Page 39 of What I Should Have Felt (Anchors and Eagles #4)

COLETTE

“ T here,” I said with a smile as I snapped the last pin in place, securing Azelie’s racing number to her tank.

She wore her cross-country uniform, as everyone on her team would be.

I’d quickly thrown on a simple, black compression tank and pair of shorts, hoping to blend in but give Azelie the support she needed.

She barely looked at me as her eyes darted around the forming crowd.

Chattering filled the bright morning air.

The starting line was already packed full with teenagers and runners alike, all here in support of a small-town school that barely had funding for a decent education.

I prayed that all the proceeds gained during this was enough to help give the school some much-needed upgrades.

But mostly, I hoped for Azelie’s sake that sophomore year wouldn’t start with such a heavy heart as she carried now.

“If you’d rather meet up with your friends and—” I started, but Azelie spun around with a scowl and crossed her arms.

“Friends? You mean Macy, because Cory hasn’t even sent a text, and Macy is running with Thomas after he took her to the dance last night. So no, Mom. I don’t want to meet up with so-called friends,” she snapped.

That was on me. I should’ve known better than to even bring it up, seeing as she’d not said a word other than yes or no to me this morning, and her eyes were still puffy from crying last night.

I wished I could make it better. I wished I could take all her heartbreak away, but I knew that wasn’t possible.

“You’re right, sweetheart. I’m sorry,” I gently said, and the tension creasing lines on Azelie’s face slipped away. Her bottom jaw trembled briefly, and she ran the back of her hand beneath her nose with a sniffle.

“Just so you know, I will beat all of them, including Becca, so if you can’t keep up, I’m not waiting,” she muttered with a little less anger than before.

I gave her a gentle smile and nodded. “I wouldn’t expect anything less. Let me know if I can do anything.”

“You and Ford both won’t stop asking if you can do something for me,” she grumbled and turned away, weaving through a few groups of people across the grass to inch closer to the starting line.

“Speaking of Ford, have you seen him at all this morning?” I asked, casually hoping to divert her thoughts and mood as well as find out where the hell he’d disappeared to. And how. How the fuck had such a big man just…disappeared?

She paused and tipped her head with her back to me. The bottom of her braid brushed lightly against her back as she slowly shook her head. “ No, actually. Even his mawmaw asked where he was at breakfast, but nobody knew.”

I inhaled deeply as the scent of sunscreen and summer filled the stuffy, humid air.

Too many people all crowded into one spot on the field that had only yesterday housed hundreds of tents.

Now, the opposite side of the high school held a marked path that we would follow, eventually bringing us in a loop to end at the same place we’d begun five kilometers later.

Cars crowded the parking lot, and while I caught a glimpse of my parents sitting on the opposite side of the roped-off racetrack from Ford’s family, he was nowhere to be seen.

Azelie spun around, her eyes glistening with tears. “Is this what he does? Things get messy or-or-or I ruin stuff and he runs away?”

I violently shook my head. “Absolutely not. That’s why I’m very confused.

This is so unlike him. So very unusual,” I stated firmly.

But there was a lump forming in my throat as I scanned the crowd again and found no sight of him.

I couldn’t have been that wrong about him, right?

Especially now knowing why he’d left in the first place.

Especially after learning that even in the past fifteen years, he’d loved no one but me.

All of those letters he’d written, why he’d stayed away after returning eleven years ago, there was no way he would just skip out now.

Right?

Azelie’s shoulders sagged as she adjusted the headband keeping the wayward strands of her hair out of her face. “I don’t know why I’m disappointed. It’s not like he’s been around for fifteen years anyway. ”

I threw an arm around her waist and tugged her toward me. “You also had no idea who he was, and technically, he didn’t know who you were either. You’re allowed to feel whatever it—”

“Azelie!” Macy’s voice wafted above the crowd, sliding into our private conversation. She waved vigorously, standing with Thomas and Cory just past a group of adults.

“Azelie, come here! Run with us!” she shouted again, bouncing up and down on her feet.

Thomas and Cory faced where she was waving, and the moment Cory’s eyes met Azelie’s, his cheeks turned bright red. Azelie didn’t move as she stood silently beside me.

