Share

Chapter 19: Crack

Author: Aero Reads
last update publish date: 2026-02-21 19:34:56

Chapter 19

Crack

Jax drove home with both windows down, even though the cold bit through his hoodie and made his teeth ache. He told himself the fresh air would clear Ronan’s scent from his lungs. It didn’t. Pine and smoke clung to his skin like smoke after a fire faint, stubborn, impossible to shake.

The aftershock waited until he hit the highway.

It started as a flutter low in his belly innocent, almost. Then it bloomed. Slow. Rolling. A deep, grinding cramp that spread outward until his th
Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App
Locked Chapter

Latest chapter

  • Frozen Knot: Rivals Claim   Chapter 29: Media Storm

    Chapter 29: Media StormThe first leak hit at 7:14 a.m.Jax’s phone buzzed violently on Ronan’s nightstand—once, twice, then a relentless cascade that vibrated the wood like machine-gun fire. Ronan’s arm was still draped heavily across Jax’s waist, the alpha’s face half-buried in the pillow, dark hair a mess against the white linen. Jax reached for the phone groggily, squinting against the early light slanting through the blinds.He opened the Stormbreakers internal group chat first.**Tyler:** HOLY SHIT. HARLS. CHECK X RIGHT NOW. **Reyes:** Someone posted pics. Clinic hallway. Tunnel footage. You and Kane. **Tyler:** It’s everywhere. They’re calling it “rival mates scandal.” Trending #1 in hockey. **Anonymous:** League already leaking probation details. Suspension talks starting.Jax sat up fast. Sheets pooled around his hips. Ronan stirred, blinking awake, voice thick with sleep.“What’s wrong?”Jax didn’t answer. Thumbed open X.The top trending topic across hockey circles: #

  • Frozen Knot: Rivals Claim   Chapter 28: First Test

    Chapter 28: First TestThe Stormbreakers locker room felt different the moment Jax pushed through the heavy door the next day.Not louder. Not quieter. Just… charged. Like the air itself had absorbed the shift that happened overnight and now carried it in every breath, every rustle of gear, every sidelong glance.He’d driven straight from Ronan’s condo after a night that had been unexpectedly gentle—no desperate heat, no frantic need. Just sleep tangled together, legs intertwined, hands linked even in dreams. The bond had hummed soft and steady between them the whole night, a quiet reassurance that let Jax rest deeper than he had in weeks. For the first time since the hit in the tunnel, he’d woken without that hollow ache gnawing under his ribs.He still wore the black hoodie zipped high to cover the bite mark, but it was pointless. The scent told the story louder than any visible scar ever could: Jax’s honey-cedar sweetness now permanently layered with Ronan’s pine-smoke dominance.

  • Frozen Knot: Rivals Claim   Chapter 27: Team Fallout

    Chapter 27: Team FalloutThe next morning hit like a body check Jax didn’t see coming hard, blindsiding, straight to the ribs.He woke alone in Ronan’s wide bed. The sheets on Ronan’s side were cool, the indent of his body already fading. Faint traces of pine and smoke lingered on the pillow, mixing with Jax’s own shifted scent in a way that felt both foreign and achingly right. Ronan had slipped out before dawn for an early conditioning session with the Ice Wolves—quiet kiss pressed to Jax’s temple, a murmured “I’ll be back before noon,” then the soft click of the front door closing behind him.Jax lay there for a long minute, staring at the ceiling. The bond hummed between them—steady, warm, reassuring, like a low-frequency current running under his skin. The bite mark on his neck had settled overnight into a dull, persistent throb; no longer burning, just present. A reminder. He lifted a hand and touched it gingerly—felt the raised edges of the punctures, the faint bruising already

