The Ice Alpha's Mate

Home Routine and Inner Changes

ARIA

Uncle Barty and I sit across from each other, not saying a word.

When he's being an impossible person, I can't deal with him. Now, he has it in his head that I should quit being the team's medic and find an excuse to give the headmaster once I'm asked about it.

According to him, someone made a complaint about me.

And of course, I know who it is.

I silently eat my food. To be fair, it tastes like ashes in my mouth. The news of my having to quit the team made me so upset. I was learning a lot, and of course, I have a lot of love for hockey and anything to do with healing.

It's unfair. It truly is.

He drops his fork so it hits against his plate noisily and I throw him a look. "Enough of this!" he exclaims, his face reddening. "I'm tired of this tension. I won't have this under my roof!"

I shrug. "I'm not the one who's being irrational here, Unc."

He gives me The Coach Look again. It's my turn to drop my fork. "Why don't you just tell me who did it? I could try to talk to the person and make them take what they said back."

My uncle lets out a sarcastic laugh before standing up and carrying his unfinished plate to the table. "Like I'd ever let that happen. You'd only get yourself into more trouble."

"It was the Alpha's son, wasn't it?"

He sighs. I hear the water running. Finally, he answers, "No, it wasn't."

"That's just blatantly a lie."

He gives me an angry look. "You're calling your uncle a liar? You really need to control yourself, Aria. What's wrong with you lately?"

His question makes me sigh and I feel sad and dejected and just troubled overall. I drop my head in my hands and focus on breathing. "I don't know."

If I had to be honest, something is happening inside of me. The only issue is that I have no idea what it is.

Or why it's happening in the first place.

“Maybe I’m upset, alright? This is my life, here!”

“I know. And that’s exactly why I’m asking you to step down. You can’t have a lot of attention on you. You might not realize it now, but I’m doing you a favor.”

Every time he mentions my…condition, even if it’s in passing, I get upset because there’s nothing I can do about it. And he’s right—would I rather continue being a medic, or be dead?

Yes, it’s that drastic.

That doesn’t mean I don’t feel disappointed, though. I stare down at my food and my stomach churns. My appetite has vanished. I couldn’t eat even if I tried.

Uncle Barty looks at me from the kitchen, then exhales sharply before returning to my side and pulling out his chair. He sits with his hands folded and gives me a sympathetic look. “I know what you’re going through, Aria. Believe me, I’ve been there, too.”

Tears slide down my cheeks. I quickly wipe them away with the sleeve of my shirt. “How would you know? You never had the problem I did.”

“But I saw people around me suffer, remember? Plus, you’re my niece. Of course, I know how you feel. I’m right beside you every day.”

I’m eager to change the subject because this is just downright depressing. “Why did you tell the team not to talk to me? That’s absolutely insane, Uncle Barty!”

“Why would it be insane?” he questions, arching his brow. “You’re a beautiful young woman. Naturally, boys would want to get close to you. I was young once, too.”

“I’m an Omega, remember?”

“That wouldn’t stop any one of them from getting close to you. I know those boys. I hear the…the diabolical things they do. Trust me, if I hadn’t warned you, they’d be forming a line outside that door right now!”

A smile threatens to split my face in two. “What kind of diabolical things?”

He narrows his eyes and points a finger at me. “You stay in your lane, do you understand me? There’s no reason why a perfectly decent girl should know those things.”

I burst out laughing. Honestly, there’s nobody in the world who can cheer me up the way my uncle can. “I’m not decent. Who told you that?”

His face reddens and I laugh even more. He snatches my plate and heads into the kitchen. I’ve always insisted on doing the dishes on my own, but he insisted that we take turns. So, tonight is his night. I cooked, and he’s doing the dishes.

I’m aware that he’s the coolest uncle ever.

“You know, someday I’ll find out what those diabolical things are,” I point out, wanting to make him even angrier. “You might as well just tell me.”

“You won’t hear them from me. Go to your room! I’ve had enough of you.”

I roll my eyes at his back, a smile still playing on my lips, and head to my room. Most days are quiet. I never go out. He doesn’t, either. Uncle Barty was never married, and he never found his fated mate.

Yes, it’s possible not to find your mate. Maybe they died in infancy. Or maybe you just don’t have one. That’s not very common, but it happens. Sure, that wouldn’t have stopped him from finding someone who wasn’t his fated mate, but he’s always lived for hockey, so he’s always been ultra-focused on his career.

Then, I came along, and his responsibilities increased. Sometimes I blame myself for it, even though he called me crazy and stopped talking to me for a week when I brought it up. He doesn’t think I’m to be blamed at all. It’s a decision he made, and it’s one he’s okay with.

The team might know him as Coach Barty Murdock, the strict, no-nonsense coach. The man I know is a teenage girl in disguise.

He’s temperamental, knows how to hold a grudge, and he loves a good gossip.

He might deny that, but it’s the truth.

I open my History notebook and feel depressed. Honestly, I don’t know what Professor Denver wants from me. He’s so impossible to please. I’ve given this my all.

I don’t know what he wants to discuss with me on Friday, but I won’t miss that meeting.

Thinking about that class makes me think about Ryder. A shudder courses down my spine when his name pops into my mind. No, I have to stop thinking about him. Like right now.

I don’t trust how angry I am that he reported me. The damn bastard. I stitched him up well! Is it just because I said a few harsh words to him? If so, it isn’t fair at all.

Does he really expect everyone to bow to him because he’s the future Alpha of the Ironclaw Pack? If so, he’s bound to be a pretty pathetic Alpha indeed.

Respect is earned, never just given.

I stare angrily at the book in front of me, then close it when I realize I probably won’t remember a thing. My head is too full.

The one thing that brings a small smile to my face was how he fell today.

I’d wanted it to happen so badly…then it did.

He deserved it. I don’t care if I sound mean.

I hate Ryder Drexel. Some people just walk into our lives to wreck them, and he’s the perfect example. No matter, though. What goes around, comes around.

He’ll get his punishment.

And I’ll be there to see it.