Page 5

Kienna fought like a hellcat, but there was no way she could get away from Maddox. Once he locked his arms around you, you were doomed. Yet from the feverish look in his eyes, I guessed he was the one doomed this time.

My heart pounded, adrenaline making me shaky. They were going about it all wrong. I couldn’t believe this was happening.

First Kane and then Tiergan. Now Maddox. None of them had said it out loud yet, but they were lost to the Omega. I might have been a Beta, but I knew my pack like my own self. It had never happened with any of them before, but I swore they wanted to mate and mark her, whether she was ready for it or not.

I followed behind them as Maddox carried her to the house. I tried to desperately think of how to fix this situation while not only supporting my pack, but helping Kienna. The Halls’ home was a cozy three bedroom ranch nestled between the evergreens on a well manicured lot. The ground squished from the recent rain. Kane and Tiergan walked on either side of Maddox trying to calm Kienna down. Ewan jogged ahead with the keys and opened the front door.

It was difficult for me to bite my tongue. None of the pack meant Kienna any harm, but how would she know that? I was sure that she felt like this was a kidnapping, and then who knew what horrible things the hyper focused Alphas would do.

Once inside, Tiergan flipped on the lights, and being the last one in, I shut the door.

“Let me go!” Kienna’s voice ripped with panic. There was no way I could go up against any of these Alphas, but I couldn’t let them terrorize her any more, no matter the fact they were trying to help her.

“Maddox, let her down. She’s fine.” I used my most soothing voice, and to quell his raging instincts and hopefully make her feel a little better, I added, “She’s safe here.”

Maddox hesitated but then set Kienna on her feet and unwound his arms. He didn’t move away, but loomed beside her with his chest heaving as he breathed her scent in deeply.

Kienna darted away from him, hugging herself as she warily eyed us all. “I need the bathroom. Now.”

“Last door on the left down the hall.” Tiergan gripped the back of the recliner he stood near with one hand. His fingers dug in as his body jerked as if he might follow her as she rushed down the hall, but he stayed in place.

The door slammed and the lock clicked on the bathroom door. The poor girl. We had to make this right.

Kane ran a hand through his hair as he stared the way the Omega had gone. “She’s going to try to make a break for it. Ewan, go outside and stand by the bathroom window.”

My cousin chuckled and headed out of the house. Ewan must have thought this a grand time. The most drama our pack has ever had was in game. Tensions were high out on the ice, especially when we played Chicago. Those bastards threw more punches than they shot pucks.

I was the opposite of my cousin. I needed harmony, and we were far from that at the moment.

“This is a fucking mess.” Tiergan grunted and hit the top of the chair. I winced at what sounded like a small crunch of wood. He didn’t appear to have noticed or didn’t care. “We have to make her see that we want to help her.”

Maddox nodded, curling and uncurling his fingers repeatedly.

Oh no . I needed to make sure it didn’t get worse. “We need to give Kienna some space right now. She’s scared. I mean, if we were any other guys, it would totally look like we just kidnapped her. If she has her phone in there, she could be calling the police right now.”

“She doesn’t have a cell.” Kane shook his head.

From outside, Ewan’s laughter rang. “Hey baby. Coming out for another run?”

“Fuck!” Kienna’s cry had us all tense up again. It was followed by the sound of the window banging shut and more of Ewan’s laughter from the side yard.

The Omega was feisty, and it made me want to smile. I didn’t envy her father though. And now the Alphas of my pack were taken by her. That was going to be a problem on several levels; never mind that she was an absolute handful and smoking hot on top of it.

“We need to talk to her.” Kane started down the hall. Every muscle in his body was rigid.

“Wait.” I held up a hand, braving his glare. “Let’s give her a few minutes. We need to discuss what we’re going to do. I don’t think it’s a good idea to go in there and demand she listens to us. We know we were trying to help, but if she tells people she was kidnapped, who is going to believe a couple of hockey players over a billionaire’s daughter?”

“Fuck, you’re right.” Tiergan wandered over to the kitchen island and leaned on the counter, rubbing his face with his hands. “We screwed up. Right before our chance at the Calder Cup, we fucked it all up.”