“Why would you want her to run with us?” Becca’s snide voice slithered into my ears as the blonde teenager pushed her way through a couple other kids to stand beside Cory. She smirked as his gaze fell to his feet.

“What are you talking about?” Macy snapped, throwing a hand onto her hip.

My heart swelled briefly in my chest at the guts that Azelie’s best friend had to stand up to the older girl. Azelie’s brows flickered up with surprise at the comment. Maybe there was more going on than we knew at this point.

“Yeah, Becca. Did you not get the hint last night when we ditched you?” Thomas spat and scooted a little closer toward Macy.

Becca rolled her eyes and tossed her sleek ponytail over her shoulder.

“Ditched me? You mean, I left you guys.” She sighed and tipped her head, keeping her eyes locked onto Azelie.

“But I still don’t understand why you’d want to run with her or be associating with her during this fundraiser.

Did y’all forget the whole theme of it? ”

“We didn’t forget. But why does that matter?” Macy shook her head as Cory’s brother jogged up behind them with a grin on his face, clearly unaware of the tension happening between these teens at the moment.

“What’s up?” Mark exclaimed and slapped his hands on his brother’s shoulders, his dog tags dangling around his neck glinting in the bright sunlight. “You ready to run for dumbasses like me?” He wiggled his brows, but none of the teens reacted.

Except for Becca, who waved her hand toward Mark.

“Because of this. Cory has a family member who’s in the military.

Thomas, both you and Macy at least have a grandparent or great-uncle or something like that who served, right?

My great-grandpa served, but Azelie.” She paused and stepped forward, crossing her arms.

As if she commanded the crowd around us, even the alligators bellowed a little quieter.

The murmuring of people speaking dimmed and even shifted away from the starting line, parting behind the very blonde who bullied my daughter.

I balled my hands up behind my back, holding myself back.

Azelie was strong, and I couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t saying anything, but then again, Becca was older and very popular.

Classic high school beef that pissed me the fuck off.

Plus, everything that had happened last night with Cory set Azelie off her usual game.

That had to be it; otherwise, I was pretty sure Becca would’ve had a bloodied lip by now.

Or maybe it was the fact that Becca’s parents were the biggest donors to the school and could easily get Azelie kicked off the cross-country team, which the little pissant teenager made sure everyone knew.

Whatever the fucking reason was, I was ready to blow my levelheaded adult facade apart and rip Becca to shreds.

Becca smirked once more as my daughter remained silent and stiff beside me. “Even her little friend Cory chose me over her. She has no father, no family in the military. So, I ask one more time. Azelie has…who?” Her eyes darted to me. “You? Pathetic.”

My jaw fell open as six shadows filled the parted crowd behind Becca. All eyes slid away from the very blonde who sought every ounce of attention she could lap up.

Six shadows that siphoned the rays of the sun and spread shadows of death around them. Six commanding figures who unintentionally turned every head toward them.

The world silenced, and their feet were the beating drums, rhythmical and intimidating as whispers grew around them. Five massive men and one woman who marched with confidence as if they carried the Grim Reaper himself and had no issue delivering souls to his hands.

A shiver stole down my spine as they finally came close enough that I recognized the face of the man in front. As thunderous as a thousand horses, yet as silent as a feather, Ford led the group directly toward us.

Azelie stepped forward as Becca finally glanced behind her, and her eyes widened. Mark raised a brow and smirked, slowly nodding as the six people finally reached Azelie’s friends, and the parted group behind them remained quiet but crowded in.

My eyes slid down the only person I recognized of the six, but I didn’t make it far from his hardened gaze as my eyes landed on the silver chain proudly displayed on his chest, bumping against the weighted vest he wore.

A matching vest to the five others surrounding him.

They all wore a simple T-shirt of varying dark colors and joggers, uniform but not exactly matching.

Ford’s chest slowly expanded as he remained still, simply watching Becca, and I used the opportunity to quickly take in the other five people.

Each of them had a pair of dog tags dangling around their necks.

A blond-haired man with easily recognizable cauliflower ears had even me raising my walls in defense.

The redhead who stopped directly beside Ford wasn’t as tall as any of the other men in the group, but there was an intimidating arrogance lacing his rather muscled frame that made him seem as large as the massively brawny and tattooed man behind him.