Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Kellan

Finally, the game was over and I could finally run up to her.

“You actually came” I said now trying my best to sound as Alpha as possible and not impressed but I was clearly failing.

She lifted one shoulder. “You sent a car. And the dress. It was either this or sit at home thinking about everything again. I picked this.”

I stared at her for a second longer than I should have. “You look good. Really good.”

Her cheeks went pink. She glanced down at herself then back up. “It shows more than I’m used to. I almost didn’t put it on.”

“I’m glad you did,” I said, and I meant every word.

Someone behind me on the bench made a low comment. I did not catch the words, but the tone was clear. I turned my head just enough to shut him up with a look, then reached over the boards and put my hand on her waist. The dress was thin enough that I felt the heat of her skin. I pulled her a step closer so the whole section could see.

“This is Sophia,” I said, loud enough that the nearest stands went quiet. “She’s with me now. My woman. ”

The silence lasted three full heartbeats. Then the whispers started. Fast. Spreading like fire through dry grass. I kept my hand right where it was and watched the faces. Some looked shocked. Some looked interested. A few of the older ones looked pissed. I didn’t care because the only person who mattered was the woman under my hand.

Ryder had stopped skating. He stood in the middle of the ice with his stick hanging loose, and his eyes locked on Sophia. The smug set to his mouth was gone. Something else sat there instead. Annoyance. Maybe worse. Solia’s smile had frozen solid.

She stared at the dress, at my hand on Sophia’s waist, and at the way Sophia wasn’t shrinking the way she had at the ceremony. Solia’s friends were already leaning in and whispering. One of them actually pointed, but I ignored them.

I let go of Sophia’s waist only because the whistle blew for the next face-off. “VIP section. Front row. I’ll find you after.”

She nodded once and walked that way. I watched her sit down. The green stood out against the dark seats, and every time I skated past I looked. I couldn’t help it. My wolf stayed right under my skin the whole period, growling every time someone in the stands stared too long.

The match got dirtier after that. Ryder came at me harder. One check drove me into the boards hard enough that the bad arm lit up white-hot, but I shoved back and kept skating. I scored again, and the crowd noise mixed with the sound of sticks and skates and the constant undercurrent of pack talk. I caught pieces every time I got near the boards.

“Is he serious about her?” one voice asked.

“Look at her in that dress. Maybe Ryder was the blind one,” another said.

“Bastard son and the half-human reject. That’s going to be a mess,” a third muttered.

I ignored most of it. I focused on the puck, and I focused on the fact that Sophia was still there, still sitting in the seat I told her to take, and still wearing the dress I sent.

When the final whistle blew we had the win by two. I skated a slow lap with my stick up, then headed for the tunnel. Ryder blocked my path just inside the boards.

“You’re really doing this,” he said. It was not a question.

I stopped and looked him straight in the eye. “Yeah. I am.”

“She was mine first.”

“You rejected her in front of the whole damn pack. You called her soft. You called her weak. You called her everything except what she is. You don’t get to decide she’s yours again just because someone else wants her.”

His eyes flashed, and his voice dropped. “You think this is going to last? You’re the mistress’s kid. She’s half-human. The pack will never accept it.”

I stepped closer until we were almost chest to chest. “Watch me.”

Solia appeared at his shoulder like she’d been waiting for the chance. Her smile was back, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Cute dress,” she said to Sophia, who had come down from the stands and was waiting near the exit. “Didn’t think you’d have the nerve to show up looking like that after everything.”

Sophia’s chin lifted, and her voice stayed steady. “I didn’t ask what you thought.”

Solia’s mouth tightened. “People are going to talk. They already are.”

“Let them talk,” Sophia answered. “I don’t care.”

I moved between them before Solia could answer, put my hand on the small of Sophia’s back, and steered her toward the parking lot. People made a path, and the whispers followed us all the way outside.

The car was where I left it. I opened the passenger door for her. She got in without arguing. I walked around, dropped into the driver’s seat, and started the engine. The silence lasted until we cleared the training grounds and hit the road toward town.

“You didn’t have to say all that,” she said finally. “In front of everyone.”

“Yeah I did,” I answered. “Because if I stayed quiet they would keep treating you like that, we had an agreement remember? And for us to make this work, we need to sell it for real, I can’t stand the smug face of that bastard Ryder and that wench Solia, we really need to make this work Sophia.”

“I know, but what about me? They’re going to talk for weeks.”

“Let them. Talking doesn’t change what’s real.”

