The Ice Alpha’s Mate (Aria and Ryder) novel Chapter 87

Chapter 87

RYDER

I’m tormented.

That’s the only way to describe my state of mind.

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The first game of the tournament has arrived and my head is everywhere but here, in this rink. I have this feeling deep inside of me that I won’t do well. I’m distracted. I hardly paid attention to anything Coach said earlier on, and I won’t even mention how bad my relationship with the team is.

Everything went to shit in a matter of days. I can’t even believe I’ve gotten to this point. Aria thinks I’m a lying scumbag. Most of my teammates now know about my relationship with her thanks to how I lost my temper. Hawke is here, in the rink, sporting the bruises I gave him and watching me with a quiet defiance in his eyes.

It’s all so fucked.

We’re playing against White Fur, a team we’ve never lost to. It’s supposed to be an easy game, but it starts badly because Hawke lets the puck fly right past him.

I think it’s all to sabotage and humiliate me.

When we lose, the attention is on me and nobody else.

This forces me to perform better. Though it should’ve been a tol win for us, being a goal ahead of them is better than nothing.

“Drexel,” Coach yells once I’m close enough to him, “I’ll need you to do better, alright? Whose ass is your head in!?”

I refrain from answering him and attack our opponents.with all ve got. But I catch a whiff of her scent in the air and it gives a White Fur the opportunity to body slam me.

I land on the ice hard, cutting the skin near my hairline. Blood flows from the cut. Two teammates help me to my feet and Coach sends me to Dan to get it stitched up so I can return to the rink as quickly as possible.”

“I don’t want Dan,” I tell him right away, knowing that I’m playing a dangerous game. “I want Aria.”

I don’t think I’ve ever dared to say her name out loud to someone who isn’t her. Coach Murdock looks at me for a long time. I see hatred in his eyes and wonder if it’s just my imagination.

I have no clue.

“Her touch heals,” I explain. “I feel better once she does it.”

“It’s true,” someone says behind me. “I feel the same way. There’s something about her touch that…I can’t explain it, Coach.”

I glare at Hawke over my shoulder, but he just drinks his water and returns to the rink. Coach tells me I have three minutes and I make my way to her, walking right past Dan who slaps me on the back and tells me I’m doing a good job.

Her scent gets stronger, and by the time I reach the room, I’m drowning in it. Aria snaps her head in my direction like she could smell me before seeing me, too. We make eye contact and the unsettling feeling festering inside of me disappears.

This is only supposed to last three minutes, yet it feels like I’ve been standing here for an eternity already.

I step toward her, letting instinct guide my body. Aria only looks away when I sit down right in front of her. I watch her. She takes three deep breaths, then starts opening her kit and reaching for whatever equipment she’ll need.

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09:59 Mon, Mar 2

Chapter 87

The whole time, I can’t seem to say a thing.

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With her fingers, she tilts my head to the side to get a better look at my cut. It’s not long before I start feeling like absolute shit because she’s treating me like she would anyone else.

Like we don’t have history between us.

“Aria.”

Her name just pours out of me. She ignores me.

“You have to believe me. I didn’t-”

“Be still, please.”

“I wouldn’t have done that to you. I’m desperate, Aria. I need you to believe me.”

“Well, I don’t.”

“I love you.”

Her eyes meet mine, and for a moment, I’m not sure of what I see in them. I make the mistake of hoping, only for her expression to change. She becomes visibly angrier and says, “Prove it.”

I can’t say a word, and eventually, she goes back to stitching. I stare at her face. Her brows are furrowed in concentration. Despair washes over me again. Why would she believe me when she doesn’t have proof?

I could’ve easily bribed the bartenders or forced them into telling her whatever story I wanted.

This could all be a lie.

What proves that it isn’t?

When shes done, she simply turns away from me. I stare at her back and feel like the weakest man in the world. The woman I love is slipping right through my fingers and I’m not doing anything about it.

I stand up and stare at the back of her head. The clock is ticking. Every extra second I spend in here gives White Fur the win. If I don’t get myself together, I’ll lose the game the same way I lost her.

“One day I’ll prove it to you. I swear to you that I will.”

Aria doesn’t look at me as I walk out. I nearly crash into Coach, who yells at me and doesn’t hold back. I ignore him and step back into the rink, determined. Angry. I won’t bother sorting through the shit in my mind right now.

The team seems to be pulling it together because they managed to score a few times without me. My father is somewhere in the crowd, watching me. The whole park is depending on this.

Winning the tournament would establish my name as a future Alpha.

It would make our pack stand out.

I focus on this and not the fact that my personal life has gone to hit. I need to stop doing that. Focusing on and taking care of my interests matters, too. I don’t know where this thought process is coming from exactly, but it’s in my mind and there’s nothing I can do about it.

We end up winning. The crowd cheers and chants my name.

On the outside, I probably look happy and filled to the brim with pride.

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09:59 Mon, Mar 2

Chapter 87

Inside, I feel nothing.

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