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AJ

T he stench of horny omega smacked me in the face as I slipped into the Knights’ locker room at the training center. As an omega player’s alpha packmate, I now had access to some of the restricted places here–including the locker room code.

Hopefully, Verity’s panicked recount of what happened between her and Grif on the bleachers was overstated. Maybe I’d find him at practice as usual, asking his teammates how to patch up their fight.

Deep down, I knew I wouldn’t.

My belly sank as the door closed behind me. Rotten and sour scents entwined with lust, arousal, cozy sweaters, and rain. For a moment, I flashed back to when I’d gone to Grif’s and found his apartment awash in these same scents–minus the sweaters. Back when I’d discovered him passed out on his bed with a bottle of bourbon and an empty container of heavy-duty omega blockers.

“Fuck.” I punched one of the metal lockers. Pain coursed through my hand and I shook it, hoping no one noticed the small dent.

No. Not again. Never again.

I stalked through the locker room. Where the fuck were they? Urgency tugged at me. It was only a matter of time before a trainer, equipment manager, or someone came in.

Grif had Dean pushed against the wall of the training room, his teeth sinking into Dean’s pale pectoral right by his tattoo. Dean moaned, still in his skates and gear. His green eyes were wild with desire, his strawberry blond hair falling into his freckled face.

My belly dropped further. While this was infinitely better than what I’d found back then, it still posed a problem. This wasn’t the day for Grif to come out as an omega, especially without the pack contracted.

Hopefully, Jonas noticed something was wrong and came looking for them. If I was to contain this, I had no time to spare to get him. Since he was currently on the ice, I couldn’t text him, either.

Leaving them for the moment, I threw open the door to the storage area. Relief shot through me as I found plenty of scent-removing cleaning products. Giant container of de-scenter sanitizer in hand, I walked back into there, where Grif held Dean to him.

“What the fuck did you two just do?” I growled, more worried than annoyed. If those two had bonded each other, we’d have a whole other set of problems to deal with.

“Dean loves me.” Panic filled Grif’s voice as he turned to look at me, his taller, huskier frame protecting Dean, angst in his green eyes.

Shit. I was in over my head here.

“I know. He loves you so much. I love you, too,” I soothed. No, now wasn’t the time for scolding. It was time for patience and understanding.

That’s what this was ultimately about. The hidden omega part of Grif wasn’t feeling loved, secure, or understood. We let practicality get ahead of his needs because we often forgot he was an omega, too.

My heart squeezed. I’d been a bad alpha to him. Fuck. Because what Grif wanted and what he needed were two different things. I’d gotten so tangled up in his wants I hadn’t tended to his needs like I should.

“AJ, why are you here?” Dean’s expression went sheepish. The two of them reeked of sex and each other.

“To save your asses.” I turned and kissed Grif, his red beard soft as I ran my hand through his hair. “I love you and was worried about you. Right now, I need you and Dean to hit the showers. Now.”

As they left, I sprayed down the training room with de-scenter. Then I got the de-scenting soap from Dean’s locker and brought it to them as they kissed each other in the shower. A bite marked Dean’s chest–as did one on Grif’s cock.

Shit. They’d bonded.

Right now the bigger problem was how the locker room smelled. I sprayed down the locker room and showers, and then I hit the training room again. My eyes stung from the industrial strength cleaner.

Where the fuck was Jonas? He should have felt them bond through his bond with Dean.

I put their clothes and Dean’s skates in a garbage bag, doused them in cleaner, and tied it off. If it ruined anything, well, it was only money.

The door opened as I shoved it awkwardly in Dean’s duffle.

Silas, a slim, middle-aged beta who was one of the equipment managers, looked at me. His nose scrunched. “Are you supposed to be in here?”

Shit.

“I’m AJ, I’m Dean’s other alpha. He’s sick. Can you get Jonas–now? Please?” I asked, trying to keep calm, as I zipped up the duffle and put it on the bench.

