Page 6

Jonas

“ G rif was an absolute beast in practice today. Something I always love to see. But is he okay? He and his girl didn’t actually break up, right?” Coach Atkins stopped me in the upstairs hall of the training center as I went to go get my cardio in.

“No, they didn’t. They’re fine,” I assured, leaning against the wall. At least, I thought they were.

I’d understand if she wasn’t. She had a right to be hurt and confused. The fact that she trusted us enough to wait for an explanation until she got back astounded me. Personally, I wasn’t sure I would.

“Oh, good.” Coach Atkins didn’t leave. He stroked his chin, which meant he had more to say.

Grif wasn’t fine. It had nothing to do with Verity and everything to do with what happened on the bleachers, along with whatever tests the doctor was supposed to discuss with him yesterday, but postponed.

Not that I could tell Coach that.

“Um, Grif’s happy here, right? With you all and his girl.” His voice grew low as he leaned in, raking a hand through his graying hair.

“Of course he’s happy being a Knight. Is there a reason for him not to be?” My voice quieted. “Is that why it’s taking so long for the pack contract to be negotiated? Management’s still not happy with the way he’s playing?”

Given the silence, I’d wondered if they still wanted to get rid of Grif. We still had a couple of months until the trade deadline.

“I’m happy with how he’s playing, and as far as I know, everyone else is. Sure, it was a little rocky at the beginning, but he rose to the challenge.” Coach Atkin’s frown deepened. “I’m not part of pack contracts other than being asked if I recommend it–which I did. All I know is that I was asked who we might look at to fill Grif’s place.”

“Shit. I’ll be honest, Coach, I don’t know if Dean can take being away from Grif again.” Not only because they’d bonded with each other.

But the Knights never wanted Grif, anyway. He’d taken a pay cut to be a Knight. This entire season had been a race to get the pack contract in place so we could sleep at night.

“I know.” Coach’s look grew grim. “Dean’s looking to have a record season. I’m guessing that has a lot to do with having his pack together. I’d hate to lose you three. As would the team. And not simply because we have a real chance of going all the way this year.”

Was he trying to tell me something? Or just being heartfelt?

“We like being Knights, Coach. Grif included. Like Dean, the only team he’d want to leave for would be the Royals and that’s simply because of childhood nostalgia,” I told Coach, though it wasn’t like he hadn’t heard this before.

“Okay. I wanted to check. Boston. Not say… Rockland?” His look went sly.

Oh. Relief sluiced over me. Someone must have heard Grif and Verity talking on the bleachers. Grif had mentioned them joking about Spencer buying teams.

“If this has to do with Verity’s sister’s pack buying the Daredevils and trading us to them so Verity will work for Compass BioTek, I’m pretty sure it’s a joke. Not to mention she’s several years from finishing her PhD.” By then, we might be looking to retire. Though the Daredevils were a decent team, and Rockland was a nice place. I’d live there for a while if it made everyone happy.

“A joke, okay.” He nodded. “Got it. That was making people a little nervous.”

“We like being Knights, Coach. We just want to get our pack contract and be happy. A lot of things are waiting on that,” I admitted honestly.

“Like I said, I’d hate to lose you three.” He patted my shoulder and walked down the hall.

I got my phone, and I went upstairs into a small conference room that was often used by the goalies and called my agent. I’d also gotten a text to call him.

“Stu, what’s up?” I asked, sitting in one of the rolling chairs, belly clenching.

“That’s what I wanted to ask you. Most specifically, why am I trying to get a pack contract when one of your pack members clearly doesn’t want it?” Stu Thomas of Venture Management asked, sounding genuinely puzzled, not pissed.

Stu had been my agent since the very beginning. He knew my high school coach back in Toronto. He’d been Dean’s agent for several years.

“You’re the second person to ask me this today, the first being our coach. This is news to me because at breakfast this morning, Grif asked when he should bug his agent again about the pack contract.” I frowned at my phone as I texted Grif.

Me

You want a pack contract, right?

“Huh. Chet’s made it nearly impossible to schedule a meeting. He misses most of them, and when he attends, he makes it seem like Grif’s unhappy and wants out,” Stu replied.

“ Chet’s holding up the contract?” I rubbed my forehead. Why would he do that? Not that it actually surprised me.

Grif

Yeah. Does someone think I don’t?

Where are you? I’m going to hit the small rink and practice some more.

Me

I’ve got some things to handle. Go for it.

Though I worried that all the extra practice time would burn him out.

“Chet dislikes that woman Grif’s seeing immensely,” Stu added. “She’s a model?”

