Page 158 of Altius
I wanted to embrace him, but then he’d insist on spraying me down again, and we didn’t have time for that.
So, I settled for pressing the toes of our shoes together instead.
“That video iseverything, Alijah. Your quick thinking and courage will make it impossible for Garvey to escape legalrepercussions. You’re my hero today—and don’t forget it.” Leaning closer, I smiled up at him until I earned a bittersweet flicker in return. “Now, can we get out of here? The sooner we get to the airport, the sooner you get your reward.”
Thirty-Eight
Cal
Rage. Pure, undiluted rage coursed through me, the likes of which I had never known. Sitting at Morgan’s kitchen island, white-knuckling my phone, I replayed the video of Garvey bodychecking her for the seventh time.
I didn’t just want to rip the bastard’s head off. No—I was determined to pull out his entrails with my bare hands and shove them down his throat first.
Too bad it was the middle of the night, and the fucker would be on a plane back to Massachusetts before I could get to California and hunt him down.
But from a legal standpoint, it was open season on Coach Garvey.
If I’d known that his verbal harassment would escalate to this… I should have listened to my gut and forced the university to fire the asshole the first time he messed with Morgan.
She didn’t understand, couldn’t smell the desire that wafted off him every time he saw her, or how it had slowly morphed into covetous spite because she denied him the attention his alpha so desperately wanted.
“Hey.” Joaquin kicked the back of my barstool. “Tone down the bloodthirst, man. You’re pumping out pure alcohol fumes.”
As I turned to glare at him, raised voices echoing from Morgan’s suite drew my attention. I wasn’t the only one with their hackles up at the moment.
“This isn’t nothing!” Kelsey had zeroed in on the gouges running along Morgan’s hand and forearm the second she’d walked through the front door. “You were assaulted.”
I couldn’t clearly distinguish the words, but Morgan’s placating tone fell flat.
“I don’t want to hear excuses,” Kelsey retorted with an uncharacteristically emotional edge.
After Morgan’s recent seizure and ongoing monitoring for mate waning syndrome, coupled with fresh injuries, even someone as rock-solid as Kelsey might start to crack.
“Why am I trying so hard to keep you healthy,” Kelsey outright yelled, “if you’re just going to throw yourself in harm’s way every time I turn my back?”
Joaquin sucked in a bitter breath. “Shit.”
I nodded in agreement.
Owen sat at the far end of Morgan’s dining room table, arms crossed across his crisp black dress shirt, expression caught between disappointment and sympathy as he stared at the door to Morgan’s suite.
Alijah sat beside him, hunched into an anxious ball, fiddling with his laptop.
Wyatt paced the perimeter of the first floor, wringing a fuzzy cat kicker in his hands as he walked, muscles bulging with unspent fury.
“This is fucked,” he muttered as he stalked into the kitchen. “Are they going to fire her for spraying him in the face?”
Everyone looked at me.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Depends on how much the media captured. But don’t be surprised if the university tries to bury everything.
Alijah looked up, scowling. “Even with Garvey’s prior suspension and my video? That must be enough evidence to nail him for something.”
“Don’t forget about my video of her telling Garvey and his minions off,” Joaquin said, fiddling with the air purifier control panel behind me.
“And Morgan’s audio recording,” Owen added.
Alijah nodded, returning his attention to his laptop. “I’ve got even more dirt on him, too. Took photos and videos of him during practice when he thought no one noticed him being a creep. That’s what happens when you overlook betas.”
