Chapter 2 — Nowhere to Hide

Lucian POV

The locker room doors slammed shut.

"Results in ten," the assistant coach announced.

The players drifted to their benches in tense, muttering clusters, casting dark glances in my direction. I said nothing. I stripped off my pads in a blur, desperate to get away from the thick wall of Alpha pheromones. Needing space for the medicine to settle in my burning chest, I ran out into the freezing, empty concrete corridor. I leaned my head against the cold wall, my skin slick with sweat. I had done enough today. Perhaps too much.

Heavy, deliberate footsteps approached from the shadows. I quickly straightened my posture and hid my exhaustion.

A coach appeared from the main office with a clipboard. He checked a box without looking up at me. "You're in. Main camp starts tomorrow morning. Don't make me regret it."

I managed a single, tight nod. "Understood."

He walked away, his footsteps fading down the hall. I let out a ragged breath, but the relief lasted less than a second. A massive shadow fell across the narrow corridor, cutting off the hallway lights.

"You don’t look surprised."

The voice was low—a deep growl that rattled directly against my ribs.

I turned my head. Orion Kael stood less than a foot away. No glass, no executive box, and no distance. Up close, his six-foot-three frame completely dominated the narrow hallway, and his heavy Alpha aura dropped over me like a steel cage.

I stepped sideways to move past him. "Excuse me, Captain."

Orion slammed his hand against the concrete wall right next to my ear. The loud impact echoed through the hallway like a gunshot. Trapping me against the wall, his massive body loomed over mine. He leaned down, his face inches from mine, his nostrils flaring as he drew the air from the hollow of my throat directly into his lungs.

The chemical suppressants in my system strained. I didn't move. I couldn't. My boots felt glued to the concrete.

Orion leaned in even closer, his voice cutting through the heavy silence. "You hide your scent like a Beta... but you move like an Omega. Who faked your league papers?"

I didn't drop my gaze. If I looked down now, the weight of his predatory presence would force my knees to buckle.

I poured every ounce of my remaining strength into my palm, shoving it directly against his chest. I felt the hard muscle beneath his expensive shirt, trying to force some space between us. "Get your hands off me, Kael. You're delusional."

Orion didn't move an inch. Shoving him was like trying to push a solid brick wall. His free hand flashed forward, his large fingers bruising the skin of my chin as his grip locked onto my jaw, forcing my head upward. I had no choice but to look into his dark eyes.

"Your jaw is tight, Virek." Orion kept his voice calm, despite the tight grip. "That wasn't a denial."

My pulse hammered frantically against my ribs, right where his chest pressed into mine. He didn't need to raise his voice to make me submit; he owned the very air I was breathing.

I twisted my jaw against his hand, refusing to wince. "You're overthinking a routine tryout. Let go of me."

Orion leaned down even closer, his eyes dropping to my mouth for a split second before locking back onto mine. "You're managing your biology well, I'll give you that. But the synthetic suppressants are fighting a losing battle right now against me, aren't they?"

He was right. Up close, the sheer density of his apex Alpha pheromones made my blood run dangerously hot, melting the chemical barrier in my veins.

I stared straight ahead. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You do." Orion’s voice dropped an octave, becoming a low vibration. "You've been playing a carefully rehearsed part since you walked through the front doors. But the ice doesn't lie, rookie. Your center of gravity, your flexibility, the way you avoided a hit your body instinctively knew it couldn't absorb—you aren't a Beta."

I bared my teeth. "I made the roster. That's the only metric that matters to the front office. I score goals."

"For now."

"Step back, Kael."

"Or what?" Orion slowly rubbed his thumb over my lower lip with rough friction. He knew I had zero leverage.

I wrenched my face out of his grip and tried to slide under his arm to bypass him. But as I moved into his space, a flicker of raw heat flared under my skin. The double-dose suppressant misfired. My breath caught in my throat, and a tiny gasp escaped my lips.

Orion went completely still. His eyes darkened, turning almost black as they locked onto the hollow of my throat where my pulse jumped under the pale skin. He noticed the heat.

"You feel that, too," he said, his voice thick with focus.

I curled my hands into tight fists against his chest, my heart hammering like a trapped bird. "Let me pass."

Orion whispered into my hair, his sharp jaw brushing against the damp strands. "You're incredibly reckless. If anyone else in this management group had a single shred of raw instinct, you'd be dragged out of this facility in handcuffs facing fraud charges by tonight."

Fear flared into defensive rage. "Then go report it. Go tell the board you're afraid of an Omega taking a roster spot from your Alphas."

A dark smirk touched his lips. He didn't look threatened; he looked consumed by a dark hunger.

"Report you? And lose a playmaker with your speed?" Orion's hand slid down from the wall, his heavy palm anchoring firmly against the back of my neck. His fingers tangled into my hair just enough to keep me pinned. "No. I'm going to see exactly how far this little lie goes. But remember this, Virek, one slip, one hint of your true scent on my ice, and I will personally throw you to the wolves."

He released my neck, leaving the skin burning, and walked away toward the executive offices without looking back.

I slumped against the concrete wall, my knees giving out as the oxygen finally rushed back into my lungs. The beast had smelled blood, and instead of exposing me, he was choosing to hunt me.

Suddenly, the overhead hallway speakers crackled to life.

"All roster adjustments are finalized," the general manager’s automated voice echoed down the corridor. "Per Captain’s request, roster number eighty-seven, Lucian Virek, is reassigned to First Line rotation for tomorrow’s main camp."

My blood turned to pure ice. The first line meant skating directly alongside Orion. It meant maximum media visibility, maximum physical impact, and zero room to hide my scent. He wasn't waiting for me to slip up. He had just thrown me straight into his jaws.