Chapter 34
Saint
Me: I twisted uncomfortably in my seat, noticing Lily standing in the wings out of the corner of my eye.
She was tense, more so than she’d been in a couple of weeks.
I grinned for the cameras and winked at the reporter.
“I think Rocco is angry he’ll never be as good as I’ll be.
In fact, my guess is he’ll be traded to the American Hockey League after such a disastrous year. The man is a menace to the sport.”
The crowd roared. I could hear their cries from the locker room even as I continued pacing.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Eric chided. “You look like you’re going to jump out of your skin. Is it the crap Rocco said during his interview?”
The jerk had gone on national television calling me washed up, that my time was over and that he planned on sweeping the ice with me.
I couldn’t care less.
“He can go fuck himself,” I muttered.
“Then what?” When I said nothing, he narrowed his eyes. “Is this about Lily?”
My answer was to pound my fist against my locker door. We’d had an argument, a real knock-down drag-out yelling match ending with her storming out of the house telling me she needed space.
And time.
When I’d asked her about coming to the game, her answer? She wasn’t sure. I was livid. I was hurt.
I was devastated.
What I couldn’t fathom or understand was her lack of honesty about the flowers that had appeared at my house. For her. Two dozen red roses, of all selections. She’d thought I’d sent them, but if I had, I wouldn’t have been so obvious I was trying to woo her.
The moment she’d read the card, she’d paled. I’d shown off my asinine qualities once again by ripping the card from her hand.
Whoever had sent them hadn’t used his name, but the intent had been obvious.
To our future together…
I’d been livid, demanding she tell me who’d sent them. I’d driven her away. I was positive of it. My skin crawled from the realization. Mate or no mate, if she’d only been pretending to care about me to keep me in line, I wouldn’t know how to handle it.
I’d never been jilted before.
Maybe it served me right. That didn’t mean I’d go down without a fight.
What in the hell was going on? “She’s been acting weird for a couple days.”
“She’s nervous for you, for all of us. She’s put a lot of work into boosting your image and you almost trashed it all over again with that Rocco comment.”
“I didn’t say shit. Just the truth.”
He snorted. “Didn’t Lily tell you to keep your cool and say decent things about the man?”
“I can handle my shit myself.” I kicked the locker this time, creating a buzz from the other players.
“Yeah, I see how that’s working out for you. Just let it go, man. She needs to blow off some steam.”
“What if she doesn’t come to the game?” The real question was whether she’d finally had enough of my antics. She was my good luck charm. With her in the stands, I’d played a hell of a lot better.
“Just play the goddamn game,” Pete said, obviously overhearing the conversation. “Stop acting like only your career is sitting on the line. Prima donna shithead. Oh, please. Don’t turn into a werewolf.”
“How many times do I need to tell you to cut the crap?” Eric tossed out.
I was ready to punch him and that enforced the realization I needed her. Not just to improve my game or my image, but in my life. We’d indulged in nights of passion so intense we’d wrecked the sheets.
Yet we hadn’t mated.
Now I was a wreck of a human being, carnal thoughts driving every decision as well as the caustic words coming from my mouth. I’d blown it. I’d fucking blown it.
“It’ll all work out, dude,” Eric said as he grabbed his mask. “Buy her those flowers I mentioned a few weeks ago. That’ll smooth things over.”
“You don’t know Lily. She won’t fall for that trick again,” I muttered as I pulled out my phone, hoping she’d left a message, a text. Something.
The screen was blank.
I finished dressing, unable to get thoughts of Lily from my mind.
I’d already walked to where I had a bird’s-eye view of the suite Pops had rented for the finals game. My parents had arrived, Steven was there with some chick.
But up to this point, there’d been no sign of Lily. I’d left her a message. Sent several texts, which she hadn’t even looked at. She wasn’t coming. There was no doubt in my mind.
What the fuck was I going to do?
“What the hell?” I heard Eric say from behind me. I turned, noticing he was glued to the phone as if the final had been called off.
So were a couple of other teammates.
Just then, Coach Cavanaugh walked into the locker room, headed in my direction. “Masters. I need to see you for a minute.” He expected me to follow, turning swiftly and taking long strides into the corridor.
“Shit,” Pete muttered. The man was also staring at his phone, but when I walked by, both men glanced at me. What in the hell were they getting all sheepish about?
