Page 64 of Players and Pages
Coach’s whistle cut through them before a fight could break out.
“I think everyone is misinformed on the facts, Coach,” I said evenly. At least I kept my voice respectful. “Can we clear that up, please?”
Coach nodded in agreement. “We sure as hell can. Let’s start by saying that Henry was responsible for his own actions. Cornering an omega, making her uncomfortable and making advances, despite her saying to stop, is not tolerated within this stadium, this team, or this league. It didn’t just happen once, but twice in the same practice. The moment Henry forgot what the word ‘consent’ meant and put his hands on her and crossed lines he never should have, he sealed his own fate.”
I glared at Davies. He scoffed, but shifted uncomfortably.
“What’s wrong, Davies? Not the story you got?”
“No,” he huffed out. “Said she was the one coming onto him.”
I laughed. The idea of Dani giving that creep the time of day was hilarious.
Our assistant coach stepped up, holding up his hand for silence. “I was nearby and witnessed the end of it. There was no doubt that he was at fault.”
Davies looked away. He wasn’t the type to apologize. His ego would never allow that.
“Now, if you need to read your rules, feel free. Otherwise, we are one player short for now and we have practice. We’ll pull one of our backups in, we’ve already chosen and Lancaster is with our PR team doing some social media introductions. As for the rest of you….”
He blew hard into the whistle. This was something ingrained in us at this point, all of us moving at once into position, ready to run drills. He always made mornings at the summer camp seem like a cake walk.
My muscles were burning soon enough and it was helping fight off the darker thoughts trying to take up residence in my head.
Though, the moment I was resting they were right back. Henry was kicked, that meant that his future was ripped away along with the rejection. Our entire pack, but especially our omega, was in danger.
Who knew how far Henry would take this?
One glance at Jackson and Cy told me they had the same fears. My skin was crawling with the need to see her with my own eyes, to know she was safe.
Jackson pulled out his phone the moment we hit the lockers, ignoring his sweaty clothes.
“Hey, sweets, just checking in,” he said, a smile on his face but the worry didn’t leave his eyes. He paled. “No, nothing’s wrong.”
Her voice rose loud enough I could hear. “Don’t lie to me, Jackson. The bond had me jittery all afternoon."
Shit. I tried to lock it down. Guess we failed.
Sighing, I took the phone. “Hey, gorgeous. We just had practice and heard the official word that Henry was kicked.Don’t leave work alone, okay? We’ll be there to pick you up. We just want to be extra cautious until this blows over.”
She didn’t answer at first, but I could hear her steady breathing. “Alright, I’ll wait.”
Our omega was strong and putting on a brave front, but I appreciated she wasn’t going to fight us on it.
“Do I need to be scared?” she asked quietly.
“No. We’ve got you, Dani. We won’t let him get close enough. However, I think you should tell the others. We’d also like to pay for better security for the shop if you all are okay with that?”
“After the vandalism I doubt they’d mind,” she said. “I’ll ask them and let you know tonight.
“Okay, we have to get to the showers, keep your eyes open and stay safe. We’ll be in town soon.”
“I will. You be safe, too,” she said firmly. “You’re just as important.”
Jackson snatched his phone back, glaring at me.
“Hey, sweets. He’s right, don’t be afraid. We’ll be there soon and he’s not stupid enough to do anything with a crowd there.”
They each talked to our girl for a few minutes before ending the call. Cy let out a long breath.
