27. Dante

27

Dante

T he first thing I hear when I wake up is Meggie's panicked cursing. "Shit! Where are they?"

I pull on a pair of shorts and find her in the bathroom, tearing things out of the drawers. The mirror is still clouded with steam from her shower and her hair is dripping wet.

"You okay, little omega?"

"I can't find my suppressants."

My stomach drops to the floor.

"What?" McQuinn pokes his head into the room, a worried expression on his face.

The rest of the guys crowd into the hall, drawn, as I was, by Meggie's cursing. They squeeze close, trying to see into the bathroom that's only big enough for her and me.

I take hold of her shoulders and turn her to face me. She needs to take a beat and calm down before we all start losing our shit. "It's okay, we're going to find them. Where did you see them last?"

She's looking around the bathroom, breathing hard, unable to focus. "They were right here! I took them last night before we went to dinner with Em and they were right here!"

Harrison pushes his way forward. "Oz, search the bedroom."

"They aren't in the bedroom!" Meggie says, near tears. "I always take them in here. Right before dinner and right before breakfast."

Harrison gives Oz a look that says ' go.' Oz disappears into the bedroom, despite Meggie's insistence. It's not that we don't believe her, but we can't leave any stone unturned.

"Nils," Harrison says. "You were the first one back after dinner last night. Was there any sign someone had been in the room?"

"I bet it was Ava." Meggie's fear is turning to anger, her voice rising in volume. "She was in here yesterday." Our omega shoves past me, pushing the rest of the guys out of her way, nearly sprinting for the front door.

McQuinn doesn't let her get more than a few steps. He sweeps our girl into his arms and turns her back around to face the rest of us.

"I know the consequences of hot-headed decisions, sweetheart," he says, lips close to her ear, but eyes on Nils. "You aren't going anywhere until you calm down."

Distraught, she squirms and fights against him. "I have to find them. I can't go without them. You know that!"

I step in front of Meggie and hunch down so I'm at eye level with her. "We're going to take care of this. But charging in and accusing Ava isn't the way. What if she didn't take them? You'd be as good as confessing to her that you're an omega."

Meggie stops struggling against McQuinn and tears spring to her eyes. "I can't… Dante, I can't go without them. I've never gone without suppressants."

"Where are your blockers, Meggie? Are those gone too?" Harrison asks.

"Um, I don't know." She twists away from McQuinn, heading towards the kitchen. "They're in the breath mint container in my bag in case I need to take an extra dose while we're out."

She seems calmer, but there's a storm under the surface. I can see it in her pinched eyes and tense walk. If we don't get this settled soon, she's going to lose it again. My pack mates might too. I need to keep a level head. For all of us.

We follow her into the living room and watch as she searches her bag. Once she finds the breath mints container and shows us it's full, we all breathe a little easier. At least that's one good thing going for us.

"Look at me, gorgeous." Nils takes her hand. "This is a major city, with millions of people. I'm sure we can find someone selling suppressants here. If we can't find yours, we'll get you more."

Oz comes out of the bedroom, and our eyes meet. He shakes his head, letting us know he didn't find anything.

"Nils is right," Harrison says, with a confidence I'm not feeling. "But right now, we have a game to get to."

A big game. The semi-finals. The last thing we need is this kind of crisis.

"It's not just that I might go into heat," Meggie says. "If someone took them, that means they know I'm an omega."

The quiet that falls over us is like dirt landing on a grave. Shit, what if they tell someone? Will they even allow us to play this game?

"The IOC isn't knocking down our door yet," Harrison says. "If it comes to that, we'll deal with it. For now, let's not panic about hypothetical scenarios. Nils, how long can she go without suppressants before she goes into heat?"

Nils thinks for a moment, looking Meggie over. "Honestly, I'm not sure. It could be days or months. Although…"

"What?" McQuinn asks, impatient for Nils to continue.

"The fact that she's been suppressing her heats for so long makes it likely that she'll go into heat more quickly." He says the words in a rush, as if it'll be less daunting if he says it fast.

"And more intense," Meggie adds, clearly having done her own research on this.

Nils nods in agreement. "Your body will have a lot to make up for."

"But she won't go into heat within hours, right?"

Nils hesitates, but then says, "No. I don't think so."

"Okay, here's what we're going to do." Harrison takes charge, easing his own stress with control, like he always does. "Meggie, take an extra dose of—"

"Blockers won't help stop a heat the way suppressants will," Nils interjects.

"Maybe not," Harrison says. "But it's what we have, and it's worth trying."

Meggie grabs a glass of water and pops three pills in her mouth while he continues talking.

"Nils, McQuinn, and Oz," Harrison calls out. "Put feelers out, get on the dark web, whatever you have to do to get more suppressants by tonight."

The three of them turn to one another, and then back to Harrison.

"The dark web?" Oz quirks a brow. "You think we know how to do that?"

"We're not exactly tech savvy," McQuinn adds, sharing a look with Nils, who's got a twinkle in his eyes like he's about to laugh.

"Figure it out!" Harrison snaps, clearly as unamused as I am.

"Wait, I might know someone." Meggie fishes around in her purse until she pulls out her phone.

"You know someone who can get suppressants in Paris?" McQuinn sounds incredulous, and I throw him a sharp look. She doesn't need his attitude right now.

"Um… maybe… it's kind of a long shot and might be nothing, but I sort of think I saw my dealer here a few days ago at McDonald's."

"McDonald's?" McQuinn says, sharing a wide-eyed look with Nils.

"The day we were there with you?" Nils asks.

"Yeah." Meggie scrolls through the contacts in her phone.

Oz crosses his arms over his chest. "This the guy I met at the club?"

"Yeah."

"Put it on speaker," Oz commands. "I told you I'm never letting you buy suppressants on your own again."

She rolls her eyes, but does as he says. The phone rings.

"His name wouldn't happen to be Glenn, would it?" Nils asks.

Meggie wrinkles her brow. "No. But—" She cuts off to greet the person who answers, "Hey, Knox."

For some unknown reason, Nils looks disappointed.

"Hey, sweetheart," Knox says from the other end of the line. None of us like that he calls her that, and Harrison full on growls.

Meggie rushes her words. "You wouldn't happen to be in Paris, would you?"

"Matter of fact, I'm here with the boss. What can I do for you?"

Oz cuts in. "She needs suppressants. Fast."

"Got me on speakerphone, huh, sweetheart?" He chuckles a little. "Is your whole pack there?"

"Um, yeah."

He makes a humming noise in his throat. "How fast are we talkin'?"

"Now," I say. "Before the game."

"That's gonna be tricky." His voice is suddenly serious. "But Glenn won't like it if you go into heat and miss the chance to play the game."

He says Glenn pointedly, and Meggie silently mouths, ' his boss .'

McQuinn and Nils perk up. Do they know this guy?

"I'm on the other side of town and traffic's bad, but I'll do my best to get them to you at the game." He hangs up after that without a goodbye.

Harrison steps forward. "Alright, let's—"

"Wait," McQuinn says. "There's something I need to tell you."