Chapter 8 Luca
LUCA
My skates carved sharp crescents into the pristine surface, each push echoing through the cavernous space.
The puck slammed against the boards with a hollow crack that reverberated up to the rafters where the championship banners hung motionless in the cold air.
No coaches barking orders. No teammates' laughter.
Just me, the ice, and the rhythm of my own ragged breathing.
I'd been here for two hours. Shooting. Skating. Trying to work off the restless energy that had been eating at me since I left Reina's apartment three days ago.
Three days of silence.
Three days of waiting.
Three days of wondering if she was going to choose this or walk away.
I took another shot. The puck slammed into the top corner of the net with a satisfying thwack.
"Nice shot."
I spun around. Jaxon stood at the edge of the rink, still in street clothes. Jeans, leather jacket, motorcycle helmet under his arm.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"Same thing you are. Can't sleep. Can't focus. Figured I'd find you here."
"How'd you know where I'd be?"
"Because I know you, Vale. When you're stressed, you skate." He set his helmet down on the bench, started unlacing his boots. "Mind if I join you?"
I should’ve told him no. Should’ve told him this was Frost Kings ice, not his.
But I didn't.
"Skates are in the equipment room. Help yourself."
Ten minutes later we were both on the ice. Passing the puck back and forth in silence. The rhythmic slap of stick on puck, the scrape of blades on ice. It so fucking familiar and comfortable.
"You think she's going to say yes?" Jaxon asked finally.
"I don't know."
"You read her better than I do. What's your gut say?"
I caught his pass, sent it back. "My gut says she wants to. But she's scared."
"Of us?" He quirked a brow.
"Of herself. Of what she thinks she is."
Jaxon stopped skating, leaned on his stick. "Her mom really did a number on her."
I nodded in agreement. "Yeah."
"Makes me want to track the woman down and have a conversation."
That got a chuckle out of me. "Get in line."
He laughed too, but there was no humor in it. "Think we can actually do this? Make a trinity bond work?"
I sighed. "Honestly?"
"Yeah."
I skated over to him, stopped a few feet away. "I don't know. Every instinct I have says it's impossible. That two Alphas can't share an Omega without eventually killing each other."
"But?"
A naked Reina under me, flashed in my head like a flash of lightning. "But the idea of losing her again is worse than the idea of trying and failing."
Jaxon nodded slowly. "Same."
We stood there for a moment, just looking at each other. Twelve years of rivalry. Twelve years of barely speaking. Twelve years of pretending we didn't both want the same girl.
"We're going to fight," Jaxon said. "You know that, right? The territorial stuff, the jealousy. It's going to come up."
"I know."
"And we still have to be rivals on the ice. Captains of opposing teams."
"I know that too."
He shrugged. "So how do we do this?"
I thought about it. Really thought about it.
"Rules," I said finally. "We need rules. Boundaries. Clear communication."
"Like what?"
"Like we're honest with each other. About what we're feeling. About when the jealousy gets too much. About when we need space."
"Okay. What else?"
"We keep it private. As long as we can. The teams, the league, they don't need to know."
Jaxon's jaw tightened. "I'm not going to hide her."
"I'm not asking you to hide her. I'm asking you to be smart about how we handle this publicly. For her sake as much as ours."
He considered that. "Fine. Private. For now. But if it comes out, we don't deny it. We don't make her feel like she's something to be ashamed of."
I nodded at his words. "Agreed."
Jaxon looked around throwing up his hands and stick."And on the ice?"
"On the ice, we're still rivals. Still captains. Still competing,” I offered.
"You think we can separate that? Business and personal?"
"We have to. Our careers depend on it. Her career depends on it."
Jaxon skated a slow circle, thinking. "What about when she's at games? Photographing? Whose jersey does she wear?"
The question hit a possessive nerve I didn't want to acknowledge.
"We figure that out when we get there," I said carefully.
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only answer I have right now."
He studied my face. "This is going to be harder than you think."
"Probably."
"You ready for that?"
Was I? Ready to share Reina with my biggest rival? Ready to watch her with Jaxon and not let the jealousy consume me? Ready to be vulnerable in a way I'd never been before?
"No," I admitted. "But I'm going to do it anyway."
Jaxon grinned. "There's the Ice King I know. All control and determination."
"Someone has to be the rational one."
