Chapter 2
Knox Maddox
Mark Richards' office still reeked of Mallory's fear-sweat, a sort of sour acidic smell that reached the back of my tongue and made my skin itch. It still lingered even though it'd been three days since I'd made the good doctor piss himself.
Now I sat in the same chair, staring at the same wall of team photos, while Richards tried to look intimidating behind his massive desk.
"We need to talk about Dr. Graves."
My jaw clenched. "What about her?"
"Don't play stupid, Knox. Morrison said he could smell your pheromones from the hallway during her first exam." Richards rubbed his temples like I was giving him a migraine. I probably was. "She's been here one week. One. Week."
"And?"
"And she hasn't quit yet, which is a fucking miracle. So whatever Alpha bullshit you're thinking about pulling don't."
I leaned back in the chair, making it creak. "I haven't done anything."
"Yet." Coach Sullivan entered the office, arms crossed over his chest. The head coach looked ready to throw me through the window. "But we both know what happens when you fixate on someone."
"That was different."
"Was it?" My coach’s eyes narrowed. "Because from where I'm standing, you're about to cost us another team doctor. Except this time, we're fucked if she leaves. No one else will take the job."
"I said I haven't done anything."
"Keep it that way," Richards said. "Dr. Graves is off-limits. Non-negotiable. You so much as breathe wrong in her direction, and you're suspended without pay."
My hands curled into fists. "You threatening me over some Omega?"
"I'm threatening you over our team physician," Sullivan corrected. "Who happens to be the only doctor in the Pacific Northwest willing to deal with your ass. So yes, Knox. Stay the fuck away from her."
"I have treatment twice a week."
"Medical treatment. Nothing else. And you'll be nothing but professional." Richards stood, trying to use his height to intimidate me. Cute. "I mean it, Knox. We can't afford to lose her."
I stood too, and Richards took an involuntary step back. "We done here?"
"Be nice," Sullivan said. "That's an order. Be fucking nice to everyone, but especially to her."
Nice. They wanted me to be nice while my fucking dick was starting to ache at the thought of sliding into her body. Every single cell in my body screamed to claim her, mark her, find out what she smelled like under all those suppressants. Bury myself in her…
"Sure," I lied. "I’ll be nice."
The next thing I knew I was yanking the door open so hard that it rattled on its hinges and stalked out of the room. I was fighting against my nature to put another hole in office wall using my General Manager and Coach’s head.
The training facility was busy, players getting treatment for various injuries before afternoon practice.
As I stormed towards the weight room, needing to burn off the rage building in my chest, I passed the medical suite.
The second I did, I heard the doctor’s voice.
It was soft and kind and unmistakably belonged to the woman I wanted to fuck.
"Just a minor sprain. You'll be fine in a few days."
I stopped, looking through the open door.
Dr. Harper Graves was wrapping Peterson's wrist. The rookie winger was sitting way too fucking close to her, grinning like an idiot while she worked.
His fucking knee was pressed against the white lab coat and under the fluorescent lights, his brown eyes almost seemed to be amber.
"Thanks, Doc. You've got magic hands."
She laughed. Actually laughed. A soft sound that made my vision go red at the edges.
How fucking dare she laugh at his stupid weak ass, I thought.
"Just ice and rest," she said, stepping back. "No stick work for forty-eight hours."
"Yes, ma'am." Peterson stood, and that's when the little shit did it. He touched her shoulder. Quick, casual, but his hand lingered a second too long.
The growl ripped from my throat before I could stop it.
Both their heads snapped toward the door. Harper's brown eyes narrowed when she saw me, but Peterson went pale. Immediately the other man’s hands dropped away from her shoulder.
"Knox," he stammered. "Just getting my wrist looked at…”
"Get the fuck out," my eyes locked onto the Doc, not wanting to miss a second of her reaction.
He practically ran from the room, leaving Harper and me alone. She crossed her arms over her chest, hip cocked in defiance.
"Was that necessary?"
"He touched you."
"He thanked me. It's called being polite. You should try it sometime."
I stepped into the room, slowly closing the heavy metal door behind me.
Her scent hit me immediately surrounded me.
Slowly, I swam through the smell of vanilla and something floral, almost completely buried under medical-grade suppressants.
But there was something else there, something that had been driving me insane all week. A hint of heat, of need, of Omega.
My mouth had started to water and suddenly the lights above, humming with electricity seemed to be way to intense and bright.
"You shouldn't let them touch you," I said.
"Them?" She raised an eyebrow. "You mean my patients? The players I'm paid to treat?"
"The Alphas…"
"Like you?" She turned away from me and began to clean up the space, tossing a few items into the garbage. "Because last I checked, you're the only one who's cornered me against a wall."
