Page 113 of Choosing Their Omega

“So are we, sunshine,” he says, and the other three nod. “So are we.”

Chapter 34

Cruz

It’s a few days after our little tour with Lily that I feel it.

We’re at practice, and there’s a stiffness in my shoulder, a twinge when I take a slapshot at the net.

Fuck.

I really don’t want to stop. I don’t want to bench myself. But I made a promise with our sports medicine doctor for the team that if I felt anything like this, I would take it easy and rest. I may not like this… but I like the idea of going back on my word even less. I’m a man who keeps his promises.

Besides, this isn’t just a promise to our team doctor. Or even my teammates. This is a promise to my pack and a promise to my Omega. This is a promise to Lily.

I can so clearly see her disappointed face in my mind’s eye. Call me a sucker, but I don’t care. I don’t want to make Lily unhappy. I don’t want to let her down.

I take it easy the rest of practice, skating as hard as always but not really doing anything with my shoulder, focusing on my footwork instead. When we wrap up for the day, I skate over to coach and let him know that I’m feeling it in my shoulder.

“Have you been doing the exercises with the sports doc?”

“You know it.”

He gives me a look like he might not know it, and I suppose that’s fair. I’m not the kind of guy to skimp on something like that because I dedicate myself to everything a hundred and ten percent, but I know plenty of guys who would skimp on a PT exercise because they feel fine and it’s annoying.

That’s why I have to be an example. I have to show my team that there’s nothing wrong with taking care of yourself so that your injuries don’t become career-ending ones.

“How bad is it?”

I think about it. “It’s enough that I don’t want to try shooting for the net with it.”

Coach nods. “All right. Let’s take you off the next game. I’m not going to put you on the ice and tell you not to try shooting for the net.”

It makes sense. I know that it makes sense. You can’t put me on the ice and tell me to hang back and just pass the puck lightly, not in the heat of the game. And then there’s the checking. You can’t ask the other team, Hey, would you mind only hitting me in one shoulder the whole game?

So yeah, there’s no way I can play without risking further injury to my shoulder.

It still fucking hurts to hear it said out loud.

“Ah, kid, don’t give me that look,” Vaughn says, and oof. If he’s calling me that, then I know I must look either really pissed or really brokenhearted.

Of course, telling Coach Vaughn that you’re not a kid and in fact you have an Omega and a house with a mortgage and a pack and a kid of your own won’t fly with him. He’s older than everyone on the team by a good decade.

We’re still at the side of the rink, the others all gone in to shower and change or get in an ending workout in the gym, so we’re alone except for the Zamboni. It’s a comforting sight, watching the Zamboni movie back and forth across the ice, cleaning it.

Coach puts his hand on my arm. “Cruz. You’re a damn good captain. And you make sure you lead by example out on the ice. A problem I usually have with captains is that they think they got the role because they’re the best player. Or that their job is to just tell the other guys what to do instead of showing them.”

I snort. Yeah, neither of those things is the way to lead.

“But you lead by example, and that’s why you’re captain. But that doesn’t mean you’re not going to sometimes have to take a step back and tell the other guys what to do. You can captain just as well from the bench if you need to. I’m proud of you, but I don’t want you to burn out. I’ve seen it time and time again. If you think that I’m going to let you get benched permanently, you’re crazy. But I also won’t let you risk your body.”

“I know.”

“Do you? Do you understand how much we all value you? Because I don’t know if you do, Ashford. You’re a great player, and I’m damn proud of you. Your family is proud of you. The team is proud of you. You don’t have to kill yourself to prove your worth to us, you know.”

I swallow hard. Vaughn isn’t great about the whole touchy-feely emotions kind of thing, but his voice is warm and insistent, and I know that he cares. “I’m starting to understand that, Coach. My… Lily, the Omega that we have now, she… she’s nudged me to take the steps to deal with this whole thing and come clean about my injury.”

‘Nudging’ is being polite about it. Lily has the sweetest soul in the world, but she’s also stubborn as hell, and she doesn’t let us get away with bullshit. It’s one of the things that drew us to her.

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