Page 85 of Alpha Reid

“Nobody expects you to be fine, Chase…” Quinn says, gazing at him sympathetically.

He shoots her a glare in return, then sweeps that glare around the rest of the room. “So is that the consensus then? You guys all want me to stay back?”

Reid pushes out his chair from the table and slowly rises to stand. “Chase…”

He shakes his head, pushing off of the doorframe. “Fuck this. If you guys don’t want my help, that’s fine.”

Chase turns his back to us and storms off, and I immediately shoot to my feet and go scrambling after him.

“Chase!” I call as I duck from the conference room into the hallway, my eyes landing on his retreating form several yards away.

He stops short and whips around to face me. The look in his eyes is one I haven’t seen before- there’s usually a mischievous glint in them, but right now they’re just cold and detached. I know he’s hurting- and my own heart breaks for him.

“They aren’t trying to shut you out,” I say, sweeping my long red ponytail over my shoulder as I close the distance between us. “You’ve gotta know that. They’re just worried about you.”

“I don’t need them to worry about me,” Chase snaps, his face drawn into a scowl. “I don’t need anyone to worry about me. So why don’t you go back in there and…”

I shake my head, cutting him off. “Nuh uh, don’t take your frustration out on me when I’m just trying to help.” I throw my hands on my hips. “Don’t forget, I lost my parents to the shadow pack just a couple of months ago, so if there’s anyone who can relate to what you’re going through right now, it’s me.”

Chase presses his lips into a tight line, his eyes searching mine. After a long pause, he blows out a breath. “Yeah, you’re right. Fuck. Sorry.” He rakes a hand through his hair again, averting his gaze.

“Don’t apologize, just…” I sigh, my hands slipping off my hips and my shoulders slumping. “Just don’t shut us out, okay? Me, Reid, the others. We’re here for you.”

Chase slings an arm behind his head, pinching the muscles at the base of his neck. “Yeah, I know.”

“Good,” I cluck, forcing a weak smile to my face. “Now why don’t you go smoke a J and chill out for a while? I’ll let you know when we’re back.”

“Yeah, you better,” Chase grumbles, holding a fist out toward me. I bump mine against it, then watch as he turns away and starts back down the hallway again.

The friendship between Chase and I is an unlikely one, but somehow it just makes sense. We’ve got a lot in common. I hope I can help him through this- I know I could’ve used a friend while I was dealing with my parents’ deaths. If I’m being honest, I still haven’t fully dealt with it, I just compartmentalized everything and tucked away my feelings. I don’t want that for Chase. I watch after him as he continues down the hallway, waiting until he reaches the end before I turn and head back into the conference room to join the others.

~

An hour later, we’re rolling up to a large concrete building in the middle of damn nowhere. Theo’s driving and he’s got Brooke on the phone directing him where to go, her voice coming through the speakers of the SUV we’re riding in along with Jax, Quinn, and Fallon. Everyone else is following behind in another SUV, the matching vehicles on loan from the Denver pack.

“Looks like we’re here,” Theo says as he slides the gear into park and cuts the engine. He picks up his phone and switches the call with Brooke over from the SUV’s speakers to his phone instead, holding it out in front of him with one hand while unbuckling his seatbelt with the other.

“Alright, head for the door, it’ll be unlocked by the time you reach it,” Brooke instructs, her computer keyboard clicking in the background.

We all pile out of the SUVs, slamming the doors and heading toward the building. Hopefully this goes smoothly- it’s our assumption that Xavier took most of his men with him to the battle today, so there probably won’t be many here. And now that Xavier’s dead, they shouldn’t put up any resistance…

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Reid’s arm comes around me and the next thing I know I’m eating a mouthful of dirty snow as everyone dives to the ground.

I hear a groan from beside me, turning my head to see Theo roll to his side, pressing a hand to his abdomen tightly as dark red blood spills from between his fingers.

“What happened?” Brooke’s worried voice comes from the speaker of Theo’s phone, now lying in the snow a few feet away from him. “Hello?”

The gunshots echo in my ears. Jax pops up from the other side of Theo, stooping to grab him from under the arms and drag him around to the other side of the closest SUV. I hold my breath the whole time, waiting for more gunshots, but they don’t come.

“C’mon,” Reid growls out, grabbing me by the waist as he moves to a crouch, turning toward the SUV that Jax just dragged Theo behind to put a barrier between them and the shooter.

“Hello? Is anybody there?” Brooke calls out again through Theo’s phone, her voice laced with panic.

I tug away from Reid, diving for the phone before doubling back toward the SUV. He covers me at my back as we both scramble to get behind it, everyone else following suit and ducking behind the parked vehicles. As soon as we’re all safely tucked behind the SUVs, it’s all eyes on Theo.

He’s propped up against a tire and a shirtless Jax has his wadded-up t-shirt pressed to Theo’s stomach, holding pressure on his gunshot wound. Quinn’s right beside him, fat tears rolling down her cheeks as she watches her brother grit his teeth in pain.

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