ICE: THE OMEGA'S REVENGE SHIFT BOOK 3

"You didn't expect me to dig into your schedule, Ada, so lose the frozen act."

"What business is it of yours, Collins?"

"I'm making it my business. Are you actually going through with this mating ceremony with Chloe?"

"I need to visit the old pack burial grounds. My mother. Shea. Their markers need tending before the winter storms lock the ice."

"Is that the only reason you're running back to Mysticfall?"

"I’m leaving tomorrow morning. That’s the end of it."

"When did you and Chloe Bennett get back together, Ada?"

"I haven’t seen his face in months. You know that."

"Right. You didn't see him after the arena accident either, I suppose."

"I didn't."

"Do you want him? Did you ever want him as your bonded? Give me a straight answer!"

"Never. Not once. Not before you, not ever."

"Then tell me, Ada. Am I just some homewrecker who ruined your perfect little arrangement?!"

"You aren't. I know exactly who I belong to, Collins. Every vow I howled to the moon with you is real."

"The silver ring on my finger is real, your promises are real, but you're still tracking back to the ice to claim another male as your mate?!"

"Collins..."

"And you still say I'm not a homewrecker. You're about to run off to another male's cabin while I'm left in the dark. What do you take me for? A pup?"

"Why are you and Papa still hiding under the furs? The morning catch is freezing on the table! The pond is solid ice today, Papa. Aren't we going to skate?"

"I have to shift back to Mysticfall today, Layla."

"Why didn't you say anything during yesterday's skate? I didn't know you were heading out to the main territory."

"It slipped my mind. I'm sorry, little wolf."

"Papa never sleeps past dawn. Why has he been hiding in the den every single morning since you ran into our territory?"

"Your Papa is just resting. Go down to the great hall with Patricia. Let's not disturb him."

"What time does your snow-runner leave, Alpha Ada? I can pack your travel furs," Patricia Bennett said, setting the pup down.

"Leave them. It's just a few tunics. They can stay here in the den."

"Good. That means your scent stays in the cabin until you run back to us."

"Get out of my way, Ada."

"You're barely tracking straight, Collins. Look at your eyes. You haven't fully shifted back."

"I don't need your hands on me. Go back to your pureblood mate. Go back to Chloe."

"I told you, the Bennett family holds the northern ice rights. If I don't sign the treaty through the blood bond, the Silvercrest Holdings pack loses the entire winter hunting grounds. The pups will starve."

"So you sell your body to a rival male to save a hockey franchise and a few acres of snow? Is that the Alpha's great sacrifice?"

"You think this is about wealth? You think I care about the gold Silvercrest brings in?"

"What else am I supposed to think when you're leaving our bed to stand at his altar?"

"It's about the curse on the bloodline, Collins! If I don't take the Bennett bond, the pack falls apart by the next full moon. I'm trying to keep you and the pups alive."

"By giving yourself to another male? I'd rather freeze in the wild."

"You don't mean that."

"Watch me. Take your furs and get out of my territory before I let the pack know their Alpha is a coward."

"I'm doing this for you!"

"No, you're doing this for your pride. Don't look at the pups on your way out. Don't give them a scent to remember."

"You're tracking dirt into the kitchen, Brandon," Tyler Dawson muttered, sliding a wooden mug across the table. "Ada's runner is already past the border."

"Did he look back?"

"Wolves like Ada don't look back once they scent a storm. He's heading straight for the Mysticfall ice rink. Chloe's father already has the lawyers setting up the contract."

"Then we're done here. Tell the team the captain isn't coming back for the playoffs."

"You're going to let him go that easily, Brandon?"

"He chose the blood bond over the pack. He chose Chloe's family name. What am I supposed to do, challenge an Alpha on his own ice?"

"If it means keeping Collins from breaking, yes."

"Collins won't break. He's a Parker. We survive the winter, with or without a mate."

"You're lying to yourself. I saw his eyes. The bond is already tearing him apart from the inside."

"Then he'll have to heal on the ice. Get the skates ready."

"You're not going after him?"

"I have a game to win, Tyler. Let the Alpha have his political wedding."

"The lawyer Lucas Grant is downstairs, Collins," Patricia whispered, tapping the heavy oak door. "He brought the papers from the Silvercrest estate."

"Tell him to burn them."

"He says it's about the kids' inheritance. Ada signed over the northern cabins to them before he shifted."

"I don't want his wood, his stone, or his titles. Tell Lucas to take them back to Mysticfall."

"Collins, look at your hands. You're clawing the sheets to ribbons. Let me call Dr. Daniel Harris."

