How to get away with a Hockey Alpha

Chapter 02

RILEY’s pov;

People held their breaths. Whispered sliced the air in two and everything gasps exploded at the exact same moment, another struck Kael.

The two threads collided between us and detonated into brilliant, shimmering gold.

The entire circle went silent, then exploded.

“What—”

“No way!” Maren screamed “She’s—she’s human.” She complained.

For one dizzy second, joy detonated in my veins.

Kael.

My Kael. The boy who stayed up with me the night I turned eighteen and no wolf came. The one who told me I didn’t need fangs to be great. He was mine.

Then I looked at him.

His warm brown eyes were gone. Molten gold blazed in their place, pupils blown wide. The easy athletic grace I knew had hardened into something raw and predatory. Tendons stood out in his neck. That unmistakable alpha aura rolled off him in waves.

This wasn’t the boy who let me use his back as a whiteboard for plays.

This was the future Alpha King, and the bond was already sinking its teeth into him.

My ribs pulled tight, like silver wire wrapped around my lungs. The need to touch him, to close the distance, was almost violent.

But Kael didn’t move.

And in his eyes lay an expression I didn’t recognize. Instantly, a coldness seeped into my body.

Kael, the boy who once encouraged me to have faith that my mate was always around the corner.

Didn’t run to me in joy.

The Seers rushed forward before I could reach him, grabbing his arms to lead him through the rite.

Other new pairs were already laughing, crying, hands frantically exploring. I stood frozen in the middle of the circle like an i***t.

Why are they taking him?

Maren’s voice cut through the noise, loud enough for half the field to hear. “She doesn’t even have a wolf. The bond must be broken.”

More whispers. More giggles. Soldiers stood by and did nothing.

Mauren suddenly stood behind me and for a second, I couldn’t move.

“Looks like the charity case got lucky,” she hissed, lips brushing my ear. “Don’t get used to it. He’ll reject you by morning. Alphas don’t mate down.”

I pushed mauren away. Barely able to breathe as I walked away. I had to find him. We were friends. He would explain what that look was for? How it was possible. He would—

Slipping out the back of the crowd, I hurried past the pines, boots crunching over frozen grass until I spotted him alone by the equipment shed.

Relief flooded me. There. The Goddess had answered after all.

I took three steps toward him, heart hammering with hope—

“I don’t care what the bond says.”

Kael’s voice was ice. Detached. He dragged a hand through his hair, then kicked a crate so hard it cracked.

“She’s human, Alric. A halfling. It’ll ruin everything. I’m going to reject her.”

The world tilted.

My blood turned to sludge. The tears that had been forming from joy now burned like acid. Every late-night conversation, every “you don’t need a wolf, Ri,” every promise he’d made…none of it had mattered. Not really.

I pressed shaking hands to my sides and forced my legs to move before he could see me.

But Maren was already waiting, arms crossed, smirk sharp as a blade.

She had followed me. She had heard him.

“Guess you heard him, halfling.” Her voice dripped with fake sympathy. “Told you. Alphas don’t mate down.”

She stepped closer, eyes dragging over me with satisfaction. “You really thought he’d choose you? Over me? Over any real wolf?”

I was fighting my tears. My fists clenched until my nails bit skin.

The bond still tugged at my ribs, now feeling like shackles instead of threads. Part of me wanted to run. Part of me wanted to scream. Another part—the stupid, traitorous part—still wanted to beg the boy I’d known for five years to look at me the way he had an hour ago.

Instead, I lifted my chin, met her gaze, and spoke with a steadiness I didn’t feel.

“We’ll see about that.”