"That was different."
"How?"
Because you're mine. The thought slammed its way through my mind and my body. I’d never been the type to ever call a woman, let alone an Omega, mine.
I’d known the doctor for all of five seconds but my body knew wanted her.
Knew it wanted to imprint its DNA all inside of her pussy and leave her begging for me to never stop fucking her.
Christ on a cracker, I took a deep breath and let it out.
"It just was," I said instead.
She laughed, but it wasn't the soft sound she'd given Peterson. This was sharp, mocking. "Great argument. Very compelling."
My blood began to boil as she turned away from me once again, clearly done with the entire topic.
The Doctor was right though, I had no claim to her but the thought of another man touching her had me ready to wreak havoc.
I took another deep breath and forced myself to leave the doctor alone.
The weights were definitely calling my name now.
*
My muscles were aching in a familiar, tortured way and I was missing pass after pass. Every five seconds my eyes were on the bench where she was looking at Eric Martinez’s fucking ankle that he’d twisted when he went down on the ice thirty minutes earlier.
And not only that but it seemed like every fucking alpha on the Grizzlies roster was taking a notice to the shiny new doctor.
They were subtle about it, but I could see them stealing glances, could smell their interest in the air.
Morrison paired me with Chen for contact drills, and I took out my frustration on the defenseman's ribs. He went down hard, gasping for air.
"Jesus fucking Christ, Knox! It's just practice!" Chen’s face had twisted up in pain.
I stared down at my teammate that was clutching his side in pain, but my eyes swiftly moved back to the bench where Harper was already grabbing her medical bag. She stepped onto the ice carefully and made her way over. She was all professionalism concern, as she knelt beside Chen.
"Where does it hurt?"
"Everywhere," Chen wheezed, shooting me a glare. "Psycho caught me in the ribs."
Her hands were gentle as she examined him, and I wanted to break every one of Chen's ribs for real just for getting her attention.
"Nothing’s broken," she announced. "But you'll be sore. Ice when you get home."
She stood, and her eyes found mine. "You. Office. Now."
"Practice isn't over," I said.
"It is for you." She looked at Coach Sullivan. "Coach, I need to examine Maddox. That hit looked like he might have aggravated his shoulder."
Sullivan’s head nodded like a bobble head figure sold in the gift shop, and I knew he was probably grateful for an excuse to get me off the ice before I killed someone.
I followed her to the medical suite, my skates clicking against the concrete. She waited until the door was closed before rounding on me.
"What the hell is your problem?"
"No problem, Doc."
"Bullshit." She stepped closer, and even through the suppressants, I could smell her anger. It was intoxicating. "You've been stalking around here all week like some territorial Alpha, and now you're taking it out on your teammates."
"Maybe I am territorial."
"Over what? This is a training facility, not your personal kingdom."
"Over you…"
The second the words flew from my mouth, neither of us moved. For a few heartbeats we seemed to have turned to stone, rooted in place. The fluorescent lights once again seemed to buzz overhead, the sound bringing me back to earth.
"I'm not yours to be territorial over," she said slowly, like she was explaining something to a child.
"Aren't you?"
"No." She turned away, but I caught her wrist. Gently, but firm enough that she stopped.
"Don't let them touch you," I said again. "The other players. Stay away from them."
She yanked her hand free. "Are you seriously warning me off doing my job?"
"I'm warning you that not every Alpha on this team has control."
"Like you?" She laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Because from where I'm standing, you're the only one acting like a knothead."
The slur hit like cold water. Knothead. What Omegas called Alphas who let their instincts override their brains.
"I'm trying to protect you," I growled.
"From what? Peterson thanking me? Chen needing medical attention?" She shook her head. "I don't need your protection, Knox. I need you to back off and let me do my job."
"Your job doesn't require them touching you."
She threw her hands up, exasperated by my words."My job is literally touching them. I'm a doctor. It's what I do."
The thought of her hands on other players, other Alphas, made my vision blur red again.
"Not the Alphas," I said. "Treat the Betas, the Omegas if we had any. Not the Alphas."
"You're insane." She headed for the door. "Absolutely certifiable. And if you keep this up, I'll have you suspended for interfering with medical treatment."
"Harper…”
"Dr. Graves," she corrected, hand on the door. "And stay out of my way, Knox. I mean it."
She left me standing there, her scent lingering in the air like a taunt. Every instinct screamed to go after her, to make her understand that she was playing with fire by letting other Alphas close.
But I stayed put.
Because Richards was right about one thing, we couldn't afford to lose her.
Even if watching her with other players was going to drive me fucking insane.