Page 126 of Ice King

“You’re a star,” Georgia cooed from beside me.

“You think so?” I turned my head toward her while taking a pull on my beer. It had felt damn good to finally put Hoffman in his place. In truth, I’d wanted to sink my canines into him, but I was a good boy and had merely allowed him to understand the power we had as a pack.

And perhaps in my jaws. You bet I’d opened my mouth.

“I do,” she purred. “But do not let that go to your head. Although I wouldn’t mind bringing you down to size.”

She had me laughing as she always did. “You didn’t need to run, you know.”

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t going to allow that man to destroy your family. Not a chance in hell.”

Suddenly, two more drinks appeared in front of us, Jake grinning. “We’re proud of you.”

“Hey, what about me?” Beck yelled. “Fast forward to the next round.”

“So fucking pushy,” Jake snarled, but grabbed the remote once again.

“I wanted to kill him for what he did to you.” I cursed under my breath.

As always, she was trying to comfort me. “You can’t fight my battles. I can do just fine.”

“Like hell I can’t. I’m your mate. Don’t forget it.”

In seeing the spark in her eyes, my hunger raged off the charts. “As long as you don’t forget you’re mine.”

“In the second draft, the Portland Hellions selects Beck ‘The Devil’ Kendrick.”

The Devil. I lifted my bottle toward my brother. The moniker suited him.

Another cheer erupted in the bar, which was currently wall to wall with people. I could swear the entire town had come out for the replay.

“Why don’t we remind each other a little later?” I asked before leaning over, nipping her earlobe.

“Get a room, you two.” Roxanne suddenly appeared, crowding our space at the bar.

“There you are,” Georgia said.

“Oh, I had no intention of missing this. Plus, I have a date. Well, as soon as someone gets off from work.”

When Georgia’s eyes opened wide and she nodded toward Jake, I could tell I hadn’t been let in on a little secret.

My mate clapped her hands. “About time.”

“So I’m a slow learner.” We were both surprised when Jake leaned over the bar, taking her face into his hands. With one sizzling kiss, half the bar cheered.

At this point, they were eager to cheer for anything.

“Our local heroes,” Finn said as he approached. So did half the team who’d made it out to celebrate. “I’m going to miss you, buddy,” he said.

“Hey, you made it to Chicago like you wanted.”

He nodded. “I did, but it won’t be the same. We were a good team.”

“Yeah,” I said. “We were.”

“Make us proud, buddy,” Daniel the Dominator stated almost in a demand.

Another gulp of beer, another lift of my bottle. “A toast to all of us.”