Page 26 of Knot Only His

Coach studies me for a long moment. “Look, your persistence has paid off. I made some calls.”

“Calls?” I lean against my stick, studying Parker’s face.

“She hasn’t gone back to New York. She’s here—“ He stares at me and takes a deep breath. “And she works with our team management. Has for two weeks now. As an administrator.”

“What?” The news hits me like a cross-check. “When did you find out?”

“Yesterday.”

“Yesterday,” I repeat, and smile because he must be thinking about her. “But as an administrator. She was climbing the ranks as a sports agent in New York. Why the hell is she working as an admin assistant?”

Parker shrugs, skating a lazy circle. “From what I heard, her old boss was using her for her connections to the Bears. Keeping her down despite her talent.”

“She’s still here,” I muse, chewing my lip as a smile curves upward. “She’s still here to get away from Colton, or because she smells our scents?”

Coach pulls out his phone and shows me a news article.

Has the bear been tamed by an omega?

I haven’t read the rest of the article, but look at the photo of Colton with his arm around a small woman, whispering in her ear as his team mate Jenson looks on.

I stare at the photo of Colton, my grip tightening on my stick. “He has an omega?”

“No. The article is from just over two weeks ago.”

The reason she ran away. My chest aches, knowing how this must be killing Harlow.

“Coach.” I scrape my blade across the ice. “We need her. The pack needs an omega, and she’s ours—"

“How can you be so sure?” Parker’s steely gray eyes lock onto mine. “How do you know she belongs to all of us—to me and Asher, too?”

“Because I felt it in New York. The way my alpha responded...” I take a deep breath. “And you felt it too when you caught her scent. Don’t deny it.”

“Even if that’s true, she thinks she’s an alpha. How do we make her see—"

“We show her. Help her understand why she’s never felt right as an alpha.”

Parker swipes his phone screen, showing me another photo. My breath catches. It’s Harlow leaving that party with Carver Sinclair, his arm wrapped around her protectively.

“Look at how she’s leaning into him,” Parker points out. “That’s not alpha body language.”

But I’m focused on something else. Sinclair’s face. I tap the screen. “I’ve played against him enough to know his ice-man reputation is earned. He never shows emotion on the ice, but here...”

Parker leans in closer. “The possessive stance?”

“Yeah.” The word comes out as a growl.

“Sinclair knows what she is.” Coach muses. “He’s protecting her like an alpha protects their omega.” He got to her first. The realization hits me like a body check. “If Carver Sinclair knows she’s an omega, why didn’t he claim her? Why is she here in LA instead of with him in New York?”

“Something happened between them,” I say, studying the photo closer. I smile, tapping the article on his phone. “You seem awfully interested in her, Coach.” I can’t help the edge that creeps into my voice.

Parker’s lips quirk up. “She...intrigues me.”

“Since that night?”

The arena door squeaks open before he has the chance to answer. Asher walks in balancing three coffee cups.

His presence normally brings a sense of calm to our pack, but today there’s tension in his shoulders.

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