"Your... mate?" Bryant asked carefully.
"Dr. Harper Graves. My mate. My claimed Omega," I stated clearly, my voice carrying to every corner. "And if anyone in this room has a problem with that, we can settle it right now."
"Mr. Maddox, please," Sullivan tried to intervene.
"No," I cut him off. "You've all been talking about Harper like she's some victim. Like I forced something. So let me be crystal clear." I looked at each person at the table. "Harper is mine. By choice. By bond. By every law that matters to our kind."
"This is highly inappropriate," one of the lawyers started.
"What's inappropriate is threatening an Omega's medical license because she was claimed," I shot back. "What's inappropriate is management trying to force her to resign because they're uncomfortable with biology."
"Knox," Peterson spoke up from where he sat with other players they'd called as witnesses. His jaw was still wired, but his voice was clear enough. "Sit down before you make this worse."
"Worse?" I laughed. "They've already suspended me indefinitely. They've already tried to destroy Harper's career. How does it get worse?"
"Mr. Maddox, your violence on the ice was inexcusable," Bryant said.
"My violence was protecting my mate from harassment," I corrected. "Briggs called her my 'pet doctor.' Said worse things I won't repeat. Any Alpha in this room would have done the same."
"Not everyone would have nearly killed him," Richards pointed out.
"No? Then they're weak," I said simply.
Chen stood up suddenly. "Commissioner Bryant, may I speak?"
Bryant looked surprised. "Mr. Chen, you're here as a witness to the assault."
"I'm here as Knox's teammate," Chen corrected. "And I need to say something."
"Sit down, Chen," Richards warned.
"No, sir. With respect," Chen said, then turned to address the room. "What happened on the ice was excessive, yes. But what happened at the hotel? That was a medical emergency."
I stared at Chen, surprised.
"Dr. Graves was going into heat," Chen continued. "Dangerously. The suppressants failed. We could all smell it on the plane. If Knox hadn't helped her, she could have died."
"That's not..." Bryant started.
"Ask any Omega specialist," Mitchell chimed in, standing as well. "Suppressed heats that break through suddenly? Without an Alpha? The fever alone can be fatal."
"Knox saved her life," Peterson added, his words slightly slurred through the wires but clear. "Then claimed her, as was his right as the Alpha who helped her through it."
"This is ridiculous," Richards exploded. "They're lying to protect him."
"Are we?" Ben, our Beta goalie, stood up. "I was on the plane. I sat next to Dr. Graves. She was dying. The fever, the shaking. It was a medical emergency."
One by one, my teammates stood. Even the ones I'd fought with. Even the ones who feared me.
"It was a medical emergency," they said in unison.
Bryant looked around the room, calculating. The story was clean, defensible. A medical emergency, not misconduct. An Alpha protecting an Omega in crisis, not taking advantage.
"And the violence against Briggs?" Bryant asked.
"Defending his newly bonded mate from harassment," Sullivan said suddenly, surprising everyone. "Perhaps excessive, but understandable given the circumstances. The bond was less than 24 hours old. Any Alpha would be... volatile."
"Coach?" Richards stared at Sullivan in shock.
