Page 55 of Knot Dead Yet

Casimir and Kane then both stepped toward me at the same time. They stopped and glared at one another. They didn’t move or even blink, but the battle for dominance was vicious. It was like two gladiators fighting it out in the Colosseum. I hated that it kind of turned me on.

“Stop it.” I snapped their attention back to me. “You’re both equally as annoying big possessive Alphas, and you’re also teammates. So start acting like it.”

They didn’t say anything for a moment, but then somehow the tension broke and Casimir slowly smirked. “I think we’re doing a fine job of acting like annoying big possessive Alphas.”

“A top tier job,” Kane agreed.

I groaned and rolled my eyes. “Go back to your game and take out your aggression on Chicago, not each other.”

“Stay here.” Kane bent forward and kissed me with his command. My legs felt a bit like jelly, and all my Omeganess was eager to do as he ordered.

Casimir waited and hugged me once Kane moved to the door, but the captain didn’t leave me alone with Casimir. “Do you truly think my parents are nice?”

“Yes. Your mom especially said some very sweet things.” Rainbow in the storm. Damn, I loved that so much.

“And you’re not angry that I said something to them?”

I poked him but gave him a kiss anyway. “I didn’t say that. But that’s something we can discuss later. Just know that I’m not a fan of the elitist bullshit that many Omegas from rich families have to go through. This is my life and I get to choose how I live it.”

Casimir smiled broadly at that, blue eyes shining with pride. “My slayer.”

His vampire charm was starting to make me melt. I kissed him once more and pushed him to the door. “Go. Play. Win.”

Kane let Casimir walk by into the locker room and turned his sexy gray gaze back to me. No matter him letting Casimir on equal grounds with me, he was still in charge. And fuck, I knew how absolutely hot it was to have him in charge.

My hand fluttered up to my neck and touched the spot where his bite was. Kane smiled at that and disappeared into the locker room, shutting the door behind him.

I leaned against the wall and exhaled, trying to push the mountain of emotion off of me. It was quiet even next to a full locker room. This would give me time to sort through my thoughts and emotions while being absolutely safe. This was good.

Positioning my chair so I could sit in it and prop my feet up against the opposite wall, I settled down. “Yeah, this is good. Maybe this will all work out.”

The door suddenly opened and had me nearly fall off my chair. Ewan flowed forward and shut the door silently as heglared at me with hard eyes. As I stood, he shoved me hard enough that I stumbled and fell on my butt.

“Take your fucking Omega whore ass out of town and away from my pack.”

I was fast on my feet with fury. Assholes like this didn’t scare me. “Fuck you.”

“No, fuck you.” Ewan spat and lunged at me like he was going to hit me. I raised my chin and held my ground. “You took my pack away from me. All they talk about, all they think about isyou. Kane left the game last night and we lost because ofyou. We have this one shot to win this series, to make a name for ourselves and go where we want in the NHL, and you being here is going to screw us over. Not just the Alphas, but all of us. Everyone on the team.”

My mouth went dry and my anger faded. This was one of the things I’d feared all alone. I didn’t want to break apart the pack or have them fuck up their careers because of me. My presence was stirring shit up, but tonight I thought they were amped up because I was here. Was I wrong?

“We were strong before you showed up. No one could defeat us. Our pack came first before everything. You ruined it all.” Ewan pointed at me with his accusation. My rage flared again and I slapped his hand. With lightning fast reflexes, he caught my wrist and back-handed me across the face. Blood from my split lip trickled into my mouth.

The world spun. He’d hit me. I couldn’t believe it.

“Don’t come near my pack again.” He growled and stalked back to the door. “And do the team a favor and leave. Don’t come back. If you don’t and we lose, it won’t just be me beating you in a back hallway.”

Ewan exited through the door and left me momentarily shocked. My whole body was numb except the throbbing spot on my cheek where his hand had connected.

Someone just hit me and threatened me.

Whatever force was holding me in that suspended state left and I crumbled to my knees. My stomach roiled and I gagged, nearly throwing up. Tears spilled from my eyes and I gasped for air as I let out a jagged wail.

The team had lost last night because Kane left and came for me. The pack dynamics were in chaos because of me. I’d seen how well they worked together, and that included out there on the ice with Casimir. With me here, everything was a mess.

I couldn’t guarantee my presence wouldn’t make it happen again. This championship series wasn’t only important to the pack but to the whole team, their coaches, their fans, and fuck, my dad. If something I did screwed that up, I’d be at the top of everyone in Winnipeg’s hit list.

Ewan was a bastard, but dammit, he was right. I’d known it all along, but I had started to kid myself that things might be okay.

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