Chapter 52

Ethan

My teammates, men from the company, celebrate around me, clapping me on the back in congratulations.

“Great game, Mr. Montgomery!”

“That was an awesome last shot!”

“We should play again sometime!”

The sounds of victory echo through the stadium in the form of screams, trumpet horns, and whistles. The noise is deafening but in a good way. The excitement in the air is easy to scent, and I take in the pleasant smell.

Of course, there’s also a tang of bitter disappointment hanging around the losing team and their fans, but it’s not unusual. It happens after every game. However, this time, the sharp, sour scent of hate filters into the air from the crowd. It’s a hate that is much too strong for a simple game.

Looking around, I scan the crowd. There are so many people it takes me a minute to find the area where Fiona and Ryan had been, but I don’t see them.

“Alpha, Fiona is missing,” Ryan says through our mind link. His words make me freeze and search the crowd.

“What do you mean she’s missing?!” I growl back, my eyes scanning every person I can see. My heart slams into my chest as visions of Fiona’s injuries come to mind. The reminder of Fiona’s scared eyes from earlier makes my heart race.

“I turned around, and she was gone,” Ryan tells me, pulling an angry snarl from my chest. Where the hell could she have gone just from two minutes ago when I looked at her in the stands. She’d been smiling and shouting for me to win, which had spurred me on and given me a new shot of adrenaline to win.

Fiona wouldn’t run off by herself unless it was for something important, and she knew I wanted her to stay with Ryan

“Look everywhere! She could get hurt in a crowd this large,” I order, not wanting to give power to any other ideas running through my head. There could be more to this than her just getting lost in the crowd.

After everything that has happened, the attacks, the home intruder, and car chase, I hope it’s nothing more.

My wolf growls, “But, if someone has taken Fiona, they’ll pay.”

“If any of these bastards hurt her, I’ll make them wish they never laid eyes on her,” I agree with him.

Loud shouts start up from one of the middle stadium levels, and I look up to find people running and fighting. The people running get clogged in the doorway entrances that go back to the lobby while groups of fans from both sides of the game start throwing punches.

The level is three down from where Fiona was sitting, but I don’t know how far she could’ve gotten before the chaos started.

“I can’t scent Fiona,” Ryan announces through the link.

“Just keep searching. I’ll check the lower levels while you check the upper levels. She couldn’t have gotten far, or if someone has her, neither could they,” I tell him before running up the bleachers of the first level.

The lobby, while full of people, doesn’t have the one woman I’m searching for. I check by the locker rooms, grabbing my phone in the process, but she’s not here either.

“Damn it, Fiona. Where are you?” I mutter, turning down another hallway. A worker in a blue shirt congratulates me on the win, so I stop him.

“I’m looking for someone,” I tell him, pulling my phone back out of my pocket and finding a picture of Fiona. “Have you seen this woman since the game ended?” He looks at the picture for a moment and only shakes his head.

“No, sorry.”

Growling, I turn away and make my way back to the lobby. The scent of sweat hangs heavy in the air, but I try to push past it, searching for the sweet strawberry scent she’s always surrounded in.

It’s become a familiar scent, something I almost crave whenever I wake up in the morning or when I’m not with her. I can’t even eat strawberries now without thinking of Fiona.

So, I focus my nose and ears, searching for any sign of her in the stadium. So many scents slam into me- sweat, body spray, popcorn, hot dogs, and finally a faint trace of strawberry somewhere above me.

Fiona.

“Move!” I shout, making people jump apart and giving me a path to run through. I make it to the second floor, following the barely there scent, but it disappears as I get blocked off by another crowd.

“She’s close,” my wolf tells me. I agree, but as her scent disappears behind the many other smells, I switch to depend on my hearing alone and continue elbowing my way through people.

With the overwhelmingly loud crowd, I do my best to block out unnecessary sounds such as doors closing, coaches yelling to pack up, workers directing people. I shut them out one by one, starting with the floor I’m on.

People fight around me, and I block out the sounds of the useless threats and intimidations surrounding me. The sounds attack my senses, making them ring, but I push through to the floor above me.

The longer I search, the more desperate I grow. If I can’t find her…

“Don’t,” my wolf growls. “We will find her. Keep searching.”

Pushing past the ringing in my ears, I ignore the pain of all the sounds. I have to find her. If she’s in danger, I promised to keep her safe.

She’s my—

“Let me go!”

Her voice pierces through the chaos, loud and clear and full of fear. The wobble in her voice makes me growl.

“She’s above us,” my wolf says, pacing in my mind.

“Help! Someone, help me!” She screams, sending every instinct in my body on high alert. My skin tightens over my bones uncomfortably as my shift beings, but I force it back. I don’t need my wolf right now. He’ll only cause more trouble.

“Ethan!”

“She’s moving toward the ledge,” my wolf howls, now using his senses to track her.

“Help! Ethan!”

The pleading in her tone has me moving toward the end of the stadium and looking over the edge above me.

There, backed up against the railing with a man holding her by her hair, is Fiona. A savage snarl rips from my body, especially when I notice the bruising on her face. That bastard. Whoever he is, he’s dead when I get my hands on him.

“Get to the third floor, Ryan! Man in a black shirt with brown hair. Smells like alcohol and smoke. Get him!”

“Yes, Alpha.”

“P-please don’t,” Fiona cries, grabbing onto the railing as the man pushes her. Tears run down her cheeks as I sprint toward the area beneath her. I don’t have time to get to the third floor, but if I can get below her—

“NO!” I shout, pushing myself to run faster.

Fiona screams as her body tips over the edge of the stadium.

Time slows and my wolf howls.

All I can see is Fiona falling through the air, and all I can hear is her scream echoing in my ears.

“FIONA!”

Jumping up onto a bleacher chair, I launch myself into the air, letting her body slam into mine as I wrap myself around her. We hit the bleachers with a metallic thud, rolling. I try to keep her body shielded as much as I can while the pain that ricochets through my body makes me groan.

When we roll to a stop, I look down at Fiona who is squeezing her eyes closed.

“Are you okay?”

She doesn’t answer, just continues to tremble in my arms. But she’s here. I caught her.

“Fiona.” She jumps and looks up when I cup her cheek in my hand. “Are you okay?”

Again, she doesn’t answer, but at least she shakes her head before burying her face in my chest. The shaky whimpers come from her make me want to chase after her attacker, but I also can’t let her go. I won’t.

A cold sweat breaks across my body as I hug Fiona. The realization that I could’ve lost her hits me in full force. In the blink of an eye, she could’ve been gone forever. Weeks ago, that wouldn’t have mattered. But now… I look down at the frightened woman in my arms.

My woman.

Images of her lying across the bleachers, broken and bloody, surface in my mind, and I shudder. If she died, it would be unacceptable.

“I’ve got you,” I whisper, tightening my arms around her. “You’re safe now.”