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Jonas

“ G reat practice everyone, see you tomorrow,” Coach Dodd told us. The older alpha was all bundled up against the February chill.

Unlike some of my teammates, I loved practicing outside.

While the team had been boycotting practices and games for a week, we hadn’t wanted to let our skills get rusty. It started off as a group of us playing around at the outdoor rink at the Roganfort Center. We’d practice a little, then play against whoever wanted to.

Now the entire team showed up for practice. So did Coach Dodd, one of the assistant coaches. Coach Atkins had been here earlier.

We were prepared to do this as long as we had to, and our union supported us. Sure, at some point the Knights could come after us for breach of contract, but would they fire the entire team?

Lots of people were watching us, including some people with sticks, ready to join us. How often did you get to play a pro team?

“Looking good, Knights.” A middle-aged man in a suit came over to us, walking on the ice in his loafers in a way that only came with practice.

We all eyed him warily.

“Can I help you?” Elias asked, stepping forward to speak for the team.

“I hope so. I’m Louis Daughtry, Cal Daughtry’s son. My family owns the Knights. While we love it, it’s also a business. It’s hard for the Knights to operate when our players are on strike and management is subject to countless pranks and glitter bombs. I’m here, without my dad’s knowledge, to fix things. What do we need to do to end this walkout?” His look was both frustrated and earnest, and his posture seemed sincere.

There it was. The Bantams were trying hard, but we were playing some tough teams soon. Every loss affected our chances of going to the playoffs.

Game attendance was still down. Not because of the Bantams, we’d been encouraging everyone to support them, but because fans didn’t agree with what management was doing. Or they didn’t want to deal with the protesters.

Or the glitter.

Many people were calling for Mr. Longfellow to retire and for Cal Daughtry to step down. Our assistant GM and Kylee looked ready to quit at any moment.

Dean leaned into me. “Is the son coming good or bad?”

“Good, I hope?” I whispered back. Hopefully it meant they were scared.

Elias crossed his arms over his check and gave him a measured look. “You know why we walked and what you need to do. All of this happened without proof or even talking to him, less than an hour after he collapsed and was carried off the ice. We won’t stand for this.”

“Not to mention even though numerous organizations, including the PHL, have informed Mr. Daugherty and Mr. Longfellow that their actions are illegal, and given them instructions on how to rectify the situation, they’ve ignored them,” Winston added.

Though so far they hadn’t been arrested or anything. Probably money and privilege at work. The Knights had been fined, though.

“To be clear, we want Grif hired back, not bought out or traded or given away,” I added, arms crossed over my chest. We were already pursuing them legally. Though that could take a while. The quicker we got Grif back on the ice, the better it would be for his mental health.

Louis nodded. “I see. You’d play with an omega enforcer?”

“We have this whole time. It’s not a problem,” Elias told him.

“I don’t see what the issue is, other than the father of Grif’s old agent is friends with your father,” I snapped.

“Yes. Bertie and the whole Chet thing.” Louis grimaced as if the thought gave him a headache. “I’m sorry for all this. Our parents and Bunty have always been very closed about the way they handle things and we’ve always been content to let them handle it. Now, my sister and I are taking a closer look at things and becoming more involved.”

As they should. I was curious who else might own little bits of the Knights besides the bit Bertie owned. Not that he owned it any longer.

Elias gave him a look. “We told you what we want.”

“Does Grif even want to come back? Also, can he?” Louis frowned and rubbed his chin.

“Yes and yes,” I replied. Okay, he needed a few more days to recover, but that was it. He’d been meeting with some awakening specialist from the center that worked with athletes and she had lots of good ideas.

“Besides being reinstated, he needs an apology from Mr. Longfellow and a fruit basket.” Dean joined us, hanging on my shoulder.

Louis blinked and nodded. “A fruit basket. Okay.”

Clearly, he didn’t see the meme–or Verity’s video.

“The pranks are all the Maimers and that’s because Mr. Longfellow went after Verity in his press conference. Don’t you own the Maimers?” Dean asked.

Louis raked his hand through his hair. “My children and niblings own the Maimers, not us or my father. He brought it up, given the glitter is becoming excessive. They shrugged and said FAFO, Grandpa, FAFO.” His look grew exasperated. “I don’t even know what that means.”

That was funny, because that’s exactly what happened. Mr. Daughtry and Mr. Longfellow fucked around and found out.

Louis looked at the rest of us balefully. “If we rehire Grif back, you’ll all come back?”

Elias looked around at all of us. “Yes?”

“Yes,” the team agreed.

“Okay, good. Also, Compass BioTek won’t really try to buy us, right?” Louis’ brow furrowed.

Spencer had set a countdown timer. How he planned on implementing a hostile takeover of the team I wasn’t sure, but whatever worked.

“I don’t think it’s that bad an idea,” Carlos shrugged. A few others nodded.

Louis sighed. “I’ll see what I can do then. I‘d love to see the Knights go all the way this year. While I adore the Bantams, we’re not going to do that with them.”

Elias extended a hand. “I appreciate you taking the time to talk to us.”

Because Mr. Longfellow and Cal Daughtry hadn’t. Louis shook his hand and left.

Coach Dodd was still there. “Huh. I hope they fix this. The Daughtry family and Mr. Longfellow have always done right by the Knights. I hope everyone’s… okay.”

The idea that one or both of them might be showing early signs of dementia had been floated by the press.

“Me, too.” Elias nodded.

“I do like playing outside, though,” Jean Paul added. “Reminds me of home.”

“Me, too.” It was a pleasant change of pace. I missed playing outside on ponds.

Still, it would be nice to get back to normal. Hopefully, with Bertie in jail, management would stop being stubborn and do what’s right.

While I was ready to sit out as long as I needed, I’d sort of like to have a chance at winning the championships, too. With Grif by our side.