Page 73 of Patiently Yours
In a way, I’m okay with taking on these worries. Atlas is taking care of Stacia, putting his focus towards her as she regulates from becoming almost feral over the exchange. That’s the prime’s prerogative, and I have no doubt he’s doing a wonderful job at being there for her. I can take this on with my head held high because I know my prime was just following his instincts tonight. His alpha indicated Derek was a threat, and his actions reflected that.
Atlas and his alpha aren’t prone to losing control. I’ve never seen him lose his cool like he did tonight, not once in our past two years of being pack mates. That feels significant to me, and my alpha…
It makes him feel proud.
A few moments later, the team starts to pile into the locker room. A few guys look at me with sympathetic eyes. A few avoid eye contact altogether. Then Dax and Everett encompass me, sitting on each side as they pant and wipe their foreheads.
“That ending was brutal,” Everett confirms my suspicions. “They definitely took advantage of what happened. I’ve never had to stop so many pucks in my entire life.”
“You?I’venever had tostopso many in my entire life. And I stopped them so you wouldn’t have to.” Dax starts to undress, looking especially ready to get the fuck out of here. He turns to me. “Is At okay?”
I shrug. “He left with Stacia, went to find Ci.” They both nod in understanding. “Where’s Kirkpatrick?”
“He got sent home.” I whip my head upwards. Kendall makes his way in front of me, also covered in sweat. “Coach told him to meet him in his office first thing Monday morning. He didn’t want you two in the same room.”
“Probably for the best,” Dax adds. “You look like you could still pound him.”
I look to the ground. He’s right, I totally could. His words are replaying over and over in my head, like an incantation of fury. The first words he uttered to me, baited me with, are trying to take up residence in my mind. Continuously on a loop.
The crudeness makes my fists clench, my teeth gritting once again.
“He said some fucked up shit,” I tell them, but refuse to repeat the words. “I’m surprised I didn’t hit him, to be honest.”
Thatcher marches up to his locker and grunts as he takes his helmet off. His minty scent is soured in pain.
Dax gasps. “Holy shit, Thatch, your eye.”
He turns toward us and my stomach curdles. His eye is swollen, blood seeping out of it from the side. His expression doesn’t give away how much pain he’s in.
“Fucker elbowed me when I tried to pull him away from Atlas.” He starts to pull off his pads.
“Has anyone looked at it?” Kendall asks.
Thatcher shakes his head. “I knew at least three of us would be out. Couldn’t risk getting benched, too. I’ll have McConnell look at it later.”
“Wolfe.” A bark flies towards me, and I stand up quickly, my gaze meeting Coach as he enters the room full of ire. “And Ellwick. My office,now.”
Everett sucks in some air. “Good luck, guys.”
Kendall doesn’t even have time to take his pads off. We head over, the door shutting roughly behind us. Coach Zane stands behind his desk, his arms crossed. There’s a strange tension in the air, one that neither Kendall nor I are ever used to, as we continue to stand awkwardly in front of the desk. He points his finger down, forcing us to sit, our nerves at an all-time high.
“I’m guessing Atlas left,” he states rhetorically, nodding his head at the realization. “He wanted to tend to your omega?”
I give him an affirmative nod, but don’t speak.
There’s a few moments of awkward silence before Kendall sits taller in his chair. “Coach. We’re really sorry for the way this disrupted the match. I know it doesn’t make it any better, but we are sorry.”
Of course. Leave it to Kendall, who didn’t even do anything, to be the first to apologize. It makes me feel even worse.
“There was a scout here tonight.” He hums. “A really important one. Here to specifically see Atlas play his best.”
Despite it seeming impossibly, my stomach drops lower.
“Luckily, he is a good friend of mine, and is waiting for me so we can discuss what happened privately. But you’re going to have to give me something. It’s not common for teammates on the same team to interact the way you three did, and it’s even more uncommon for a captain, aprimeno less, to beat up his own defenseman.”
I swallowed the bile in my throat, before clearing it. “It’s complicated?—”
“Fuck all with that shit, Wolfe.It’s complicated. Obviously it’s fucking complicated.” He goes to rub his eyes in frustration. “This game was televised. People are going to talk, they’re going to know. I’d like to be the first, fucking thank you.”
