Page 25 of Knot Only His

“Oliver.” Coach’s voice follows me. “Get it together. Whatever this is—“

I spin around. “Whatever this is? You know exactly what this is. You felt it too that night. Our omega was right there and ready, and you walked away.”

His gray eyes flash. “We’re not having this conversation again.”

“Of course not. Because Coach Parker never loses control, right? He’ll also never admit when he’s wrong.”

The locker room door slams behind me, cutting off his response.

I need her. My alpha is clawing at me, desperate to claim what’s ours. And I’m tired of fighting it. I need to skate.

I grab my stick, open the door and push past him, rush down the tunnel and step onto the ice.

Flicking a puck to the end of my stick, I rush to the goal and launch it into the back of the net.

“Better!” Coach barks. As the rest of the team skate on the ice.

Two more rounds and I’m drenched in sweat.

My teammates file off the ice for the final time today, but I linger, taking shots at the empty net. Each slap of the puck helps dull the ache in my chest.

“You’re going to wear a hole in my ice.” Coach Parker skates over, his expression unreadable.

“Sorry, Coach. Just trying to—“

He taps his stick against the ice. “Want to tell me why you’re so angry?”

“She’s...” The words catch in my throat. How do I explain that the woman I know is my mate is now living in the same city, and probably still believing she’s an alpha because of her jackass ex-boyfriend? “I know you never believed me before, but she’s our pack omega. You’ve smelled her scent now. You’ve seen her. You must know it too.”

“What makes you think she’ll suit all of us?”

By all of us, Coach is talking about himself, our team physio, Asher, and me - our pack.

“I just know. But if she’s gone back to Colton…” I sigh. “We were so close to finding her. We should have hunted her that night.”

“If she goes back to Colton, you have to forget about her.”

“How can I? This is the closest we’ve ever gotten to finding an omega, and it’s her. She’s the one.”

“It might have been another omega’s scent on me?”

“No. It’s her.” My stick nearly slips from my grip. “Why did you—"

“What?”

“Let her go.” I haven’t stopped thinking about his reasons since that night. And he refuses to talk about it.

“Why did you let her go when you were in New York?” he counters.

I glare at him, shaking my head. “I never had a hold of her in New York. She was in a relationship and I was confused about what I was thinking.”

“Because she’s an alpha.”

“Jeez. Coach. You caught her smell. You know she’s not an alpha.”

I don’t know…“ He pauses and digs his blade into the ice. “Alphas have scents, too. Maybe—"

“No.” I shake my head. “Her scent is different. Don’t tell me your alpha didn’t come alive when she was next to you.”

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