Page 36 of A Twist of Luck (Shifter City Fated Mates #2)
CHAPTER 36
EMME
H alf my beer went flying as I leapt to my feet and screamed with the other twenty thousand Celtic fans in the stadium. Kellan scored in the dying seconds of the game, giving us the 1-0 victory as the sole puck to pass a goalie.
Hunter removed the plastic cup from my hand while I continued to jump up and down, relief coursing through me. The game had been tense, with neither side giving an inch, and so many fights and penalties. Half of both teams spent significant time in the penalty box.
The stands vibrated as those of us in teal, gold, and white shouted the stadium down, and the guys did victory laps on the ice. The Dashers skated off with their heads low, faces creased in exhaustion. The Wolves were exhausted and beat up too, but the win sent a new surge of adrenaline through them.
Kellan slammed into the glass, his helmet tipped back and the biggest grin on his face. One of his hands pressed against the glass while the other crooked a finger in the come-hither gesture. My feet moved before my brain caught up, and Hunter and Slade were on my ass all the way down the stairs.
I stopped in front of Kellan, my hand resting against his, the glass between us. “Did you see me score, pretty mate?” he asked, gaze intense as I was caught in the deepening blue. “That one was for you.”
I shot him a cheeky grin. “Of course I saw you score, Golden. And let me tell you, after that victory, that’s not the only time you’re going to score today.” Fuck, I was cheesy, but it felt nice to have these cute little moments.
Kellan threw his head back and whooped loudly, and when he met my gaze again, the heat in his stare had me ready to leap over the barrier and into his arms.
His coach shouted for him to get off the ice, but Kellan didn’t turn away from me. “You’ve got press,” Coach added with a growl.
Kellan’s bottom lip jutted out as he pouted. “I’ve got to go, Shortcake, but later we’re celebrating. Get ready, because I’m taking you out. We have a lot to be thankful for.”
Hunter tapped the glass, momentarily stealing Kellan’s focus. “Where are you taking her?”
“Luxuria of course,” he said without hesitation. “It’s ours, secure, and has the best whiskey collection in Golden Claw. No brainer.”
A small lick of excitement lit up in my belly. I’d never had a night of casual fun with friends or lovers. The closest I’d come was the nights I worked Luxuria when Kellan and Christian kept me company. Tonight, though, I didn’t have to leave or serve.
Maybe I’d even dance with my mate. Another first.
“We’ll be there too,” Hunter said, “so plan accordingly.” I shook my head at how seriously my new bodyguards took their jobs. With pretty good reason, I supposed.
Slade released a huff, surrounding us in his sweet, smokey scent. “I have patrol duties this afternoon and evening, but I can make it around midnight.”
Hunter nodded. “You leaving now?”
“Yes. I’ll shift and fly over to save time.” He leveled me with his generally unreadable stare. “I’ll remain overhead until you and Hunter are in the car. Stay out of trouble, Snow. I’ll be keeping an eye on you.”
Nice to know he wasn’t about to lose his stalking touch. “I’m well aware.”
Another unspoken understanding passed between us, but still, he never mentioned his stalker wall, and I was yet to figure out how to break him. It felt like it might be an impossible task.
Slade left us as the coach shouted once more, “Jackson, I won’t fucking tell you again. Get your ass off the ice.”
The stadium was all but empty by now, and with a final kiss blown in my direction, Kellan reluctantly left. “See you in a couple of hours. Dress sexy,” he called as he skated off, shooting me sad puppy eyes over his shoulder.
Hunter scowled, and that had Kellan laughing the rest of the way off the ice and into their locker rooms. “You two will be the death of me.”
I gently punched him in his massive biceps. “Come on, we can’t be worse than Grouchy Bear and the scary, murderous shifter who will be watching us .” I lowered my voice in a very poor imitation of the growly dragon.
Hunter shrugged like that was debatable, which amused me all the way out to the parking lot, where my beautiful car sat untouched in our reserved spot. There was no logical reason for why she already felt like mine , but here we were. I glanced up to see if I could spot Slade, but there were too many low clouds scattering the sky, and no sign of a massive, scaled beast.
“You want to drive again?” Hunter asked, bringing my focus back to land.
I appreciated him giving me the option when he’d normally just take control, but found I was happy for him to drive home. His unease at being out here in the open was clear; a little return of control would help his equilibrium. “I’m good to play passenger princess.”
Hunter opened the door for me, and as I climbed in he placed a hand on my ass to boost me inside. A gush of air escaped my lungs, mostly from surprise. The alphas understood I was capable of performing these actions on my own, but they wanted to help me anyway.
Which was odd. I didn’t fully understand what they got from making my life easier, but I’d be a liar if I denied my enjoyment of the way they shifter-handled me.
Being cared for was completely underrated as an aphrodisiac.
Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed traditional foreplay, but true seduction began long before the bedroom. And these alphas were experts.
Despite the rush of shifters attempting to leave the stadium parking lot, Hunter made it out in under fifteen minutes, capable and calm behind the wheel—despite the slew of drivers around us who clearly had a death wish. “You’re more patient than I expected,” I said, finding myself staring at his side profile. “Which might have been an unfair expectation, but as entitled alpha I was prepared for a lot of demanding and rage when you didn’t get your own way.” Instead, I’d gotten a patient hunter, calculated and intelligent in his approach.
