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Raider stomps in and sits down heavily on the couch.

“What’s the matter with you?”

“Apparently, Kelly has been off the grid and not contactable, and the family is freaking out.” Raider makes a disgruntled face and reaches for a beer.

“Are you going to go look for him?”

“I can’t, can I? Not with this.” He gestures down to his heavily wrapped foot and the moon boot. He pauses. “I am concerned, though.”

Wren sits forward and unmutes the TV. “Okay, this is it. Fuck, I’m so nervous for them!”

The team looks amazing as they skate onto the ice, lining up. The ice is the most pristine white, and the lines are the bluest blue. They have got this.

“Are you guys sad?” I murmur, my heart breaking for them.

“I mean, yeah, it would have been nice to be there with the team, but I have my dream already, and it wasn’t hockey,” Wren says, intently watching the screen. He turns to look at me. “It was this, it was us.”

I think my heart just burst a little bit, I sniffle and let out a squeak when Kit hugs me hard.

Raider shrugs. “It was worth it to save you. I regret nothing.”

“You guys are the loves of my life,” I say, all choked up.

Kit lays down with his head on my lap and smiles at me. It’s a wicked, sultry invitation.

I grin back because I know what he’s thinking, and I think we should do it !

“We should watch the game,” Callan says, and I think he’s clued into where Kit and I are heading.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Kit purrs, drawing all the alpha eyes.

I hum, but when he turns his face towards my stomach; I lose my ability to think.

“All right, I think that’s a great idea,” I agree enthusiastically.

Kit bounces up and returns with several bottles of booze. “So, have you ever played Drunk Yoga?”

Wren sits up slowly while Raider blinks. Callan just laughs.

Two hours later, the Greene Demons, with their temporary coach, missing two of their veteran players, win the championship game.

When Ramirez is asked, he smiles at the camera and says, “We won it for Raines and Turner. This is their victory.”

The team roars.

None of us notice.

We’re lost, laughing, happy. Our simple life is rolling around on the lounge floor, practicing yoga while drunk, and having a damn good time.

That dream of a family that we all thought we’d lost out on is ours, and it’s bigger than we ever thought.

I smile up at the ceiling as I’ve collapsed on my back.

My parents would be happy for me. They would these guys. I blink rapidly and smile, then laugh. I turn on my side, chortling.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, it’s just you’re stuck with me forever now. Poor you.”

Raider rolls me on my back and pins me in place. “Lucky me.”

I stare up at him, suddenly closer to sober.

They didn’t just go to war, they thawed my frozen heart, too.

“No, I’m the lucky one,” I murmur.

“Do you have anything to say to the fans?” The reporter asks on the TV.

“A really amazing person who is absolutely one of the team told us something her dad said, and it’s stuck with me. I said it to myself all night tonight, and I’ll tell my kids when I have them, too.”

“What was it? ”

Waraski smiles at the camera. “Just a tremendous shout out to Pack Mogel and our new sister Ryann. Break the ice, Inmate.”

I tilt my head and stare up at the upside down screen in shock. What did he just say?

On the screen, Waraski beams. “It means don’t give up, don’t stop fighting.” Waraski smiles at the camera and blows a kiss.

“I love him!” I shout and sit up so I can look at the screen properly. “We’re keeping him!”

Wren laughs, and once he starts, he keeps going.

“I’m going to beat his ass,” Raider says.

I’m happy, safe, and in love. Three things I didn’t think I could be. I stand up and stare down at my alphas, admiring them.

“I love you. I don’t need hockey or fancy things. We don’t have to travel or do anything. I just want to live every day by your side.” It’s decidedly sappy, but I’m a happy drunk.

Kit smiles. Callan bops his head and flashes that megawatt grin of his. Raider hums, and Wren sits up.

“Oh, that’s a shame,” Raider says with a frown.

My smile falls away. “Why?”

“Because mum wants us to come stay at the farm. The team has also adopted you. You’re never getting free of them, which means traveling with the team.”

“Lia also invited us to come stay with Pack Mirakill over the summer, the Raines Mansion is free for us to use,” Callan points out.

“Ryn has tickets to her sold out concert that we’re all supposed to be attending,” Kit says with a wink. “Clothed by yours truly. And Locke said Finn’s got a cabin with our name on it, whenever we want.”

“And we were going to go out and stay on Kelly’s friend’s island and see the sun and surf,” Wren adds. “But if you don’t want to, I mean, I guess we can just stay home.”

My alcohol-soaked brain needs a moment to comprehend their words.

“You sure you want to give all that up?” Raider teases.

I gape at them. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, we know you don’t need all that stuff, Ryann, but let us give it to you anyway,” Callan murmurs. “We will give you the world. It’s yours if you want it.”

It really is.

I can stop running and start living with my pack by my side. With love and family I never dreamed I’d have again.

“I need to try something.”

I get up and walk to the back door, my heart thundering in my ears. I need to do this. It’s symbolic. It’s a rejection of all the crap that bastard put me through. I grip the handle, pushing it down, and then nudge the door open. I stand on the precipice, staring out into the dark.

It’s not my fault. I didn’t kill them. It was an accident, and there is no one watching me from the dark.

I remember my dad laughing in the backyard, his smile so wide. I remember my mum dancing barefoot in an apron. My uncle laughs at something they say.

I’ve been locked away for too long.

I am free. My monster is slain.

My parents would want me to live in whatever way makes me happy.

My heart beats fast, but I force myself to do it. I’m not going to let fear hold me back. Kit, Callan, Raider, and Wren follow me out into a new world, my new life.

One that doesn’t have monsters.

Just a pack that thawed my heart.