Page 86 of Stream Heat
Light was spilling through the window now, soft gold tangling in the nest of blankets and borrowed Alpha hoodies I’d built up. For the first time since this nightmare began, I stopped feeling like prey.
I felt powerful.
Not despite being Omega, but because of it. Not despite needing a pack, but because I’d finally found one.
Stella had set out to make a cautionary tale of me. Joke’s on her.
She had no idea what kind of example I’d end up being.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Kara
The phone buzzed against my palm, sharp and insistent. It was Victoria Smith again. Three calls in as many hours, each more desperate than the last. She wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore. I just stared at the screen, thumb itching to hit Decline, when Reid appeared in the doorway.
“Let it ring,” he said, lounging against the frame as if he owned it, as if nothing could touch him. “She’s trying to rattle you before you go on the air.”
“I know.” I thumbed the phone silent, not bothering to answer. “And it’s working.” Admitting it pissed me off.
Reid crossed the room, scent all cedar and summer rain. It was the kind of scent that should have been cliché, but wasn’t on him. It felt like stepping behind a wall, safe. “She’s desperate,” he said, voice low. “Ash said the call this morning was obvious, more suppressants, lawsuits. That’s what you do when you’re trapped in a corner.”
“I’m not the only one who’s desperate.” I swept a hand at my monitors, Callie’s email glowing blue and white with summit details. In three hours I was going public for real. Not justmy story, but names: Victoria. Nexus Management. The doctors slinging the suppressants. All of it.
“Good.” The word landed with Alpha weight, forcing my spine straight whether I wanted it to or not. “They deserve to be called out.”
“And if they sue me into oblivion? If they ruin the pack? If–”
“Kara.” He grabbed my hands, made me face him. “Stop. You’re not being reckless about this. You know that, right? We have recordings of Victoria pushing you to take illegal substances, we have your medical records, testimony from a dozen other creators. We’re not going in blind.”
It should have sounded cold, but strangely, it helped. The facts were bigger than my panic. The evidence was there. The pack was there. We weren’t just shouting into a void.
“Besides.” He cracked a smile like he knew something I didn’t. “Theo’s been recording every call and text they’ve sent in the last two weeks. Our lawyers are already looking at harassment charges.”
“Of course he has.” I snorted a laugh, the painful tightness in my chest loosening a little. Trust Theo to channel his chaos into something useful for once.
Then the phone buzzed again and I caught my breath. Another text from Victoria. This time it wasn’t bland legalese or a veiled threat. The words cut through me.
Final warning, Kara. I have something you don’t want made public. Something not even your Alpha bodyguards can protect you from. Call me in the next hour or it goes live.
I handed the phone to Reid and watched his expression darken.
“She’s bluffing,” he said, but I saw a flicker of uncertainty. “What could she possibly have?”
I thought. “It’s all already out there. Medical history? Stella’s already hit me with that. Designation status? Everyone knows. The suppressants, the tournaments. There’s nothing left.”
“Then she’s flailing.” Reid took the phone, thumbed out a response before I could object.
We record all communications. Keep threatening. Our lawyers appreciate the evidence.
“That was direct,” I said as he handed it back.
“She needs to know we’re not rattled.” He shrugged, as if it were that simple.
Before I could answer, the phone vibrated again. A different number, nothing in my contacts. Instinct said answer, so I did.
“Ms. Quinn? This is Steve Anders, legal counsel for Nexus Management.”
Reid went still, like a tree before a tornado.
