Chapter 8: The Double Agent’s Whisper

The final period was delayed. The arena was a powder keg, the air thick with the suffocating scent of aggressive Alpha auras clashing across the ice. 

Down the hall, the muffled shouting of Icefang officials arguing with the league executives echoed off the concrete walls.

I stood in the cramped medical bay, my back pressed against the cold wall. Kaelen remained stationed at the door like a silent gargoyle of pure muscle, his dark eyes never leaving the corridor. 

Dominic and the twins had gone back out to the tunnel to deal with the refs, leaving me with Asher, who was currently leaning back on the examination table, his breathing finally leveling out under the soothing residue of our freshly ignited mate bond.

Suddenly, a frantic commotion outside made Kaelen straighten. His hand dropped instinctively to his side, his posture shifting into a lethal, defensive stance.

"Let me through! I need to see her!"

My heart stumbled. Chloe?

"Let her in, Kaelen," I called out, my voice tight.

Kaelen stepped aside just enough for Chloe to slip through the gap. She burst into the room, her bright purple streaks messy, her breathing ragged, and her face completely devoid of color. She looked terrified—not of the massive Alphas, but of something much worse.

"Elara," she gasped, rushing over and grabbing my hands. Her palms were sweating, trembling violently against mine. "You have to get out of here. Right now. You can't stay for the third period. The Blackwood…"

Asher’s eyes narrowed, a low, defensive growl vibrating in his chest as he sat up straight on the table. "What the hell are you talking about, Blackwood? The VIP box is the safest place in this arena."

"It's not!" Chloe cried, a hot tear spilling over her lashes. She looked at me, her eyes filled with a crushing weight of guilt that instantly set off alarms in my head. Lupine began to pace aggressively in my mind, her silver fur bristling with sudden, violent suspicion.

"I'm sorry, Elara. I'm so, so sorry," Chloe sobbed, dropping to her knees right there in front of me, still clutching my hands. "They forced me. Cynthia and Ryker... they found out about my dad's debt to the Icefang elders. The match-fixing money from last season. They threatened to expose my family, to have us hunted by the council as rogues if I didn't help them."

The air in the room turned to absolute ice.

"Help them do what, Chloe?" I whispered, my voice trembling as the realization of her betrayal began to slice through my chest. My only true friend. The only person who hadn't laughed at me.

"I gave Cynthia your schedule," Chloe whispered, her head bowed in shame. "I told them how to bypass the Reapers' defensive training drills. And... and right now, while the elders are distracting Dominic and the refs with the rogue allegations, Ryker’s men are setting a trap. They aren't trying to win the game anymore, Elara. Ryker knows he's finished. He’s going to trigger a blackout in the arena during the final five minutes of the third period. They’re going to kidnap you right out of the stands."

"They're going to what?" Asher roared, swinging his legs off the table, completely ignoring the flare of pain in his injured ribs.

Before he could lunge forward, the heavy door was thrown open completely. Dominic stepped into the room, his silver eyes instantly taking in the scene—Chloe on her knees weeping, Asher furious, and me standing there with my world fracturing all over again.

"I heard," Dominic said, his voice terrifyingly calm. He walked into the room, his heavy hockey skates clicking ominously on the tile. He didn't look at Chloe with rage; instead, he looked at her with the calculating, ruthless intellect of a billionaire's heir. He stopped right beside me, his large hand resting possessively on the curve of my waist, pulling me flush against his side.

"Dominic, please, don't hurt her," I begged, looking down at Chloe. Despite the agony of her betrayal, I could see the sheer, unadulterated terror in her eyes. She was a pawn caught in a war between Alphas.

"I have no intention of wasting my energy on a broken pawn, little wolf," Dominic murmured, his thumb tracing a soothing circle into my hip. He looked down at Chloe, his silver eyes flashing with a cold, lethal brilliance. "Your father's debt to the Icefang elders? Consider it gone. By tomorrow morning, the Garcia global banking firm will own every single cent of that debt. You work for me now, Chloe."

Chloe looked up, her jaw dropping in absolute shock, her tear-stained face filled with disbelief. "You... you're buying my debt?"

"I'm buying your loyalty," Dominic corrected, his voice dripping with pure, unadulterated arrogance. "You are going to walk right back out there and text Cynthia. Tell her the plan is running smoothly. Tell her Elara is terrified and hiding in the lower south corridor behind the stands, waiting for the blackout."

A dark, wicked understanding dawned on Chloe’s face. She nodded quickly, wiping her tears as she scrambled to her feet. "I'll do it. I'll feed them exactly what you want."

The moment Chloe rushed out of the room to execute the counter-play, Dominic turned his gaze down to me. The ruthless captain dissolved, replaced by a fierce, primal hunger that made my chest tighten.

"The twins are already tracking the stadium’s breaker room," Dominic whispered, his face inches from mine, his breath hot against my lips. "Ryker thinks he’s playing a high school rivalry game. He doesn't realize he’s walked straight into a slaughterhouse."

He looked over at Kaelen, who gave a single, solemn nod of understanding.

"Kaelen will stay in the corridor with you, disguised in the shadows," Dominic commanded, his grip tightening on my waist, pulling my voluptuous body so close I could feel the hard, frantic thumping of his heart. "Let the blackout happen, Elara. Let Ryker think he’s won. And the moment he steps into the dark to grab you..."

Dominic leaned down, nipping the shell of my ear, sending a breathless, electric shiver straight down to my thighs.

"My enforcers will show him what happens to wolves who try to touch my queen."