His new stepsister His biggest threat (Claire and Elijah) novel Chapter 234

Chapter 234

Care & POT

The men of the game and not wait a sunrise, but wilt za sufiane te ndugu ne les darre damp shroud

Invade the Elle este de site va er bere

The March Orte at ofcully customer ma var in alle: The Ashow Efter- documered andred milesen had the Eigh Council cal-time

muve we mate was terr

of te lei e unitus,

I wood in form of my betroum mimo agging on a berry creer in the fee, charcoal My hands were seat, but the air in the nom får drged like he moments bere lighting stre

Earby bears.” I vispered to my refection. Keep in at eigin

A soi boda dhe door preceded Flifat’s entrance. Bloke high school stent and

He locked the a sue carved from prie vas iraty venting his pre-cute wart-in sur, the Fade famly cer embroidered in siner over his heart

sees were a star, der aber, devoid of the score he was feeling

The buses are leaving eat.” he said. His voice a lovrindor in seed to see it in my bones. Mircis int Valerios are already a the area. They’re doing a safety inspection of the locker rooms”

They’re marking territory.” I said, coming to face him

Elijah stepped into my space, his hands finding my waist.

He pulled me flush against him, his forehead resting against mine. The scent of pine and ice was overbeling & SINC shield against the world outside. “Let them mark whatever they want. They don’t own the ice, and they don’t own the bond Today isn’t about the Council Claire. It’s about us showing them that the Red Pine doesn’t need a Regent

‘T’ll be there.” I promised, my fingers tangling in the hair at the age of his neck. “Right behind the glass

The school day was a fever dream of whispers. Every hallway felt like a gauntlet. The rumors had evolved from “The Reeds moved” to “The Hales are under investigation.”

By lunch, the tension was so thick that even the human students were picking up on it, casting nervous glances at the varsity

rable.

Valerius was everywhere. I saw her in the library, flipping through a book on Northern Pack history with a bored

expression.

I saw her in the cafeteria, sitting alone but surrounded by an invisible barrier that kept everyone at a distance. And every time our eyes met, she gave me that same, sharp-toothed smile the look of a girl who knew exactly how the story ended

When the final bell rang, the exodus to the arena began.

The Red Pine Ice Arena was packed to the rafters. It wasn’t just students and parents; the “suits were there-men and women in dark coats with the cold, detached eyes of the Southern packs.

They sat in the VIP section, Marcus Valerius in the center, looking like a judge presiding over a trial rather than a spectator at a hockey game.

I took my seat in the front row, right behind the home team’s bench. Felix spotted me first, giving me a quick wink as he

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athuser is hear. Then camera

4

Je steper nu e ce mi te ad expet, but he sink at the sand. He tag his dates carving deegh JOSHE ONE au the best shes of De

tre ug te negis & mprei ho give against the barrier-

Se sumpet agit i ram of me is sing TW-nunci Jes-and then he tumet u has the the arce

The game font surt remoter

foun the first ang to the qua in vas dear the vast going imm the negrining as senere caught the sent

They were playing dry tăng chem shirts ar Eirated

He’s fiting back mice sat beside me

a santart mach. The orposing cu—a tough squad the Council’s presence

Booked wet

Sias Ede string in the sI TIR.

Shaked olier in the burst satum igins, his gen on discrete sued

is un vistered the shirts or loses control. Marcus Mits

Sesvitnice Sis cimet And the Cure is going in, with streikide

Midway through the second geriod the grevention in its geldi.

A player from the opposing em deset Ejuh me the bourse the big and clearly intended to injure The sound of Elijah’s shoulder hitting the secret tragte sien mens

The crowd rasped. I sood up, my hand summing against the patgis Dr

He was doma on the ice his diet berting 1 could feel the rage through the bathphy we of gold the fratened to consume tin

The gold was beating in his eres, visible even from the sunds Across the rink I saw Marcus Valerie Reta Seward small, surisied sole prying on his lips. He was waiting for the Hew waiting for the beve

Eltrac’s clams beg to extend tearing into the leather of his gloves

Na I breached Elgab look at me

I pushed everything I had into the link. I didn’t send him cent in the memory of the kitchen at the cate

The smell of the rain. The steady, quiet beat of my heart again be on the night of the drillery

Stay with me, El. Don’t let them take this

Eliah’s head snapped toward me. Through the glass, our eyes the wolf and the man. For a heartbeat, the entire arena seemed

. The gold in his gare tckered, a frantic struggle between bold its breath

Then, slowly, he retracted his claws. He pushed himself up of the ice, refsing the hand of the referee. He didn’t rou. He

didn’t retaliate.

He simply skated back to the circle, his expression as cold and unyielding as the ice beneath his feet.

“Good lad,” Silas whispered, a hint of pride in his raspy voice,

The rest of the game was a masterclass in controlled violence. Ejjah didn’t just play; he dismantled the other team

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Chapter 234

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He scored three goals in the final ten minutes, each one a testament to a speed and precision that shouldn’t have been possible for a human. He was a force of nature, but a disciplined one.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Red Pine won 5-1.

The crowd went wild, but the VIP section remained silent. Marcus Valerius stood up, adjusting his coat.

He looked down at the ice, his expression unreadable, then turned and walked out without a word. Valerius, however, stayed behind for a moment.

She looked at me, then at Elijah, and gave a slow, deliberate nod of respect before following her father.

Elijah skated to the glass one last time. He pulled off his helmet, his hair matted with sweat, his eyes finally back to their warm, human amber.

He pressed his hand against the glass where mine was resting.

“I heard you,” he mouthed.

The air in the arena was still cold, and the “auditors” were still a threat, but as I looked at the boy who had just held back a hurricane for the sake of a bond, I knew the Council had made a mistake.

They thought I was his leash.

They didn’t realize I was his North Star.

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