Page 4 of Finding the Forward: Part Two
“He doesn’t. It’s complicated. Please go easy on him. Grif, go to the doctors,” I ordered. “I’ll take care of Verity. You can grovel later.” I walked out the locker room doors with Mercy, Grif, and the others trailing.
“What happened to Verity?” Hurt rang through Dean’s voice as we strode through the halls of the training complex.
“AJ, you should come with us,” Jonas said through gritted teeth. “Grif needs you. You can go to Verity after.”
“Are you shitting my dick right now? I don’t have time for your alpha bullshit, Jonas.” Mercy stood toe-to-toe with our head alpha, not afraid that he was taller or larger than her.
Not that she was that small.
“Mercy, I don’t know what’s going on here. We’re having a bit of a medical emergency.” Jonas scowled at her.
I shook my head. “If one of us doesn’t go with Mercy, we’re going to lose Verity after what happened this morning.”
“Whatever happened this morning was that bad?” Jonas looked puzzled.
“Uh, duh.” Mercy rolled her eyes.
Grif shook his head. “Go with her, AJ. I’m fine.”
No, Grif wasn’t fine, but Jonas and Dean could handle it for the time being.
Mercy waved at Rusty, who’d joined us in the hall. The alpha captain of the Manhattan Maimers looked fucking pissed. A pissed-off Rusty was never a good thing.
“Do you need me to walk you out? No one will fucking care,” Rusty told her, red hair back for practice revealing her undercut.
“AJ’s got it. I should still make it to the game tonight,” Mercy replied, shifting her weight impatiently.
“If not, call me. Also, if she’s still tied up with the police and can’t bring you to the arena, I’ll get you.” Rusty glared at Grif and stalked off.
“Police? What happened this morning that made you so pissed? We couldloseher?” Grif’s voice broke, and his scent went salty.
“You had a fight and left the stands. She chased after you, slipped, and fell.You didn’t stop.She called for you,and you didn’t stop and help her.” Mercy’s voice rose. “You seriously don’t fucking remember? Because we do.”
Grif’s face fell. “I… I don’t. Honest. One minute, we were making jokes about Spencer buying a hockey team, and then I’m in the locker room.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s not her fault. We’ll fix this.” I squeezed his shoulder, wishing I had time to soothe him, but we had to triage the situation.
I glanced at my phone and read through Verity’s texts. My heart plummeted at the photos, and I texted her immediately. Guilt at not answering earlier ate at me.
Me
I have your sister. We’re on our way.
“Why is she with the police? What happened?” Grif checked his phone and frowned. “I have nothing.”
I showed Grif a picture. “Someone vandalized her greenhouse.”
“Mercy, I care about Verity, but I need AJ right now,” Jonas told her. “We’ll call her later.”
“She needs one of you to actually give a fuck. Someone didn’t simplydefaceher greenhouse. They destroyedeverythingin it. I’m not sure you ding-dongs understand.” Mercy’s voice broke. “This isn’t her research not working out.Every single plant is dead.Some asshole put gasoline and salt on them. They even ruined the roses she was making for Grif. She’s lost herlife’swork. Because she’s datingyouassholes.Do you know how long this will set her back? Sure, a medical emergency is important, but one of you can be there for her. Unless she really is just some power-up.” Mercy’s hands were on her hips, voice carrying.
“Someone destroyed her plants. Because of us?” Grif took out his phone and he put a knuckle to his mouth. “Fuck.”
Oh fuck indeed. While I knew there were people unhappy that she was dating Grif, never did I think it would come to this.
“Jonas, stop being a knothead. Is she one of you or not? Grif, go get checked out, but be prepared to grovel because you hurt her.” Mercy’s voice filled with authority.
Grif flinched and bowed his head the way an omega chastised by an alpha might. Dean clung to Jonas. Even Jonas looked surprised at her ferocity.