“Nothing is fucked up,” Kane stated with steel in his tone. “We will make her understand. We’ll take her directly back to her father. Birk will be grateful. There is no problem here.”

No problem? He was delusional.

“We’re not giving her back.” Maddox folded his arms. I gaped at him. Now who was delusional? Shit.

“We have no choice.” Kane shook his head.

“It’s not our choice. It’s Kienna’s.” I didn’t know if their heads were all a mess or what, but I had to prevent any further damage. Kane was excellent at keeping us working as a team, but we’d never experienced anything like this before. “Look, I know what happened… She’s an Omega. You guys are Alphas. It was clear to everyone there that you’re compatible with her. All of you. Yet you can’t let your dicks think for you.”

“I’m not.” Kane shot back with a growl. “She’s going back to her father and we’re never seeing her again. I will tell her—”

“I’m going to talk to her.” Tiergan tapped his chest and marched toward the hall. Maddox stepped to stand in his way, and the two of them bared their teeth at one another.

“None of you are going to talk to her.” The situation was messy enough. If any of them got within a few feet of her, I didn’t know if they’d be able to maintain control. Or they might fight one another for her. We were a pack, and I was the only one with a level head at the moment. “I’m a Beta. Hopefully far less scary for her right now. Let me go to her and see if she wants to talk. If not, we’ll wait until she’s ready.”

“Fine.” Kane exhaled through his teeth with a hiss and then took in a calming breath. Good, he was getting himself back together. “Okay. You talk to her, Al. Tiergan, you take care of the stuff for your folks, and I’ll go get the SUV. Mad, go take Ewan’s spot. We all know he sucks at being a guard.”

Orders were given. No one talked back. They all went to do their duties. Thank fucking god.

I took off my coat and draped it over a chair before going down the hall gently knocking on the bathroom door.

“Go away.” Kienna’s voice trembled. Was she crying?

“It’s Alderic. The rest of the guys are staying away. Can I come in?”

There was nearly a thirty second pause before the lock clicked. I opened the door and slipped inside, closing it softly behind me.

Kienna sat down in the large soaker tub with a gigantic cat cradled in her arms. She eyed me over top of the gray Maine Coon’s head as she stroked the thick fur. Her pink hair was tussled and her expression was wary. Even scared, she was incredibly pretty. Wide dark eyes, flushed cheeks, and cute pixie-like features.

“I see you found Molly.” I settled onto the opposite edge of the tub. I didn’t want to get into her space when she was nice enough to let me in here.

“Molly, so that’s your name, sweetie.” Kienna stroked the cat’s head, and Molly rumbled with a loud purr. “She was napping in the tub when I came in.”

“Her sister Serena is somewhere in the house too. Likely spooked by all the noise.”

Kienna continued to pet the cat, swallowing hard a few times, and then said, “I’m sorry I flipped you out there. I hope you’re not hurt.”

I’d totally forgotten she did that already. My teammates checked me harder in practice games. Being the fastest in the pack, I got to her first, and I totally deserved the flip. “It’s us who need to apologize to you. You were just defending yourself. We never meant to scare you.”

“I know,” she sighed and laid her cheek against Molly’s head. The cat was eating up the attention. “I hadn’t planned to run, but… just…”

I nodded. “I get it. We can be a lot, and then add on top of it that you’re an Omega and there’s the Alphas who…” I shouldn’t even get into it, but I needed to know how she felt about it. “I realize that only makes it scarier for you to suddenly find yourself surrounded by three compatible Alphas. They aren’t normally like that. They’re awesome guys. Not only are they part of my team, but we’re a pack.” No, I shouldn’t be going on about my pack. The main concern here was her. “What’s more important right now is how you’re doing. How are you feeling? What can we do for you?”

“I don’t know. I’m feeling everything, a big stinking mess of stuff. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. None of it.” Kienna leaned back with a small groan. “I should be on my way to Fargo preparing to get on a flight to go see my bestie. Really, I should have been in Ireland, but my dad had to go buy a stupid hockey team. Sorry. I’m sure the team is great.” I dipped my head at her, taking no offense. “Now I’m sitting in a bathtub in a house in the middle of nowhere with a cat as big as a lion and a pack keeping me hostage.”

