4

I turned around abruptly.

My wolf was roaring in the back of my mind, but it wasn't the rage of the game or my father's provocation that had me on the brink of collapse.

It was her.

It was the wild, possessive need to mark her right then and there.

I grabbed her by the collar of her shirt with one hand and slammed her against the concrete wall of the tunnel.

She let out a soft moan that went straight to my dick, which threatened to harden.

"Do your job, Sophia," I whispered against her throat, feeling my jugular pulse out of control. "Touch me before I destroy everyone on the ice."

Her fingers trembled, but she didn't back down. She pressed the palm of her hand directly over my neck.

The electric shock shot through my spine. I closed my eyes, letting out a muffled groan.

Feeling Sophia's pulse against mine was like drinking water in the middle of hell. The heat of her skin burned through my clothes.

Damn it. She was beautiful.

Even under the dim light, with her simple clothes and without a single trace of noble arrogance, Sophia possessed a wild beauty that took my breath away.

Those dark eyes looked at me without a single flicker of fear. No female in the pack had ever dared to hold my wolf's gaze in full frenzy, but she challenged me with every breath.

In that moment, the words Dean had told me in private before coming down to the locker room echoed back in my head with force.

"Zakhar, I analyzed the pulse trace you left on the desk when you touched her. Sophia Megg isn't an ordinary Omega. Her essence frequency aligns perfectly with yours. She is your true mate, Zakhar. Fate handed her to you."

My wolf roared in my chest, demanding that I claim her, bite her neck, and mark her as mine before the entire pack.

But I couldn't.

If my father or the Council discovered what she meant to me before I secured control of the clinic, they would destroy her.

"Your wolf... it calmed down," she murmured, her voice breathy from the proximity.

"Keep pressing," I replied, burying my nose into her neck.

My fangs were peeking out over my gums, while my wolf's growl nearly exploded inside my head.

"Bite her now!"

Damn it.

Damn it.

Damn it.

I was about to lose all the control I had maintained for years, until the roar of the public address system echoed off the metal walls.

"With number ninety-nine, the captain of the Volkov pack, Alpha Zakhar Volkov!"

The roar of ten thousand spectators shook the locker room.

I opened my eyes.

Damn it! I almost made a huge mistake!

The golden glow had faded; my sight returned to a controlled gray. I reluctantly released her neck and hip, with Sophia taking a step back.

"Stay in the private box with Dean," I said, adjusting my hockey helmet. "If you move from there before the game ends, the contract is off."

"I know how to fulfill my commitments, Volkov," she replied coldly. "Go do what you do best: hit people."

I tightened my grip on the hockey stick inside my leather glove and shot out toward the stadium lights.

The chill of the rink hit my face.

The stadium was packed.

In the main box, my father stood beside Madeline, arms crossed and face like stone. As soon as the puck dropped onto the ice, my mind turned into a precision machine.

Sophia's presence in the VIP box kept my beast in a trance of absolute obedience.

I dominated the center of the rink, cutting through the ice with clean aggression.

First goal four minutes in. The stadium exploded.

Second goal before the end of the first period. A perfect assist.

High up in the general stands, my sight picked out Brian standing by the iron railing, dressed in the reserve uniform.

His fists were clenched, and his face was pale with envy. Beside him, Anastasia was talking on the phone with a sour expression.

"Be useful for once and listen to what that bastard is saying!" I ordered my wolf.

It roared disobediently, but its wolf hearing finally activated.

"Look at that starving beggar," Brian spat, loud enough for nearby warriors to hear. "She thinks that just because she's sitting in the captain's box, she's actually someone in the Consortium."

"It's an embarrassment," Anastasia replied, adjusting her coat.

I ignored their barking and closed out the scoreboard with a masterful hat-trick that sealed a four-to-zero victory.

When the final buzzer sounded, I strode down the locker room tunnel, stripping off my bloody gloves.

The adrenaline from the game and the need to touch my mate again made my heart race. As soon as I crossed the door into the private area, I saw her.

Sophia was standing beside the coffee table, waiting for me.

I slammed the door shut and shot the lock.

"You played well," she said, taking a step back as she noticed the heat radiating from my body.

"Don't play polite with me, Sophia," I said in a deep voice, advancing toward her.

"I kept my end of the deal. I stayed in the box the entire game."

"And my wolf didn't stop searching for you from the rink," I answered, trapping her against the mahogany table.

I grabbed her waist with both arms and lifted her just a few inches, seating her on the edge of the table. She let out a gasp of surprise, placing her hands on my shoulders.

"Zakhar... you're sweaty and full of adrenaline," she protested, though her breathing accelerated instantly.

"I don't give a damn," I whispered, leaning into her neck.

I pressed my mouth to the soft skin beneath her ear. Her pulse was beating wildly.

The temptation to sink my fangs into her jugular and scream to the world that she was my female by blood right nearly destroyed my self-control. Sophia threw her head back, letting out a shaky sigh that struck straight at my chest.

But in that instant, a deafening impact shook the door.

The wooden lock shattered into pieces as the double doors burst wide open.

A massive flash from photographers and journalists illuminated the locker room in bursts of white light.

Behind the cameras, four guards from the Consortium's high guard entered with weapons drawn, flanking my father.

My father advanced with his jaw clenched and a black leather folder in hand. Behind him, Brian and Anastasia watched the scene with malicious, triumphant smirks.

"Turn off the cameras!" I roared, lowering Sophia from the table and shielding her behind me.

"Don't turn off a thing," my father ordered, his voice full of command. "Let the whole pack see the scammer who tried to extortion the heir of the Volkov pack."

"What the hell are you talking about, Father?" I demanded, while my wolf growled in my throat.

My father threw the open folder onto the table.

Inside glistened a printed copy of the contract Sophia and I had signed, along with an accounting report from the clinic.

"Your 'official mate' forged your signature and used your instability to illegally transfer Consortium funds into her father's account," my father declared. "Brian and Anastasia presented the evidence to the Council ten minutes ago."

Sophia stepped out from behind me, her face pale but her eyes burning with rage.

"That's a lie," Sophia said. "Brian was the one who forged my signature to strip my father of his insurance."

"Your words mean nothing, Omega," Brian spat from the doorway, crossing his arms arrogantly. "The confidentiality contract proves you blackmailed the captain by threatening to reveal his rage attacks to the press."

"Guard, arrest her," my father ordered. "She will be transferred to the dungeons for fraud, blackmail, and high treason."

Two armed guards advanced toward Sophia.

The golden glow flared back in my eyes with murderous ferocity.