He grinned a shit eating grin. "And I get to be the reckless one?"
"You've always been the reckless one, Roarke."
He laughed again, and this time it was genuine. "Fair."
We went back to passing the puck. The silence was easier now. Less loaded.
"You ever think about it?" Jaxon asked after a while. "That night after the draft?"
I nearly missed the pass. "What?"
"You know what I'm talking about. We were drunk. Grieving losing her. And we..."
"We made a mistake."
"Did we?"
I looked at him sharply. "What are you trying to say?"
"I'm saying maybe it wasn't a mistake. Maybe it was just... complicated."
"Jax."
"I'm not saying I'm into guys, Vale. I'm saying that if we're going to bond with Reina, if we're going to be a trinity, then we need to acknowledge that there's going to be a connection between us too. Through her."
The words hung in the air.
He was right. Trinity bonds didn't just connect two Alphas to an Omega. They connected all three. Created a link between the Alphas that was almost as strong as their individual bonds to the Omega.
"I can't think about that right now," I said.
"Why not?"
"Because I'm barely holding it together as it is. The idea of sharing Reina is already pushing every boundary I have. Adding in... whatever that would be..."
"Okay." Jaxon held up his hands. "Okay. We'll table it. For now."
"Thank you."
We skated in silence for another few minutes.
Then my phone buzzed in my jacket pocket on the bench.
I skated over, grabbed it.
A text from Reina.
My heart stopped.
Can you both come over? I've made my decision.
I showed the screen to Jaxon. His expression went carefully neutral.
"Well," he said. "I guess this is it."
"Yeah."
"You scared?"
"Terrified."
"Me too."
We got off the ice, changed quickly. I tried not to think about all the ways this could go wrong. Tried not to imagine the look on her face when she told us she couldn't do this.
Jaxon and I drove separately to Reina's apartment. Met in the parking lot.
"Ready?" he asked.
"No. You?"
"Not even a little."
We walked up to her door together. Jaxon knocked.
She opened it immediately. Like she'd been waiting.
She looked different. It took me a moment to figure out why.
No suppressant patch on her hip trying to disguise her scent. I could see the spot where it should have been through her thin t-shirt.
And her scent.
Oh God, her scent.
Lilies and cinnamon and something that was pure Reina. Not hidden anymore. Not suppressed.
Full strength.
My Alpha instincts roared to life. Every cell in my body screamed at me to grab her, claim her, mark her as mine.
I forced myself to stay still. To breathe through it.
Jaxon was having the same reaction. I could see it in the tension of his shoulders, the way his hands clenched into fists.
"Come in," Reina said, her voice steadier than I expected.
We followed her inside. She closed the door, turned to face us.
"I went off my suppressants," she said unnecessarily.
"We can tell," Jaxon managed.
"How long?" I asked.
"Three days. Since you left."
Three days without suppressants after twelve years of maximum dose. That was dangerous. Reckless.
Brave.
"Your scent," Jaxon said, his voice rough. "It's..."
"I know. It's strong."
"It's perfect," I corrected.
She smiled, small and uncertain. "I've been thinking about what you both said. About fear. About power. About choosing what I want instead of what I'm afraid of."
"And?" Jaxon stepped closer.
"And I choose this. I choose you. Both of you." She looked between us. "If you still want me."
"If we still want you?" I crossed to her, cupped her face. "Reina, I've wanted you since we were kids. Nothing has changed that. Nothing could change that."
"Same," Jaxon said, moving to stand beside me. "You're it for me, Pretty Girl. Always have been."
Tears welled in her eyes. "This is going to be hard."
"We know."
"We're going to have to figure out so much. The logistics, the secrecy, how to handle the teams and the media and everything."
"We will."
"And my heat..." She swallowed hard. "Without suppressants, it's going to come soon. Maybe days. Maybe less."
Jaxon and I exchanged a look.
"We'll handle it," I said. "Together."
"All three of us," Jaxon added.
She nodded, tears spilling over. "Okay. Okay, let's do this."
I kissed her then. I simply couldn’t help myself. Twelve years of waiting was poured into that single action.
When I pulled back, Jaxon was there. He kissed her too, just as desperate, just as claiming.
And I stood there watching them and waited for the jealousy to hit.
It didn't.
Instead, all I felt was rightness.
This was how it was supposed to be.
All three of us.
Together.
Finally.