Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 87771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
“And there’s still the full moon ceremony that needs to take place. That seals the deal,” Dyl noted.
“Is that… something you’re considering?” Chris asked. He sat directly across from me, playing with a gold bracelet, twirling it around his wrist. Raquel had taken his black baseball cap and placed it on her head, so his sandy-blond hair seemed partially flattened.
“I’m going to be honest with you guys, I’ve had a lot to think about lately. I haven’t really had the brain space to focus on anything else.”
“Totally fair, totally fair,” Chris said.
“What does it entail?” I asked.
Yuni set her wineglass down. Her sleek black hair was up in a long ponytail. She reached up and slightly readjusted it. She wore a shirt with an old movie poster of An American Werewolf in Paris printed on the front, her sleeves rolled up and showing off her toned arms.
It gave badass bitch, and I loved it.
“It’s going to entail a blood sacrifice and a ritualistic drowning,” she said, completely deadpanned.
I blinked and leaned my head forward, eyebrow arched. “Excuse me, what?”
“I’m fucking with you. No, no. It’s nothing like that. It’s actually a very beautiful ceremony, performed under moonlight. The biggest shock of the night would be seeing us in, you know, our other outfits.”
“Oh, I’ve already seen Gabe, uh, changed.”
“Perfect,” she said, clapping. “That’s probably the biggest hurdle. Well, maybe that and consummating it.”
I could feel heat rise to my cheeks. I thought back to that night in Gabe’s shift room. Seeing him in his were form, how feral he’d seemed. And then how absolutely insatiable he’d been the morning after.
How he’d given me the best damn sex of my life, all while still being chained up to the wall.
Before I could ask any more questions, Gabe arrived back at the table. I shifted over closer to Dyl so Gabe had room to sit. He slid into the last sliver of bench available, his leg pressed flat against mine. He slid an arm over my shoulders, as if he’d been doing it for years. Natural.
Smooth.
Home.
I instantly relaxed. I hadn’t even realized I still carried so much tension from earlier, from when I thought I had to walk away from it all. I didn’t think I was really going to be able to do it, but I knew in that moment I had to assert myself.
And thank fuck I did. Because it allowed this moment to happen.
“How’d it go?” Emmy asked.
“Good. She wanted to congratulate me first on coming out, so that was nice. Then she was talking about how the Bruins are pressing her again to consider a jump. I told her I’m not jumping right now.”
The Boston Bruins was a “feeder” NHL team to us Bobcats. Not all NHL teams had them, but those that did usually had solid and reliable sources of talent to pull from. It had been my goal to move to the NHL at one point, but now I may have found a solid reason to stay in the AHL.
“She also mentioned Harrison wanting me to do some DNA testing thing. Something about figuring out our optimal training and nutrition stats. Did you guys get any of that?”
I shook my head, as did the rest of my teammates. Except for Dylan. “My agent sent me an email about it this morning. I told him I wanted to opt out.”
“Good idea,” Emmy said. “I don’t think our DNA needs to be in any kind of database. I’ll talk with Coach and see what this is about.”
“Probably something from corporate,” Chris tossed out.
“Probably,” Gabe said. “So what were you all talking about?”
I squirmed a little in my seat. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to dive back into the full moon ceremony topic with the man I was supposed to be walking into the woods with. Thankfully, Emmy saved me by tossing out another subject entirely. “Talking about our game coming up Friday. Should be interesting.”
“I saw that,” Dyl said. “I thought Harrison wasn’t going to match us up with the Sharks anymore?”
Emmy’s face scrunched in anger. He looked pissed. His dark, hooded eyes were intimidating when he had frustration sharpening his gaze. “I thought that was the case too. Apparently, it would have cost close to seven figures to break contracts and reshuffle the calendar. Coach also talked to me about it. He’s bringing in extra security for the game.”
A chill crept down my spine. “Is this because of me? It didn’t start until I joined the team, right?”
It was a thought I couldn’t shake. For some reason, Viktor seemed to have it out for me. So much so that it was causing all this shit between the packs. But why?
“That could be a possibility,” Yuni answered. She steepled her fingers and placed them against her lips. “However, it’s not the only possibility.”