Page 198 of All Packed Up

He lifted his gaze to the alpha’s.

“I think things worked out pretty damn well, considering. Because now that I’ve got you back, I’m not letting you go, Nic.”

Chapter 44

NIC

By the time the headlights that had been steadily following them for the past two hours turned off their path, Nic felt like he might be sick at any moment.

Rumbling off the highway had woken Wendy up, and just then she took his hand in hers, brushing her thumb over the back of his hand, just like he did to her sometimes. The anticipation was making his skin crawl.

Nic knew the area like the back of his hand, knew what lay around every corner, so when they took a right on the street he’d turned down a million times, he knew what to look for.

Or at least, he used to look for a stretch of glass windows, lit up signs, and workout machinery visible.

But none of that was what awaited him.

They pulled to a stop in one of the spaces in front of the building far too soon.

“Holy fucking skies, Nic,” Griffith breathed.

Wendy squeezed her fingers around his, and Nic nodded absently. He couldn’t get the whole picture from inside the car.

It took him longer than necessary for him to realize his hand was gripped tightly around the door handle. Couldn’t open it if he wouldn’t let the damned thing go.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, disengaging the lock and sliding from the seats onto the concrete sidewalk.

Yellow caution tape fluttered in the icy breeze, strung between two steel beams standing tall, previously the support of the building. The glass windows that had once shown off the neat interior of the gym were shattered. The only thing showcased now was the blackened, charred remains of his building. The ceiling had caved, burning away atop misshapen workout machinery.

He stopped on the sidewalk, taking it all in and barely aware of the omega beside him. Blinking against the garish sight, he wished it was a figment of his imagination, that maybe if he opened his eyes, he’d find his gym in one piece.

Nic had put most of his life into those many walls, so much time and money that he couldn’t get back, and now all he had to show for it was a pile of soot and ash.

“Hey,” Griffith said.

To be totally honest, Nic had forgotten anyone was there. The alpha had been a silent presence beside him on the sidewalk, but when Nic turned his attention, Grif cursed.

“Come here,” he muttered.

Nic didn’t really have a choice as the alpha wrapped his arms around Nic’s waist and shoulders.

“It’ll be okay,” the alpha said. “We’ll figure this out.”

After his initial shock and confusion, it took Nic longer than necessary to realize why Griffith was being so understanding, so sweet. As he sniffled and blinked, Nic understood why his vision had blurred, why his sinuses hurt. He buried his face in Grif’s shoulder, wiping his stupid tears away on the material.

“Fuck,” he rasped out, throat raw as if he’d swallowed barbed wire. “This fucking sucks.” Those were the only words he could pluck from his brain to describe the scenery before him, the emotions roiling inside him, escaping over the rim of his lashes.

“Nic, I’m so sorry,” Wendy said. Nic unwrapped one arm from around Griffith to pull her in between them.

“Don’t,” was all he could manage, swallowing against the lump in his throat.

Grif rubbed his back while Wendy stroked a soft pattern into his side, and with his omega and his alpha surrounding him in a comforting cocktail of cornbread and sugared plums, Nic cried.

He didn’t care how silly or gross it might have been in that moment, how weak he might have seemed. All he knew was that his heart hurt and the only ones capable of putting him back together were the ones with him in that moment.

The cold couldn’t even touch them, wrapped up in one another as they were, but the breeze whistled through the bare trees planted along the sidewalk just the same.

His tears dried up eventually, and he was left with deep breaths of his favorite aromas.