“I don’t think she was posing that as a serious question,” Slade replied with a shake of his head.
Hunter examined me, and I hoped I managed the neutral expression I aimed for. “I might have been serious.”
Both alphas tilted their heads, and even if I wasn’t held in my seat by their bulk on either side, I couldn’t have moved a muscle under those domineering stares. “No,” Slade finally said. “I think she was trying to slot Finley into his usual place in her brain, but he’s not quite fitting as well.”
Damn him. “I hope you know it’s very irritating the way you correctly dissect and categorize my thoughts and actions.”
Slade looked pleased with himself as he hummed in agreement. Better than a grunt, I supposed.
“As I keep saying,” Hunter added as he sprawled back deeper in his chair, long legs smashing into the row in front of us, “our pack dynamics will all work out the way they’re supposed to, in the time they’re supposed to. This isn’t a sprint… it’s a journey. And we all started at a different place.”
Yep, both were too wiseandannoying for their own good.
Barely resisting the urge to jam my elbows into their sides, which, let’s be real, would hurt me more than the alphas, I shut my mouth and watched the rest of warmups. Enjoying the playful way the hockey boys raced around the ice.
The game itself was serious most of the time, but this just looked like fun as they stretched and let off steam. It took a concerted effort not to react to Slade sitting right by my side this time, his jacket pressed against my jersey. Our skin didn’t touch, but the solid heat and weight of him was enough to have my wolf losing her shit.
Me too, if I was being honest.
There was a spare seat on his other side, and then we had Kenzo’s mates—Vanessa and Luce—who I’d briefly met. Ness was a gorgeous brunette with brown skin and eyes, and Luce was a vivacious blonde, with pale skin and hazel eyes. At the moment, they were focused on the ice and the warmups, watching Kenzo as he shoved Finley into the boards, before taking off with a laughing bear after him.
This carefree side to Finley was disconcerting, and I was absolutely struggling to slot him back into his regular place in my mind—firmly separated from the other three alphas in our quintet.
Focusing on the rows of chairs around us, I enjoyed seeing Kassidy beside Hunter. I couldn’t wait to catch up with her again. Beside her were Kellan’s brothers, who’d arrived with their pack mates and their gorgeous baby boy, Declan. I’d had no idea that Kellan was an uncle, and as I’d stared at the golden-haired little boy, there was a brief moment where I imagined another golden-haired little boy.
Who knew if babies were in my future, and I certainly didn’t want them now, but… maybe one day…
It was nice that the whole family had made the effort to be here today, driving the hour across the city to this rink. I’d personally thought it was far too short of a drive as I tore through the streets in the G-Wagen.
I’d met most of the family as they arrived, not that I could remember names, but they’d all been curiously polite in greeting. As expected, Hunter and Slade didn’t let any of them get close enough to touch me, which suited me just fine as it kept my skittish wolf from freaking out at being in a crowd again. So many strangers around us bothered me, and I had to consider that on top of the trauma from my upbringing, I likely had new trauma from my kidnapping.
My soul was littered with broken pieces, but I was confident that with time, I’d find my new normal.
I could feel the curious gazes on us, all of them wondering how our pack was making this semi-bonded quintet work. Most of them knew the circumstances of my arrival in Golden Claw, which explained a few cool stares from Kellan’s Aunt Georgia. She was single too, her mate having died in the last war. According to Hunter, she hadn’t been the same since, and I didn’t care how suspicious she was of me; my heart ached for the older shifter.
Kellan’s brothers though, had gushed all over me, and I would have been engulfed in a double-sided hug if Hunter and Slade weren’t doing their staring and growling thing—my possessive and obsessive stalkers.
Slade and I still hadn’t mentioned his stalker wall yet, though we were clearly both aware that the other knew. It was as ifwe played a game of uncle, to see who would remain quiet the longest. I was determined not to break first.
I straightened when the teams left the ice, the teal, white, and gold jerseys of the Celtic Wolves, along with the white and brown of the Golden Dashers. The crowd held a fairly even spread of team jerseys, and the energy contained more of a buzz than the last game I’d watched.
Hunter had told me on the way here that these teams were true rivals, both from the same city, and close in the league ranking. They’d actually met in the Shifter Cup last year, which was the pinnacle of the league. The Celtic Wolves had come out as victors, which explained the tension today… their first game since the cup.
“Their new center plays like a machine,” Hunter said, leaning forward in his seat as he closely observed the Golden Dashers leaving the ice.
“Finley can take him,” Slade noted without a shred of doubt in his pack mates. “He’s got more experience and heart, and both of those will make a difference in how it all plays out.”
Hunter grunted, and I assumed that was an agreement. Studying the side of his face, his five o’clock shadow was heavier than usual, but the tension that had lined his eyes while Kellan was under a magical attack had faded. His pack was currently safe, and he could finally relax.
A relaxed Hunter was an extra sexy Hunter, which didn’t bode well for me. He was dressed casually in a teal Henley and jeans, and I wanted to climb all over him like he was an adults-only jungle gym.
I couldn’t pinpoint when my feelings toward Hunter had changed so drastically. At first he’d been a scary, dominant alpha, who pushed mewellpast my comfort zone. But the more I got to know him…
It started with the way he’d pursued me without remorse or hesitation, letting me know in no uncertain terms that I washis.Continuing with the care and effort he put into looking after me, without ever showing an ounce of irritation that it was his responsibility. He appeared to enjoy it actually.
I was aware that a lot of his actions could be attributed to his entitled alpha obligations. He would always do what was right for his pack, and as the fifth of the quintet, he needed me to complete their bond…
A realization hit, and I stiffened in my chair as I finally figured out what had been holding me back from Hunter, when I’d gone all in with Kellan. I feared that my feelings outmatched his, and that to him I was an obligation. Whereas to me… he was my heart. Just like Kellan.
