All Chapters of The Ice Alpha’s Mate: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

RYDER"Ryder!"I turn around and see Zach heading toward me, a massive grin on his face. He's been in this excited mood all fucking day and honestly, it's starting to get on my nerves.I'm not in the mood today. I woke up with thoughts of Aria Murdock on my mind and it's starting to really piss me off. For some reason, I keep remembering the other night. If she were anyone else, I would've gotten the hint a long time ago.But with her, everything's different.Why am I so hooked? She's just another girl. An arrogant, stuck-up girl at that.I'm genuinely wasting my time thinking about something that won't benefit me at all. I've got all kinds of girls I could distract myself with and I wouldn't feel this way.Anyone I want, I can get. It's not cockiness—it's a certainty. A fact. I've got daughters of the most influential males in our pack lined up to marry me, the future Alpha of the Ironclaw Pack. I could have anyone I wanted.So why her?I've got an important game coming up and I can'

ARIAWhen the time to head to practice rolls around, nervousness takes over my body.I'm not looking forward to it at all.I've spent the last couple of hours in the library, trying to hide myself behind a book. However, I haven't been paying attention to anything I've been reading.Now, the time I've been dreading has come.I stride into the building, holding my bag close to me, and stop by my uncle's office, first. I can hear the sounds of the skates against the ice, so the team's already here.And why does that make me so nervous when I've finally gotten what I wanted all along—distance from Ryder?I knock on his door and thankfully, the sound is sharp enough to pull me out of my thoughts. He whirls around and I'm surprised to see a smile on his face. "Aria! Come in here. I have a surprise!"This is so random. I watch him, stunned, as I walk toward his desk. "What kind of surprise?"I think this is the first time my uncle has ever said this sentence."There's a new Omega family in

RYDER"This is the last time I'm going to warn you, Nadia!" I begin angrily. "You'd better give up now and move on with your life, or you're going to regret it! What I choose to do with my personal life doesn't concern you or anyone!"Her eyes are wide. "Yes, it concerns me! It concerns me because I love you!""That so? You love me so much that you took another guy to the bonfire the first chance you got? That's your version of love!"Her eyes light up. She's never looked more insane. "I knew you'd notice it. Come on, Ryder. You know I only did it to make you jealous, and by the looks of it, it worked. Come on, Ryder—you and I are endgame. We both know that. Our fathers are close friends. My father is your father's Beta. It only makes sense for us to be together."A cruel smile just touches the edges of my lips. "I wouldn't touch you ever again, Nadia. Not even with a ten-foot pole." I release her quickly like the feel of her skin against mine burns. And in many ways, it does. "If I w

RYDERMy eyes haven't left Aria's table since I sat down.From my table, I have the perfect view of her, and if she looked my way, we'd make eye contact, but she knows I'm watching so she's avoiding this at all costs.All around me, the talk shifts from topic to topic, and I've lost interest in trying to keep up with what they're saying a long time ago. I'm staring at the back of Luca's head and I want nothing more than to sink my teeth into him and tear him apart, limb from limb.What kind of arrangement even is this?"Yeah," I hear Zach say. I think that's a really great idea for a party. We could always celebrate before the game. Cement the win. It'll be awesome. What do you think, Ryder?""What?""A party before the big game," he echoes. "Like we're celebrating our win beforehand.""What would the point of that be?" I ask genuinely. "We can always throw one when we win.""Yeah, but it'll be cooler. Like we're showing the whole pack that we're confident in our win."I don't answer

ARIAFriday morning arrives in a breeze.The important game is later, and the whole school is in shambles. Everyone's excited, and everywhere I go, I can hear people whispering about it.I know it's a match that matters—it's going to solve a dispute, so we have to win, or we'll be the ones to relinquish land. Nobody wants that.The members of the Moonveil Pack have started arriving to watch the pack, and there's tension in the air because of it. For as long as we've all been alive, there has always been tension between the Moonveil Pack and our pack, Ironclaw. We have good relations with other packs, but Moonveil? It's always been an issue.That means there's so much more to this game than meets the eye. It's about who's best, really—and if the hockey team loses, it'll be shameful for us all.Well, not me. I don't really care much about competition with other packs. I guess it's because I've always felt like an outsider. After all, I don't have a wolf.They'd all treat me like an outs