Chapter 178: You look like hell, Cap

​Reid stared at me for three long seconds before letting out a defeated, heavy sigh. He slid his arm around my waist, bracing most of my weight against his broad side as we made our way down the private elevator and out into the subterranean garage.

​The drive across town was quiet, the hum of the truck engine filling the cold cabin. Reid kept one hand firmly on the steering wheel while his other reached across the center console, his large, calloused fingers wrapping tight around mine.

He didn’t say a word, but the tight, territorial edge in his frozen pine scent spoke volumes. He was terrified. Terrified for my body, my career, and the sheer hell I was about to put myself through.

​Twenty minutes later, Reid pulled the truck into the shadows behind an industrial warehouse. A black sedan was already parked near the rusted loading bay.

​Vance stepped out, leaning against his driver’s side door. He was wearing a dark trench coat, a cigarette dangling from his lips. As we pulled up, his sharp eyes tracked the car, locking onto Reid first before cutting over to me in the passenger seat. ℯℯ𝑙.

​Reid killed the engine, but before he could unbuckle his seatbelt, I held up a hand. "Stay here."

​"Like hell I am," Reid growled.

​"Reid," I said, my voice dropping into that quiet, cold Captain’s register. "Vance is jumpy. He supplies illegal chemicals to high-profile clients. If an Alpha he doesn’t do business with steps out with a chip on his shoulder, he might just drive off. Let me handle it."

​Reid gritted his teeth so hard I could hear them grinding, but he stayed in the driver’s seat, his grey eyes tracking my every move as I opened the passenger door and slid out. My legs wobbled slightly as my feet hit the gravel, but I forced my spine straight, walking over to Vance with a calm, rigid composure.

​Vance took a drag from his cigarette, blowing the smoke into the crisp air as he looked at my thick turtleneck. A faint, knowing smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

​"You look like hell, Cap," Vance said, his rough voice carrying over the quiet hum of the docks. "And your dog in the car looks like he wants to rip my throat out."

​"Just give me the pack, Vance," I rasped, pulling a thick envelope of untraceable cash from my coat pocket.

​Vance tossed a small, black vacuum-sealed medical pouch onto the hood of his car, along with two small glass vials of clear liquid.

​"High-dose synthetic emergency pack," Vance said, his tone turning strictly clinical. "And two IV bags of specialized re-balancing electrolytes. Take the pill first. Within forty-five minutes, your system is going to throw a massive biological tantrum. You’re going to get severe abdominal cramping, cold sweats, nausea, and a crushing drop in stamina. It’s going to feel like your organs are trying to twist themselves into knots."

​I swallowed against the dry ache in my throat, taking the pouch and the vials. "And the IVs?"

​"Have that overprotective Alpha of yours hook you up to the IVs once the worst of the vomiting stops," Vance advised, dropping his cigarette to the asphalt and crushing it under his boot. "It’ll replace the fluid you lose and keep your body from going into full shock. Keep yourself warm, Kain. If your fever spikes above a hundred and three, get to an emergency room, cover story be damned."

​"Understood," I said quietly, handing him the cash.

​Vance took the envelope, but before he opened his car door, he paused, looking at me with a rare, genuine flicker of concern in his eyes. "You’ve survived ten years on my black-market pills, Kain. Don’t let a stupid playoff run be the thing that finally kills you."

​"I won’t," I replied.

​I turned around, clutching the medical pouch tight inside my coat pocket, and walked back to the truck. The moment I climbed into the passenger seat, Reid pulled me into his space, his large hands immediately checking my cold face, his eyes searching mine frantically.

​"You okay?" Reid demanded, his voice thick with tension.

​"I have it," I whispered, holding up the black pouch.

​Reid stared at the unassuming package, a dark, agonizing look passing over his features before he pulled me close, pressing a hard, desperate kiss against my forehead.

​"Let me take you to the clinic," Reid rasped against my skin, shifting the car into drive. "I’m not letting you go through this alone."

​"Alright, let’s go," I murmured, leaning my head back against the headrest, staring out the window as the city lights blurred past us.

The ride to the private clinic was far quieter than the panicked rush to meet Vance had been.

​With the vacuum-sealed pouch of commercial pills resting securely in the glove compartment, the immediate, frantic chase for a solution was over. What remained was the heavy, suffocating anticipation of what was coming next.

​Reid kept his cars climate control cranked high, the cabin filled with a soft, steady stream of warm air. Every few minutes, at every red light, his right hand would leave the steering wheel to hover over my lap, checking the heavy winter coat pulled over my knees or gently pressing his palm against my forehead to check for a fever.

​"You doing okay, Cap?" Reid asked softly, his voice dropping into that low, fiercely tender register he only ever used when we were completely alone. He reached out, his thumb gently catching my chin to tilt my face toward him. "Is the heater too high? Are your hips hurting?"

​I couldn’t help the faint, tired curve that tugged at the corner of my lips as I looked over at him. Seeing this towering, aggressive star winger—a guy who routinely slammed two-hundred-pound Alphas into the glass without blinking—fret over my blanket placement was a surreal, quiet comfort.

​"I’m fine, Reid," I murmured raspy, leaning my cheek slightly into his palm before he pulled his hand back to shift gears. "Stop fidgeting. You’re going to drive us into a guardrail."

​"I’m not fidgeting," he grumbled, though his fingers tapped restlessly against the leather of the steering wheel the second he put both hands back on it. "I’m just making sure you’re comfortable."