Page 18

I snoozed in the SUV on the way back to Winnipeg. It wasn’t as cozy as the pack house attic—as silly as that sounded—but my body apparently had a lot of sleep to make up for since the hell night lost to my heat. Even now, the need to be knotted thumped deep in my bones. The attention from the Alphas and Alderic were only temporary patches on the real problem.

“You can sit in the VIP lounge to watch the game. It will be crowded, but your dad will likely be there.” Tiergan pulled into the parking garage next to the arena. He had gunned the car as we neared Winnipeg and cursed at the traffic, but we had made it with half an hour to spare.

“Can’t I just wait in the SUV?” I had no desire to be squirming with my heat in the middle of a room full of elite hockey fans, and I especially didn’t want my father to see me like this.

Tiergan pulled into a special section of the garage reserved for the team and parked. He turned in his seat and shook his head. “Nope. We need to be able to get to you quickly in case you need us.”

“You’ll be playing hockey. It’s not like you can jump over the boards and come running. I’ll be fine.” I didn’t want to be a distraction, and I knew I would be. And again, my dad. He’d be there, and I just couldn’t deal with him at the moment.

“I would jump over anything if you needed me.” Tiergan’s very serious expression made me want to kiss him and sigh in frustration at the same time.

“Okay. I’ll come into the arena, but I’m not going to the lounge. Is there some place you can stash me?” Like I was some horrible secret.

Tiergan shook his head. “Nowhere we can see you.” He pursed his lips and suddenly perked up. “Hey, my folks are still out of town and won’t be back until the weekend. They have season tickets, and their seats are reserved. You can sit there. Excellent seats near the end of the rink. So when I’m in goal, you’ll be near me.”

Ah fuck. He was so sweet. I managed a little smile and a nod. “Okay.”

He grinned and hugged me, kissing me on the cheek. “It’s going to be an awesome game tonight. Come on. We need to get in.”

Tiergan was excited to have me watch him play, and I was sure all the guys were too, but my head was spinning with everything that had happened. I’d managed to avoid being knotted and claimed, but how much longer could I survive without one of the Alphas taking me? And dammit, I wanted them to. I’d been ready for Tiergan to knot me in the desert and leave us with sand in all our crevices.

I followed his lead as he hurried through the garage and outside to enter through the service door at the arena. The security guards and staff all knew Tiergan, and while he introduced me as the new owner’s daughter, his hand on my shoulder made a clear statement to everyone.

The ball of stress tightened inside of me. I shouldn’t be here, and I especially shouldn’t be seen with one of the players like this. Word would get to the press. Worse, it would get back to my dad. He would tear Casimir and the pack apart, leaving them to die in the cold. Not physically, but career-wise and financially.

I would not be that Omega. I couldn’t destroy these guys’ lives.

Tiergan brought me to a pair of seats near the floor of the arena and beside the stairs. Excellent seats behind the net. Not one person asked for a ticket or ID. All he had to do was smile and shake their hands. Tiergan squeezed my hand before he ran off to the team’s locker room.

Not wanting to draw any more attention to myself, I flipped up the hood of my coat and tucked my hair inside. I then zipped it high enough to cover the lower half of my face. I was just another fan now, and damn was the arena packed.

I took out my phone and scanned through my messages and social media. Lots of people had liked my photos of Sara. No one could believe there was a camel and a desert in the Great White North.

Callista, Aubrielle, and Nicolette had all erupted into conversation and sent questions my way about how I was doing and who was Tiergan in the pics. It was way too noisy to do a group call, but I typed in my responses.

My thumbs rapidly pecked out letters on the screen. I’m alive and well. They already knew about the flat tire and lack of flights out of Winnipeg. I’m still stuck here. If I ever get a chance to talk to my dad, I’ll have him book me a flight or get me to Fargo to catch one.

Callista: Who is the guy with you at the camel?

Nicolette: And a camel? Is it even real?

I chuckled to myself. Sara is real. She’s gorgeous. There’s actually a desert in Manitoba and it’s blooming with a million flowers.

Aubrielle: Sounds beautiful .

Callista: The guy?

I only debated for a second whether to tell them what was going on. I needed to talk to someone. Two of them had been through their first heats and had mates of their own, and I needed to commiserate. The guy is Tiergan Hall. He’s the star goalie for the team Dad just bought. Tiergan is a hunky Alpha and we’re totally compatible. So are the other Alphas in his pack, plus one of the Betas, and a fourth Alpha not in the pack. All on my Dad’s team. Which is a BIG no-no. Except my heat was triggered and you know .

Aubrielle: OMG. A whole pack?!!!

Callista: No, we don’t know! What’s going on? If you’re in heat, you need those Alphas to help. Are they helping?

Nicolette: Holy hell! A whole big pack! Like how many? Three? Four? TEN?!

A giggle burst out of me. Four Alphas. Tiergan, Kane, Maddox, and Casimir. Plus one Beta, Alderic. They’re helping, but I don’t want them to claim me. Dad would totally ruin their lives. End their careers and all that. Nic, Cal, neither of you told us that our heat would be this crazy. It zaps me of all brain power and is just pure torture. Be prepared, Aub. Being in heat sucks .

Nicolette: Isn’t this everything you always wanted? A big group of hunks to serve your every need.

I sighed and ignored the arena announcer as his voice boomed over the speakers. Yeah, it’s nice in that aspect, but no way am I staying in this city and no way can anything permanent happen since they are Dad’s players. So it’s just a temporary thing. I’ll have to find another pack of hunks elsewhere. Preferably in Ireland where they own an ancient pub and castle .

