. You three wait for security's signal, then move fast. Car's in the underground lot, level B2. We'll meet you at the house."

It's a good plan. Simple. Direct. The kind of play we'd run on the ice. Except I'm not a player right now, I'm the puck everyone's trying to move around the board.

"Darren," Lexie says, and I force myself to focus on her face. "It's going to be fine. Okay?"

I force a smile and give her a nod, but all I can think about is how I've dragged them all into this mess. My pack, having to deal with the fallout. Lexie, about to face a media storm she never signed up for. All because I couldn't keep my shit together for one more game.

If she never wants to see me again after this, I wouldn't even blame her. Even if the thought of it hurts like a fucking gunshot wound.

"Ready?" Aidan asks, and there's a desperation in his eyes, like he needs to do this to make up for earlier. Like nearly killing a man for me wasn't enough.

Lexie stands, but not before pressing a kiss to my cheek. "Five minutes," she promises. "Then we'll be right behind you."

They move toward the door, Lexie, Aidan, and Jax, and every step she takes away from me feels like agony. The heat is getting worse, clawing at my insides, making rational thought harder to hold onto.

"Hey," Zayn says, his hand on my shoulder tightly controlled. "Just hold on a little longer."

Hold on. Right. Like I have any fucking choice.

The door closes behind them, and the plan goes into motion.