Lahat ng Kabanata ng Stuck Between Two Alpha Heir’s: Kabanata 71 - Kabanata 80

It was unfortunate. The puck sliced through the air, fast, making an arc that was directed past the wide of the net. At the same time, the sound of the final whistle echoed through the rink. A collective groan rose from the crowd, a wave of disappointed looks spreading like a wave across the bleachers. The puck clattered uselessly against the boards as players slowed.Rollins ripped off his helmet and tossed it aside, frustration flashing across his face. He slammed the blade of his stick lightly against the ice once before letting it fall.“So close,” someone muttered nearby.“Aw, bummer,” Linda said, leaning back in her seat. She let out a small breath, amused by how fast her heart was pounding. The tension she had felt lingered. It almost felt like the kind you feel when your life is genuinely in danger. She crossed her arms, shaking her head faintly. “I can’t believe I actually got into that.”Beside her, Piper leaned back too, finally exhaling the breath she had been holding.

Still caught in a daze, Piper blinked rapidly, her stomach rolling. She spun around weakly at the sound of her name. She turned to find Linda, who had witnessed the whole thing, rushing toward her with a dreaded look on her face. Piper turned forward again, only to see that Kris was gone. Her hazy eyes searched around frantically, scanning faces, but he was gone. Her heart leapt. Had she imagined it? No, she shook her head. “Piper, what is wrong with you?” Linda demanded as she reached her. Her eyes flicked over Piper’s pale face, then behind her, confusion creasing her brow. “Did you just throw up on someone?”Piper barely heard the question. Her throat tightened as she started to panic. “Oh God,” she groaned, pressing a hand to her temple. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again “I-I have to warn Elsa.”Linda blinked. “Who the hell is Elsa?” She sighed sharply and pulled a handkerchief from her pocket, thrusting it into Piper’s hand. “Here. Wipe your face and stop talki

Linda watched as Piper retreated to the last place she knew how to hide…her own palms. Piper folded in on herself, covering her face as quiet sobs wracked her body. Linda bit down on her lower lip, her brows knitting together uneasily. Comfort had never been her strong suit. She was the type to fix problems, confront them head-on, not sit and console someone else’s heartbreak.And worse, she didn’t even know what had broken Piper so completely.She opened her mouth, then shut it again. She didn't know what to say, afraid that no matter the words she used, they wouldn't help Piper. So instead, Linda did the only thing she could think of. She sat beside Piper and wrapped her arms around her.Piper stiffened instantly, but after a few seconds, a few long seconds, her resistance melted. Her shoulders sagged and her breath hitched as she leaned fully into Linda’s arms, trembling.They stayed like that for a while.Piper cried freely, her sobs muffled against Linda’s shoulder, while Linda

“Oh, well, in that case,” the nurse said after a brief pause, “she has regained consciousness. She is stable now.”Relief loosened something tight in Piper’s chest.Before she could say anything else, the nurse gave them a polite nod and continued down the corridor.Linda turned immediately to Piper, rolling her shoulders and cracking her knuckles. “Good. Then let’s not leave just yet.”“Nope,” Piper said quickly. “We are leaving right now before you complicate things further. You heard her. Elsa’s family is on their way.”She took two steps forward. Her world tilted. A wave of dizziness slammed into her so suddenly that her knees buckled. Her vision blurred, the hallway stretching and warping like melting glass. She barely had time to gasp before her body pitched forward.“Hey—!” Linda called out, catching her just in time. “Dammit—” she cursed under her breath.The next thing Piper knew, she was lying on a hospital bed, staring blankly at the white ceiling tiles above her. The fain

For a long while, silence settled, heavy and suffocating.The sound of the slap still echoed in the wardroom….in Rollins' ears long after Piper’s hand had fallen back to her side.Rollins stood frozen. His eyes were wide, unblinking, filled with raw shock and disbelief.Piper had slapped him.The realization landed slowly. Never, not once, had she ever stood up to him like that. She had never raised her voice in anger, never opposed him openly, let alone raised her hand to him.She only knew how to succumb, to obey, and to forgive. This was new. He blinked once, then again. His cheek stung from the punch earlier and now with the slap burning sharply underneath, his ear was practically ringing. He knew something had changed about Piper, and this slap confirmed it all. Rollins hadn’t come to her wardroom under any order. He was there simply because he needed to fix something he had done impulsively. He knew she had seen it.The way he had rushed to Elsa when she blacked out. The way