Mated To The Hockey Bully Who Hates Me.

“Dad, quick! Mom’s leaving!” Wheeling her bicycle out, Evelyn yelled for her father as she hurried down the street after her laughing mother.

Her father dashed out of the house “Baby, gimme a sec. I have to lock the door.”

“Fast, Dad! She's leaving!” Her mother, Marie, laughed at them from a distance. “Slowpokes!” She said, her voice carrying in the wind.

“Oh, not for long,” promised her husband. In two long strides, he got to his daughter, snatching her up with her bicycle in one smooth move.

“Catch her, Dad!” Screamed the laughing six-year-old. “Catch her!”

“As you wish, Your Royal Highness!”

Marie took off, and they went after her.

****

"Evie, slow down," Marie yelled as her daughter cycled towards them. Beside her, her husband laughed, the sound bouncing off the trees in the park.

"Oh, calm down, Marie. She's gotten the hang of it." They watched as the young cyclist stumbled on a rock. "I think…"

Marie pinned him with a droll stare. "You think?"

"Alright, alright. You win. But she'll get better, you'll see."

In one fluid moment, he caught his beaming daughter as she raced towards him.

"I did it, Daddy!"

"Yes, you did, Evie girl," he said, pressing a kiss to her head. "Yes, you did."

The girl grinned, baring her missing front tooth. "Do you think I can beat Ava now? She's learning, too. Her brother's teaching her.”

“I'm sure you'll do just as well against her,” he assured, pressing another kiss against her temple.

“Now, who wants ice cream?”

“Me!” The girl screamed. Her mother laughed as she allowed her husband to pull her close.

“Well, not me.”

The girl stopped in her excitement. “Why not, Mommy?”

“Remember, it's quesadilla night. Our fave. Which means having ice cream won't leave you enough space for it in your stomach.”

“Hmm,” the six-year-old scrunched her face up in a bout of intense concentration.

“Maybe if I get a tiny scoop, I can still fit two whole quesadillas?”

Kevin grinned at his wife. “She makes a compelling argument, Marie.”

“Beta Kevin!” The voice tore towards them, and as one, the family whirled towards the source. It was the Alpha's older son, flanked by a few of the pack warriors who were heavily armed. Whatever it was, Kevin knew it was urgent.

Quickly, he placed his daughter down. “Derek, what's the matter?”

“News just came in from the soldiers keeping watch at the border. Northern Rogues have breached the boundary. We need to go.” He nodded, turning to his wife.

“Marie, take Evie home. Now.”

She nodded, grabbing their child's arm. When he saw her worried eyes, he forced himself to take a minute and pulled them both into his arms.

“I'll be back by evening,” he said, placing a kiss on her mouth, then her hair. “I love you.”

Marie nodded, eyes and voice tight. “I love you, too.”

****

Hours had passed, and he or the warriors had returned. Marie forced herself towards the kitchen to start the preparation for their Wednesday night quesadilla ritual.

He would soon be back; she knew it. He had spent days away from home before—tracking and hunting with the warriors, so a few hours gone was nothing, smaller.

But why this gnawing feeling, this apprehension she could barely make heads or tails of? Where was it coming from?

She shook her head and reassured herself in her mother tongue, “Te estás asustando por fantasmas, Marie. ¿Desde cuándo te volviste tan miedosa?” (You're getting spooked by ghosts, Marie. Since when did you get so fearful?)

Kevin would soon be back, and she would tell him how she had felt when he was away, and they would laugh about it. She filled her thoughts with the cooking, sometimes thinking back to when she and he first met.

The memories brought a smile to her face now, and she managed to relax a bit. He was fine, she assured herself again, and he would soon be back.

Outside, just behind the kitchen where her mother could see her, little Evie built a sand castle with eight rooms. One for her Mama and Papa. One for her abuela and her Tio when they came visiting.

There was also one for Ava and her brother, and her other friends and any other person she liked. Briefly, Evie wondered if she should add one for Dylan, the Alpha's son. They were in the same grade, and Evie liked him. He was very pretty and had eyes that were green and blue and gold at the same time, but he always ignored her. Even when she said hi to him.

She twisted her mouth in a fit of concentration as she stared at the building. She decided to build him a room anyway. Maybe then he'd play with her.

She reached for another handful of sand when—–

“Killer!” She turned her head and her eyes lit up as she saw the subject of her thoughts.

“Dylan! What are you–” But before she could process the angry tears on his face, or complete her statement, he lunged at her.

The air in the arena was freezing, biting at my nose and making my breath fog up the second it left my mouth. But with the crowd roaring around me and people stomping their feet on the bleachers, I barely noticed the cold.

Everything was loud—the blare of air horns, the crowd screaming, and the heavy thud of players being slammed into the plexiglass right in front of us.

Right in the middle of the circle stood Dylan. As Center, he owned every inch of the ice, moving with a terrifying, fluid grace that made the others look like they were moving in slow motion.

Crouched low over his stick, jaw set, his multi-colored eyes were fixed on the referee's hand holding the puck. The entire arena seemed to hold its breath for the face-off, waiting on him.

Like how I'd been waiting for him to acknowledge me nearly all my life, sometimes he did, but it was always in pure, undiluted hatred. And Goddess help me, even that venom was better than being invisible to him. </