Chapter Forty
Fiona
Holding Hale’s and Saoirse’s hands, I followed his sisters to a side entrance in the arena. His sisters were all really nice. I hadn't realized two of his sisters were alphas. Grace was tiny, but she didn’t smell entirely like an omega.
But then Hale had mentioned she was a gamma. They usually fell under omega rules. The gamma I knew in the Order could shoot the wings off a fly with a revolver.
While we walked, I updated Hale on everything that had been done before I’d left.
A really handsome guy with greying hair, wearing an expensive suit, waited for us.
Grace beamed and ran to him. I also knew who he was. Spencer Thanukos. Billionaire. He’d been at a charity event that my dads made me go to recently, and they’d made a big deal about it. Now that I thought about it, I think Grace was with him.
“This is Spencer,” Grace introduced. “Spence, this is Fiona, Hale’s omega, and her mate Saoirse.”
“Nice to meet you. I think I saw you at the Boston Children’s Hospital gala. I’m Fiona Gallagher. My dads probably tried to talk to you,” I replied. “Next time, I can talk to Grace, instead of eating cake in a corner, so I don’t have to talk to alphaholes.”
Grace laughed. “That sounds like a good plan.”
“Are you Finn Gallagher’s daughter? I only ask because he asked me if I had a brother to set you up with.” Spencer’s smile was kind.
“Of course he did. And yes.”
Verity paused. “We were at that, too. Dean’s parents are huge supporters. His mom is on a committee. Gloria Donovan.”
“Oh. Wait, I know her. She plans the sweet parties at the Omega Center with all the cookies. She’s a teacher, I think?” Oh. The Donovans were just as important as the Gallaghers. They owned a lot of the harbor or docks, or something. Hale did say some of his sister’s mates were from Boston.
Early in our relationship, Carlos had even gotten date ideas from his teammates that were from Boston.
“Yes. She’s so lovely,” Verity replied.
“We’ll see you inside.” Grace waved and took Spencer’s arm, then went in another direction, Mercy going with them.
“This line is better, because you can bring in a real purse, not an arena purse,” Verity laughed as she put her designer mini backpack on the table for them to search.
“So, we’ll go to the family room, have some food, and grab some drinks.
You’ve never seen warm-ups, have you? We’ll make sure we’re there for that.
We can go back during intermission and get more food and drinks, since it’s free. ”
“A lot of the mates, packmates, spouses and kids will be there. It can be a little loud,” AJ added. “Also, after the game, we usually go back down there, and the players come out after they change and collect us. A lot of players go to Tito’s after.”
“We went to Tito’s yesterday and met Clark, Dimitri, and Anders,” Hale replied.
“We do have dinner with Dusty’s mothers tonight before the party,” Saoirse mentioned. “Has anyone met them? Six mothers is a lot.”
Verity shook her head. “I only know of him. Something about him causing chaos at one of Dimitri’s parties.”
“Fair.” Saoirse nodded.
I squeezed her hand. “They will love you. Are you going to the party?”
Verity nodded. “We’ll go for a while, though we have AJ’s firm’s party first.” Her gaze flickered to Hale. “Mercy is going with some of her teammates. I don’t like it, but she is eighteen, and she’ll be with a group. I’m not asking you to watch her, but if you see anything…”
“I will,” Hale agreed.
“She’ll be fine. Honestly, while his parties can be wild, they’re nothing compared to what I got up to in my pro hockey days.” AJ laughed.
“I know.” Verity nodded. “It’s just hard watching her become an adult, because she’s so good at it.”
Hale laughed. “It’s all you, Ver. She’s good at being an adult because of you.”
We followed her to a room guarded by someone in a Knights’ polo shirt.
“They’re Carlos’ soon-to-be pack,” Verity said casually as we showed our badges.
“Oh, I heard all about that from Kylee.” She grinned. “Welcome to the Knights.”
We went into a nice-sized room. There were all kinds of cubbies on one wall, along with strollers, diaper bags, and coats. A buffet full of food, a bar, and some coolers were along another. There were couches, tables, and a TV showing the ice.
Most everyone was very well dressed and perfectly accessorized. I never had time for that manicure. Next time I should wear booties, not sneakers. Maybe a dress.
Some people were already eating. Children played with tiny hockey sticks. Another woman held a baby, while trying to eat. There were a lot of omegas and betas, but there were a couple of alphas, too.
My hand went to my heart. This was my future.
And it was glorious.
“Are you Carlos’ pack?” a well-dressed omega guy asked. “I’m Atticus, I’m mated to Nia, one of the co-captains.”
“Yes, this is my brother, Hale, his omega Fiona, and her mate Saoirse. They belong to Carlos,” Verity introduced.
