Hannah, our director, perches on a folding chair in the middle of the changing room. She’s got a clipboard balanced on her knee and her phone in her hands. But when I walk in, she looks up and smiles. “Grace!” Her voice is a foghorn in a vacuum. “You made it. Early, too. I love leads who value punctuality.”
I drop my bag and try for a return smile. “Wouldn’t miss it.” I need to enjoy this, I really do. And I’m absolutely grateful that Hannah thought to cast me as the lead role when their other lead bailed. But I can’t shake what happened at prep camp no matter how much I want to erase those alpha’s scents—and their harsh words of rejection—from my mind.
She tilts her head and squints. “Are you nervous?”
I shrug. “No more than normal.”
She nods like this is the correct answer. “You’re going to do amazing. Also, Connor’s already here, so you can reconnect before rehearsal. The others are rolling in.”
My stomach flips, but I bite it down. “Great.”
Clearly Hannah didn’t get the memo that Connor and his friends wanted me removed from Reverie for the singular crime of being their scent-matched omega.
I change in the back corner. It’s not my actual costume, which is hanging back in my room, but a vague imitation that it’s okay to rough up during practice. The tights are unforgiving and the skirt even worse, but the moment I step onto the ice, I remember why I’m here. The chill bites at my ankles. My first push-off sends a line of static straight up my spine. Then it’s just the rush of wind and the sound of my blades.
Everything goes well until a minute later when the doors open again and let in an entire world of complications.
Connor’s scent hits my nose long before I see him stretching on the ice. Peppermint and something colder, like steel. It crawls up my nose even through the suppression haze.
Don’t look. Don’t look.But I have to. At some point today, or at least during the first show. The Prince and Princesskissat the end of the show, for God’s sake.
Oh fuck.I have to kiss Connor.
It hits me as if this is the first time I’m receiving this information, even though it’s definitelynot.
Okay—look at him. Get it over with.I need to desensitize myself as best I can.
So I do. He’s tall and blond, and cut as though invented by an ad agency selling men’s athletic gear. Tall and so very muscular and incredible at skating.
And breaking my heart.
Campfire and chocolate scents momentarily overtake Connor’s peppermint. My gaze follows the scent unwillingly past the leader of my tormented spring break to the stands behind the rink walls. There sit Zev and Fowler.
I blink. My brow crinkles as I battle confusion with trying not to care.
A few months ago, Zev and Fowler were in Reverie Ice Show with Connor and me. Now, they sit in the stands at 6 A.M. butnotin rehearsal gear.
Are they not in the show anymore?
A laugh bubbles to my lips. First these three asshole alphas try to getmeto leave Reverie and then these two dip on their own?
Thank fuck I didn’t let them scare me away.
Zev’s a huge hulk of a guy but seemed pretty quiet unless disparaging me. He has his dark hair messily pulled back today. Fowler beside him, redheaded and green-eyed, seems as restless as ever as he bounces his leg.
All three of them are undeniably handsome. And their scents… Peppermint, campfire, and chocolate bleed through my suppressants and hit straight at my primal omega core. Even now—after rejecting me and verbally shoving me as far away as possible instead of kindly sayingno, thank you—my inner omega wants me to head right over and curl up on their lap.
No shot in hell.
I turn back to the ice before I accidentally meet eyes with Zev and Fowler, only to come nearly face-to-face with Connor. He’sclosed most of the distance between us but is keeping a rather obvious two feet away. “Hey.”
I swallow hard. My mental walls slam shut.Do not give him anything.Unfortunately, I owe Hannah some professionalism at the very least. But that’s it. “Hey.”
He shifts uncomfortably. “How was the rest of your semester?”
Like he cares. Connor and his entire pack have been out of college for years. “Fine.”
“Heard Old Harbor won championships.” At this, he actually smiles. “That’s awesome. Coach Sullivan’s shoes are big ones to fill. I hope they hire an excellent coach now that he’s retiring.”
