“I know, but he’s depressed,” she started. “I just want him to enjoy his last game. I don’t want him to get down about leaving hockey and end up like—”
Delmare sucked in a breath at the last second, but I wasn’t offended. “Like me, you mean?”
She gave me a guilty look. “I didn’t want to say that.”
“But I know what you’re getting at,” I said. “And it’s okay. It’s hard giving up something you love. Maybe Stefan won’t have to. He could make the Malovian team.”
“And if he doesn’t?” Delmare’s words were worried.
“Then he’ll be okay. I promise,” I told her kindly. “We’re never the same person throughout all our lives. We’re constantly changing. It’s something I’ve learned after I… quit.”
I’d never admitted it out loud, but I knew that’s what I’d done. I’d hung up my skates— something I’d never thought I’d do. But as I was beginning to understand, dreams never really died, they just turned into new ones. I was only twenty years old. I had so much life left to experience, and I wanted to explore more of it. Skating was just one part of a big, great life.
“Thanks, Em,” Delmare said genuinely. “I’ll tell him that—oh my gods!”
Delmare leapt from her seat and screamed. My head swiveled just in time to see the massive alicorn shifter we’d been talking about earlier check Stefan into the boards— though it was more likecrushed him. The sound echoed throughout the whole rink, and the crowd made cringing sounds as Stefan sunk down against the glass. He laid face-first on the ice, body curling in pain.
A couple of players skated over to make sure Stefan was okay. Ethan hurled across the ice, threw off his gloves, and slammed his fist into the alicorn’s face. The alicorn went stumbling back, before he got his bearings and traded some hits of his own. They wrestled, until it turned into an all-out brawl between both teams that the referees had to break up. Ethan knocked out a few of the alicorn’s teeth before the refs finally pulled him off. Ethan was sent to the penalty box, while the rest of us kept our eyes on Stefan.
It’d been a few minutes, and Stefan still hadn’t gotten up. The team’s trainer walked onto the ice to evaluate him. Stefan forced himself back up, but he skated in a bent-over position to the boards, where the coach guided him back to the locker room.
Delmare immediately ran off in that direction. I felt so bad for her. It had to be brutal, watching your mate take a hit like that.
The alicorn player got off with a verbal warning, which resulted in boos from the crowd.
“He wasn’t keeping his head up! He should be thrown out of the game!” Theo cried angrily.
“Ethan will make him pay for it,” I said. I could feel my mate smoldering from here. Now he was determined to win this game.
With the loss of Stefan, and the demoralization of his teammates after watching him take such a hard hit, Team C made up two more points, making the game neck and neck. Whoever got the next goal would win.
“Come on, Ethan!” I screamed so loudly, I felt my throat might rip. The clock was ticking down. There were only thirty seconds left in the game. The puck shot across the ice, and Ethan and the alicorn player sped forward for it. They were both equal in speed— I wasn’t sure Ethan was going to make it.
Then Ethan reached out and snagged the puck. He turned around on the ice so fast, I was almost sure he’d done a spin. He dashed toward the other end of the rink, then, once he got close enough to the goal, took a wrist-shot.
It sank true, and the buzzer went off. Gloves and helmets went flying into the air as Team A celebrated their championship win. Players smashed into Ethan and wrapped him into one big team group hug, patting his helmet and raising their sticks high. The rink shook with the noise the crowd made, and I applauded so hard my hands hurt. Ethan had done it! His team had won!
The other team left the ice, and officials rolled out a red rug. They walked onto the ice with a big gold trophy, and placed it into Ethan’s hands. He lifted it over his head, and cheers erupted all around the arena. The trophy was passed to each individual player in the rink, and pictures were taken of the entire team.
After the game was over, I stood outside in the rink’s lobby. Once Ethan appeared, threw my arms around him. I kissed his cheek and cried, “Congratulations! You had a great game!”
“Thank you,onawilke.” His hair was wet from a fresh shower, but his eyes were still wild with the excitement of the game. “It was definitely something to remember.”
“How’s Stefan?” I kept my arms wrapped around Ethan, because I didn’t want to let him go. I was absorbing the exhilaration of his win— sucking it in, because I knew this was the only way I’d get to feel something like this again.
“He’s back in medical. It’s not serious, but they want to keep him overnight. Delmare’s with him. He’s hurting.”
“Poor guy.” I hoped whatever was wrong, it wasn’t too painful.
“His shifter blood will have him up and at it by tomorrow. He’s more pissed he missed out on the last few minutes of his final game,” Ethan said.
“Are you upset too, now that you’re done with hockey?” I asked him.
Ethan shook his head. “I had a good run, and a great last game. Asking for anything more would be greedy. And I definitely think I’m ready to move on to new things. Mainly, a life with you.”
My heart flared when he said that. Ethan frowned, and said, “I wish Lord Lucien had been there to see my last game. He was a great coach. We couldn’t have gotten this far without him.”
“I’m sure he’s very proud of you,” I insisted. “You guys earned this.”
