Page 48 of The Hockey Alpha's Indebted Mate
I feel the irritation spike immediately. “We already had this conversation.”
“We did,” he says. “And now she’s going to be inside this pack’s operations for the next six months, so we’re having it again. Do you want to sleep with her?”
“I want her to be part of Ethan’s life.” My jaw tightens. “She’s good with him. He asks for her. That’s what this is.”
“There are eligible females in this pack who would be more than willing to step into that role. Women who already understand what we are, who wouldn’t need to be managed or—”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
He stops.
“I’ve had enough experience with pack females.” I keep my voice even, but there’s an edge underneath it that I don’t bother hiding. “I’m not doing that to my son again.”
“That situation was dealt with, Grayson.” His voice drops. “What she tried to do won’t happen again. Nobody in this pack is going to move against Ethan or you.”
“I respect you,” I say. “You know I do. But I’m not gambling on that. Not with him.” I lean forward, elbows on my knees. “Miranda is safe. She has no stake in pack politics. She’s not positioning for anything. She likes Ethan, and he likes her, and that is, genuinely, all it is.”
He watches me for a long moment.
“I’m not going to sleep with her,” I add because I can see him building toward it. “I don’t want to ruin this. Ethan needs someone like her in his corner, and if I make it complicated, she walks. I’m not doing that to him.”
Silence.
Then, very carefully, Coach says, “So that’s all?”
“That’s all.”
“So explain to me,” he continues in the same measured tone, “why the locker room smelled the way it did this afternoon.”
I go still. Fuck.
“I was messing with her,” I mutter. “She walked in on me, and I was messing with her. That’s it.”
“Messing with her? The woman you say you want to look after your son, the one you don’t want to sleep with? That woman?”
His tone has my wolf on edge. He’s not happy.
“It won’t happen again.” I scowl into my drink.
When he doesn’t say anything, my eyes flit toward him. He’s watching me thoughtfully, and then he says, “She minds her own business, and she’s good at her job. That’s why I hired her.” He takes a drink, then glances at me sideways. “If something happens between you two, it happens. I’m not your father.”
He sets the bottle down. “But don’t let it become anything more than that. She is human, and she is going to be inside our operations for six months. The Accord doesn’t bend for circumstance, and it doesn’t bend for you.” He squeezes my shoulder in warning once before letting go. “Keep it simple.”
He finishes his beer and walks away through the garden without looking back. I watch until the darkness swallows him.
Then I slump in my chair and stare up at nothing.
“Keep it simple,” I say to the empty garden.
I think about what simple looks like with Miranda Carver and almost laugh.
Then I push up from the chair and head inside.
My wolf stirs as I cross the threshold, a low and satisfied hum moving through my chest that makes absolutely no sense given that I’m going to bed alone in an empty house.
I ignore it.
I head upstairs.
