Page 13

Tenzin

M y phone rang. Morgan’s name flashed across the screen. Again. I ignored it again as I sat at the table, working on editing another video for Gwen. There were no texts, just calls. A chill swept through me. What if something was wrong?

Against my better judgment, I answered it. “Morgan?”

“Tenzie. There you are.” Her voice turned scolding.

“Is everything okay? You had a scan today?” Even though I shouldn’t, I did read the inane update texts she and Jacen sent me.

“I did. It’s a girl.” Her voice softened.

My heart broke. A girl.

“Anything else?” I now knew a little more than I had the night that Jacen had told me he was the father.

It had been too early to do a paternity test; he was guessing. The two of us had been having unprotected sex the entire time she’d removed her birth control implant and was taking fertility enhancers in hopes she would get pregnant during one of Imogen’s heats, so they could be pregnant together, and I hadn’t been on birth control.

“I don’t want to do a paternity test. It’s all our baby.” Her voice grew hard.

“I didn’t ask.” Not now, not ever.

She sighed. “If I did, and it’s yours, will you come home? We miss you. I get it. We messed up. We weren’t trying to hurt you, but we did and we’re sorry.”

Wow. That was a huge admission. Had she done that earlier, it would have changed everything.

Too late.

“You did. All four of you.” I missed them, too. But I wasn’t going to tell her that.

“Tenzie, we’re sorry. What we did was wrong. We should have communicated and it won’t happen again. What else do you want?” she pleaded.

“Nothing.” I exhaled sharply. At one point, I’d really wanted to hear that. “I won’t come home and play happy pack if the baby is mine. But I will do my duty as a father.”

“I don’t want your money,” she spat.

“I was speaking more of knowing her. Taking her fishing, teaching her hockey. I won’t fight you for her, but I’d definitely help support her.” Perhaps a college fund or trust if Morgan didn’t want support payments. We could go on fun holidays, and perhaps my next team would be closer and I could be more present.

“Oh. I could absolutely see you wearing her in an infant carrier, while teaching her how to fish.” Morgan sighed. “Baby Bean is fine. I… I don’t know if I want the test. I do want you to come home though.”

“The house is sold. I’ll be there next weekend to take care of some things.”

“Where did you move to?” Curiosity tinged her voice.

There it was. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Please tell me you didn’t quit hockey and move to New York like some bohemian filmmaker? I don’t want to be the reason you leave hockey.”

“I didn’t quit hockey.” My eyebrows furrowed. How did she know I was in New York?

She sighed in relief. “So you’ll be back when the season starts? You just needed some time away to look at art? I can respect that. Are you moving in with Cooter?”

Did she not know New York had hockey? She was never interested in the nuances of the sport. Though she’d come to games and cheer for me. They all had. Jacen loved watching hockey.

“How do you know I’m in New York looking at art?” I frowned.

“People take pictures of you and put them online. Who’s the pink-haired girl with the nose ring? She’s an art student? I was never artsy enough for you.” There was a hint of jealousy in her voice.

Woah. I took a deep breath, suppressing a growl of annoyance.

“She’s not a film student and I’m not seeing her. She’s a hockey player, showing me around the city, and knows nothing about art,” I explained. There were pictures of us online?

“You took her dancing.” Morgan sounded like she was pouting. She loved dancing. Not to country music–formal dancing. I learned the dances because it made her happy.

I sighed. “Is there anything you need from me?”

“Come home?” The whine in her voice tugged at my alpha nature.

It was too late for that.

“Things can’t go back to how they were. I’m sorry. There’s nothing you, or anyone, can do to fix it. We’re over and I’m moving on with my life.” I ended the call, my shoulders slumping. I’d told her this many times, but this time it felt so final.

Yet it was. I was tired of her acting like I’d changed my mind if she nagged me enough. Taking my phone, I did something I should have done long ago, and I blocked her.

Taking a deep breath, I emailed my lawyer, just in case.

