Page 44 of Knot Dead Yet

The teams were on the ice and skating around as they warmed up. Maddox passed by me first. No wave or smile, but just his intense stare that could claim me alone. Kane and Casimir were next and flashed me quick smiles. Tiergan waved from the net and Alderic did a bit of fancy skating before winking at me.

Ewan zipped by and flipped me the finger. Or, at least that’s what I thought it was with his hockey gloves on. His glare definitely said fuck off.

Another day, another mood, I would have yelled it right back at him. But not now. Why was I at the game? Since when did I listen to anyone when they told me to do something I didn’t want to do?

The longer I stayed with the pack, the more attached they would get to me. The more of a chance I had of murdering their careers and causing them to hate me forever. Sure, I was a troublemaker, but the trouble I caused was for myself, not others.

Once they were in the middle of the game, I could leave. No matter that Tiergan said he would jump the boards, none of them would abandon their team. Not in this immensely important game.

A queasy hot rock twisted in my belly at the thought. It didn’t matter what I felt, and dammit, I didn’t want to examine how I felt about Casimir and the pack. There was already far too much going on in my heart than I ever wanted to allow.

I pushed myself to stay halfway through the first period. The crowd was roaring and the teams were playing an incredible game. Tiergan blocked several good shots, and Casimir stood with Maddox and made one of the Flurry’s Alphas back down when he tried to bait Maddox into a fight. My guys were a dreamteam. Any NHL team that recruited the pack would be lucky to have them.

Taking my chance when a group of people passed in front of me, I followed them out into the concessions area. I texted for a rideshare, but it would be at least an hour’s wait. It was maybe a mile to the Fort Garry Hotel. A walk would do me good.

As soon as I left the arena, the pull to go back in yanked me and made me stumble. My heat had been a constant throb, but it suddenly ramped up as if knowing any chance of getting help was left behind me. No way was I going to let it defeat me. There was suffering ahead, but I would survive it. I had to if I ever wanted to go to Ireland one day.

I followed the main street leaving the bigger crowds behind me. It was colder tonight than it had been, and I could see my breath. It made me feel like a train chugging along the tracks.

Three or four blocks away, a sharp pain had me throwing myself off the sidewalk and leaning against a brick wall. Fuck, it wasn’t this cruel before.

“One mile. All you need to do is walk one mile,” I muttered, trying to pump myself up.

I breathed through the pain and focused on walking. If I cut through some of the side streets, I could make it faster than following this road to Main Street. I hurried by a donut shop and peered around the corner down the road beside it. It went south toward the river. I could almost see the top of the Fort Garry as it was one of the tallest buildings in the city.

Pushing myself in that direction, my muscles began to clench up. The street was lit, but there were more shadows. Several alleyways were squeezed ominously between the buildings.

The first one I came to, my feet froze and refused to move. My heart hammered so hard it vibrated my eyeballs. Eventhough it was cold, a clammy sweat covered me as my throat tightened.

That creepy calm voice was still clear in my head. “It’s okay, sweet girl.”

No, no, no.

The bastard wasn’t here. There were people walking along the sidewalks. Everything was fine.

The way he’d said sweet girl made me want to throw up.

I curled up on myself, inside and out, crouching on the sidewalk. The yowling pain of my heat and the terror of that attack, I couldn’t move anymore.

There was no choice. I had to force myself to get through this.I was stronger than the pain, stronger than my fear. Nothing held me back. I refused to let it.

But I still couldn’t move.

When a trio of senior ladies stopped to ask if I was okay, I burst into tears.

CHAPTER NINETEEN – Kane

I left the game. I didn’t fake an injury or say there was a family emergency. I just left.

Everything had been about hockey until Kienna crashed into my life. Now I could think of nothing else. She was in all my waking thoughts, my vivid dreams, and every moment in between.

I grabbed the keys to the SUV and drove it six blocks to pick her up. A group of white haired women fussed over Kienna as they helped her into the vehicle and gave me trouble for letting my Omega out of my sight. Then they detailed explicit suggestions of how to help her.

My fear for Kienna spurred me on blended with my fury that she had left the game. Alone. I didn’t dare speak a word lest I yell, saying something I’d regret, or coddle her like a fragile kitten.

She laid curled up on the floor of the SUV behind my seat. Every whimper tore at my soul. There was only one way to fight the thing that was hurting her, to battle her heat, and she could not deny it was needed. I refused to let her suffer any longer.

I pulled into the driveway of the pack house and carried her inside up the stairs to my room.

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