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The studio is supposed to be open, but it's completely dark inside. I try the door, but it's locked. I press the electronic doorbell she has mounted next to the door I pound on, worry making me lose a bit of control, a snarl caught in my throat.
Where the hell are they?
"Coach Hendrix?" Lexie’s voice comes through the doorbell.
Relief makes me almost giddy at the response. “Lexie? What's going on? Are you okay? Where's your mom?"
"She's sick."
Shit.
"Can you let me in, kiddo?"
"I don't know... I'm not supposed to let people in without permission."
I smile. “That's right. You shouldn't. But this once, I think it might be okay. I think I need to check on your mama if she's feeling so bad she can't give you permission. We'll tell her it's my fault if she's upset, okay?"
She pauses a moment. “Okay."
"But just this one time. No one else except for Mr. Bouchard." I don’t want her to let this become a habit.
Especially with those damn fuckers in town.
"Okay. I'm unlocking it now."
Thank fuck for technology. The lock clicks open, and I rush in, only pausing long enough to close and lock it back. The scent hits me as I race upstairs, her usual lavender and pepper scent turned rancid with illness.
What the hell happened in less than twelve hours?
Lexie waits for me at the top of the steps in the door of their apartment, her little face pale and worried. I scoop her into my arms and feel her forehead, but she's cool to the touch.
"How are you feeling, kiddo?"
She lays her head on my shoulder. “I’m fine. But Mama is really out of it."
"Okay. Can you stay out here for me and I'll go check on her? I'll see how she's doing and we can make a plan from there."
She nods, hugging herself when I set her back down, breaking my heart in the process.
"I won't be long,” I promise.
She sniffs. “She's never gotten sick like this before."
I squeeze her shoulder. “I’ll be right back."
All the stress of a new move, a new business, and then having all of that threatened probably has something to do with it. Not that I can say that to Lexie.
I hurry into Moira's room, my nose wrinkling at the stronger smell of illness. The room is dark and humid as I stumble my way over to the window to pull back the curtains.
A weak moan comes from the pile of covers on the bed. It's still too dim in here to see properly, but I don't want to make her miserable, so I leave the lights alone and make my way over to the bed. The alpha in me is screaming at me to scoop her and Lexie up and take them away from here, where we can hoard them and keep them safe.
But while she may not be an omega with a nest, she'll still feel more comfortable in her own space, with her own familiar scents of home.
I dig through the blankets, my eyesight finally adjusting to the darkness, searching for our poor beta. She's been working herself to the bone here, getting her business up and running. And then to have her exes show up and threaten everything she's built only to top it all off by being sick.
When I finally find her, I can't help but smile, still somehow charmed at the grumpy sweaty mess she is as she glares at me.
"Hey, lovely. I came to check on you. Ryder messaged me worried when you didn't bring Lexie to school."
