LOGINNoah is still running his mouth like he has nine lives!! Hey lovelies!! 🏒😩💥 Noah’s survival instinct is nonexistent and I love him for it. We’re locked in now — the Voss mansion arc is going to be wild. See you in the next chapter
The locker room was empty when Noah walked in. The muffled sounds of practice filtered through the walls. The scrape of skates against ice, the distant whistle, and the occasional holler from players to each other.He dropped his bag on the bench, and sat heavily on the floor for a few seconds, he simply staring, then he started removing his gear. He ripped off his gloves and tossed them into his bag, then his shoulder pads, then his helmet.He took his time and the moment he stopped moving, he became painfully aware of the deep, pulsing ache in his thigh. Every small shift seemed to pull at the wound beneath the bandage. He carefully reached down and took off the protective padding around his leg. His fingers trembled and he clenched them into fists."Fuck."He leaned back against the locker and closed his eyes. He hated this, hated feeling so fucking powerless, but more than anything, he hated being helpless. On the ice, he didn’t have to worry about any of it. He wasn't some broke-
The cold inside Yost Ice Arena was supposed to be familiar, but today, Noah felt like it was cutting straight through him. Practice had only been going for twenty minutes and already, every stride felt like punishment as he tried to ignore the sharp pull in his thigh beneath his equipment.He was skating hard enough to keep up with the drill, but every time he planted his injured leg, pain shot through his thigh, still, he kept moving because no one needed to know. He couldn't afford to sit out even if his leg screamed every time he pushed off or the stitches pulled beneath the bandage. He could handle it. He had to."Again!" Coach Jenkins' whistle cut across the rink and the players reset.Noah took his position and rolled his shoulders before the puck moved. It started fine until another player cut across his path and he pivoted sharply. Pain exploded through his thigh and his skate nearly slipped. He recovered before anyone could notice, but the movement cost him and he fell behind
The room was quiet except for the steady rhythm of the heart monitor and the faint sound of Eli’s breathing. Noah sat in the chair beside Eli's bed, his injured leg stretched carefully in front of him. Blood had already seeped through the makeshift bandage the guards had given him in the car, staining the dark fabric of his jeans a deeper black.He ignored it and kept his eyes on Eli’s face when the door opened without a knock. A nurse stepped in, carrying a small medical kit. Behind her stood one of Adrian’s men, hands folded in front of him. Noah only glanced over his shoulder.“I need to take a look at that injury,” the nurse said with a polite smile.Noah barely turned his head. “I’m fine.”"Mr. Voss called for her." The guard’s voice cut in from the doorway. “You’re getting treated.”Noah stared at Eli for several seconds, then he sighed and slowly turned the chair away from the bed, enough to give the nurse access to his leg. The guard watched for another second before he left, c
The black SUV rolled through the iron gates just after sunset.Noah sat in the back seat between two of Adrian's security men, a black duffel bag resting across his lap. No one spoke as orders were rarely explained and questions were never encouraged.Noah stared at the passing buildings without really seeing them as the city drifted past the tinted windows. Then the SUV slowed and one of the guards finally spoke."Take the package. You've got five minutes."Noah looked up at the guard nodding toward the duffel and he picked it up without another word. The SUV stopped beside an abandoned laundromat in one of Detroit's older neighborhoods. Everything about the street felt wrong. There were no children, no passing traffic and no music drifting from open windows, only silence."You know what to do." The guard said as he opened the rear door and Noah stepped out.The SUV pulled away immediately, disappearing around the corner and leaving him alone. He adjusted the strap of the bag over his
"Alright, let's see everything we did wrong." Coach Jenkins said, standing near the screen with a remote in one hand. A few groans rippled through the room but he ignored them.The players settled into their seats as the lights inside the film room dimmed and the projector flickered to life. It hummed, and then the first clip rolled. A defensive breakdown. Coach paused it."Morrison." he called and the defenseman sighed."I know.""And what do you know?" Coach asked and the room chuckled softly.Practice film reviews usually had a rhythm to them. Coach dissected mistakes, the players defended themselves, Tyler sometimes made jokes, Reid whispered sarcastic commentary from the back row and even Chase occasionally pointed out details Coach hadn't noticed. Today, none of that happened. The room felt unusually quiet.Chase sat near the center of the last row, elbows resting on his knees, eyes fixed on the screen. At least, that was where they should have been. Instead, they kept drifting t
The streets of Ann Arbor had grown quiet by the time Chase realized he had been driving for hours. The dashboard clock glowed 11:30 P.M. He had already searched everywhere that made sense. Noah’s dorm, the river walk, the convenience store near the athletic complex where Noah always bought those cheap energy drinks after late practices, and even the empty parking lot outside Yost. Nothing.His phone remained silent on the passenger seat and every few minutes, he glanced at it. No calls, no texts and no sign that Noah even wanted to be found. The bruise on his cheek pulsed every few minutes, reminding him of every word his father had spoken that morning.He only has to stay away from you.He was supposed to go home, sleep and show up to class tomorrow. Instead, he found himself turning onto the highway toward Detroit. He wasn't even planning to stop, he just wanted to drive past once. Then he saw him. A lone figure sitting on one of the concrete benches outside Detroit Medical Center. B
There were cracks in the ceiling. Noah had already counted them three times already. They stretched like thin veins across the pale surface, splitting, branching, disappearing into shadows where the weak bulb in the corner couldn’t reach. He looked at them with unfocused eyes, his body still, as if
The ice rink was alive with violence, not the kind that drew blood. Not yet. But the kind that lived in the sharp crack of sticks, the violent scrape of blades carving into ice, and the thunder of bodies slamming into the boards hard enough to make the glass tremble. Cold air bit at exposed skin, c
By the time Noah reached the university, morning had already settled in fully, bright and indifferent to everything he had endured just hours before. the school felt like a different world entirely, much too normal and too untouched. He knew he was late and he didn’t need to check the time to confi
The icy night air struck Noah the moment he stepped outside the building, filling his lungs with a cold that felt almost deliberate, and it was not just the temperature. It was the kind of cold that seemed to carry intent, as if the night itself were watching him.Behind him, the door closed with a