"I don't need a medic. I need this scent out of my den."

"You can't scrub an Alpha's scent out of a cabin in one morning, child. It's in the logs. It's in the fur rugs."

"Then I'll burn the cabin down."

"And where will you take Layla and the pups? Into the deep snow? With the rogue packs running the borders?"

"Anywhere is better than staying in a dead mate's nest."

"He isn't dead, Collins."

"He's dead to this pack."

"The snow-runner is idling outside, Attorney Grant," Mason Carter said, adjusting his heavy wool coat. "If we don't leave now, the mountain pass will lock up with ice."

"I'm not leaving until Collins signs the waiver," Lucas Grant replied, tapping the thick parchment against his leather boot. "Ada was specific. The kids get the Silvercrest shares regardless of what happens at the mating ceremony tonight."

"Collins won't sign. He's too proud to take charity from a male who threw him away for a treaty."

"It's not charity, Mason. It's blood right. The pups are true-born wolves."

"Chloe Bennett won't see it that way. The moment he binds with Ada, he'll want every trace of Collins' litter erased from the pack records."

"Let him try. Ada might be giving up his freedom, but he didn't give up his teeth. He'll rip Chloe's throat out before he lets him touch those pups."

"Then why go through with the farce?"

"Because the Kingdom of Valeria doesn't recognize a pack without a traditional bond anymore. The old ways are returning, Mason. If the Alpha doesn't have a mate from a founding bloodline, the council strips his rank."

"So Ada becomes a puppet king just to keep a title."

"To keep his people from being hunted. There's a difference."

"I don't care about the council's laws, Lucas," Collins said, stepping onto the stairs, his voice dropping an octave as his inner wolf pushed against his throat. "Take your papers and get off my ice."

"Collins, look at the terms—"

"I said get out. Before I forget you're a guest in this territory."

"He's right, Lucas," Mason sighed, pulling the lawyer toward the door. "The wind is turning. If we're caught in a blizzard with an angry shifter, the runner won't save us."

"This isn't over, Parker," Lucas called out as the heavy door slammed shut. "The treaty gets signed at midnight. After that, the old laws take effect."

"Let them," Collins muttered, his fingers gripping the wooden railing until the pine cracked under his strength.

"You should have taken the gold, Papa," Hayden said from the shadows of the hearth, his young eyes glowing amber in the dim light. "We could have bought our own territory in Skydrivee."

"We don't run from our home, Hayden."

"Ada ran."

"Ada didn't run. He went back to fight a war he thinks he can win with a pen."

"Are we going to let him marry that hockey prince?"

"It's not our fight anymore. Go sharpen your skates. The ice won't wait for your grief."

"You're late for the morning skate, Captain," Isabella Reed barked, slamming her stick against the boards as Ada stepped onto the fresh ice of the Mysticfall arena. "The team's been doing laps for an hour."

"The snow was heavy on the pass," Ada replied, his voice flat, his human form rigid under the heavy team jersey.

"Chloe's in the owner's box," Isabella said, nodding toward the glass booth overlooking the rink. "He brought his father's lawyers. They want the ceremonial puck drop photographed before the pack meeting tonight."

"Let them wait."

"You look like you haven't shifted in a week, Ada. Your coat's going to be rough if you don't let the wolf out soon."

"Mind your own business, Isabella."

"It is my business when my center can't hit a puck because he's pining for a socialite in the southern hills."

"Collins isn't a socialite anymore. He's the mother of my pups."

"Then you shouldn't have left him in that cabin."

"You know the law. If I don't give the Bennett family an heir through this bond, they pull the funding for Yaya Indus. The entire pack district goes dark."

"So you play the good little Alpha for the cameras."

"I play to win. Now pass the puck."

"He's not breathing right, Isabella," Chloe Bennett said, stepping onto the ice in his custom white skates, his fur trim shifting slightly in the cold rink draft. "Did you see how he missed that slap shot?"

"He's fine, Chloe. Just adjusting to the altitude after being down south."

"He smells like pine and southern dirt," Chloe spat, his eyes narrowing as he approached Ada. "You haven't washed his scent off your skin yet, have you?"

"The contract didn't say anything about my hygiene, Chloe."

"It says you belong to the Bennett estate by midnight. That means your old pack is dead to you. Your pups are bastards under the new law."

"Say that word again on my ice, and I'll show you why they call me the Winter King."

"Threatening your future mate? How romantic. My father's already setting up the press conference at Silvercrest Holdings. Try to look happy for the pack broadsheets."

"Get out of my face before I break your stick."

"Midnight, Ada. Don't be late for your own funeral."