Page 67 of Protective Pucking Orc

And…Lila was right.

In all that chaos, there he was: enormous, still, patient. A wall between the other team and the net, when he needed to be.

An opposing player came barreling toward the net, and Dakvaar simply was there, suddenly, immovable, and the man bounced off him like a bird off a window. The whole section roared.

Rosa screamed, “That’s my Dak!” loud enough to turn heads three rows down, and Holly nearly fell off her seat laughing.

Something hot and proud unfurled behind my ribs. Pride.

He’s mine, I thought, and didn’t even argue with myself about it. Instead, I found myself on my feet with the rest of them, cheering and screaming his name. The chants came up through our feet, and I seemed to know the words without anyone having to teach them to me.

Apparently viewing a hockey game live from the stands was akin to a religious experience—who knew?

Rosa migrated fully onto my lap somewhere in the third period—what kind of game was divided in thirds?—drooping against my shoulder between bursts of excitement, and that was when Lila said it, so quietly, under the crowd noise.

“He told you, then. About the Mate Bond.”

I went still. “How did you⁠—”

“Because you keep looking at him like you’re trying to figure him out—figure it out.” She smiled, small and knowing. “I did the same thing. Kardok told me, and I thought he’d lost his mind. Fated Mates. The gods chose us?” She snorted. “Sofia, I help run a multi-million-dollar company. I believe in spreadsheets and proper forms of address, and eight hours of sleep. I did not sign up for destiny.”

Her disgruntled tone pulled a laugh from me. “So what changed?”

She was quiet for a moment. Below us, someone got slammed into the glass, and Rosa jolted awake long enough to cheer for it.

Apparently, I now had a daughter who cheered for dudes getting body-slammed. I suppose it was better than having her glued to a phone, mindlessly scrolling…but who would have thought?

What did you think would happen when you fell in love with a hockey player?

“Nothing changed,” Lila said finally. “That’s the thing nobody explains correctly. It’s not…not a lightning bolt. He probably made it sound very grand and orc-ish when he told you—the knowing, the heartbeat, all of it.”

She glanced at me, and my face heated, because yes, he had. On his knees, while rubbing my feet.

“But from our side?” Lila continued. “The human side? It’s quieter. It just… grows. It’s already growing before anyone says a word about it. The bond doesn’t arrive, sweetie. It accrues.”

“Accrues,” I repeated. “Like interest.”

“Exactly like interest. Let me ask you something.” She turned in her seat, holding my gaze. “Right now. Without looking hard. Where is he?”

I opened my mouth to say I don’t know, they’re a pile of enormous green men in matching outfits⁠—

—and instead, lifted my hand and pointed.

I pointed, without looking at the ice, and when I did, I was pointing straight at Dakvaar. Left of the orc wearing the number nineteen, near the blue line, where he’d drifted while I wasn’t watching.

I’d felt where he was. I hadn’t had to look.

Lila’s smile went soft and enormous. “Yeah.”

“That’s—he’s just easy to spot. He’s huge.”

“Uh-huh. And this week, did you ever know something was off with him before he said a word?”

I thought about the other night, him kneeling before me. The tight jaw, the pulling back, the forehead pressed to my leg. How I’d known—known, in my gut—that he was waiting on something, that it wasn’t rejection, that it came from him standing at some threshold I hadn’t crossed yet.

“…Yeah,” I whispered.

“And you’ve been telling yourself you’re just observant.” She reached over and squeezed my hand. “Sofia. You see him. You know his moods before he shows them. You know where he is in a room without looking. You understand him in a way that scares you, because it’s only been a short time and that’s not supposed to be possible.” She shrugged gently. “That’s not you being clever. That’s the Mate Bond.”