“Oh, of course.” He darted out.

I found the backup blocker Grif kept in his wallet. While I had so many questions, right now this was pure damage control.

“For fuck’s sake. Stop kissing, please,” I growled as I returned to the showers to find their bodies still entwined under the water. We didn’t have time for this.

I shoved the pill in Grif’s mouth, again more worried than angry. “Take this. Wake the fuck out of whatever stupor you two are in. Use the soap, get out, and dress. We need to get out of here.”

It was just shy of a bark. If I had any hope of containing this, we needed to leave before the team got out of practice.

And if we didn’t…

No. There was no time for such thoughts.

Back in the main part of the locker room, I sprayed everything one more time as I tried to piece things together. When Verity had sobbed to me on the phone, I knew exactly what happened. Somehow, Grif’s omega had come out with a vengeance, and her insistence on not biting him in that moment had struck a chord with him.

Grif leaving her in anger instead of him just shutting down baffled me a little. Not to mention, I worried about her falling. Obviously, no one was at fault. Though she had every right to be pissed. Grif would need to let Verity in on his secret if he wanted to salvage their relationship.

It was time.

I might not show it like they did, but I wasn’t certain my heart could take it if she left us.

“What happened? I felt something through the bond, and now Silas says Dean’s sick?” Jonas, dressed for practice, skates on, and urgency in his amber eyes, burst into the locker room.

Finally.

“Dean and Grif are in the shower. We need to get them out of here,” I told him, continuing my cleaning efforts.

“Why does it reek of cleaner? Also, is Grif here? Dimitri said something about him and Verity getting into a fight, and he’s not in practice. What happened? Why are you here?” Jonas looked both puzzled and frantic as he looked around.

My voice went low as I kept working. “I’m here because Verity called me. Let’s take them home and figure this out. There’s a shit-ton more to this than whatever you’re getting through the bond.”

“Oh, fuck.” Jonas raked his hand through his blue hair. “That’s why you’re spraying this place down. This has to do with Grif. I thought Dean had a breakthrough heat or something.”

Oh, we didn’t need that either.

“Verity inadvertently triggered something and he started to spiral. Dean found him and attempted to make it all better.” I put the cleaner away in the closet.

He sunk down onto the bench and tore off his skates. “Let’s get them home and you can fill me in. I wasn’t expecting to feel them bond while I was in the middle of practice.”

Getting my phone from my suit pocket, I rescheduled my next meeting. Verity had texted, but I’d read those later.

The guys came into the locker room from the showers as Jonas was changing. Dean still looked sheepish, but Grif seemed dazed.

I wrapped my arms around Grif’s muscular, damp body, getting notes of the de-scenting soap covering all the other scents, especially the troubling ones. “Are you okay, Boo-Boo?”

“I… I don’t know what happened. Okay, I know some of what happened.” Grif glanced at Dean, his look smoldering. “But I don’t know how we got there. One moment, I was sitting with Verity on the bleachers, the next moment I had Dean up against the wall…” A frown tugged at his lips.

“You spiraled, but we can talk about it at home.” Dean squeezed Grif’s large hand. “Though for the record, I don’t regret what we did one bit.”

“Oh shit,” Jonas muttered as he rubbed his scarred jaw.

Spirals were bad news for omegas. It was a spiral that had caused Grif to overdose on blockers.

“I don’t either. But I don’t exactly know what happened. Did something happen?” Grif’s brow furrowed.

“We’ll talk about it at home.” I put an arm around him in reassurance.

The door opened, and the team doctor came in. Shit. Did he smell it? Would he care? I didn’t know him well.

“Hey, Dean, you’re still not feeling great after last night? I can send you in for some scans. At least there’s no game tonight and you have tomorrow off.” Dr. Moser had a worried look on his face.

“If I go home and rest, I should be fine. We can meet the day after tomorrow to see if I still need anything?” Dean offered as he pulled a shirt over his head.