When I noticed the coach’s face, I had a very bad feeling. In his hand was his iPad.
“What’s going on, Coach?”
“You haven’t been online today, son. Have you?”
“Nah. Getting ready for the game. Why?”
He sucked in his breath and scrubbed his jaw. “Something going on with you and Ms. Weathers?”
“Why?”
“I thought you two were really hitting it off. I mean I know she was hired to do a job, but it seemed like the two of you developed a relationship.”
“Yeah, we have. Why are you asking?”
“I wouldn’t get into your personal business, but I don’t want you blindsided. Not right now. I need your full concentration on the game.”
“What’s going on?”
He hesitated again, shaking his head before lifting his iPad.
I shifted from foot to foot nervously until he handed me the computer.
“Since that’s on every social media site and my guess is you’ll be asked by reporters about it too.”
As I stared down at the picture on Instagram, every inch of skin crackled from intense electricity.
The last two months had been a lie.
One fake engagement.
I handed him the iPad, smirking as I did. “So what? Now, let’s win a championship.”
Lily
Why did the world hate me?
Maybe not the entire world, but a good portion of it.
I’d picked a fight with Saint on purpose.
I was late to perhaps the biggest game of his career.
I’d been threatened by a twisted asshole who thought I’d fall at his feet.
And I was itching like crazy. Still. Half my body was covered in hives.
“You’re sure everything is under control, Dad?” Hearing the same squeak in my voice irritated me. I wasn’t prone to surrendering to any crisis. Maybe I was a wallflower or had been, but I’d always been strong.
That’s what I was determined to continue today and every day.
Right now? I wanted to drive a stake through Damien’s cold, dead heart. I’d never felt such rage in my entire life.
My father took my hand, a gleam in his eye. “Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do. And just maybe, my beautiful daughter, I’d kept you in the dark about my connection with various packs over the years.”
“What are you telling me?”
“That there is strength in numbers.”
“Dad. I’m late for the game. I don’t have time for rhetorical games.”
He laughed. “I’m not being rhetorical. What I’m trying to tell you is that there are hundreds, thousands of packs across the world. We band together when necessary. We keep track of each other. Call it a wolf form of insurance. Bottom line. As of the end of today, Damien will no longer have a job.”
“And why is that?”
“Because three members of the board of directors of his prestigious law firm are wolves. Different pack. Doesn’t matter. Not everyone at the firm is involved in working with corrupt clients.”
“You’re certain?” A hint of excitement roared through me.
“I’m certain. I’ll tell you more about wolf politics when we both find the time. Just know we have your back.”
We. The word sounded entirely different when related to any concept of wolves.
A visual of the video Damien had been so happy to highlight remained in my mind.
Did the depiction of Saint’s shift terrify me?
Not nearly as much as the thought of Saint being ruined because of who and what he was. Something he had no control over.
I’d picked a fight on purpose just so I could ensure I’d save his career. I couldn’t care less about mine.
“You love him,” my father continued.
I glanced out the window at my mother’s beautiful garden, the terraces created with love by both my mother and father because they adored each other. Because they were friends and lovers, husband and wife.
And mates.
“Yes, I do, and it has nothing do with wolf lure or mating or anything else. I love him because he’s annoying and funny, adorable when disagreeing with me. He’s a good guy, even if he needs to be tamed.”
“As your mother would tell you, all men need a controlling woman in their lives. Now, go. The game has already started.”
I glanced at my watch, cringing from seeing the time. “Thanks, Dad. I’m glad to have you on my side.”
“Always. Incidentally, the owner of the Wild Dogs approached me about hiring you outright for a permanent position. What do you think?”
As I stood, I grinned and kissed his cheek. “Let’s see what happens at the game. Go Wild Dogs.”
“Just one more thing. You need to mate with Saint.”
“Really, Dad. Now?”
He nodded toward my arm where I’d scratched until there were strings of blood trickling. “Once he ruts you, the hives will disappear.”
“Ew. Dad! I don’t want to hear this right now.” To make a point, I covered my ears and headed for the door to his office. I’d searched the internet for a definition of the term.
What I’d read should have been disturbing.
But no.
Just thinking about the carnal act forced my pussy to throb from crazed anticipation.
Not now. Not… now.
I still was unsure of the plan my father had in mind, but it had been obvious by the numbers of papers he’d had strewn across his desk he’d been busy since I’d gone to him for help.