Page 154 of Traded

I wait. He watches me for a long moment before his brows draw together. “What?”

“Are you going to make me, then?” The words are soft. I take a small step closer to him and brace my shoulders, emboldened by the crowd upstairs and the ticking of the clock on the wall behind us and the knowledge that in a few hours, he isn’t going to matter anymore. By the team, barely a few feet away through the wall. “Force an answer out of me?”

Liam’s mouth drops open. “That’s not… no. Shit, Ro. Is that what you think? That I’m gonna start barking at you every time I want to have a conversation?No.”

I shake my head, baffled by a moral line that seems to shift depending on his mood. “Go back to the rink, Liam. Talk to Carter about this, not me.”

But he doesn’t move. “Seriously. You don’t have time for this.”

He pushes off the door, advancing on me. “Tell me the truth.”

“The truth?” I throw up my hands. “Are you seriously trying to pretend that’s what you want, when I’ve been lying to everyone formonthsbecause of you?”

Liam reaches for me, and I slap his hands away. “Don’ttouchme.”

My breathing deepens. “Did you think he wouldn’t notice?”

I slam my palms against his chest, shoving him back. “Did you think he was too distracted by his shoulder and the season not to realizesomethingwas happening? He’s not stupid, Liam!”

“He doesn’t know anything.” Liam’s face tightens. “I’ve been trying to keep us together while he’s been off his fucking game. I’ve been doing his damn job for him, running this pack. And now—what, he thinks he’s pushing meout? Not happening.”

“You thought you were so clever,” I breathe. “Get me under control, right? Push me down over and over again, until you rearranged this pack into what you wanted it to be. You probably thought he’d thank you for it, even. You don’t know what a healthy pack is.”

He scoffs, but his eyes dart around the room. “What, and you two do?”

The strike doesn’t register. I take another step until we’re pressed together. Cloves and leather twist in my nose until I feel sick from the scent of him. “I feel sorry for you, because Carter is as loyal as they come. To his pack, and his family, and his team. That’s his family out there, and you knew that. You relied on it. But unfortunately for you and Jonas, you areno longer part of it.”

“You’re lying,” he snarls. “I know you’re upset—”

“I’m not upset anymore,” I say evenly.

His unsteady breath brushes my lips, our faces tilted so close that anybody walking in would think they’d stumbled on us kissing. “I would have doneanythingfor this pack. And for you. You broke me, and hurt me, and controlled me so I’d fit into your box, but he saw enough through every layer of control you tried to wrap around me. So we’re leaving, Liam. After the game, Carter and I are leaving this pack, and we are leavingyou. The paperwork is ready to file.”

Stepping back from his silent, frozen figure, I wave my hand at the door. “You tried to fucking lobotomize me with a bark,and it might have worked. But you can’t controlhim. Now get the hell out and enjoy your last few minutes before he tears up everything you thought you’d won. And so you know, as soon as your leash around my neck fades, because it will, I’m telling everyone exactly what kind of alpha you are.”

“He can’t… do that.” Liam’s throat works. He looks like he might be sick. “He’s filing for a pack separation?”

I say nothing. I don’t have to. But he reads the truth in my face.

Because I’m smiling. And I haven’t smiled at him in months.

“Playoffs start next week.” He hooks his hands around his neck, and I look at the clock. He should be back out on the ice. “He can’t fuckingdothat!”

Backing up, I lean against the edge of Gabe’s desk. “You know he doesn’t change his mind once it’s made up. And he decided weeks ago.”

His head snaps toward me. “You did this.”

“No.” Sadness fills my lungs. “Youdid. When you tried to hitch a ride to the top of the NPHL because I was vulnerable and he was worried. You lied and manipulated us into this pack, but we’re done, Liam. It’s done. This game is over.”

He spreads his palms, staring down at them. And then back at me.

I absorb every flicker of panic on his face. Every twitch as he realizes he is done.

But I’m not.

“I might be persuaded to make a deal.” I pick up a paperweight of a golden puck from Gabe’s desk and weigh the cool metal in my hands. “Keep my mouth shut. But I have a price.”

“What?” He says after a few seconds. His cheeks have twin spots of color, the only brightness in his sallow expression.