Page 152 of Pucking Feral: Part Two

These statements will determine the fate of my family.

I take a breath that goes all the way down to my feet and start reading.

"My name is Ivy Byrne. For over a year, I was engaged to Wade Kelly."

Every recorder shifts closer.

"During that time, Wade controlled what I wore, who I spoke to, and where I went. He isolated me and monitored my phone. When he found out I was going to leave, he forced his mark on me without my consent."

My voice doesn't crack.

I'm surprised by that.

I keep going.

"I escaped by biting off his finger when he grabbed my hair to stop me from reaching the door. That wasn't from a dog attack. And I burned off the mating mark with a flat iron in a bus station bathroom. I dyed my hair. I bought a one-way ticket to the last place he'd ever look for me, and I hid in the maintenance tunnels of the Ghosts' arena."

The scratch of pens has stopped. Someone in the back row has her hand over her mouth.

"I sharpened skates at night to give myself something to do and keep from going feral. I lived on vending machine food and scrounged change from the stands. I built a nest out of team merchandise in an abandoned VIP suite and set up security cameras from discarded tablets so I'd know if anyone was coming. I was still starting to lose myself in those tunnels. The shadows still haunt me."

I pause to swallow. The tablet screen swims for a second before sharpening again.

"Wraith found me first. He brought me soup he'd microwaved for so long, the noodles had disintegrated."

I manage a tight laugh, and a few journalists laugh with me, but it's dangerously close to a cry.

I clear my throat to get through the rest. "He brought me medicine when I was sick. He held me through a fever all night and never once tried to make a move on me. He knew we were scent matches before I did. He didn't tell me because he didn't want to pressure me. Because he thought…"

My voice falters. I feel Wraith's eyes on me from where he stands behind the table, even though I can't turn around to check.

"He… thought I wouldn't want him. Because of how he looks, and because he's feral."

The room is so quiet I can hear the ventilation system.

"He was wrong. I fell for him so hard, it wouldn't have mattered if we were scent matches at all. Then Thane, Plague, Whiskey. And when I smashed Valek over the head with a fire extinguisher and management moved him into the pack house to make it up to him, I fell for him, too."

I don't clarify the fire extinguisher story. I want them to have something else to fixate on. Pens are flying all over the papers now and a few journalists sit straight up in their seats like it's physically killing them to not ask for more details.

"Being mated to this pack, to all of them, is the best thing that's ever happened to me. They're good alphas. Everything they do is to protect the people they love. They love me, and I love them."

I set the tablet down and sit.

Valek's knee nudges against mine.

I press back.

Eliza gives a small nod and gestures to Thane.

Thane stands. He doesn't adjust the microphone either. He looks out at the press corps for a long moment, his eyes even darker than they normally are.

"My name is Thane Belmont. I'm the team captain of the Ghosts, and the leader of this pack."

His voice is steady. Lower than usual, but steady.

"Every alpha at this table acted to protect a member of our pack. I stand by every decision made on that ice and in what followed. If the league wants to discipline someone, they can start with me."

Pens move faster.