Aubrielle: You’re Ireland obsessed. But how can you, you know, if it’s just temporary with this pack?

I’m not letting them get that far. No one has knotted me. Not that I haven’t wanted it, but since I wasn’t staying, it wasn’t worth the risk.

Callista: You’re in heat. The only thing that will ease it is knotting. I don’t want you to have to go through that pain. And trust me, I know how painful it can be.

Nicolette: Get those Alphas to knot you, girl. Refuse their claims if you think you need to, but I think you should give them a chance. I almost lost my Alphas because I was too stubborn. Plus, I honestly don’t think your dad will react so horribly.

Callista: Uncle Marcos wouldn’t. He just wants you to be happy, Ki .

If he wanted me to be happy, we’d be in Ireland at the moment. I was an afterthought these days, and that’s why he’d have to react as brutally as possible if some of his players were screwing his daughter. My father wasn’t a tyrant like my Uncle Julian, but I was the forgotten child, and somehow, that felt worse.

No one is knotting me. I typed the sentence in with furious taps. I’ll be at your place before a week is out, Nic. Right now the game is starting and everyone is standing for the national anthem. I should go .

I didn’t give a shit about the anthem, but I couldn’t stand them saying Dad would be fine with everything. What I would give for my father to be cool and let me live my life as I chose, for him to understand what made me happy and to respect it. But he didn’t care. Not only did he drag me here to Winnipeg and leave me in a hotel room, he hadn’t once asked about the broken down rental car or texted me wondering where I was and what I was doing.

Aubrielle: Take care of yourself, Ki. Keep us updated.

Callista: Go watch your guys play. Then get them to knot you. Call us tomorrow. Love you.

Nicolette: Have fun and, yeah, get knotted! I want to hear all about it. ;)

A hint of a smile touched my lips. Love all of you. Later!

I closed the chat window and sucked back my overflow of emotions. There would be no knotting. Knotting meant a risk of pregnancy and the Alpha losing control and claiming the Omega. I could not ruin the guys’ lives.

The teams were on the ice and skating around as they warmed up. Maddox passed by me first. No wave or smile, but just his intense stare that could claim me alone. Kane and Casimir were next and flashed me quick smiles. Tiergan waved from the net and Alderic did a bit of fancy skating before winking at me.

Ewan zipped by and flipped me the finger. Or, at least that’s what I thought it was with his hockey gloves on. His glare definitely said fuck off.

Another day, another mood, I would have yelled it right back at him. But not now. Why was I at the game? Since when did I listen to anyone when they told me to do something I didn’t want to do?

The longer I stayed with the pack, the more attached they would get to me. The more of a chance I had of murdering their careers and causing them to hate me forever. Sure, I was a troublemaker, but the trouble I caused was for myself, not others.

Once they were in the middle of the game, I could leave. No matter that Tiergan said he would jump the boards, none of them would abandon their team. Not in this immensely important game.

A queasy hot rock twisted in my belly at the thought. It didn’t matter what I felt, and dammit, I didn’t want to examine how I felt about Casimir and the pack. There was already far too much going on in my heart than I ever wanted to allow.

I pushed myself to stay halfway through the first period. The crowd was roaring and the teams were playing an incredible game. Tiergan blocked several good shots, and Casimir stood with Maddox and made one of the Flurry’s Alphas back down when he tried to bait Maddox into a fight. My guys were a dream team. Any NHL team that recruited the pack would be lucky to have them.

Taking my chance when a group of people passed in front of me, I followed them out into the concessions area. I texted for a rideshare, but it would be at least an hour’s wait. It was maybe a mile to the Fort Garry Hotel. A walk would do me good.

As soon as I left the arena, the pull to go back in yanked me and made me stumble. My heat had been a constant throb, but it suddenly ramped up as if knowing any chance of getting help was left behind me. No way was I going to let it defeat me. There was suffering ahead, but I would survive it. I had to if I ever wanted to go to Ireland one day.

I followed the main street leaving the bigger crowds behind me. It was colder tonight than it had been, and I could see my breath. It made me feel like a train chugging along the tracks.

Three or four blocks away, a sharp pain had me throwing myself off the sidewalk and leaning against a brick wall. Fuck, it wasn’t this cruel before.

“One mile. All you need to do is walk one mile,” I muttered, trying to pump myself up.

I breathed through the pain and focused on walking. If I cut through some of the side streets, I could make it faster than following this road to Main Street. I hurried by a donut shop and peered around the corner down the road beside it. It went south toward the river. I could almost see the top of the Fort Garry as it was one of the tallest buildings in the city.

Pushing myself in that direction, my muscles began to clench up. The street was lit, but there were more shadows. Several alleyways were squeezed ominously between the buildings.

The first one I came to, my feet froze and refused to move. My heart hammered so hard it vibrated my eyeballs. Even though it was cold, a clammy sweat covered me as my throat tightened.

That creepy calm voice was still clear in my head. “It’s okay, sweet girl.”

No, no, no.

The bastard wasn’t here. There were people walking along the sidewalks. Everything was fine.

The way he’d said sweet girl made me want to throw up.

I curled up on myself, inside and out, crouching on the sidewalk. The yowling pain of my heat and the terror of that attack, I couldn’t move anymore.

There was no choice. I had to force myself to get through this. I was stronger than the pain, stronger than my fear. Nothing held me back. I refused to let it.

But I still couldn’t move.

When a trio of senior ladies stopped to ask if I was okay, I burst into tears.