Page 100 of The Gamma's Second Chance

Reid frowns at him. “Well, don’t make me think you’re dead!”

I bury my face in Cassandra’s hair, a mix of tears and laughter shaking my body as Haven takes my hand with hers, too. “What happened?” Cassandra asks Haven, stroking my forearm that’s wrapped around her. “Where were you?”

“I took Haven to the garden on the roof,” Wes explains. “I paid for it to be reserved all night for Nolan to give you your ring, but since he already asked you, I decided to take Haven up there instead. We never went to our room when we left the ball.”

“It’s a good thing, too, since the fire started in there,” I say, squeezing Haven’s hand. “I tried calling you, though, and you didn’t answer. And no one could reach you through mindlink.”

“I was groggy and disoriented when I woke up, and I thought it was my alarm. I tried to snooze it,” Wes says, glancing down at his feet. “We didn’t um… get much sleep…” he adds, his cheeks heating.

“Neither did we,” Cassandra says, smirking, and I growl and pinch her side.

“Same, but unfortunately not for the same reasons as you four,” Reid says, crossing his arms and pouting.

“Sour Patch is teething,” Taryn explains.

“Anyway,” Wes says, clearing his throat as Haven moves back to his side and into his arms. “By the time I realized it was someone trying to call me, the fire alarms in the hotel started going off. In our rush to get dressed and get off the roof, I dropped my phone from the top level of the fire escape to the ground, and it shattered. And Haven left hers in our room all night, so she didn’t have one either.”

“How did no one see you?” I ask.

“The fire escape is on the north side of the hotel, and the evacuation plans have everyone gathering in the south parking lot,” Wes replies.

“When we got to the parking lot, the crowd was massive and panicked. We stayed off to the side because Wesley didn’t want to risk wading through the mob to find anyone we knew,” Haven explains, stroking her belly.

Wes covers her hand with his. “I was so worried about keeping Haven and our pup safe, I must have unintentionally blocked off my mindlink.”

“Ben finally saw us and told us about Cassandra and how he let you borrow his jeep to head here, and we left after that,” Haven says.

“Why didn’t you call me from Ben’s phone, or have Ben call me?” I ask.

“I knew you’d be too focused on your mate,” Wes says. “As you should be.”

I wrap Cassandra up tighter, and she rubs my thigh with her delicate hand.

“Ben could have called me though,” Reid says, pulling his phone from his pocket. “Oh, he did,” he says, his brows lifting in realization. A collective groan runs through the room, and I closemy eyes to hide their rolling. “What? I have like five hundred missed calls and even more texts coming through on this thing right now!” He waves the phone at us. “And we were helping Nolan and Cassandra!”

“Oh good. You’re back,” Sebastian says, strolling into the room and closing the door behind him, casual as ever, not a hair out of place, and looking as if he had the best night of sleep of his life with no stress or worries. “Ben called to tell me you were on your way but he wasn’t sure when exactly you’d get here.”

“How are you so calm right now?!” Reid exclaims. “Wesley died!”

“He didn’t though. Which…” Seb places a hand on Wesley’s shoulder. “Thank you for not dying. I never want to take over the pack for you.”

Wesley huffs in exasperation and shrugs his brother’s hand off his shoulder, and the rest of us laugh, the last pieces of stress from the emotional rollercoaster that was the mating ball drifting away. Cassandra leans her cheek against my chest and closes her eyes, her fingers drawing lazy, casual swirls on my torso. I recline back against the pillows, my focus entirely centered on her and her well-being now that I know my alpha and luna are home and healthy.

“Let’s get out of here,” Wesley says. “Cassandra and Nolan need to rest.”

“Actually…” Sebastian shifts his weight between his feet and glances at the door, double-checking that it’s closed. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we have another problem.”

Wes groans and cracks his neck. “What is it now?”

“A she-wolf showed up a bit ago. She’s a luna from another pack and is demanding to speak with the alpha, luna, and gamma.” His eyes flick to me, and dread, agony, and nausea pool in my stomach, coagulating into a block of cement, andsomehow, I know what he’s about to say before he even says it. “She says her name is Kimberly.”

Chapter 35

NOLAN

Five angry growls echoin the hospital room, but not a single one is louder than Cassandra’s.

“Oh hell no,” she says, pushing up and out of my arms, flinging her legs over the edge of the mattress. “Fuck that bitch. Let me at her.”

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