  • Frozen Knot: Rivals Claim   Chapter 26: Ronan’s Place

    Chapter 26: Ronan’s PlaceThe drive from the league office was quiet, but not empty.Jax sat in the passenger seat of Ronan’s black SUV, hoodie pulled up to shadow his face, arms crossed tight over his chest. He stared out at the city sliding past in muted shades of gray steel and early-evening haze. Streetlights flickered on one by one, casting long, tired shadows across wet pavement. Ronan drove with both hands locked at ten and two, eyes fixed on the road ahead, jaw set in that familiar stubborn line. The bond thrummed between them soft, steady, a low electric current that turned every near-touch into something alive. Their scents mingled in the enclosed space: Jax’s honey-cedar now permanently threaded with Ronan’s pine-smoke, the combination richer and more grounding than either had expected.They didn’t speak until Ronan took the exit toward the downtown core instead of Jax’s neighborhood.“We’re going to my place,” Ronan said. Not a question. A flat statement of intent.Jax tu

  • Frozen Knot: Rivals Claim   Chapter 25: League Fallout

    Chapter 25: League FalloutThe league office conference room felt smaller than it had the last time Jax had been summoned here—back when it was just about contract extensions and media obligations. The long glass table seemed to shrink the space, reflecting cold fluorescent light off its surface. The projector screen at the far end still displayed the league logo on standby, frozen and impersonal. Three suits waited on the opposite side: Torres in her usual charcoal blazer, Hargrove with his perpetual frown, and a new face—a woman in her late thirties with sharp cheekbones, dark hair pulled into a severe knot, and a tablet already open in front of her. They sat like judges at a sentencing hearing.Jax and Ronan walked in together.No separate elevators. No staggered arrival times. No attempt to pretend distance.They crossed the threshold shoulder to shoulder. Jax took the chair on the left; Ronan claimed the one on the right. Their shoulders nearly brushed. The fresh claim mark o

  • Frozen Knot: Rivals Claim   Chapter 24: First Light

    Chapter 24: First LightJax woke to sunlight slicing through the half-closed blinds in thin, pale blades that cut across the rumpled sheets. For one disoriented heartbeat, everything was soft and quiet—then the bite mark throbbed, sharp and possessive, a living reminder branded into the base of his neck.Memory crashed in like cold water.Ronan.The knot locking them together.The claim.The bond snapping taut between them like a live wire finally connected.He lay very still, hardly breathing.Ronan was still asleep behind him—solid chest pressed to Jax’s back, one heavy arm draped possessively across his waist, palm flat and open over Jax’s stomach as though even in sleep he was trying to anchor the new bond in place. Their legs were tangled under the sheets; Jax could feel the faint, residual swell of Ronan’s knot scar resting warm against the inside of his thigh—soft now, but still tender from the stretch and pressure of last night.The room smelled overwhelmingly like them.Sweat

  • Frozen Knot: Rivals Claim   Chapter 23: First Aftermath

    Chapter 23: First AftermathThe bite mark throbbed like a second heartbeat—hot, insistent, alive under Jax’s skin.He lay flat on his back in the center of the wrecked bed, sheets twisted and damp around his hips, one leg still half-tangled in the comforter they’d kicked to the floor. His chest ros

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-17
  • Frozen Knot: Rivals Claim   Chapter 10: The Hearing

    Chapter 10 The HearingThe league office lobby smelled like stale coffee, printer ink, and too many alphas in one room trying not to breathe too deeply.Jax pushed through the glass doors first. The receptionist glanced up—then did a double-take. Her nostrils flared once before she caught herself

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-17
  • Frozen Knot: Rivals Claim   Chapter 12: Ronan's side

    Chapter 12 Ronan’s Side Ronan didn’t go straight home. He drove past his building twice once slow, once fast then pulled into an empty lot behind an old warehouse three blocks over. Engine off. Lights off. Hands still on the wheel. The aftershock hit him like a delayed check low, grinding,

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-17
  • Frozen Knot: Rivals Claim   Chapter 17: Locker Room Echoes

    Chapter 17 Locker Room EchoesJax made it to the locker room before the aftershock could drop him in the tunnel.He pushed through the door, breath ragged, stick clattering against the frame. The room was mostly empty—most of the team already gone, a few stragglers taping ankles or scrolling phone

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-17
More Chapters
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status