Chapter 6 Quietly Unaware

Blake

I knew today was going to be a good day.

It started out normal enough. Breakfast with some of the pack, plates scraped clean, easy noise filling the kitchen. Theo talked too much, like always, already wound tight and ready for the day. He rode shotgun when we carpooled to school, tapping his fingers against the dashboard in time with the radio.

We had hockey practice before lunch, and that alone was enough to put me in a good mood.

The rink was cold and loud, as it always is. Coach Donaven barked orders while we laced up, and then I stepped onto the ice and let my shoulders loosen. We started with some drills, passing lanes and tight turns. I pushed hard, legs burning, lungs working. Lex settled into the rhythm easily, content to stay quiet for once.

Then the scent hit me.

It wasn’t strong. Not like yesterday in the woods. It was faint and tangled in with sweat and rubber and sharpened steel, but it was the same. Sweet and familiar to my heart all at once.

Lex lifted his head inside me, and I scanned the rink without slowing, eyes flicking to the benches, the open door, the group of guys standing just off the ice.

One guy stood out immediately.

He was tall, with broad shoulders, and his old skates laced tight. As I got closer, I could smell the scent of my mate clinging to him.

Lex bristled, with a low warning rumble in my chest.

He knew my mate. Had her scent on his skin.

I skated over to Coach as the drill wrapped up. “Mind if we let him join in?” I asked, nodding toward the door.

Coach squinted, then shrugged. “If he can keep up.”

So I waved him over.

The guy stepped onto the ice, testing the surface. His skates were old, blades nicked and worn, but he still moved effortlessly with them.

I skated to the bench, grabbed my old stick from the rack, and held it out to him.

“Name’s Blake,” I said as we lined up for the next drill. “What’s yours?”

“Charlie,” he said. “Just moved here. Start school tomorrow. I’d love to make the team.”

“Well,” I said, pushing off as the whistle blew, “show us what you’ve got then.”

We ran a scrimmage, and I took centre and watched him out of the corner of my eye as the puck dropped.

Charlie moved fast.

He read the play before it happened, cut across the ice, intercepted a pass that wasn’t meant for him, and sent it back down the boards. I pressed him a little with a shoulder check, but he absorbed it and adjusted.

He shifted his weight and slipped past me on the next play with a quick cut that made Theo curse out loud.

By the end of it, my lungs burned, and my grin felt impossible to hide. He was good. Real good. His wolf was strong.

And if I could get him on the team, I could get closer to him, and find out how he knew my mate, and who she was

Coach looked impressed despite himself as he came up beside him. “Looks like we found ourselves another forward,” he said. “Practice tomorrow. Be here early.”

I skated past him as we headed for the bench. “You skate like that every day?” I asked.

He shrugged. “When I get the chance.”

It was proving to be harder than I expected to get anything useful out of him. Every question I asked slid right off. He answered just enough to be polite and nothing more.

Charlie wasn’t guarded exactly, but there was something odd about him.

So I tried a different angle.

“The boys and I are going to cut school for the rest of the day and head out for a run,” I said casually. “You keen?”

He hesitated as his eyebrow lifted before he dipped his head, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, uh… I didn’t pack my joggers when we moved.”

That made me pause, because I hadn’t meant running like that, and no wolf would get the two confused.

Theo let out an amused laugh as he came up beside me. “Good thing we don’t need shoes to run then, hey.” He nudged Charlie with his elbow.

Charlie just stared at him, clearly unsure whether Theo was joking or not. “You guys run barefoot?”

Theo’s grin faltered as he glanced at me, and I could see the question in his eyes before he mind-linked me.

“This guy is a wolf, right? Yelen swears he can smell it on him.”

I took another slow breath, drawing Charlie’s scent in properly. Lex was confident of the same conclusion, but Charlie wasn’t acting like a wolf.

So I shifted gears again before it got awkward. “How about we just head over to my place instead?” I said. “I’m sure Mum will be cool with us hanging out.”

Charlie seemed to relax a fraction, his shoulders dropping, head nodding. “Yeah. That sounds good.”

So we took Charlie home.

The drive was easy enough, but my thoughts weren’t. I linked Mum and Dad as soon as we pulled out, keeping my focus on the road while Lex paced under my skin.

“We’re on our way back home, with a guest.”

Mum’s response was immediate and slightly scolding.

“You’re skipping half a day of school?”

“Yeah,” I admitted, and then I told her why.

There was a pause. A long one. Long enough that I could picture her standing in the kitchen, arms crossed, thinking it through. When she spoke again, her tone was thoughtful.

“Are you sure he’s a wolf?”

“Certain of it, Mum.”

I mentally rolled my eyes, but I drew in another breath, catching Charlie’s scent. I wasn’t crazy. He was definitely a wolf. He just wasn’t acting like one. I don’t think he even knew what he was, and that made it complicated. Could I ask why my mate’s scent was all over him? Would he know what a mate is? I’d never been in a situation like this. Wolves grew up knowing who they were, what they were, and how things worked.

“Bring him home then, son. We’ll work it out.”

Thank god.

Whatever this was, whatever it meant, it wasn’t something I had to handle alone.

I glanced in the rearview mirror at Charlie, sitting quietly unaware, still smelling faintly of my mate.

Who was he to her?

And what did he think he was?