Todos os capítulos de THE FOUR HOCKEY KINGS' FORBIDDEN MATE: Capítulo 41 - Capítulo 50

~ Kaia ~The trouble started during a physical drill that should have been routine — checking practice, the kind we ran every week without incident.Except this time, a Titans player from a joint scrimmage caught me wrong, shoulder-first into the boards hard enough that my vision actually whited out for a second, pain lancing sharp through my ribs.I heard Van before I saw him.A sound tore out of his chest that wasn't human — low, guttural, rattling the air around us in a way that made every hair on my arms stand up. By the time my vision cleared enough to focus, he was already moving, and what I saw stopped my breath entirely.His eyes had gone fully gold, no white left at all, pupils blown into vertical slits. His hands, gripping his stick, had lengthened — nails darkening, curving, closer to claws than fingernails. A low growl rumbled continuously from his chest, and when he opened his mouth to snarl at the player who'd hit me, I caught the unmistakable flash of teeth too sharp, t

~ Kaia ~The letter arrived tucked into my textbook during Professor Rowan's lecture, slipped there so quietly I didn't notice until I opened the book to find my page and it fell into my lap instead.No name. Just my initials, K.B., written in handwriting I didn't recognize.I waited until the lecture ended to open it, hands unsteady in a way that had become familiar over the past month whenever something threatened the fragile normalcy I'd been building.*Your father's old friend sends his regards. He hasn't forgotten what was exposed. Tell the Pierce family the quiet won't last.*No signature. No further explanation. Just enough to make my stomach drop straight through the floor."Show me," Elias said, the moment I found him in the library, his expression shifting from casual greeting to sharp focus the instant he saw my face.I handed him the note, watching him study it with the same careful precision he applied to everything."The handwriting's disguised," he said after a moment.

~ Kaia ~The strategy session convened in the same council chamber where the ballroom confrontation had unfolded weeks earlier, though tonight the space felt considerably more solemn — maps spread across the long table instead of formal seating charts, guards stationed at every entrance instead of servers carrying refreshments.King Alexei sat at the head of the table, stronger than he'd been in weeks but still visibly weakened, flanked by all four of his sons. My father sat beside me, and Coach Roland stood near the door, arms crossed in careful watchfulness."Scouts confirmed twelve individuals at Ashgrove Station," King Alexei began, gesturing toward the map spread across the table. "Dacre among them, along with what appears to be hired mercenaries rather than formal soldiers. This isn't yet a full military operation. It's a man regrouping, likely planning something considerably smaller and more targeted than open warfare.""Targeted how?" Ryker asked."Unclear. But given the note

~ Kaia ~The council's formal strategy session was still two days out, and in the meantime, life at Crescent Moon insisted on continuing whether any of us felt ready for it or not. Which was how I found myself, of all places, standing in Coach Dalton's office being handed a jersey with my actual name stitched across the back for the first time."Blackwood," he said, tossing it to me without ceremony. "Board approved the policy change this morning. Effective immediately, women's participation is permitted across all teams, no exceptions, no separate track required."I stared down at the jersey, throat tightening unexpectedly. "That's — thank you.""Don't thank me. Thank the forty-some students who signed that petition, and honestly, thank whatever chaos you personally caused that made the board finally take the issue seriously." He almost smiled. "You've earned your spot here fairly, Blackwood, disguise or not. Wear the name."---Priya found me in the hallway afterward, practically vi

~ Kaia ~The three days passed in a strange, suspended quality of time — ordinary in its rhythms, classes and practice and meals continuing exactly as they always had, while underneath everything ran a current of dread nobody quite knew how to voice aloud.Ryker found me on the morning of departure, before dawn had fully broken, the sky outside still that particular grey-blue that meant time was already running out."We leave within the hour," he said, finding me at the rink where I'd retreated, unable to sleep, needing the familiar rhythm of skates against ice to settle my racing thoughts."I know."He skated onto the ice beside me, matching my slow pace without comment for a while, both of us simply existing in the quiet before everything shifted."I keep thinking about what to say," he finally admitted. "Something significant enough to carry with me, in case—" He stopped himself."Don't," I said quietly. "Don't finish that sentence. Not today.""You're right." He exhaled slowly, st