Atticus introduced us to a lot of people, and I made note of who I might want to talk to later. We grabbed some food and sat with the woman balancing the baby, and a couple of others.
Saoirse immediately made friends with an alpha woman with green hair.
“Anyone heading to warm ups?” Atticus held the hands of small twins in tiny jerseys.
Oh, my ovaries.
“We can get more later,” Verity said, as she cleared her plate. She grabbed a glass of wine and stuffed some chips in her purse.
I did the same.
We followed Atticus and the twins, another woman and her kids following, same with the woman and her baby.
The green-haired alpha came, too, continuing to talk to Saoirse.
Showing our badges, we went down to a standing area separated by glass from the ice.
There was also a little door leading to the ice.
The arena was huge, and there were a lot of people in their seats. People pressed up against the glass in other parts of the arena. Many with signs. Some wore sparkly paper hats.
We watched the players come onto the ice. One color went to one side, another color went on the other. Pucks were thrown into the center.
I took a picture and dropped it in the group chat, since Timmy was a hockey snob.
Me
Feeding time at the ice aquarium.
Timotheé
Bring me one?
“Why is that guy doing sexy stretches dressed differently?” I asked Verity. The guys hadn’t really explained much of the game last night, but their running commentary was funny.
“The ones in the big pads are the goalies. My mate, Dean, is the goalie doing sexy stretches. JP, the other goalie, is by the net,” Verity explained.
“JP. His was the wedding Carlos was attending when I met him.” Everything came together.
Verity’s eyebrows rose. “You met him at the wedding? I was there.”
“Yes, I recognize some of you. I was there for the other wedding.” I nodded, looking for Carlos. He was trying to shove a puck down someone’s pants.
A big guy skated over to Dean and smacked him on the ass with his stick. Children. They were all children. I loved it.
Carlos skated by and put his hand on the glass. “You came.”
“Did I understand the assignment?” I laughed, showing him my jersey.
“You did. Hale did not.” He laughed.
Hale frowned. “I came straight here from Verity’s. She made me do homework.”
Carlos grinned. “It’s fine. I’ll fix it.” Putting his stick down, he took off his jersey and threw it over the glass.
I took a video because it was funny. That I sent to Timmy directly. People were snapping pictures.
“Put it on like a good mate,” Verity teased as Carlos, now just in pads and an undershirt, stood there expectantly.
“Good thing is that it probably doesn’t smell yet,” AJ murmured.
“They get rank,” Verity agreed. “No blood, either.”
Blood?
Hale put the black and silver jersey over his shirt and posed. “Dear mate, am I acceptable now?”
Carlos smirked. “You look so fucking sexy wearing my number. Both of you look so hot that I want to…” His tongue traced over his lips.
“There are kids here, Carlos.” Atticus gave him a sharp look.
“What? I didn’t say anything.” He grinned. Grabbing his stick, he blew us kisses and skated off.
“Sorry.” Verity laughed. “I should have found a hoodie for you or something.”
“Do I look like I’m fucking a hockey player now?” Hale did a little spin. “I have a jersey. I have to tell my brother Creed.” Hale grabbed me and we took a selfie.
“You look adorable.” Pulling him down, I kissed him. It was a little short on him, but he looked great.
Saoirse just shook her head, chuckling.
The music changed and someone else skated out, shirtless and helmetless, holding black and silver pom-poms.
Dusty.
Someone in a costume also came out. The mascot perhaps?
People started cheering. Dusty and the mascot started dancing.
“Who is that with Nat-the-Knight?” Atticus asked.
“That’s my mate. He’s singing the national anthem,” Saoirse replied, taking a photo. “If he sings to me, he’s a dead man.”
“Did you tell him that? Because I feel like you need to be very specific with him,” I replied.
“Oh, I did.” She nodded.
AJ studied him. “I think I know him?”
“He’s a musician. Mercy follows him.” Hale shrugged, waving.
“No. I think I’ve seen him at the ice rink.” AJ frowned.
“He plays for the Brooklyn Box Munchers–the team playing in the charity game tomorrow,” Saoirse supplied.
“Of course he does.” AJ laughed. “They play my company’s team sometimes. They’re funny. And he’s always shirtless. It’s entertaining.”
The players gradually started leaving the ice. Some of them stopped to talk to their fans. Others traded pucks for things. I saw one player, whose jersey said Edwards trading a puck for candy. Someone else got a loaf of bread.
Carlos and Dusty grabbed some pucks and started trading with a bunch of kids. They came back over to us and opened a glory hole in the glass I hadn't seen before. What was that even for?
“Mi Cielo.” Dusty tried to shove his face in there.
Saoirse rolled her eyes. “Hi, Dusty.”
“This is for you.” He shoved a dark chocolate hazelnut candy bar through the hole.
“You remembered.” Her voice was soft.