C5

"You are basically telling the entire division that I burnt down my own arena just to catch you in the crossfire, Ada."

"I know the rumors, Chloe Bennett. Charles Whitaker already told the council it was your line that laid the fire trap, but you didn't know my team was doing midnight drills on that sheet. You wanted to drop the ceiling on Charles, not me."

"If the ice had cracked open completely, I would have pushed both of you into the black water myself. Don't look at me with those soft eyes, Chloe. Do you honestly believe I still have a mate's bond left for you after what your father did to the southern borders?"

"I am done crying over a broken whistle, Ada. If you can't deliver the silver rights you promised when we spoke on the shortwave radio, you know exactly how many blades will be waiting for your throat at the blue line."

"Good. Keep your fangs behind your teeth."

"I'm not the one begging the council for a ritual pairing, Ada. Let's make that clear before the captains meet. Charles wants to use my scarred face to strip your rank in front of the whole Kingdom of Valeria. I don't want your jersey, and I certainly don't want a public ceremony on the main ice."

"The match schedule is already locked, Chloe. Your father's vanity doesn't change my depth chart."

"And what about Collins Parker? The whole Skydrivee roster knows he's holding the northern pass."

"You keep your skates away from Collins. You promised to sign the territorial waiver, Chloe. That's your only job. My personal den is off-limits to your mouth."

"I could run up to the border and tell him the council forced the contract!"

"You won't cross the red line! Don't you dare track your scent near his cabin!"

"You think he's going to listen to your excuses after tonight, Ada?"

"He's furious enough to challenge the whole board, Chloe. If he scents your coat on my track, he'll let his wolf dismantle the entire franchise before the first puck drops. I'll handle my mate when the hunting grounds are secure."

"Two hours remaining until the midnight shift, Captain," Brandon Hayes said, stepping onto the bench with his phone glowing against the dark Plexiglas. "The news from Silvercrest Holdings just hit the regional nets. Charles made sure every shifter from here to Skydrivee knows you're putting your mark on a Bennett."

"Did he post the financial terms?"

"He did. The broadsheets are saying you're transferring seven hundred and seventy-five million pieces of raw silver from the Yaya Indus treasury directly into the Bennett family vaults as a mating tribute."

"That silver belongs to the pack's winter food supply."

"Not anymore. The article says it's a token of your devotion. Charles even put out a statement saying you refused to drop Chloe from the first line after the fire took his skin, calling you a true Alpha king who protects his damaged stock. He's robbing your den in broad daylight, Ada, and the fans are turning you into a meme before the playoffs even start."

"Because he attached the photos from the medical bay?"

"Exactly. The scarred side of Chloe's face is on every screen in Mysticfall. The public chat rooms are losing their minds."

"What are the scouts saying, Brandon?"

"They're confused, Ada. Some kid from the junior league wrote, 'Ada Lube and Chloe Bennett? Did my skates take a bad hit on the boards? I thought the Alpha was locked with Collins Parker down south.' Then some rogue from the outer loop added, 'Why is the Captain binding with a Bennett? That face looks like an uncurled piece of rubber from a blown tire! Is Ada not afraid of sleeping next to an open wound?'"

"They don't see the contract terms."

"The fans think it's a true-blood romance, Ada. One of the sports editors just posted, 'It has to be the old wolf magic. Why else would the most dominant center in the league give up his treasury for a shifter who can't even hold a stick straight anymore?' Some are asking if you were drugged at the training camp. They saw the pictures of you and Collins at the winter classic last week. They don't know if you're a god or a dog."

"Let them talk. A wolf who watches the crows never catches the deer."

"Over in the Skydrivee cabin, the fever finally quit burning through my shirt," I said, stepping onto the cold cedar planks of the den after scrubbing the sweat from my ribs.

"Is Ethan Carter completely brain-dead?!" Mike's voice boomed through the log walls before I could even reach the kitchen latch. "Is parading that Bennett boy around the Mysticfall rink supposed to make him look like a legend? The news is flashing on the stadium screens even up here in the hills! What a pathetic joke!"

"Shut your mouth, Mike!" Patricia Bennett hissed, blocking his view of the stairs with a heavy wooden tray. "Do you want Collins to hear you screaming the Captain's business while his wolf is trying to knit his skin back together? Have some respect for the blood!"

"I am right here, Patricia," I said, leaning my weight against the doorframe. My skin felt hollow, the color gone from my jaw, but the heat had left my veins.

"Collins, don't look at the team boards today," Mike said, his voice dropping as he tried to hide his phone behind his leather thigh guards. "Ethan bought out the entire regional broadcast. It's disgusting."

"I don't care about his media coverage, Mike. My throat is dry. Is there any broth left in the kettle?"

"Sit down by the stone, child," Patricia said, pulling a wooden chair close to the hearth. "I'll fetch the hot fats. You haven't taken any protein since the snow-runner stopped."

"Where are Layla and Hayden?" I asked, looking down at my small hands as the warmth of the bowl hit my palms. "Why are you two tracking me like I'm a wounded elk?"

"We thought your wolf was going to fade, Papa," Layla whispered, her small fingers catching the fringe of my wool vest as she crept out from the pantry corner. "Don't go back into the deep snow. You still have my skates. You have Hayden's stick. We don't need the Mysticfall colors."

"I am not going anywhere, little wolf," I said, pulling her against my chest while Hayden stood by the woodpile, his arms crossed over his chest like a miniature guard. "My shift is solid. The pack just needed a new line for the winter."

"I'll keep her in the center circle, Papa," Hayden said, his young voice flat and hard, mimicking the old Alphas of the Parker house. "Don't worry about the hunting contracts. You do what you need to do to clear your head. The pack house is ours."

"We wanted to give you a full roster," I told them, my arms tightening around both of them until I could feel their little hearts beating against my ribs. "But sometimes the league splits the team before the season ends. We are still a pack as long as our steel holds the ice. I am content if I have your breath in my den."

"I'll be a first-line wolf from now on, Papa," Layla sniffled, rubbing her nose against my sleeve. "I'll follow Hayden's track on the pond."

"Once the sled was loaded at the regional terminal, Charlotte Whitmore looked at my feet and let out a dry whistle," Mike said, slamming the runner door as the heater started to kick. "Are those your indoor slippers, Mike?"

"I didn't have time to change my laces, Charlotte. Move the sled."

"You don't even have your winter tunic on. You're going to freeze before we hit the high pass."

"My blood is hot enough to melt the track, Charlotte. If I see Ethan Carter's jersey near this mountain line, I'm going to take his head off with my bare fangs."

"He was just in his light jersey and casual trousers when Job called from the border cabin," Charlotte whispered to the driver as the runner climbed the frozen grade. "He left the training facility so fast he didn't even grab his gloves. When he went to challenge the Alpha at the Carter lodge, the house guards tossed him right into the snow banks. Tyler had to drag him straight to the transport sled to keep him from getting skewered."

"How is Collins looking?" Mike asked, his knuckles turning gray as he gripped the iron dash. "Did he let the bond break his ribs?"

"His eyes look like raw meat, Mike. He spent twenty-four hours fighting the fever in the back room. His wolf almost went under because the Captain's scent is still locked in the timber of the house. He just came out to the kitchen before I left."

"Ethan Carter is a curse on that house," Mike growled, his teeth showing behind his lip. "Before Collins took his mark, the Parker line was the cleanest string of shifters in the north. They had their own ice, their own deer, and their own pride. They didn't need a Mysticfall captain to tell them how to skate. Being near that Carter blood just brings the whole line down into the mud."