Page 44 of Vampire Pack

I wasn't sure what.

After a moment of hesitation, I took a step closer to him. Then another. And pressed myself to his chest, closing my eyes and wrapping my arms around him.

He hugged me back, immediately. No pauses. No hesitation. Just a massive, warm hug.

I swear, I practically melted into him.

That was exactly what I'd needed.

And the tight discomfort of the bond stretching between us finally vanished.

CHAPTER NINE

carmen

Physical therapy was significantly less painful, that day.

King and I were both a little less reactive when it came to having other people around us, but he skipped the morning skate before the hockey game that night, just to be safe.

There were two women on the team we were playing against that evening, but I was somewhat sure that I wouldn't have a problem with them being around him.

Or hopeful, at least. There would be a lot of gear and smelly men separating them.

We'd warned our coach that King might have to tap out if I got ragey and possessive, so at least we were prepared.

After physical therapy was over, we stopped at a few different stores to pick up a second set of toiletries for each of us, then dropped some of it off at my place before heading to his.

My foot tapped on the floor of the car as we drove.

There was no way around it; I was nervous.

I'd never seen his house before. Never smelled it. Had no idea if I'd like it. And I'd basically committed to living there half of the time, so not knowing was kind of a big deal.

King captured my hand, sliding his fingers through mine.

It was only an eight-minute drive, but at the moment, that felt long. I stared at the trees outside the window, trying not to freak out.

King drove through a large gate at the entrance of a sprawling neighborhood. Suddenly, my attention was off the forest, and on the houses around us.

By the look of the mansions we were passing, I'd been right. The Vampire Pack's house was going to be huge. Every house I saw had easy access to the forest too, so that was a definite perk.

We turned down four different streets before King finally pulled into a circular driveway that led up to a sprawling, cape cod-style mansion.

He parked in a spacious garage that was empty, other than a few simple cabinets. I'd seen two other garages, so I assumed the men each had their own.

"Would I be parking my car in here, or…" I looked at King.

"Of course. We built the place like three separate houses, with a large common area in the center," he explained. "This is my garage. Jude's on the left. Hollis is on the right."

"So you live in a house built for a pack."

"Yeah. The league doesn't call us the Vampire Pack for nothing."

"They don't give out no-trade clauses for nothing, either," I pointed out.

All three of the guys had those clauses in their contracts. I didn't. That had been brought up during the meetings the day before.

The managers had immediately sent my agent a document for me to sign that added one to my contract, so I guess I wouldn't be tradeable anymore either.