I sighed. “She does some modeling. Chet’s been giving Grif shit about her. Which is weird.”

“Eh. Depends on who she is and if she’ll impact his image negatively,” Stu replied. “If you do want the contract, I’ll try to salvage it. But if Grif doesn’t reign Chet in, you might not only be out of a pack contract, Grif might find his ass traded. Possibly to a shitty team, because Bunty’s not happy.”

“Fuck.” That’s the last thing we needed. Bunty Longfellow was the general manager for the Knights. He just might be getting a bit weird in his old age.

Not that I’d ever say that.

“We have to lock down this pack contract. Dean needs the security of knowing his husband won’t get traded away from him. Fucking Chet. I can’t get Grif to leave him.” Frustration raged through me.

“Something’s not right about Chet.” He sighed.

I rested my face in my hand. “If I can convince Grif to fire Chet, will you take him?”

“You know I will. Honestly, it’s for the best if Grif leaves him. The past couple of years have given Chet a reputation where reputable people don’t want to work with him or the people he reps,” Stu replied.

The depth and breadth of his words hit me. Grif’s lack of sponsors even though he’d won a title. His difficulty getting to us. Taking a pay cut. This could all be because of Chet?

“If Chet has something on Grif that’s forcing him to stay, we can help manage it by getting ahead of it,” he added.

“Is that something Chet does?” I frowned. I mean, he was a slimeball, but…

“Unfortunately.”

“I’ll check with Grif.” Huh. That was something to consider.

“You might want to check out the model. I’ve got someone if you need them,” Stu added.

“Already have. And thanks.” I wasn’t ready to tell Stu Grif’s secret, but given how he’d saved Dean’s career after he was outed, I trusted him to help us.

“One more thing. I’ve had three players call me and ask me if they can get traded to the Rockland Daredevils after that biotech guy Spencer Thanukos buys it. Which is strange because I didn’t know it was for sale. Or that he was interested in owning a team. Or that you three are apparently part of this dream team he’s building? You know how this business is, but considering it’s got people spooked, I’m curious.” Amusement tinged his voice.

“As far as I know, it’s a joke. Grif’s girlfriend’s related to the Thanukos pack. Why are people threatened by him buying a team? He wouldn’t be the first eccentric billionaire to do so.” I shrugged, finding all this a little silly.

“I’m not sure. It’s sort of fun to see owners and GMs shaken up, though. I just wanted to check. I’ve got to go, but Grif needs to deal with Chet now or it could undermine everything you’ve been working toward,” he warned.

“Thanks, Stu.” I ended the call. Ugh. While I hated to exert my power as head alpha, I couldn’t let Chet impact the pack.

“Everything okay, Jonas?” Coach Kirov, the goalie coach, opened the door.

Both goalies, and all three EBUGs were with her. Everyone had plates of food.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry for taking your space.” I got up. They were probably going to watch films and talk strategy.

Dean gave me a concerned look and squeezed my hand. “I felt that. What’s wrong, Babes?”

I squeezed his hand back. “I’ll tell you later, Love.”

First, I needed to talk to Grif.

“Chet has shit on people so they stay with him?” Grif frowned over his salmon burger as we ate in the back of our black SUV in the training center garage.

While it wasn’t that comfortable, it was private. Sure, people might assume we were having sex, but they did that anyway. The other people with packmates on the team were all with each other. It wasn’t uncommon to catch Nakey and Pauly in the showers.

“I guess.” I shrugged as I took a bite of my chicken burger.

Grif’s brows furrowed. “I was one of his first clients, and I stayed with him out of loyalty because he believed in me. If he has something on me, I don’t know what it is. Fuck, what if he knows?”

“Then we’ll deal with it. I can’t let him wreck the pack or our careers.” I sipped on my vitamin water.

“What about mine? If he knows, and tells, it’s over.” He looked stricken, his scent going sour.

I put my arm around him. “After you talk to the doctor, we need to come up with an actual plan. Depending on what your body is going through, your days of hiding might be numbered, anyway. Though I’m confident Stu can fix things for you like he did with Dean.”

“I’m not Dean.” He sighed and took another bite.

“We’ll still love you if you don’t play hockey. People want you to conduct. People want your songs. Worst case, we get you a music agent, set you up with a studio, and you make music and join AJ’s recreational league. Spend more time fucking our little alpha in her greenhouse. Maybe coach some kids.” I gave him another squeeze.

Grif was so sure his life would be over if he had to come out as omega. I didn’t think his career would end there. Even if he did, there was so much he still could do and had to live for.

But then hockey had always been how he proved his value. It made my heart ache that after all these years he didn’t see how he was so much more.