“You’re not a hostage.” I hoped she really didn’t feel that way. “You can leave at any time.”

Kienna raised her brows and glanced at the window. Maddox’s big shadow loomed outside.

Yeah, she had a point. “We will take you where you want to go to make sure you get there safely.” As she opened her mouth, I held up a hand. “No, we can’t take you south. We do have a practice early in the morning that we have to be at, but anywhere in Winnipeg. You must have a hotel where you were staying.”

She huffs. “I’m not going back.”

“But your father—”

“My dad can stuff it,” she growled through gritted teeth.

I tensed, sitting on the edge of the tub. My hands clenched into fists as a surge of fury lit through me. I barely knew Birk or what he was like. What if he... Oh fuck. Was this why she was without a chaperon and running for the border? “Did he hurt you? If he did anything, we’ll protect you. No one will ever harm you again.”

“No.” Kienna held up a hand to calm me and bent forward to place it on my knee. “It’s okay. Your worry is very sweet. My dad isn’t like that. He’s a good guy. Concerned with business and now his hockey team, but he rarely even raises his voice at me. And let me tell you, I’ve given him plenty of reasons to do so over the years.”

I released a long breath and shook out my hands as if that could fling off my sudden anger. I’d been ready to go to war for this Omega. I’d like to think I would do so for any female in trouble, but Kienna had me hooked somehow.

“He barely even knows I’m there.” She sighed and sat back, continuing to pet Molly. The cat reached out a paw and tapped my hand to get me to pet her too.

“I’m sure that’s not true.” How could anyone ignore this vibrant beauty?

“Oh, it is. I was stuck in my hotel room for three days because he was busy. I hate being stashed away like that, like I’m some fragile thing that will break if I’m let around other people.” Kienna huffed.

I gave a little laugh. “Oh man, you’re totally not fragile. My back can attest to that.”

This earned me a smile, and I was suddenly glad she flipped me now. I needed to see her smile more. I wanted to hear her laugh.

“I’m so sorry about that,” she apologized again, but there was still an amused glint in her eyes. “I’m just glad I remembered the basic self defense one of my friends taught me. No way would they teach Omegas that at St. Anne’s, but I think Omegas need to learn to defend themselves the same as any other woman.”

“I completely agree. I could teach you some aikido moves, if you’d like.”

“Yes, I’d love that.” She blinked. “Like right now?”

I chuckled and shook my head. “No, not now. Bathrooms are horrible places to practice.” I glanced at the door. “We should probably leave the bathroom anyway. Everyone is waiting for us. They’ll keep their distance if you want them to, but… It’s going to be hard on the guys. I’ve never seen them react to an Omega like this.” I’d never been this attracted to a woman either, but I didn’t have Alpha hormones making me crazy. It was just this beautiful woman with the mightiest fire in her. “Are you okay to do that now?”

Kienna nipped her lower lip, hugging Molly closer to her. “I guess now or later, it’s not going to matter. But,” her cheeks flushed nearly as bright as her hair. “Do you think I could borrow a pair of pants from someone?”

“Yeah, of course. I’ll go get those and bring them right back to you.” I hopped up and went to the door.

“Alderic,” her sweet voice stopped me, and I turned around. Oh that incredible smile. “Thank you for coming to talk to me.”

Warmth spread through me. “You’re welcome. I’ll be right back.”

I exited the bathroom and headed to the kitchen to ask Tiergan to get one of his sister’s old pair of pants. His sister was in Ontario going to university, but she had to still have clothes at the house.

Kienna was a girl that I could easily fall for. She was beautiful, wild, and took no shit from anyone. Most people would say I didn’t stand a chance. Omegas only ever wanted an Alpha, and Betas got friend-zoned. Sure, they had that whole Alpha-Omega pheromone thing going for them, but Betas could make excellent mates too.

I’d never let anyone stop me from achieving my goals, and I wasn’t going to let anyone stand in my way because I was a Beta. She was more than worth it.