Emotion exploded in my chest. It wasn’t sadness. It was relief.

I checked the time and closed my laptop. Yes, it was time to move on. First step, meeting some fellow Knights.

“Hey, Tens.” Gwen grabbed my hand, dragging me into the large workout room at the training center, which reeked of sweaty alpha. She was wearing leggings and a sports bra, showing off her muscles—and her ribs.

Worry about her not eating enough to compensate for all the calories she burned tugged at me again. Nachos and hot dogs weren’t a nutritious dinner. She probably wasn’t cooking for herself either. Cooking for one was lonely.

Would it be strange to invite her over? I had no idea how to take care of her without making it weird. But I itched to.

“Hi, Firecracker.” I sensed the room change as we entered. But I was a large alpha, who was often called stoic and not known to them .

“This is Carlos, and that’s Dimitri,” Gwen introduced. “This is my friend Tens. I first met Carlos when we played together in community college. Dimitri is back from vacation.”

“Hey, man.” A nice-looking Hispanic guy, a couple inches taller than Gwen, and a little younger than me, who was shirtless and holding a weight, waved with his free hand. Carlos Rodriguez was a forward, a left winger. He often acted as agitator, riling up the other team’s players—and was good at it.

He was a kappa, which would make things interesting. I’d played with a kappa on the Sasquatches. Well, we’d thought Ellie was a kappa until she came out as a gamma in support of Grif Graf last season. She was still as chaotic as fuck, and I’d miss her.

Carlos looked me up and down. “Mariquita.” He gave her a look. “You failed to say your friend Tens is the Yeti. ”

A large Russian guy with piercing blue eyes and messy dark hair joined us. Also shirtless, he had a couple of tattoos. Arms crossed over his chest, the alpha blatantly sized me up, eyes squinting slightly. He was shorter than me by a few inches, but imposing.

Yes, Dimitri Belikov, alpha defender. I’d been trying to learn the roster, but I already knew of many of them from when the Sasquatches had played the Knights in the championship finals.

“Tenzin. Nice to meet you.” I nodded.

“This is Tens. Nia’s over there.” Gwen waved to a muscular brown-skinned woman on the bike, her dark hair in Bantu knots.

“Hey, Tens.” Her eyebrows rose as she waved. She was one of their forwards.

“Bozh’ya Korovka, you should return him to where you found him before the Sasquatches get mad. He’s not a racoon in a bucket.” Amusement tinged Dimitri’s Russian accent, his face remaining in an almost-scowl.

“Raccoon in a bucket?” Yes, she was a firecracker, wasn’t she?

“That was one time.” Her eyes rolled.

“You came onto the ice with a cat in your shirt,” Carlos teased.

“Don’t forget the puppy,” Nia said. “Seriously, she walked into the locker room holding a lost puppy. Pupper says hi by the way.”

“Nia and her pack kept the puppy Gwen found when she couldn’t find the owner,” Carlos explained.

“It wasn’t a cat. It was a baby tiger the zoo lost.” Dimitri’s arms remained crossed, looking like an unwelcoming wall, except for the slight fondness in his gaze. Like she was an annoying little sister he cared about.

Gwen huffed. “Looked like a kitten to me when I climbed up during a storm to get him out of the tree, and the zoo was happy I returned him. He’s a mini tiger and I would have made a great tiger mom.” She looked around. “Carlos, is Lucky around or is he still with Grif? I never thought to ask you earlier.”

Lucky?

Carlos grinned. “Oh, I stole Lucky from the wedding. He’s staying with me while they’re traveling. Grif hasn’t even noticed. Lucky likes to stay home and play with my nephews a lot. But I brought him today. Right now he’s napping on the yoga ball.”

“Oh, there he is. I’ll pet him later. I could use some cat snuggles,” she replied.

There was nothing on the yoga ball. My eyebrows rose. “Lucky is a pet?”

“Lucky is Grif Graf’s imaginary cat,” Dimitri replied.

