All Chapters of Crossing The Line With My Hockey Stepbrother: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

PhillipThe morning briefing felt wrong before anyone said my name.The air was too tight. Too careful. Guys shifted on their feet, boots scraping the concrete floor of the West Ridge patrol hall. The smell of coffee and cold metal clung to the room, familiar and grounding - except it didn’t ground me today. Something was off, and my instincts had been buzzing since I woke up.The Patrol Leader, Lucan, stood in front, arms crossed, expression neutral in a way that wasn’t neutral at all. He ran through the assignments quickly, efficiently, like he wanted it done and forgotten.“Carter,” he said at last.I straightened slightly. “Yes, sir.”“You’re reassigned effective immediately.” He paused, small and measured. “To internal patrol. Day shifts only. Your assistant team lead is Eren.”I blinked once.Reagan looked at me at the same time I turned to him, his expression bearing the same concern. Eren was barely out of probation. He was solid, I admit, but green. He had good instincts, bu

PhillipToo close. Forrest was too close to the surface. Feeling her skin underneath my teeth, just a breath away. It was way too close. I didn’t think I had it in me to pull away. I was seconds away from making the most significant move in all my life.Marking her.If I had done it, there was no telling the havoc it would wreak on me, on her, on our families. The chaos that would ensue more instantly that either of us thought. The consequences, the heat we would receive from the pack, from the elders, from everyone. But would it all matter? She’d be mine, undeniably mine, irrevocably mine, and there was nothing anyone would be able to do about it. Not even me.What a curse it was to have her in my grasp, the fabrics on our bodies the only thing separating us, her sound in my ears, her breath in my mouth. In my grip, and equally untouchable. I thought I would die.And maybe I would. Because we were no closer to leaving this cursed life, bound by this cursed pack rule, separated by f

PhillipThe councilmen didn’t meet often enough, but when they did, no one bothered to call it a meeting.It was bi annual, never announced, wasn’t formalized, and certainly wasn’t sanctioned by the Elite. It was framed as it always was when men like them wanted to talk freely while not forgetting to still be cautious of being heard. A lighthearted gathering in the big yard of one of the councilmen’s abodes. Fairy light decorations, low music and plentiful food. A harmless afternoon where wives cooked and laughed in the kitchen, children drifted between rooms, and the men discussed nothing important while circling everything that was.I stood near the drinks table when the memory hit me.Years ago in a familiar setting, the sun was too bright. Reagan and I squared off in a yard like this, tempers flaring over something stupid and long forgotten. We spat sharp words, our shoulders rolling back, and claws itching beneath skin.It had gotten so bad that we’d shifted, face to face, when

PhillipThe moment I stepped into the Pack hall, I knew something was wrong. I couldn’t put a finger on it, but I couldn’t relax either. The first person I searched for was Elizabeth, up on a pedestal beside the person that may very well be the cause of whatever stirred wrongly in this hall.Maybe I was being emotional. He alone couldn’t be the cause, but I was almost certain he knew a thing or two about it.Whatever it was, it was closer than I knew. I scanned the hall, unsure of what I was even looking for. And when I would tell myself I was paranoid and may be on about nothing, Forrest would push gently, and I’d be alert again. Across from me, a shadow darkened the walls of the courtyard - just a shift, a ripple where there should have been none. I stared, narrowing my eyes.The speaker’s voice carried on, oblivious “.. a reminder of our strength as a pack.”A distant sound cut through the air. Not loud. Not obvious. A falseness rather than a noise. I made a move towards it whe

PhillipThe walls of the council chamber felt thicker than usual today, but they didn’t do much to muffle the raised voices inside.I sat on a chair, away from the door, facing it. My elbows dug into my knees and my fingers were interlocked in front of me, my eyes glued to the ground.The rest were littered around, close. Reagan leaned against the wall beside me. Calder and Cole stood opposite us. Rowan was closest to the door, looking up to the ceiling, head resting on the wall, like he was praying to the goddess to save us. And with the way we felt, we needed all the prayers we could get.Declan paced, as he always did when he was nervous. And it always irked Harlan because it made him more nervous when Declan paced. Mason simply crouched on the ground, back to the wall, head bowed. You’d think we were already defeated. We were especially jittery about this council meeting, because for the first time ever, we’d be invited into the council chamber; into the presence of our fathers,