Alle Kapitel von MIDWINTER MATE: Kapitel 1 – Kapitel 10

The cold air of Austin, Texas, didn't bother Diego Alvarez. As a shifter, the chill was a comfort, but the fire currently roaring in his veins had nothing to do with his internal temperature. He had just slammed the puck into the net, securing a victory for the Austin Wolves, and the primal rush of the win was better than any high he’d ever known.The thunderous roar of the crowd at the Austin Ice Arena still echoed in his ears as the team spilled into the locker room. The scent of sweat, ice, and victory filled the air—a perfume Diego lived for."Hell of a play, Alvarez!" Ethan Brooks shouted, clapping Diego on the shoulder. Ethan’s golden hair was a damp mess, his face split by a jagged, triumphant grin."Couldn’t have closed it out without that pass, Ethan." Diego gripped his friend's shoulder. As the team captain, Diego knew he was the spearhead, but his pack was the shaft that gave him weight."Must be that pre-game meditation," Javier Morales joked, miming a series of ridiculous

The hope for a round of morning heat vanished the second Kol Reyes blinked his eyes open at 7:00 a.m. to find the star athlete dead to the world beside him. His skull throbbed with the rhythmic ghost of last night's bass, and a wave of immediate post-hookup regret washed over him. He needed to vanish before the silence of the room became an interrogation.As he scrambled into his clothes from the night before, Kol pointedly avoided looking at the sleeping figure. He was a straight-A student in the Food Technology department who spent his Friday nights analyzing enzyme reactions, not a guy who got hazy on jungle juice and went home with strangers. Or, apparently, he was exactly that guy now.He shouldn't feel this hollow. He’d sought a distraction and found a world-class one. He didn't have the emotional bandwidth for a boyfriend, and while his Aunt Lucia Reyes had raised him with firm, traditional values regarding intimacy, Kol knew he was a grown man with needs. Still, the clinical s

Isabella,” Diego said, his voice dropping an octave as he stared at the screen. “I already slept with him.”Isabella froze, her green juice halfway to her lips. “What? You’ve already been in his bed? How did you not realize it was the same guy?”Diego ran a hand through his hair, pacing the kitchen. “It was last night. The Duplex was dark, the music was loud... and he wasn’t wearing those birth-control-glasses. I didn’t recognize him without them. And he looked…” He trailed off, the memory of Kol’s lean, dancer's frame moving under him flashing through his mind. “He looked incredible, Isabella. Nothing like the scrawny kid from high school.”Isabella’s shock morphed into a sharp, predatory grin. “Actually? This is perfect. We can work with this.” She nodded to herself, her mind already spinning a web. “You already know the chemistry is there. Think of it as a bonus—a hot guy you can have on tap whenever you want. That’s all a partner is at the end of the day.”Diego recoiled, his brow

KOLIt was becoming impossible to ignore: Diego Alvarez was the primary reason Kol was actually surviving Physics.Nearly three weeks had passed since that blurred night at the Duplex, and in that time, the star captain of the Austin Wolves had become a permanent fixture at Kol's table in the Austin State Library. Diego was a surprisingly solid study partner. He was brilliant in a way that felt effortless—which was frankly infuriating—and Kol had managed to pull an A on his last midterm because of him. Since math had always been Kol's Achilles' heel, he’d practically swallowed his pride to ask Diego to keep the sessions going. To his shock, Diego hadn’t missed a single one of their "library dates."Kol knew they weren't actual dates. But Diego was the one who had used the word first, and the label had stuck in the back of Kol's mind. After all, what was a date if not two people choosing to occupy the same space? Of course, dates usually involved romance. What Kol felt for Diego was...

DIEGO“Wait, you’re taking him where?”Isabella was leaning against my doorframe, judging my outfit while I finished getting ready for my night with Kol. “Dinner and a movie,” I grunted, focused on the mirror as I tamed my hair.“How original.” Isabella snorted, checking her manicure.I turned, narrowing my eyes. “Look, Kol isn’t like the usual guys I hang out with. I have to actually court him if I want him to fall for this.”Isabella held up her hands in mock surrender, a smirk playing on her lips. “You don’t have to white-knight for him. It’s just hilarious to see the ‘Ice King’ actually putting in effort like he gives a damn.”“I’m doing this for the plan, remember?” I reminded her sharply.Rolling her eyes, she countered, “You’re doing it for yourself, too. If the only way to get him back in your bed is to buy him a steak first, you’ll do it.”“Yeah, whatever.” I turned back to the reflection. For some reason, I didn't like the way Isabella talked about Kol—like his standards wer