Page 98 of Feeling the Heat: Part Two
The rideover to the hotel is the longest twenty-five minutes of my life, and I want to scream as the rotating doors to the lobby move at a glacial pace.
On the way over, I considered going to the front desk to let them know that the woman in room 409 is in danger, but a quick glance around the bougie boutique hotel lobby makes me decide against it. If I draw attention to myself, they might tell me that I’m not allowed up to the guest floors without verification that I’m Megan’s guest. I can’t risk her not answering a call from the front desk or their wasting enough time that Bryce returns before I can get her out of here.
My legs shake as I force myself to walk to the elevator bank, rather than breaking out into a sprint like my anxiety demands. Fortunately, a hotel keycard isn’t required to get to her floor, and I take a moment to suck in a deep breath during the elevator ride, making a mental game plan. My stomach lurches as I check my phone to make sure I haven’t missed any calls or texts from Megan, and I see deluge of messages from the pack chat telling me to wait for them.
I can’t wait. This is my chance to make up for giving up on my sister.
I tap the shortcut I have on my phone to use in case of emergencies out of an abundance of caution. It’ll record everything that happens and back it up to the cloud. I don’t put it past Bryce to claim that I kidnapped his wife, so I need concrete evidence that she’s coming with me willingly. I hate that I can’t rely on her not to fall in line with him if that happens. I hate all of this. How did it get to this point?
The rap of my knock against the door to Megan’s room sounds far too loud. There’s no one in the hall, but my mind still imagines that if we make noise, Bryce will pop out from hiding and catch us before I can get Megan out of here.
There’s no response. I knock again, louder, looking back over my shoulder to make sure no one is around before calling out to my sister. “Megan, it’s me.”
For a long moment, I worry that I’m in the wrong place or she’s gone. But then the door cracks open and Megan’s face appears.
“Come in. Quick,” she hisses, stepping back to let me in and then slamming the door shut again.
I scan her, searching for any signs of injury, but other than her red, puffy eyes and her sallow pallor, she looks alright. Thank god. I tug her into a hug, and she trembles in my arms.
“I’m s-s-sorry,” she whispers, and I squeeze her tighter then pull back.
“Hey. It’s okay. Nothing matters right now other than getting you out of here.” I scan the hotel room with a frown, noticing the open luggage and items strewn around various surfaces. “Where’s your bag? We need to go.”
“I-I didn’t pack anything. I-I’m s-sorry.” She starts to sob silently, working herself up. I need her to focus, but she sitsdown on the bed and cradles her head in her hands, chest heaving.
“What do you need?” When I get no answer except more sobs, I circle around the room, pulse hammering as I locate her purse then search for any other essentials. Every second I waste doing this feels dangerous. “You know what? We’ll replace whatever you need. Let’s go.” I reach out to grab her arm and pull her up off the bed, but freeze when the beep and whir of the door’s lock goes off.
Megan gasps in dismay, and my omega screams at me that we’re trapped, and I need to hide. I grip her shoulders. “Stay behind me. I won’t let him do anything to you.”
When I turn to face the door, ready to do anything I can to fend Bryce off, my mouth falls open. Because it isn’t Bryce coming into the room, it’s…
“Holden?” Am I hallucinating?
“Well, fancy seeing you here!” The blonde alpha grins at me jovially, but the malice radiating off of him makes me choke back a whine of fear.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
He laughs, the sound oily and ominous. “You’re a hard woman to get a hold of. I had to resort to asking for a friend’s help to get some time with you.”
A friend’s help. He means Bryce. Which means this was all a lie.
My stomach bottoms out, and my throat constricts with anger and fear as I step back so I can see both Megan and Holden.
“You didn’t want my help,” I say numbly.
My sister opens her mouth to reply, but Holden answers for her. “Of course she didn’t want your help. What could you possibly do for her? She has an influential alpha as her husband, which is more than most betas could ever dream of.She doesn’t need help from her omega sister, who is the laughingstock of the internet. God, you're as delusional as ever. It’s not cute, but I’m willing to overlook it.”
Something breaks inside me at his words, unleashing the flood of anger I held back to keep up professional appearances when we worked together. “I’mdelusional? What do you think is going to happen here? That I’m going to be grateful for your interest? You’ve been lying about sleeping with me and—” My blood runs cold as the full force of the implication of his words hits me. The alpha stalking me was working to help him. The times I saw him or Bryce out of the corner of my eye weren’t me being paranoid.
Oh god. My hands tremble, and it takes everything in me to stay standing and not be sick all over the hotel carpet.
His smile sharpens as he strides toward me, still keeping himself firmly in the path between me and the door. Megan starts to sob again, but I can barely hear it over my hammering pulse.
“You think you’re so smart, but you’re really just a dumb omega bitch. I was trying to be nice before when I showed interest, but I’m done playing games. I want you, and now I’m going to have you.”
This can’t be happening. How did I go from talking to Astrid about being happy with my pack tothis? A high-pitched whine fills my ears, and it takes a moment for me to register that the sound is coming from me.
“Oh,relax. Just be a good little omega whore like I know you are for that pack, and everything will be fine. I know you’re a knot-hungry slut.”