While lies had smells, Dean’s statement wasn’t totally false. Rest made a lot of things better.

“Great. I’ll set up a time. I’ll let Coach know you’re going home. Jonas, are you going with him?” The older alpha doctor looked at Jonas.

If the doctor noticed anything amiss, he had the good sense to not say anything.

Jonas sat on the bench and put on his shoes. “Yes. I already told Coach I’d probably take him home.”

“Grif, you’re going back to practice?” The doctor’s eyebrows rose as Grif continued to dress.

“Um, I feel weird. I’m going home, too,” Grif sputtered, clutching his stomach.

“Okay, I’ll let Coach know.” Dr. Moser shot him a skeptical look. He shrugged and left the locker room.

“While I understand waiting, maybe you should go to the doctor to get those tests today ,” I whispered to Grif, worry coursing through me. Not only could his omega coming out to play impact his career, but it could affect him. He’d been hiding as a beta for years and that came at a price.

“What does that have to do with what happened?” Grif murmured back, frowning.

“Everything,” I told him.

I’d tried to be supportive of him hiding, but had I crossed the line into complacent?

“What tests?” Jonas shoved his phone in his pocket without looking at it and then closed his locker.

Grif grimaced, grabbing his stuff. “The kind I should get every year and never have.”

“Let’s do that. We’re also going to talk about this. All this. You two, whatever happened with Verity, and how we’ll contain everything.” Jonas frowned as he looked at everyone. “AJ, can you come back with us? Or are you going to fill us in as we drop you off at the office? How did you know what’s going on, anyway?”

“I told you, Verity called me.” I glanced at my phone and realized I’d missed several calls from her.

The door to the locker room slammed open hard. “Grif, you better fucking be in here you fucking ding-dong.”

Mercy, Verity’s teenage sister, marched in with a bossy-pants expression on her face, even though she was about six inches shorter than the shortest of us. Like always, her light brown hair was in two neat Dutch braids, secured with scrunchies. She wore a Maimers hoodie, some leggings, and fuzzy boots.

She turned to Grif, scowling, spicy plumy anger wafting off her. “I know you had a fight, and I’m fucking pissed at you. But I need you to walk me off the property right fucking now, because I need to leave and you’re on the fucking list.”

“Mercy, we have a lot going on right now. Where’s your sister?” Jonas slung his bag over his shoulder. “How did you even get in here?”

“You think we don’t know your codes? Cute. Look, you’re clearly leaving. It’s not that hard to walk me out. I can get to her myself.” Her brown eyes narrowed as Dean closed his locker.

“Something’s wrong,” I breathed, recalling the missed calls from Verity, and realizing that Mercy had her bag.

“Ya think? If you fuckers checked your phones, you’d know. I thought she meant something to you. Especially you, Grif.” The young alpha’s hands fisted like she was itching to throw a punch.

Shit.

“I’ll take you. Verity put me on the list. I was supposed to meet her, anyway. Where is she? What happened?” I asked, hoping she hadn’t collapsed or something.

“If something happened to Verity, I’ll go with you.” Grif’s rain scent went sour.

“Not sure she wants to see you after what you did. Do you know how fucking scary that was to watch? She could have gotten hurt.” Mercy glanced at her phone then scowled again. “Come on. I need to go. Jonas, you should fucking care, since all this is because of you fucknuggets.”

Grif strode toward the locker room door, phone in hand, look frantic. “What happened? All I have is an apology text.”

“Seriously? You don’t remember?” Mercy followed in a cloud of anger, skepticism in her voice.

“He doesn’t. It’s complicated. Please go easy on him. Grif, go to the doctors,” I ordered. “I’ll take care of Verity. You can grovel later.” I walked out the locker room doors with Mercy, Grif, and the others trailing.

“What happened to Verity?” Hurt rang through Dean’s voice as we strode through the halls of the training complex.

“AJ, you should come with us,” Jonas said through gritted teeth. “Grif needs you. You can go to Verity after.”

