Kellan cracked up, his outside finally reflecting the clown within. “Such a hard shifter to prank.”
“You better shut up or I will kill you,” I warned him, though my focus remained on the disappointed omega in front of me.
“You did have me for a while there,” I admitted, and that got her perking right up.
“I did?”
Hunter and Finley spilled into the room, and I knew why there’d been no real sign of their involvement until now. Their scents were everywhere anyway, but more than that, they all wore devices around their necks that were designed to hide heartbeats when hunting.
In truth, I was impressed. “You gave it away by pretending not to see the clowns on the photos. Other than that, this was a solid prank.”
Emme sighed. “Yeah, I thought I was a touch too clever, didn’t I? But that was for your stupid list of names on your wall. Which I defaced and destroyed.”
I already knew she’d scribbled all over it, but I had a copy stored on my computer for when I had a spare minute or two for a murder rampage. “I can’t wait for your next attempt, Snow.”
Hunter gave me a little shove, and I scowled at him for real while debating if I should break his pretty face. “Let me guess where she learned I had a tiny issue with clowns.”
The entire room burst into laughter, and for once it didn’t piss me off.
In truth, I’d missed these stupid prank wars.
Talon released a genuine laugh as he said, “This was fun. I never knew alphas were allowed to have fun.”
Well, fuck, if a few clowns and me looking like an idiot amused them, I’d take this sort of prank any day. “You know you’re in big trouble, Snow,” I warned her, already calculating all the possible future pranks I could rain down on her. “You started Prank Wars 2.0. in a big way. It can only go bigger from here.
She showed no fear as she popped up on her toes, her boobs dangerously close to spilling from her bikini, which distracted me enough that I barely heard her reply.
“Bring it on, bestie,” she trilled. “Nothing can top the look on your face when you saw those clown faces on my photos.”
The part that had given her away was both disturbing and clever.
As another burst of laughter hit her, she overbalanced and fell into me. With my arms full of curves and soft skin, I had to acknowledge that while clowns might be my nemesis, this tiny slip of a female was the only one who could take me out. She was salvation and destruction in one omega package.
EPILOGUE PART FOUR
EMME
My leg bounced up and down, and I’d chewed all my nails off by the time we entered the third period of the game. Despite losing two and winning two of their road games, the Celtic Wolves had enough points to make it into the playoff rounds for the Shifter Cup. Just in time for Kellan and Finley to throw themselves full throttle into training and games.
Tonight was the game that would seal the cup winner, and the score was tied one apiece with the Red Pandas, who were playing like their lives depended on it.
But so were our boys.
Especially Henderson, who appeared to have something to prove. In related news, Kassidy sat in a nervous huddle beside Hunter on my right. Slade was on my left, and Talon beside him. Constantine rounded out the end of our row, and I loved that everyone had shown up to support the team.
Tyson and Julien had arrived with all of their pack, including little Lochlan. Danielle and Conrad even flew out to support their son, and we’d had the best time catching up without impending doom hanging over our heads. While they’d been momentarily pissed no one had called them for help when we were fighting for our lives, they understood there hadn’t really been time.
Cora, Warrick, Richard, and Sierra finished off their row, and it was good to see them all out together. Their pack would never be the same again, but they were living for Marcus the best way they knew how.
As the final minutes of the third ticked away, I leaned forward, focused on the intense puck passing across the ice. There were plenty of attempts to score, but nothing made it past either goalie. When Henderson got it down to our end, he was checked hard into the boards, bouncing off to crash on the ice. I caught Kassidy’s flinch and the way she ran a quick, worried glance over him before looking away. But she couldn’t hide her clenched fists, which only eased when the big Viking shifter got to his feet and skated off.
The hard hits continued, and the crowd grew louder and more restless as both teams fought for their damn lives. With five minutes remaining, Finley pushed forward and joined Kellan, the two of them aggressively checking Pandas out of the way, while they passed back and forth to their teammates.
When they were triple-teamed, Kellan offloaded the puck to Henderson, and in the blink of an eye—so fast I literally almost missed it—he moved it on to Christian, who shot on goal. It slipped in the lower right corner, and when the red light flashed, half of the damn stadium jumped to their feet and screamed until we were all repairing some hearing damage.
The boys skated a few laps around the ice, and the lineup was switched up. I stared at the back of Kellan and Finley’s heads as they dropped onto the bench.
“This is too fucking intense,” I breathed, my heart racing.
