All Chapters of Frozen Knot: Rivals Claim: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Chapter One: The HitThe puck slammed into the boards with a crack that echoed through the arena like gunfire. The impact shuddered up Jax Harlan’s spine, but he didn’t flinch. He never did. That was the job. Be the wall. Take the hits, give them back harder, and make damn sure the other team remembered your name the next time they thought about skating too close to your goalie.Tonight it was the Ice Wolves.Their captain Ronan Kane had been in Jax’s space since warm-ups. The guy skated like he owned the ice, all controlled power and cold precision, movements economical and lethal. During face-offs, Jax caught Kane watching him from across the red line, dark eyes sweeping his line like he was sizing up prey.Rivalry bullshit, Jax told himself. Nothing more.He crouched for the next draw, stick down, skates biting into the ice. The ref dropped the puck and chaos exploded. Jax surged forward, shoulder-checking one of Kane’s wingers clean out of the play. The crowd roared—home ice advan

Chapter Three: AftershocksRonan didn’t go back to the bench.When the whistle blew, he skated straight for the tunnel, ignoring the assistant coach shouting his name and the ref waving him toward the penalty box like two minutes mattered worth a damn. The crowd buzzed behind him cheers and boos bleeding together but it all sounded distant, smothered beneath the roar in his head.That scent.It clung to his jersey, his gloves, the padding inside his helmet like it had been burned there. Sweet and sharp. Dangerous. He could still taste it on the back of his tongue honey over cedar, threaded with something raw and green, like fresh-cut grass after a storm.Omega.Late bloomer.Jax fucking Harlan.Ronan ripped off his helmet and slammed it into the concrete wall. The clang echoed down the tunnel. A couple of equipment guys flinched. Nobody said a word.Smart.He braced one forearm against the cool block wall and dropped his forehead onto it, breathing through his mouth like that would he

Chapter Five: Night ShiftJax didn’t sleep.He tried. Curled on the couch beneath a thin throw, lights off, TV muted on some late-night sports recap he wasn’t watching. The screen washed the ceiling in flickering blue. Every few minutes the cramps eased just enough to let him think maybe it was breaking then rolled back in stronger, like a tide that refused to recede.By 3:30 a.m., the blanket lay kicked on the floor. Too hot. Too scratchy. Too much. He peeled off the hoodie and lay there in sweats, skin feverish and damp. The apartment air felt thick, stale. He cracked a window, but the city noise distant sirens, a lone car horn only made the silence inside louder.His phone stayed dark after that one text to Kane.Good.Let the asshole stew. Jax didn’t need pity checks from the guy whose hit had triggered this mess.Except the mess wasn’t going anywhere.Another wave hit around four. This one wasn’t a warning flutter. It started deep, like a muscle locking hard, then spread hot, ins

Chapter 7 Threshold Ronan didn’t rush. He stepped inside slow, like the floor might crack under him, and closed the door with a soft click that sounded too loud in the quiet apartment. The lock turned. The world shrank to just the two of them—Jax on the floor in a towel, skin flushed and damp, breathing shallow; Ronan still in his coat, frost melting on the shoulders, eyes fixed on Jax like he was afraid to blink. Jax couldn’t look away either. The alpha’s scent rolled in with him—pine, smoke, leather, something darker underneath like storm clouds over a forest. It hit Jax’s gland like a punch, made the ache between his legs clench hard enough that he had to press his thighs together. Slick leaked fresh, soaking the towel under him. He hated how obvious it was. Hated how much he wanted Ronan to notice. Ronan crouched, slow, keeping distance at first. Knees on the floor, coat pooling around him. Close enough now that Jax could see the tension in his jaw, the way his hands flexed

Chapter 9 The Drive The elevator doors slid open to the lobby with a soft ding. Jax stepped out first, shoulders squared like he was heading into a fight. Ronan followed a half-beat later—close enough that Jax could feel the shift in air pressure behind him, far enough that no casual observer would think they were anything but two strangers sharing the same space. Outside, the cold bit hard. Jax tugged his hoodie collar higher, hiding the still-swollen gland. His breath fogged white. Ronan’s did the same a second later, the two clouds mingling for a split second before the wind tore them apart. Ronan nodded toward the parking garage. “My car’s closer.” Jax shot him a sidelong look. “I said no.” “You said no to driving your car. Not to riding in mine.” Jax’s jaw ticked. The aftershocks were still there—small, rolling tremors under his skin, a low, constant tug toward the alpha that made his thighs clench involuntarily. Walking away right now would feel like trying to outrun his