Page 102 of Bonding the Band

“As far as they can tell, yes,” I confirmed. “She’ll only have to stay here for a day or two.”

“How the fuck did she get drugs in her system?” Phin asked. “Meadow would never willingly take anything.”

“Our only guess is that she took something of Hendrix’s without knowing,” I growled.

“That’s impossible,” Hendrix insisted. “The only drugs I’ve taken in months are the ones Gary was shooting into my IV bags, and I stopped letting him do that the second I realized they could harm Meadow!”

“Wait,what?” Phin spun to stare at Hendrix. “You weren’t taking anything yourself? Gary was dosing your fluids?! What the fuck, Hendrix? Why didn’t you ever tell us?”

That was one problem too many right now. “We’ll deal with that later. Meadow’s the one in the fucking hospital. How did she get the drugs if Gary was your supplier?”

“Oh. Oh,fuck!” Clover’s voice silenced the room, and we all turned to look at her. “The smoothies! That stuck-up doula looked like she was about to faint the moment Hendrix admitted they had been swapping smoothies.”

I turned sharply to Hendrix. “When did you start swapping shakes?”

“A few days ago…”

“Fuck. Call Gary. Now,” I demanded.

Hendrix shook his head. “There’s no way he would have done something to hurt the baby.”

“Fine. If you won’t do it, I will. Now shut the fuck up.” I gave him a harsh glare and pulled out my phone. I was not in the mood to be fucked with.

“It’s about time one of you called me!” Gary’s angry voice crackled over the speakerphone. “Do you have any idea how much of a mess you’ve left me with here?”

“I don’t particularly care. You’re going to tell me what the hell you were dosing Hendrix with.”

“I don’t like what you’re implying,” Gary said.

“I’m not implying anything. I’m asking because we know that’s what you’ve been doing.” Anger simmered in my voice. “I have two members of my pack with positive drug tests. If you don’t tell me what you gave them right this instant, I promise you that I will never step foot on stage again, and you know full well that Arlo and Phin will follow. Hendrix may try to stick around, but we are a pack, after all. Now, tell me. I am not in the mood to be tested today.”

The phone was silent for a moment, and I glanced over at Hendrix, who was looking positively green.

“It was just a few uppers,” Gary admitted. “He wasn’t as energetic on stage. He needed them! That piece of ass was ruining the entire tour, and I couldn’t let that happen.”

“Don’t fucking call her that, and don’t you think for a damn minute that you had any right to drug him,” I growled.

I hadn’t expected much from Gary, but drugging one of my pack mates so they had a bit more pep in their step on stage was disgusting.

A small part of me felt bad about punching Hendrix.

Only a small part.

“Look, I did what I had to. You guys are selling out huge venues! You’re almost at the peak of your career. I can’t let a one-night stand gone wrong fuck that up! Surely you understand, Beckett. You’re a logical guy.”

Fuck that, and fuck him.

“I’ve heard enough,” I snapped. Every one of the pack looked horrified, and Clover looked downright murderous.

How I would love to be a fly on the wall when she found Ellie.

“Just discharge yourselves and come back. There are still VIPs waiting.”

I took a deep breath. What I was about to say was probably something that should have been discussed as a pack, but my hindbrain was in control, and all I wanted to do was take my pack far, far away from the threat.

“The tour is over,” I said simply. “We’re going home to California, to make sure our pack members are healthy.”

“You can’t do that!” Gary thundered.

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