He met my gaze, and by now I’d stopped worrying that he would crash us into a pole. “You didn’t have the best examples of alphas growing up,” he said, the darkness in his eyes cutting into me. “It’s no surprise that you expected us to be monsters.”
There was no lie in that statement, but I remained disappointed in myself for judging them so harshly before we’d even met. “I understand that for the most part I’ve been an obligation for you.” The truth slipped out as I sank into the heated seats, my exhaustion dragging me down. “That you’re ensuring I don’t want or need anything so I’ll stay and be part of your quintet. I understand that, but I’m still thankful for your support. It was obvious from our first meeting that you don’t generally compromise, but for me you have. You’re nothing like my mom’s pack, or the alphas I expected, and I should have told you sooner how appreciative I am.”
Hunter’s eyes were on the road again, and I noticed his sudden death grip on the steering wheel. “You’re not an obligation, Emme.” His words were clipped, and I hurried to explain.
“I just meant that I might not have been your first choice. I mean, you could have had a strong alpha like Sissily instead of a traumatized omega who fought you from the first interaction. You didn’t have to be so kind and generous with your time, money, and attention, and… I’m sorry about how I acted when we first met. It was pure survival instinct, and it bothers me that I might have hurt you all with my actions.”
Hunter hit the brakes hard, and the car slammed to a stop in the middle of the street. Horns blared behind us but he didn’t give a fuck as he breathed deeply, his hands crushing the steering wheel as he strangled it. Don’t hurt my new baby.
“I’m going to say this one time, Emmeline Anders,” he murmured softly, with that undercurrent of ferality that told me he was closer than he appeared to losing himself to his wolf. “And one time only. You are not an obligation to me. Not anymore.”
My heart started performing an Olympic acrobatic routine in my chest as I waited for him to continue.
“At first you were a duty to our pack, before I truly knew you, but now… now you are as essential to me as the fucking air that I breathe. Now… I can’t imagine my life without you specifically in it. You burst into my life like a fucking solar flare, and everything that was dull before turned brighter. There’s not another shifter in the world, including Sissily, who I’d want or prefer over you. In truth, they don’t even exist to me. You are all I see.”
Releasing the wheel finally, he turned and I was hit with blazing gold eyes, the essence of his alpha wolf capturing my own beast. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, overwhelmed and wondering if I could finally let myself fall into this alpha. Let my feelings for him flow free from where I held them tightly contained.
Hunter shook his head. “Don’t apologize. I understand why you came to the conclusion you did. Our path to this point hasn’t been smooth, and you’ve lived most of your life feeling like a burden in your own home. But I need you to understand, Emme, that I would choose you in every situation. In every life . The goddess knew exactly what she was doing bringing you into my life. You’re my perfect match and the other half to my soul.”
As Hunter Reeves poured his heart out to me, I shattered like a fragile glass dropped off a mountain. “I would choose you too,” I told him with force, through tears I hadn’t even realized were falling. “If I’d ever had the freedom to wish for a pack, I would have chosen this one in every lifetime.”
Hunter pressed his lips to mine in an urgent but gentle kiss. This alpha did not ever do submission, but I enjoyed the liberty of embracing my more feminine energy around him, allowing him to take control and knowing I could trust him with it.
When I groaned, and another horn honked behind us, Hunter pulled away. “We’re going to seal the mate bond,” he promised me, pressing one last kiss to my lips. “But the rules have not changed. You will beg me for it, and it will be before your birthday.”
“That’s in like eight days,” I choked out, and his smile was positively devilish.
“I know, little omega. I know.”
There was another honk, and without any urgency, Hunter got the car moving again. It took me a long second to get myself under control, only to have the entitled alpha undo it all by wrapping his right hand around my jeans-clad thigh, flashing his claiming tattoo at me.
This was too much for a mere mortal shifter. Too much, and yet not enough at the same time.
“You know, you can tell us the reason you’ve been running,” Hunter said suddenly, the silence of the car wrapping around us and echoing those words louder. “There’s nothing in your past that would turn us away from you. Nothing . As a pack, we will fight whatever battles we need to, and it will be much easier if all of us work together. I mean, we’re aware that it’s regarding your mom’s death and that fucking pack. A pack I don’t need to remind you is still out there, waiting to make another move. No matter what we’re doing behind the scenes to prevent that from happening, without all the information, we’re working at a disadvantage.”
“You think they’re going to try and take me again?”
There was no hesitation in his response: “Absolutely. You’re important to them for some reason, and they will not stop now they’ve tracked your location. You’ve been off the pack’s radars for years, but now you’re registered with Golden Claw and our pack, you won’t be able to run from them again.”
It was terrifying to think that I would never have freedom from Blaine and his minions again. Always looking over my shoulder and keeping out of evil alphas’ clutches. My best hope was Hunter and our pack, and for that I needed to trust them with every part of my past—in the hopes we might have a future.
“I will tell you,” I promised, “the next time we’re all together. I was going to the day we got smashed into by the witch, and then our lives briefly went to shit, but I agree that’s its safer for you to know everything. I just—I just hope it doesn’t change our dynamics.”
Hunter flexed his fingers on my thigh, drifting his palm higher, his finger pressed against the heat of my core. “There’s no chance it will change us, Emme. But I acknowledge and understand your fear. Let’s just take it one day at a time.”
I wasn’t sure I shared his confidence, even though Kellan was so far unchanged in characteristics, but I desperately wanted to believe him. So, for now, this would have to do.