Page 35 of Full Body Hit, Part 2 (Alpha Omega Hockey #6)

CHASE

C hase wished he could have kept the mating from his mom, but he knew the media wouldn’t take long to put two and two together regarding his new scent. He and Auston had to put out a statement about their bonding, and they both agreed that they had to tell their families first.

Auston called his without Chase first, something Chase was grateful for—he didn’t want to know if their initial reaction was disappointment at who Auston had chosen. Auston said it’d gone well—they were surprised, but not shocked.

“Yeah, Ariana said that of course this is the kind of thing I’d do, not be with anybody for ages and then mate with someone. I’ve convinced them not to come down here, but they wanna meet you, so. Get ready for a video call, honey.”

Chase hadn’t been able to say no, but had felt sick to his stomach the whole day of the call. He hadn’t even known what to expect—they weren’t going to be mean , surely, but…what if Chase could see through a thin veneer of politeness and right to their disgust?

It turned out nothing like his nightmares. Honestly, they spent half the time chirping Auston and the other asking him questions—did he have siblings? How did he get into hockey? Did they live together? Was Auston treating him right?

“You have to come visit us in summer, of course,” Auston’s mom said, and all Chase could do was nod, overcome.

He was a little shaky when the call ended, but it’d gone…well. Auston’s family seemed happy, honestly.

“See?” Auston said, wrapping him up in his arms. “Nothing to worry about.”

That, of course, could only be applied to Auston’s parents and sister. Chase’s mom was another situation entirely.

In another, earlier version of Chase, he would have called his mom alone. He would have locked himself in the room and let whatever happened wash over him without a fight.

He couldn’t do that this time—not just to his own well-being, but to Auston’s. Most people’s scents were still weird and overwhelming, but he was just starting to parse Auston’s out, and the sting of anxiety was obvious when the topic of Chase calling her alone came up.

“I won’t say anything,” Auston promised. “She won’t even know I’m there. Just…I’ll hold your hand, yeah?”

Chase swallowed and nodded and took a moment to be grateful that this was his Alpha.

The call went very much as expected. They talked about hockey first, like always, and Chase practically had to interrupt her to say, “I have some news.”

“They sending you down?” him mom asked.

Auston, who could hear both sides of the conversation, squeezed his hand, scent burning with an edge of anger. “Uhm, no. No, it’s good news, actually. I, uhm…I got mated.”

A beat of silence. His mom laughed. “Yeah, okay.”

“I’m serious, Mom.”

The laughter trailed away. “What?” The word snapped through the phone line.

Chase twitched. “I got mated. He’s really great. He—”

“You’re joking. You got mated ? After everything we’ve gone through—everything I’ve sacrificed, and you’re just going to throw everything away?”

“What? Mom, no, I’m still gonna play. He’s a player too. He—”

“Oh, Chase, don’t be na?ve. You’ll be knocked up by the end of the year—I’m guessing you didn’t get to this point by keeping your legs shut.”

A growl pierced the air for a beat before Auston cut it off abruptly. Chase didn’t dare look at him. “Mom, come on. That’s not true. It’s just, with my condition—”

“Oh, your condition . This is the issue with you, Chase, you’re always making excuses. Did I not give you everything you needed to become the best?”

Chase swallowed. He couldn’t quite breathe. “Yeah. But…I promise you I’m still gonna play.”

There was a long, extended sigh. “I just…I can’t talk about this anymore. Just don’t come to me when you’re knocked up and he’s moved onto better things.”

The line went black. Everything was still, and then Auston was picking him up, sliding him onto his lap so that Chase was straddling his thighs.

They held onto each other, phone forgotten on the couch cushion.

“Fuck her,” Auston growled. “What the fuck is she even talking about? Most players mate during their careers.”

There was a lump in Chase’s throat. He hadn’t expected his mom to be happy , but after seeing how Auston’s family had reacted, maybe he’d hoped…

Auston unstuck Chase from his chest so he could look fiercely into Chase’s eyes. “We’re gonna prove her wrong. You’re gonna prove her wrong, you hear me? Let’s see what she’s saying in five years when you have a Stanley Cup.”

Chase had to chuckle at that. “That’s a bold prediction.”

“No, it’s not. You’re gonna make it—I know you are. And I’m gonna be cheering you on every step of the fucking way.”

