"Excellent. I'll make sure you have good seats near the finish line."
The exchange is perfectly courteous, but I catch the subtle messages underneath. Gray establishing his authority over my time and schedule. My parents asserting their continued claim on my loyalty and future.
"We'll speak more tomorrow, Reese," Father says, the words carrying unmistakable finality.
"Of course," I manage.
As they gather their things and head toward the lobby exit, I remain frozen beside the coffee table, the weight of the ultimatum settling over me like a shroud.
"You okay?" Gray asks quietly.
"Perfect," I lie. "Just family catching up."
He studies my face with those perceptive steel eyes. "Right. Come on, the others are waiting."
As we walk toward the elevator, I try to process what just happened. My parents want me back at Westlake by Monday. They're prepared to cut my funding to make it happen. Everything I've built at Sable Ridge, the relationships, the respect, the sense of belonging, could disappear with a single phone call.
But tomorrow, I have a race to cox. Tomorrow, I have a team to lead. Tomorrow, I'll prove to everyone, including myself, that I belong exactly where I am.
The elevator doors close, and I force myself to focus on what I can control. Race strategy. Team dynamics. The feeling of eight oars moving as one under my command.
Tomorrow, I'll be the coxswain Gray believes I am. After that... we'll see.
"Reese?" Gray's voice pulls me from my thoughts as we reach our floor.
"Yeah?"
"Whatever they said to you down there—you belong with this team. Don't forget that."
For the second time in as many days, his simple faith in me threatens to break something loose inside my chest.
"Thanks," I whisper.
"Besides," he adds with the ghost of a smile, "we've got a race to win tomorrow. And you're going to get us there."
Despite everything, I find myself smiling back. "I plan to."
chapter TWENTY
Reese
Icount mysuppressants for the third time since we checked in.
Four pills. Four small white tablets that stand between me and complete disaster. I should have six left, but two disappeared with everything else when my room was ransacked. The backup supply Eli gave me helped, but now I'm down to my final emergency stash.
Four pills for three more days until my next shipment arrives. The math doesn't work.
I sink onto the hotel bed, staring at the medication bottle in my trembling hands. The team meeting ended an hour ago, dinner finished thirty minutes past that, and Bo has graciously given me space to "decompress" from the confrontation with my parents. He's probably down in the lobby with the others, or maybe getting ice from the machine down the hall. Either way, I'malone with the growing certainty that everything is about to fall apart.
My phone buzzes with a text from my mother:We'll speak again after your race tomorrow. Your father expects an answer about Westlake.
I delete it without responding and toss the phone onto the nightstand. One crisis at a time.
The suppressants glare at me from their amber bottle, mocking in their inadequacy. I've been on them for three years, ever since my family decided my designation was an embarrassment to be managed rather than accepted. The pills regulate my cycle, mute my scent, keep me safely in the realm of "normal" where Omegas don't cause complications for anyone.
Except now I'm facing a weekend surrounded by eight unmated Alphas with barely enough medication to get me through tomorrow's race, let alone the drive home.
A soft knock interrupts my spiraling thoughts. "Reese? It's Bo. Can I come in?"
