But I wasn’t scared. Or, notjustscared.
I sought out Nathan. He was watching Andrew and Gabriel comfort me with a shuttered expression. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered through the surge of guilt. “I’m so sorry you got caught up in this.”
Nathan looked stricken, as if my distress caused him physical pain. My heart thumped at the raw emotion in his eyes. “Stop apologizing,” he said, his voice rough.
Andrew stood abruptly, whirling on Nathan. A growl emanated from his chest, making the hair on my neck stand up. “You don’t speak to her like that.”
I scrambled off the couch. To do what exactly, I didn’t know. Gabriel followed me, and if I wasn’t mistaken, his expression was full of dark amusement, but nothing about this situation was funny.
Nathan pulled himself upright with dignity.
“Whatis wrong with you?” Nathan’s voice didn’t sound like his own.
Andrew advanced on him. “Don’t issue commands at her. Have some respect.”
“Respect? You think I don’trespecther? You don’t even know her,” Nathan replied, a growl infecting his voice, too.
“He didn’t mean it that way.” I might as well have been talking to the wall for all the attention they paid me. They were too busy taking slow, threatening steps towards each other.
“Idioti,” Gabriel muttered and pulled me further away from their burgeoning fight, his arms slipping around my waist.
“What’s going on?” Nathan and Andrew ignored us completely.
“They need to work this out between themselves,” Gabriel said in my ear. “Shall we leave them to it?”
I followed Gabriel out the front door, leaving Andrew and Nathan snarling at each other like wild animals.
Chapter 25 - Andrew
The focus that I usually associated with playing in a major tournament had descended. Everything felt slowed down as I homed in on the Alpha that had dared to speak to my Omega with disrespect. And inmyhome.
I wanted to rip his arms off, or maybe pull out his tongue, but I was also still dimly aware that my Omegalikedthis asshole. I couldn’t kill him. But I could teach him a fucking lesson.
His lip was curled in a snarl. He hadn’t backed down, even as I advanced on him. “You think you have some kind of claim?” he asked.
I almost laughed. Of course I didn’t; that was the problem. If I had claimed Bridget properly, I wouldn’t have to worry about this fucking guy. “I know her better than you think.”
Nathan’s head tilted. “Meaning what?”
“None of your fucking business,” I replied with a slow smile.
“If you laid your filthy hands—” he broke off with an incoherent snarl. “Shetrustedyou.”
Blind rage. I closed the distance between us, shoved him hard in the chest. As if I would ever touch Bridget without her permission. The thought made me ill. Nathan still didn’t back down.
“She is undermyprotection. I would rather die than hurt her.”
“As would I,” he replied. I was close enough to see the white around his flared nostrils, the cords of his neck. We were both pumping out pheromones, fighting instinctively for dominance without the need to throw a punch.
The moment balanced on the edge of a blade. I waited for him to make his move, ready to pounce at the first sign. But it never happened.
He stepped back. My Alpha roared in triumph.
“Good choice,” I said, my voice still laced with a growl.
Nathan shook his head. “This isn’t productive. If we both truly care about Bridget, that should be our focus right now.”
Somehow the asshole had turned it around on me. “And how much do you really ‘care about’ her?”