Some of the acidity left from Chase’s mom’s words dissolved.

Who was she to say how Chase’s life would turn out?

He was mated to Auston goddamn Mazdaki.

Chase had won the fucking mating lottery, and there was nothing that could take that away from him.

Chase redid one of their nests, Auston sitting in the middle patiently.

He was so beautiful—that bulky body, his brown, thick hair and those eyes that seemed to always be aglow.

Stubble covered his cheeks, skin a tiny bit darker than usual from the few days in the sun—Auston had been constantly slathering Chase in sunscreen while claiming his own Persian heritage meant he didn’t need as much.

Chase had still made sure to slap some on his face every once in a while as payback, but it was true that Auston hadn’t burned at all.

Chase’s heartbeat slowed at the reminder of their few days away. At the images of the heat—the way Auston had taken care of him, the way Chase had been enough for him.

Chase finished draping the final blanket and climbed in beside Auston in their safe, quiet space.

“You’re right,” Chase said, defiant. “We will.”

He was building a life away from his mom, and he couldn’t lie and say it didn’t feel good.

***

Chase hadn’t ever been chirped on the ice for being an Omega—maybe a little during his Junior years, but nothing terrible.

He knew there had been a lot of that when people like Orion Young had first come out as Omega, but Chase hadn’t been exposed to that level of antiquated thinking since he’d made it to the big league.

Turned out, having an uncontrollable Omega scent on the ice turned some alphas into fucking idiots.

He got simple admonishments such as, “Dude, tone it down,” to sneering whispers like, “The fuck are you advertising, exactly? You know this isn’t porn?

You can’t just come out smelling like you want it and get some. ”

Chase was stupidly rattled by all of it. He felt naked, soft skin exposed where everybody else had developed hard shells. It was bad enough to be singled out for being an Omega—now he was gaining a reputation as an immature kid who didn’t even have a grasp of his own scent.

It was ridiculous—didn’t people realise it was strange for someone to go from having almost no scent to stinking all the time?

Chase finally snapped after another stupid question from the media after a game.

“Is this a new tactic the Spirits are employing? Omegas projecting their scent to distract the other players?”

No , Chase should say, leaving it there.

Instead, he rolled his eyes. “Jesus—I have a medical condition, okay? My scent before—it was synthetic. A medication I took when I was younger damaged my endocrine system, and I’ve only just regulated enough to be able to produce pheromones.

So unless you have another question about personal health information, let’s move on. ”

The interviewer raised his eyebrows, and Chase fought not to hunch his shoulders and hide, the bravado swiftly leaving him.

Was his mom watching? What would she think? What would the team think of him lashing out like that?

Honestly, he was trying to not care as much about what his mom thought, and it turned out he didn’t have to worry about the latter. The guys fist-bumped him as soon as the interview was over, slapping him on the back, as they replayed the answer on their phone.

“Roasted.” Noah laughed.

It turned out that sharing the truth behind why his scent was so out of control was actually a…good thing.

He’d been hiding his condition for so long that he hadn’t thought of the obvious solution of just…telling people what was going on.

Auston got his fair share of invasive questions, too, mostly about their mating, but he shut them down quicky.

“There’s nothing to tell. I fell in love. End of story. Move on.”

Chase smiled from the other end of the locker room when he heard that, Auston announcing to the world that he had chosen Chase. That he still chose him.

Chase was beginning to get used to the reality of it.

Later, in the car, Chase leaned over the console and kissed Auston on the cheek. “I love you too, Daddy.”

Auston’s face, the surprise that melted into something softer, told Chase that maybe he wasn’t the only one who needed to be reassured every now and then.

***

It was strange to claim that the stress from the approaching playoffs was a good thing, but it blurred all other concerns away.

They were battling for the last wild-card spot of the Eastern Conference which, although better than being dead last, wasn’t exactly a good spot to be in.

One wrong move, and they wouldn’t make it into the playoffs at all.

The media was praising the Spirits for even being where they were compared to the abysmal performance the previous years, but nobody in the locker room would be satisfied unless they got a taste of the playoffs.

For Chase, it was exciting. He entered every game with the desperate tang of iron in his mouth—the knowledge that each goal counted, each point sacred.