I wasn’t sure if I should be impressed or mortified. I was pretty much a decent mix of both.
Hunter lost it as a burst of laughter escaped him, and if I’d thought we had attention on us before, it was nothing compared to now. Everyone in the vicinity stared at him like he’d just created snow from his tears. Or like an angel had fallen to Earth and now walked amongst mere mortals. Okay, that was how they usually looked at him, but the awe had certainly amped up with his display of amusement.
“It’s really not funny,” I grouched, feeling heat in my cheeks. “Finley and I already haveallthe issues without Kellan piling on.”
As his laughter faded, Hunter cupped my face. “Finley needs a shifter like Kellan to keep him from spiraling. Our bear has alot of trauma in his past, and he’d fall into it without our golden wolf.”
That settled my embarrassment, and I decided that if it took my face on his crotch to lighten the mental burden of Finley’s life, well… I’d sacrifice for the greater good.
Hunter released me right as our phones chimed again.
Golden Boy: *Image attached* *smiley emoji* *wink face emoji* *heart eyes emoji*
Wondering what I was about to see this time, I opened it to find an image of Finley again, only this time Kellan had taken it without him noticing. And weirdly, he wasn’t glaring any longer. If anything, he looked confused and sad as he stared down at his underwear.
“This will all work out,” Hunter whispered near my ear. “Let the process take the path it needs.”
My throat grew tighter as I nodded. Not that I had any idea what was going to happen in the future, or how anything would work out, but it hurt me when this pack hurt. I hated to see it.
Hunter leaned back in his chair, and my darker thoughts were cut off as he draped his arm behind me. They weren’t super roomy chairs to start with, and he had already been half crowded into my side with his bulk, but now I was surrounded.
The heat of his dominance stirred my omega energy, and my wolf preened like a horny bitch. Both of us wanted his mouth on our skin again, which was a terrible idea.
A terribly great idea.
The more I entangled myself with these alphas, the harder it got to remember the reasons I’d stayed away from here in the first place. I’d spent years running and hiding, and it would all be for nothing if I gave in now.
The stadium brightened and I almost forgot about Hunter’s arm as the players emerged. Teal, gold, and white-shirted shifters zoomed out onto the ice, and the crowd screamed and cheered, jumping in their seats. These guys were celebrities, and it hadn’t escaped my notice that I wasn’t the only one wearing a shirt with Kellan’s name and number on it.
In fact, most of what I saw in the stands were twenty-twoJackson, thirty-fourThorntonfor Finley, along with fifty-eightYamamotoand eighty-fourNewton.The players wearing those four numbers remained close on the ice as they skated around and waved to the crowd.
Kellan stopped at the glass where we sat, and without his helmet I could see the absolute joy written across his features. He’d never been more sunshine than he was on the ice.
He pressed his hand to the glass, and I barely resisted the urge to rush down the steps to return the gesture. Kellan tapped his hand to his chest and then blew me a kiss, before he skated off with so much grace it was hard to believe he wasn’t flying.
He rejoined Finley and the two other popular-with-the-crowd players.
“That’s Kenzo Yamamoto and Christian Newton,” Hunter said as I watched their group, realizing number eighty-four was Kellan’s friend from the bar. “Kenzo is Finley’s chosen brother. They grew up together, and Christian is Kellan’s best friend. They also grew up together, but don’t have the trauma bond of Fin and Kenz.”
Trauma bond. I’d always wondered if the bond part helped with the trauma part. I’d never had any bonds in my life to know. Plenty of trauma though.
I couldn’t take my eyes off Finley and Kenzo as they fucked around on the ice, skating between cones, and racing up and down the rink. After a few minutes they dropped to the ground near our seats, and I lurched forward. “Uh, what’s happening?”
Hunter chuckled, more relaxed than I’d seen from him before. “Got to warm up their groins.”
They were warming up their groins alright as they spread their legs and humped the ice. Kellan lifted his head, threw a smirk my way, and I wished I could say I looked away. I did not.
Thankfully, before I combusted, they moved on to other stretches, drills, and skill work. It was telling how distracting our side was that I barely even noticed the Red Pandas warming up too. Neither team crossed the center of the rink, staying strictly to their side.
After a few minutes of antics on the ice, both sides returned to their locker rooms, and the anticipation grew in the stadium.
Everyone was ready for this game.
The first of the season.
“Are the entitled alphas from the other cities here?” I asked, relaxing against Hunter’s arm, despite my best efforts to ignore it.
“Yep,” he rumbled, sounding annoyed. “They’re in the largest box over there.”
