Chapter 3: Cracking The Ice

Aurora's POV

I stepped off the team bus and took a drag of the Colorado air... freezing, but my lungs needed it after the tension of the flight.

We'd just pulled into the underground loading dock of the Ironclaw Titans' arena. The concrete cavern echoed with the thud of equipment bags and the voices of the Wolves heading toward the visiting locker room. I just wanted to get inside, set up my recorder and pretend I didn't exist for the next three hours.

But of course, the universe wasn't done with me.

A few yards away, near the home team's entrance, a group of guys in Ironclaw Titans tracksuits huddled around a glowing phone screen, laughing... not a casual chuckle, but the deep, mean kind that makes the hair on your neck stand up.

I tried to keep my head down and walk past. I really did. Then one of them, a block of muscle with a smug face, pointed straight at me.

"Look at this," he sneered, his voice echoing off the concrete. "It's the crazy doctor's kid. Can't believe she showed her face here. Delusional runs in the family, huh? Daddy was a nutjob talking about werewolves running the league and now she's peddling the same bullshit."

My blood didn't just boil... it vaporized.

The exhaustion dragging at my bones vanished, replaced by a surge of rage. I didn't think. My boots hit the concrete as I marched straight up to him, closing the distance before he even had time to lower his phone.

"You got something you want to share with the class, asshole?" My voice was quiet, but it cut through the laughter like a knife.

The Titan player blinked, surprised that a five-foot-six reporter was stepping to him. Then the smirk crept back. He shoved his phone in my face.

"Just catching up on the morning news, Hayes. You're famous."

I stared at the screen, my stomach bottoming out. It was a video... some anonymous sports account had dropped a montage, dragging my family scandal back out of the grave. This time it was worse. They'd leaked doctored emails and fake bank statements, painting me as a fraud covering the Wolves to sabotage the league with the same non-human conspiracy theories that had destroyed my father.

The headline flashed in red text: 'LIKE FATHER, LIKE DAUGHTER. WHY IS AURORA HAYES REALLY HERE?'

"Trash," the Titan player scoffed, looking me up and down. "I knew the Wolves were desperate, but damn. Working with a liar like you? Disgrace to the whole league."

My jaw clamped shut so hard my teeth ached, hands curling into fists at my sides, nails biting into my palms. I wanted to shatter his nose.

Before I could open my mouth, a shadow fell over us.

"Step back."

The voice was a low rumble that vibrated through the soles of my boots.

I flinched, snapping my head to the side. Ronan was suddenly there... I hadn't even heard him approach. He stepped smoothly between me and the Titan player.

I'd seen Ronan angry before. Brooding, scowling, intimidating people just by breathing. This was different.

His shoulders were coiled like a predator about to strike, his dark-gray eyes locked on the Titan with a look that made me take a step back. The air around him felt heavy, charged, as if something far older than a hockey player had decided the human in front of him wasn't allowed to speak anymore.

"I won't tell you twice," Ronan growled, his voice dropping into something that didn't sound entirely human. "Put the phone away and back off."

The Titan's smug smile vanished. He tried to puff out his chest, but I could see the pulse of fear beating in his neck. "Hey, man, I was just..."

Ronan grabbed the front of his jacket. He moved so fast my eyes barely registered it. He lifted the Titan off his feet... and slammed him against the side of the team bus. The metal groaned under the impact.

"Don't speak," Ronan snarled, his face inches from the other player's. "Don't look at her. Don't breathe in her direction. If I hear her name in your mouth again, I'll break your jaw into pieces the surgeons won't be able to put back together."

"Hey! Break it up!"

The shouts of the coaching staff shattered the tension. Three Wolves coaches sprinted over, wedging themselves between Ronan and the terrified Titan. Ronan let go, chest heaving. He didn't look back as the Titans scrambled away.

He turned on his heel and stalked toward the locker rooms.

I stood there, heart hammering, mind spinning. 'Why did he do that?' The speed. The strength. The way the air itself had changed when he moved. It felt less like a teammate defending a colleague and more like something claiming territory over a human it had decided belonged to it.

I jogged after him, catching up just before the locker room doors.

"Ronan, wait." I reached for his elbow.

He yanked his arm away like my touch burned him, spinning to face me, the fire from a minute ago gone, locked behind a wall of ice.

"Look," I said, crossing my arms to stop my hands from shaking. "I... thank you. For stepping in back there. I had it handled, but..."

"Don't let it go to your head, Hayes." He cut me off flatly.

I blinked, taken aback. "Excuse me?"

"I wasn't defending you." His voice dripped with venom. "I was defending the honor of my team. A team you're single-handedly destroying by dragging your family drama into my arena. Your presence here is a liability."

My jaw dropped. The gratitude I'd felt two seconds ago evaporated, replaced by hatred. Of course. To him I was just another fragile, noisy human creating problems for a world that didn't answer to people like me.

He leaned closer, his frame casting a shadow over me. "Stay out of my way tonight. Stay away from me. And don't mistake my tolerance for protection."

Without another word, he shoved open the locker room doors and disappeared inside, leaving me alone in the freezing hallway.

I let out a harsh breath. 'God, I hate him.' I remembered exactly why. He wasn't a protector. He was a bully with a god complex, one who moved like he belonged to a different species entirely.

"Hey."

I jumped, spinning around. Kai leaned against the concrete wall, dressed in his game gear. He gave me a slow, sympathetic wink and a quiet thumbs-up, silently telling me it'd be okay. I rolled my eyes, gave him a stiff nod, and headed up to the press box.

Two hours later, the stadium was chaos.

The clash between the Blackridge Wolves and the Ironclaw Titans was fierce, with the stands packed with fans, horns, and lights.

I sat rigidly in the press box, tapping my pen against my notepad. I was just here to do my job... no time or energy to enjoy the game. But my eyes kept betraying me, darting back to the ice, locking onto the player wearing the captain's "C."

Ronan was a monster on the ice, fast in a way that didn't make sense for a man his size, moving with calculating grace, orchestrating plays, delivering checks, dominating the flow of the game. Watching him, it was hard to believe he was fully human.

I found myself leaning forward, caught in the power of his movements, then shook my head. 'Stop it, Aurora. He's a bully. He's the guy who ruined your life.'

The third period was well underway, with the Wolves winning and controlling the puck in the offensive zone.

That was when I noticed the Titan player from the loading dock shadowing Ronan relentlessly... not just defense, but dirty play. Hacking at Ronan's ankles, throwing cheap elbows when the refs weren't looking, getting in his face at every whistle.

He was pushing too hard. I watched through the plexiglass as they lined up for a face-off. The Titan leaned in close. I couldn't hear what he said over the crowd, but I saw the mocking twist of his lips.

Whatever it was, it was the wrong thing.

The puck dropped. Ronan didn't look at it.

He looked up. For a fraction of a second, his helmet tilted back and he locked eyes with the Titan. I nearly dropped my pen. For a single heartbeat, I could have sworn Ronan's eyes glowed... an amber-red light flashing in his pupils, something no human eyes should do.

It startled me badly enough that I shoved my chair back. Before I could process it, the world erupted into violence.

Ronan didn't just check the guy. He annihilated him.

He drove his shoulder into the Titan's chest with a crunch I heard all the way up in the press box. The force sent the Titan flying backward, his skates leaving the ice completely as he sailed several feet through the air before slamming spine-first into the plexiglass behind the net.

'CRACK.'

The sound was like a gunshot. The safety glass spider-webbed and shattered, raining down onto the ice like snow.

The Titan slumped to the ice, motionless.

The whistle blew frantically. The red goal lights flashed, stalling in the confusion.

Then the entire stadium went silent…