She looked out the window. The green dress shifted when she moved, and the fabric pulled across her thighs. My hands tightened on the wheel.

“I almost didn’t wear it,” she said after a minute. “When I opened the box I thought it was too much. It showed everything. But then I put it on and looked in the mirror, and for once I didn’t hate what I saw. So I kept it on.”

I glanced at her. “Good. You should keep it on whenever you want.”

“Ryder looked like he swallowed something sour.”

“He did. He finally saw what he threw away.”

“Solia too.”

“She always looks like that when she’s losing something she thought she controlled.”

Sophia laughed once, quiet. “This is crazy. A few days ago I was the girl nobody wanted. Now you’re telling

the whole pack I’m yours.”

“You are,” I said. “And I’m not taking it back.”

She went quiet again. She looked down at her hands and rubbed her fingers together like she was trying to calm herself. I kept driving, giving her the time she needed. I knew she had been through too much in one day. First Ryder, then the party, then the claim. Anyone would have needed a minute to breathe after all that.

The road curved toward the edge of town where my place sat. Streetlights started to come on, and a few human neighbors were out walking dogs. Normal life sat right up against the pack one.

For a while neither of us spoke. The silence was not uncomfortable. It was the kind that came after something big. My phone buzzed again in the cup holder. Then again. Then a third time.

Sophia looked at it.

“You’re not answering?”

“No.”

“What if it’s important?”

“If it was really important, they can wait another hour.”

“You don’t even want to see who it is?”

“I already know. My teammates. My parents. Probably the Alpha. Maybe reporters too. Everyone wants to know why I claimed Ryder’s ex in front of half the pack.”

She looked back out the window.

“Your life is definitely going to get harder.”

“I know.”

Sighs

She smiled a little, but it disappeared almost as fast as it came.

“You know people are going to blame me.”

“I know.”

“They’re going to say I planned this.”

“I know.”

“They’re going to call me names.”

“They already are.”

She looked at me.

“That doesn’t bother you?”

“It bothers me that they’re talking about you. It doesn’t bother me that I chose you.”

She looked away again, and for a second I thought I caught the small smile she tried to hide.

I pulled into the driveway and cut the engine. Neither of us moved for a second.

“You brought me to your house,” she said.

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Because the match is over and I’m not ready to take you back to that empty apartment yet. Because people are already calling and texting, and I want one night where it’s just us before the noise gets worse. Because my wolf has been losing its mind since you walked in wearing that dress, and I need you where I can see you.”

She turned her head and looked at me. The softness that had been there earlier was gone, replaced by something sharp.

“You’re serious about this. The whole claiming thing. Not just to make Ryder mad.”

“I was serious the second I pulled you out of that car. Everything after that just made it clearer.”

She stared at me for another few seconds. Then her voice dropped, cold.

“You really don’t regret it?”

“No.”

“Not even a little?”

“No.”

“You know Ryder won’t let this go.”

“I’m counting on it.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“You actually want him angry?”

“I want him to understand that he doesn’t get to treat you like you’re nothing anymore.”

She let out a short, humorless laugh.

“No. What you want is control. You stood up there, claimed me in front of the entire pack like I was some prize you won, and now you’re dragging me to your house without asking if I even wanted to come. That’s not protection. That’s you deciding for me. Again.”

I frowned. “Sophia….”

“Don’t.” She shoved the door open and got out, favoring the bad leg but moving fast anyway. “You’re selfish. You didn’t think about what this does to me. You just wanted everyone to know I was yours so you could feel better about it. Congratulations. They know. Now take me home.”

I got out and came around the car. “You’re not going back to that empty place tonight.”

“Yes, I am.” She was already walking toward the street, phone in hand, calling a ride. “I don’t need you managing my life because your wolf is restless. Stay in your house. Stay with your trophies and your quiet. I’m done being the thing you claim when it suits you.”

The car arrived five minutes later. She didn’t look at me once as she got in.

I stood in the driveway until the taillights disappeared.

I messaged her the second I got inside.

I typed I’m sorry. Come back.and then I deleted it At least tell me you got home safe and I deleted that one too.

Twenty minutes later I sent another. I made up my mind to send her the message.

I handled your transfer. You don’t need to go back to work. It’s done. You’re off the schedule starting tomorrow.

And I added you to the Ice Wolf group.

She didn’t reply.

The Ice wolf group was the biggest hockey there is sons of alphas, betas, royalties, the whole roster.

An hour after that, three little dots appeared on her end. Then stopped. Then started again.

Somewhere across town, Sophia probably saw the message she least expected.