Though I did worry about his health.

Grif’s eyes met mine, wary. “You’d be okay if I didn’t play hockey? Don’t get me wrong, I’d much rather play hockey, but my biggest hesitation about pursuing music is that I wouldn’t be able to contribute what everyone else does to the pack.”

“Grif.” I pulled him tighter, careful of our food. “Our pack isn’t hurting for money–and one of the great things about packs is that they allow for everyone to have a job they like. Not to mention, you’ll still make more than our little alpha.”

“Until she works for Spencer and changes the world with her happy flowers.” He snorted, head resting on my shoulder. “You know I’ve been getting texts asking me about his dream team. The Daredevils are an established team. It’s not like he’d fire everyone and start over.”

“I’ve been asked, too. Look, I know the idea of coming out as omega is scary. We’ll be behind you–always. Verity will still love you. Do I want you to stay with the Knights? Yes. Will we go after the Knights legally if they fire you for being an omega? Yes. Will we figure something out if you have to go to another team? Of course. We love you and we’re here.” I toyed with his red hair.

“That… that means a lot.” His voice choked up. “I don’t want to be an omega. Never have. If I come out, I’m afraid that’s all people will see me as. It’s hard to only be seen for something you don’t even want to be.”

“We’ve always seen you as you, Grif, you know that–and Verity will, too.” I hoped that she’d forgive him for this.

“She will. I’m sure of it. All of this is terrifying, and you’re right, I’ve been feeling everything so much more since I found her. Oddly enough, I like some of it. Which then makes me feel like shit for putting AJ off for so long because I didn’t want to deal with my feelings.” He sighed again.

“AJ loves you.” I squeezed his hand. AJ was a good guy and brought a lot to the pack, even if he was a stubborn fuck sometimes.

“I’m not ready for my career to be over.” He pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “Not to mention, we can’t just pick up and leave. There are no professional omega forwards. Not even in the minors. There’s a couple at the collegiate level.” Defeat crossed his face. “But…”

“ Public omegas in the PHL . We know of what? Five secret omegas? Three of which are forwards. That’s not including Ellie.” Who we were pretty sure was a gamma, but told everyone she was a kappa. She was a forward and enforcer for the Sasquatches.

The other two were a goalie and defender who masqueraded as a beta couple and were part of an omega pod–an all-omega pack. Dean had a secret omega support network going on.

“True.” His shoulder slumped.

“I’m not afraid of moving elsewhere. We can make things work. Or Verity can have Spencer buy the Royals instead of the Daredevils, and we can move into the house you bought Dean for Christmas. Problem solved.” I grinned.

He laughed. “Absolutely. It can be our wedding present. You know she wants a fancy wedding. In a garden.”

“Of course she does. With a string quartet, fairy lights, and tiny food. And it will be beautiful.” I could see it now, and I hoped to the very depths of my soul that it happened one day.

“Can we really make this work if I have to come out? I’m terrified of what the doctor will tell me. I’m a nervous wreck over this.” His head bowed.

Burnt sugar fear tinged Grif’s rain scent, and I pulled him to me, holding him tight and comforting him the best I could. I’d text AJ later to let him know to give Grif some extra care tonight. Maybe he could bring home those empanadas from that place Grif liked.

“We’ll make this work. We’re a pack and that’s what we do. Don’t worry about Verity, I’m sure she’ll love you no matter what.” I rubbed his back as I put out soothing pheromones to help calm him down.

He got an odd look in his eyes. “I know.”

Huh.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to have this big conversation here in the car. It’s supposed to be about you firing Chet. You don’t need to hire Stu, but it would make things easier.” I continued to rub his back, to calm him down before we had a team strategy meeting.

“I… I’ve been thinking about it ever since Chet sent that text the night I gave Verity the jersey. It seemed so out of line. Honestly, do you think it’s his reputation hurting my career? I sort of thought the big sponsors didn’t like me because, as Kylee once put it, I’m an emotionless tank that only melts for Dean. ”

“I think there is a distinct possibility Chet gave you a reputation. That he’s spun you a certain way.”

“But why? Why is Chet doing this? He makes money when I do.” Grif frowned.

“Maybe he doesn’t care about the money? Maybe he steers you to sponsors he can control? I have no idea,” I told him. Perhaps Chet just enjoyed being a dick.

Why would Chet have such an issue with Verity? She was one of the nicest people I’d ever met.

“Okay.” Defeat crossed Grif’s face. “While I’m grateful for everything he’s done, you’re right. It’s time to end it with Chet before it hurts us even further.”