What?

Gwen giggled. “It’s sort of a joke. Just don’t sit on him or feed him cheese and you’re fine.”

Well, then. Cooter and I did make up a wife.

“We’re getting a Yeti.” Dimitri’s gaze focused on me again. “Vickers and Yeti. Good choices. We’ll have powerful defenses.”

I’d seen that in the sports news. The Knights had traded another one of their defenders for Shawn Vickers. I knew him a little. He’d played for the Sharks.

Nia looked over. “Oh, shit. Welcome.”

“It’s not common knowledge, but yes.” It was a little strange and uncomfortable. Meeting new teammates always was.

Gwen shot Dimitri a smug look. “See, we get to keep him.”

“Fine. Let’s workout,” Dimitri huffed in fond annoyance.

Yes, Gwen was the little sister of the team, clearly.

Dimitri was a quiet one, who mostly hummed under his breath absently. Carlos and Nia kept up a steady stream of chatter, giving us all the gossip. Like how a forward named Anders was trying to get to the Motor City Gears through that multi-team trade Cooter was talking about. Or how the Knights had a new assistant general manager. They speculated on Bunty retiring. I also heard recounts of everyone’s vacations.

Gwen stayed quiet, other than to shrug and say she was teaching hockey camp most of the summer and hoped someone named Castle got moved up to the Knights from their farm team.

“Valya says she needs all of next weekend for shopping,” Dimitri told Gwen.

Gwen laughed. “Yeah, no. Your sister gets Saturday morning. I’m working Saturday and Sunday night at the rink, Sunday I’m playing tennis with Carlos in the morning and in the afternoon I teach goalie lessons.”

“I’m having a party next Saturday,” Dimitri replied. He turned to me. “You should come.”

“Thank you, but I have to go to Portland that weekend.” Pity. I’d rather spend time with Gwen.

“I can try to trade some shifts around, so I can give her all of Saturday and come to the party. That’s all I can do, other than if I cancel playing tennis.” Gwen grinned at Carlos.

“You work too much,” Dimitri replied, with the air of someone who’d never lived on instant noodles.

She did. Gwen wasn’t working late tonight, so we were going to try another country bar on the list. I’d noticed that she was getting touch starved. Taking her dancing was a way to touch her without it being weird.

Gwen scowled. “I have bills to pay, Belikov.”

“Why did you want to come to New York, Tens?” Carlos asked, changing the subject. “Or did you not have a choice?”

“I needed a change,” I said honestly.

“From Portland? I mean, I love New York, but it’s beautiful there.” Nia looked skeptical.

Ugh. It was only a matter of time before the gossip hit. “I broke up with my girlfriend. It was bad. I was ready to go anywhere. She hates New York, which is a plus.”

“Got it. Tens is a raccoon in a bucket.” Carlos looked at me and nodded.

Gwen flipped him off. “It was once. ”

“I dub thee bucket. ” Carlos took a foam roller and waved it around like a sword.

Bucket?

We worked out a little longer, then Gwen got up to go to the bathroom. Dimitri looked at me and Carlos expectantly.

“How is she really?” Dimitri said gruffly.

Nia shook her head. “Poor Ladybug. She and Austin were together longer than I’ve been mated. Is that why she’s going shopping with your sister, Dimitri? Distraction?”

“Austin destroyed her things. She doesn’t like asking for help. Valya will make her get clothes. Because no one can say no to Valya.” Dimitri nodded.

“That’s an excellent plan,” I told them.

“What happened to her forehead? That scar,” Nia asked. She wasn’t an alpha, but I couldn’t remember what she was. Delta maybe? They had a lot of alpha characteristics.

“Austin. Asshole,” Dimitri grunted.

Her look turned fierce. “Did you beat the shit out of him?”

“He disappeared before we–or the police–could get to him.” Carlos scowled. “Don’t worry, if we ever find him again, we’ll take care of it.”

Good. I’d be happy to help.