The words hung between us, and suddenly the air felt charged. The bond pulsed, and I could feel his emotions as clearly as my own. Pride, fear, want, and something deeper.
"You chose me," he repeated, wonder in his voice.
"God help me, but yes," I admitted.
He moved closer, and this time I didn't back away. His hand cupped my face, thumb tracing my jaw.
"I can feel you," he said quietly. "Not just your emotions. Everything. Your strength when you stood up to them. Your anger at their threats. Your..."
"What?" I asked when he trailed off.
"Your certainty. About us," he finished.
I could feel it too, the bond syncing deeper. His emotions, his thoughts almost, bleeding into mine. It should have been terrifying. Instead, it felt like coming home.
"This is dangerous," I whispered.
"Everything about us is dangerous," he agreed, pressing his forehead to mine.
"They're going to come after us. My license, your career," I warned.
"Let them try," he said, and through the bond, I felt his absolute certainty. His willingness to burn everything down for me.
"Knox," I breathed.
"I know," he said. "I feel it too."
The bond pulsed between us, deeper than before. Not just physical anymore, but something more. Something that made Richards' threats seem insignificant.
"What do we do now?" I asked.
"Now?" Knox pulled me closer. "Now we show them that threatening what's mine was the worst mistake they ever made."
The dangerous promise in his voice should have scared me. Instead, through the bond, I felt my own responding fierce protectiveness.
They wanted me to be a weak Omega, a victim, a problem to be managed.
They were about to learn how wrong they were.
Chapter 14
Knox
The disciplinary hearing was already in session when I kicked open the conference room door. The sound echoed like a gunshot, making half the room jump.
"Mr. Maddox, you can't be here," Commissioner Adam Bryant said from his seat at the head of the table. League officials, team management, and lawyers filled every chair. They'd been discussing my fate without me.
"Like hell I can't," I said, stalking into the room.
"Security!" Richards called out.
"Try it," I growled, and even the security guards hovering by the door hesitated. "I have something to say."
"This is a closed hearing," Bryant insisted.
"About me. About my mate. And you're having it without us," I said, letting the word 'mate' ring through the room.
The silence was deafening.
