All Chapters of Craved By The Cursed Hockey Alpha: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

ELARA The dream started sweet. Nate was holding me. His arms were warm around my waist and his mouth was on mine—soft—the way he always kissed me. He pulled back and smiled. “I love you,” And then his eyes changed. Brown bled to grey. Warm bled to ice. The arms around my waist weren’t gentle anymore. They were iron. Chains. And the mouth on my neck wasn’t kissing anymore. It bit. HARD! “Mine.” The growl that rumbled through the creature’s chest was deep and entirely monstrous. It wasn't Nate. My eyes flew open and the terror came with me—trapped in my throat, choking its way out as a strangled gasp. Pale, morning light flooded through massive windows, hitting a vaulted ceiling I had never seen before in my life. The air smelled intensely of pines, winter rain, and cologne. This wasn't the dark basement of the omega servant quarters. It wasn't my parents’ old room either. Where the hell am I? I bolted upright too fast, and the entire room lurched violentl

ELARA ** I stared at Sheila. And her friend Megan. It looked like they had been headed to the dining room when they spotted me. “It’s you after all,” I watched as their gazes roamed over me. Naturally, I did the same. It was a crisp, borderline-freezing morning, yet they were both dressed like extra-spicy mean girls from the 2015 Wàttpad stories I used to read under my covers. We’re talking denim shorts so microscopic their ass cheeks were basically introducing themselves to the world, paired with crop tops that were really just glorified underwire bras. Like, seriously, do your internal organs not experience hypothermia? I saw the moment Sheila clocked the heavy fabric drowning my frame. “Where the hell did you get that? Did you steal that from the laundry?” Her eyes narrowed daggers on the number 19 stitched across my chest. I nearly rolled my eyes. Sheila was all things—beautiful, mean, confident in ways that defied logic and clothing regulations—but she was dumb. “If

ELARA**He had heard every word I’d barked at Sheila. Every single bluff. And now he was throwing them back in my face, word for word, with a bloody smirk, right in front of the boy whose heart I’d already broken.My stomach tightened with a wave of nausea so violent I thought I might actually pass out on the floorboards.“Right, Elara?” Ian added, his tone dripping with mock sweetness.He turned his attention back to Nate, “Why are you so pressed that she made a massive upgrade, Calloway? She’s not your mate. She’s an omega. She can find comfort in whoever’s lap she wants to crawl into. And last night, she chose mine.”“That’s not—we didn’t—!” I tried to yell, but my voice was completely drowned out by the suffocating wave of pure testosterone and raw fury filling the corridor.“You son of a bitch!”Nate’s fist connected with Ian’s jaw.Ian’s head snapped violently to the side, his dark hair falling over his eyes. Crimson blood bloomed instantly at the corner of his mouth, dripping

ELARA * * “I already pushed him away, Kirsten!” “And yet he’s sitting in there with three broken ribs because he fought the future Alpha for you.” Kirsten let out a shaky, bitter breath. “He’s never going to move on, Elara. Not as long as you’re single. Not as long as he can see you, and talk to you, and... and hold you.” Her voice dropped, sounding smaller, more fragile. “You know this is the second time, right? The second time I’ve been rejected.” My chest ached. I knew. During a match against the MoonVeil Pack last winter, Kirsten’s wolf had recognized the captain from their team. Her first fated mate. She had been electric that night—glowing, breathless, running across the ice to find him. And the guy had looked her dead in the eye and told her he had a girlfriend. That he didn't care about a wolf bond. That she should go back to her own pack and forget he existed. Kirsten had been broken for months. She wouldn’t eat. She wouldn’t talk. I spent three weeks dragging her out

IAN**Flashback***She had actually climbed into my bed.I had been sitting on the mattress, trying to exit, when she just... rolled over and claimed my space.“S’cold,” she mumbled, her voice thick and slurred from the whisky. “S’cold. Everything is freezing.”Before I could even process the absolute audacity of a Muteblood invading my bed, she crawled closer. She didn't do it with any kind of seduction. It was the desperate, instinctual crawl of a freezing cat seeking a fire.Her soft body curved directly into mine, her arms wrapping around my waist, burying her face into my chest.I froze like a corpse, my chest locking up. She was tiny against me, but she felt like a lightning strike.“Mmm,” she snuggled closer, her damp, dark hair tickling my chin. “You’re so warm, Nate.”Nate.That name. That fucking name, whispered against my jawline while her body was pressed so tightly against mine I could feel the rapid beat of her heart.Something violent detonated in my chest.I grabbed he