Page 15

This moment cemented the fact I wanted Kienna as my mate. Not for one second did I regret leaving the arena and coming for her. In fact, even if I was picked up by an NHL team after this season, I wouldn’t take the offer unless Kienna wanted to come with me. Wherever she was, that’s where I wanted to be.

The problem now was that covering her with my cum and making her orgasm had not helped her heat. Oh, the fox was clever and was trying to hide the fact she still hurt, but she needed to be knotted.

Alderic and I brought her water and food and changed the drenched sheets on the bed after we dressed. Thankfully she ate a little and drank a full bottle of water, but she was unable to get settled. She squirmed, muttering how this place didn’t feel right.

“I think she needs to nest to bring her some comfort,” Alderic whispered to me from where we sat at the end of the bed. Each of us had one of Kienna’s feet, massaging them and hoping to bring her some relief.

“But where? My room?” Supposedly the scent of an Omega’s mate calmed them. Though I bet my room had been cleaned. If she didn’t like this hotel room, she probably wouldn’t want mine, and I didn’t know enough about Omegas’ nesting habits to suggest something else.

“I have a few ideas. She might want to be home, but since she’s from the west coast, there’s no way we can get her there. Omegas also like smaller, cozier spaces. I sent out a couple of texts. Hopefully we can help her.” Alderic rubbed up Kienna’s calf. “Hey, ma chérie. Do you need anything? Something specific to eat? Blankets? Pillows?”

“You’ve already asked.” Kienna huffed, pulled on a blanket and then promptly threw it off again. Her bottom lip extended in a pout, but she sucked it in and bit it. “I don’t know. I think I need to be alone.”

No fucking way. I wasn’t leaving her. “Anything you want, Kienna. Name it.”

There was a pounding knock at the hotel suite door. I frowned as Alderic hopped up and announced, “I’ll get it.”

“No! Shit.” Kienna rolled to the side of the bed and tried to stand on shaky legs. I hurried to her side to steady her. “Dammit. Don’t let anyone know you guys are here. Casimir, go stop h—”

We heard the door open and male voices. The voices of my teammates.

Damn Alderic. If he thought that having the other Alphas here would get rid of me, they had another thing coming. Kienna was my mate, and while I hadn’t claimed her yet, none of those assholes would chase me away from her.

I wrapped a blanket around her to provide some modesty and did not move as Kane burst through the door with the rest of the pack on his tail. All three Alphas looked ready to kill me, but it was Maddox who growled.

“You can leave now, Velky,” Tiergan snapped.

“I’m only leaving when Kienna tells me to.” I’d take down every single one of them if they tried to drag me away. She was mine . Sharing her with Alderic had been one thing, but not with the whole pack. Not with the bastards who never took the chance to get to know me, to really welcome me to their team or even consider me as part of their pack no matter how well we worked as a team. They never gave me a chance and fuck them for it.

“Leave.” Kane thought he could order me around. He knew better than that by now.

When I didn’t move or say anything, Maddox pushed up his sleeves and started forward.

Bring it on, you bastard .

“Stop it!” Kienna stepped between us all. Standing tall, my little warrior, she gave us looks to match our Alpha intensity. “I don’t have it in me to deal with your Alpha posturing bullshit right now. If you guys are here, that means the hockey game is over and my dad will be back soon. So all of you need to go.”

Kane laid a hand on Maddox’s shoulder to stop him from doing anything else. “Kienna, we’re here for you. Get yourself some clothes and we’ll be gone before your father gets back.”

Kienna backed up close to me. I couldn’t hide my smirk at that. She knew she was safe with me. The pack had no idea what they were dealing with when it came to this Omega. If Kane thought he could order her to do anything, he was going to learn very quickly Kienna had will power greater than our entire team.

“What? No.” She tightened her blanket around her.

“Kienna.” Kane couldn’t hide the frustration in his tone as he reached for her.

I moved in front of her. If she didn’t want him touching her, he wasn’t going to get near her.

“Please, everyone.” Alderic slipped by the Alphas of his pack and came to wrap an arm around Kienna. She leaned into him but gave him a narrow-eyed look.

“You told them to come.” Not a question.

“I did,” Alderic admitted and rubbed her arm. “But only because I want to help you. I think maybe you need to find a place for a nest.”

Kienna snorted. “A nest? I don’t need a nest. And even if I did, I’m not nesting anywhere in this city. I shouldn’t even be here.”

Ever patient, the Beta bobbed his head. “I understand your resistance. But a nest doesn’t mean that you’re ready to breed. A lot of people think that, but it’s more of a place that brings you comfort and helps to ease the stress of your heat.”

“I know that, but I’m not nesting in Winnipeg.” She stomped a foot to emphasize it. Stubborn as she was, I did agree with Alderic’s point. She didn’t want to be knotted, so if a nest could help, a nest we had to find.