“Are you shitting my dick right now? I don’t have time for your alpha bullshit, Jonas.” Mercy stood toe-to-toe with our head alpha, not afraid that he was taller or larger than her.

Not that she was that small.

“Mercy, I don’t know what’s going on here. We’re having a bit of a medical emergency.” Jonas scowled at her.

I shook my head. “If one of us doesn’t go with Mercy, we’re going to lose Verity after what happened this morning.”

“Whatever happened this morning was that bad?” Jonas looked puzzled.

“Uh, duh.” Mercy rolled her eyes.

Grif shook his head. “Go with her, AJ. I’m fine.”

No, Grif wasn’t fine, but Jonas and Dean could handle it for the time being.

Mercy waved at Rusty, who’d joined us in the hall. The alpha captain of the Manhattan Maimers looked fucking pissed. A pissed-off Rusty was never a good thing.

“Do you need me to walk you out? No one will fucking care,” Rusty told her, red hair back for practice revealing her undercut.

“AJ’s got it. I should still make it to the game tonight,” Mercy replied, shifting her weight impatiently.

“If not, call me. Also, if she’s still tied up with the police and can’t bring you to the arena, I’ll get you.” Rusty glared at Grif and stalked off.

“Police? What happened this morning that made you so pissed? We could lose her?” Grif’s voice broke, and his scent went salty.

“You had a fight and left the stands. She chased after you, slipped, and fell. You didn’t stop. She called for you, and you didn’t stop and help her. ” Mercy’s voice rose. “You seriously don’t fucking remember? Because we do.”

Grif’s face fell. “I… I don’t. Honest. One minute, we were making jokes about Spencer buying a hockey team, and then I’m in the locker room.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s not her fault. We’ll fix this.” I squeezed his shoulder, wishing I had time to soothe him, but we had to triage the situation.

I glanced at my phone and read through Verity’s texts. My heart plummeted at the photos, and I texted her immediately. Guilt at not answering earlier ate at me.

Me

I have your sister. We’re on our way.

“Why is she with the police? What happened?” Grif checked his phone and frowned. “I have nothing.”

I showed Grif a picture. “Someone vandalized her greenhouse.”

“Mercy, I care about Verity, but I need AJ right now,” Jonas told her. “We’ll call her later.”

“She needs one of you to actually give a fuck. Someone didn’t simply deface her greenhouse. They destroyed everything in it. I’m not sure you ding-dongs understand.” Mercy’s voice broke. “This isn’t her research not working out. Every single plant is dead. Some asshole put gasoline and salt on them. They even ruined the roses she was making for Grif. She’s lost her life’s work. Because she’s dating you assholes. Do you know how long this will set her back? Sure, a medical emergency is important, but one of you can be there for her. Unless she really is just some power-up.” Mercy’s hands were on her hips, voice carrying.

“Someone destroyed her plants. Because of us?” Grif took out his phone and he put a knuckle to his mouth. “Fuck.”

Oh fuck indeed. While I knew there were people unhappy that she was dating Grif, never did I think it would come to this.

“Jonas, stop being a knothead. Is she one of you or not? Grif, go get checked out, but be prepared to grovel because you hurt her.” Mercy’s voice filled with authority.

Grif flinched and bowed his head the way an omega chastised by an alpha might. Dean clung to Jonas. Even Jonas looked surprised at her ferocity.

He shouldn’t.

There was no fury like a pissed-off sister. It wouldn’t be long before her alpha came in fully, and she was going to be fucking dominant.

Like a force-to-be-reckoned-with dominant.

Mercy took my arm. “Let’s go see my sister.”

“Sorry, Mercy. There’s a lot going on today. We’ll check up on her later,” Jonas told her.

“Good. I’m not above making your life miserable.” She shot him a hard look and continued to head toward the lobby, only her tight grip on my arm revealing her worry.

Verity, we’re coming. It was only mid-morning and today was already a fuckfest.