“A nest doesn’t have to be something permanent,” Kane added, keeping his voice even. “Tell us what brings you comfort.”

“Comfort?” Her jaw hardened and she straightened her back. Wrapped in the blanket as she was, she looked like a Greek goddess. “I’m in the middle of my heat, and I’m compatible with four—FOUR!—Alphas who are ready to tear into each other like feral dogs. Alphas who are on my father’s hockey team. You should all be running away knowing that if he ever found out, none of you would ever play another game of hockey in your lives. There’s no comfort here for me.”

Kane shook his head. “He wouldn’t—”

“He would.” Her certainty with that didn’t concern me. Something flickered across Kane’s and Tiergan’s faces, but that was better for me. Let them run scared. I could offer Kienna a grand future in the lifestyle she was accustomed to. Her father wouldn’t disapprove of me.

“Kienna,” Alderic crooned her name. “We want to try to find some place where you’re comfortable. I want to take you to our pack house.”

Hell no.

“It’s not big and impersonal like the hotel. It’s cozy, and there are tons of snacks. I know you like chocolate.” Alderic flashed her a soft smile. “Plus all of our scents are there, and we can watch over you.”

Not all of our scents. Not mine. No matter how differently I thought of Alderic, like the rest of the pack, he was excluding me again.

“Her father will wonder where she is if she isn’t here.” It was reasonable. None of them could debate that. Not one of us was her mate. If anyone took Kienna without Birk’s permission, he could have them jailed for it.

“But Kienna needs some place comfortable for the sake of her well-being.” Kane stared me down with a challenge. Yes, I cared about her well-being, but there were other places she could go if we were taking her anywhere at all.

“Who’s to say that’s your pack house?” I didn’t look away, didn’t even blink. I wasn’t looking to fight any of them, but I refused to sit back and let them take Kienna without me by her side.

Kane clenched his fists. “It’s the best place.”

“Says the biased pack leader.”

“Stop arguing about this as if I’m not here.” Kienna put a hand on my arm. Not Kane’s, mine. “I paid a little attention in class when we talked about nesting, so Alderic is right. It’s about being cozy and comfortable. I don’t feel that here, and I don’t know how I’ll feel like that anywhere with my heat screwing me up. Yet I’m willing to try.”

Tiergan grinned and Maddox smirked at me.

“ But ,” Kienna chased away their smugness. “Everyone is coming, including Casimir. If you won’t let Casimir into your house, then I’m not going either.”

I fought not to smirk like they had. I wouldn’t be that petty. Kienna had spoken what she wanted and she wanted me there. No matter that she wasn’t ready to be knotted, surely she felt the same bond to me as I felt to her, and I would protect her even from my own teammates.

Maddox bared his teeth and Tiergan scowled. If they were pack leader, they’d try to leave me behind, but it was Kane they looked to. Kane’s chest heaved with his breaths. He didn’t like this either, but he didn’t have to. Either it was going to be the way Kienna wanted, or they wouldn’t have her at all.

Kane’s jaw worked back and forth. His gaze bore into Kienna’s. The two of them had their own silent battle. Finally, he dipped his head once. “Fine. We all go.”

“Okay. Then let me get dressed and pack some things.” Kienna shooed all of us out of the room where we stood in tense silence in the suite’s living room.

Just as it had been in our practices the past few days, the place was thick with Alpha energy. Every instinct pushed me to the edge of breaking, to wanting to fight them, but I was strong enough to hold myself in check. I didn’t like the fact that Kienna was compatible with all of us, but if having the others around made her happy, I would never exclude them.

I had one hand up on them though. Kienna didn’t want to stay in Winnipeg. She wanted to travel and see the world. I could make that happen for her. I had no ties to the city either. But the pack did. They wanted to stay and get picked up by the local NHL team. I didn’t think they’d give that up for Kienna.

“When you’re at our house, you’ll follow our rules.” Kane leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

What did they think of me? Just because I didn’t fall in line and do everything our team captain said didn’t make me an asshole. “I will not disrespect you in your own home, but it’s Kienna’s rules I follow. I’m going for her.”

“Good.” Kane didn’t say anything more. Neither did the rest of his pack. The weight of the room only changed when Kienna came out and we all focused our attention on her.

She had one bag packed and slung over her shoulder. Both Maddox and I stepped forward to offer to take it from her, but she ignored our outstretched hands. He and I glared at one another, but turned to follow Kienna.

“I call shotgun,” she called over her shoulder as she left the suite.

This was going to be shit, but I would do anything for her. I’d show Kienna I was willing to stand by her no matter where she went, even to places I wasn’t welcome. She would see that I was her perfect mate, and that the rest of these guys were just pricks.