On Thin Ice (Loving the Pack Book 1), page 1
On Thin Ice- final
Kat Obie
Contents
1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9
10. Chapter 10
11. Chapter 11
12. Chapter 12
13. Chapter 13
14. Chapter 14
15. Chapter 15
16. Chapter 16
17. Chapter 17
18. Chapter 18
19. Chapter 20
20. Chapter 21
21. Chapter 22
22. Chapter 23
23. Chapter 24
24. Chapter 25
25. Chapter 26
26. Chapter 27
27. Chapter 28
28. Chapter 29
29. Chapter 30
30. Chapter 31
31. Chapter 32
32. Chapter 33
33. Chapter 34
34. Chapter 35
35. Chapter 36
36. Chapter 37
37. Chapter 38
38. Chapter 39
39. Chapter 40
40. Chapter 41
41. Chapter 42
42. Chapter 43
43. Chapter 44
44. Epilogue
45. What’s Next
46. Also by Kat Obie
47. Also by Kat Obie
48. Copyright
Chapter 1
Kennedi
After swim practice, I was famished. I went straight to the kitchen to make one of my favorite post-workout meals, a poke bowl with plenty of salmon. I was assembling my bowl when I saw him.
Jayden Smith. He was spread out with his long legs hanging over the arms of the easy chair, scrolling on his phone.
Damn, he has gotten handsome since I last saw him. When he looked up, I saw his eyes. They were so silver. I've seen a lot of silver and gray eyes around here, but his were brighter and almost mischievous.
Now I regretted just throwing my hair back into a swimmer's bun. At least I had put on some makeup, so it wasn't completely mortifying.
He smiled and said, "That smells good. What are you making, Kennedi?"
"It's a poke bowl." I looked down at the rice, veggies, and fish. I hadn’t added the sauce to it, so there wasn’t much smell to it yet. "Do you want one?"
I don't know why I suggested that, but I did. Jayden immediately popped up and came towards the island. "Sure."
I went to the cupboard and pulled out another bowl. It was weird to make one with prying eyes watching. Hell, it was weird to just be seeing him again ten years after his family moved away. Trying to remember my manners, I asked, "How was the flight in?"
"Long," he said tersely. He reached for the bowl as soon as I poured the sauce over it. "Thanks."
I led the way to the kitchen table and collapsed into my usual chair, the one closest to the island. He followed me over and sat in my dad's normal chair. Which made me wonder where dad was. He was usually around anytime a boy was over. Dad had a thing about not letting either of his girls get taken advantage of.
Then again, it was a little different with Jayden. We used to spend the night at his house at least once a month. It only made sense that when he got invited to the rookie camp, my dad would insist on him coming here.
I stuffed my face with as much food as I could scoop into my mouth using chopsticks. It wasn't the most ladylike thing in the world, but I was starving. Halfway through my bowl, I realized Jayden looked confused, staring at the chopsticks. I stuck the two bamboo sticks into the rice and asked, "Is everything okay?"
He shot me that shy smile. The one he had whenever he was afraid to say something or fess up to something. "I've only ever had the training chopsticks."
I wanted to laugh, but that would be unkind. My family ate a lot of sushi, but not every family did. "Want me to teach you?"
He nodded.
"You want to hold it like a pen." I showed him as I grabbed one chopstick. He followed suit, although he didn't tuck his middle finger under, so I said, "You're going to want to support the chopstick some. This is the only thing you really move. Just go up and down."
I demonstrated it a few times. He did the same thing as me, and he seemed to get it after a couple of attempts. Then I put down my chopstick and grabbed the other one. "So this one just rests in the middle of the thumb. You don't move it." He nodded, so I put down one chopstick. I had a hard time setting myself up to eat with chopsticks without grabbing both at the same time. "See, it's not that hard."
He nodded and tried to pick up some of the fish. It was cute how much attention he was paying to me. After that initial success, he ate with gusto, to where the food was nearly gone in just a few seconds. It was amazing how he went from not knowing how to use the chopsticks to basically cleaning out the bowl.
The tranquility was broken when dad came through the garage door and said, "What do we have here?"
I wanted to roll my eyes. Dad tried to be all smooth and slick, but it was clear that he was checking up on us. Instead, I just looked down at my food, trying to forget that my dad had just totally busted a sweet moment with a cute boy.
Jayden lifted the chopsticks and snapped at the air for some imaginary pieces of fish. "Kennedi was helping me finally learn how to use these things without training wheels."
Jayden's reaction made me giggle. He seemed so proud that he could actually get the hang of chopsticks and was completely oblivious to my dad's actual motives for checking in.
"Well, you guys better eat up. It's getting late, and we have the full moon to contend with. I need to get Jayden over to his friend’s."
My dad never talked about the full moon while in mixed company. It was the ultimate taboo in our family, although all four of us were shifters. I looked over at Jayden, and my eyes went wide as I realized the subtle, wild scent coming off him. "Fuck, you're like us."
That got my dad laughing. "No, my dear, he's not like us."
I wanted to yell at them. I hated being left out of the loop. What was I missing?
Jayden seemed to realize that I needed to know. Without looking at me, he said in a quiet voice, "I'm a werewolf."
Chapter 2
Jayden
It was one of the first times I'd told anyone that I was a werewolf, and it was oddly freeing. Sure, my parents knew, but that was about it. Not even my brother knew about the whole werewolf thing. My dad made it really clear: I couldn't tell anyone. Even my Uncle Smithy didn't know about the family secret, though I was pretty sure that he had an inkling. But he wouldn't say anything.
Even if my dad didn't warn me, you could smell that Delaney was a sea shifter, and I got the same scent from Kennedi. It came off of them plain as day. I couldn't tell what type of sea shifter, but my dad warned me never to ask Delaney what they shifted into unless I wanted to start a challenge with a powerful alpha. I hated the idea of challenging anyone.
From the moment that Kennedi came home, I was drawn to her. Everything about her was enticing. It was heaven having some alone time with her when she made me dinner and even taught me how to use chopsticks properly.
It was nice how she didn't make fun of me for not knowing how to use the chopsticks. Instead, she kept it so simple. Plus, learning from her was the perfect way to spend time with her without being a creeper. It seemed so easy to reconnect with her again.
When I first landed in Minneapolis, I couldn't wait to meet the other werewolves. Now that it was time for me to go to the pack, I didn't want to leave Kennedi's side.
I couldn't ignore the full moon. It would be good to figure out the best places to run and whether I could fit in with the American pack. While I tried to temper my expectations, I wanted to fit in with the werewolves here, so they liked me when I got to play with the Wild. I still hoped to play in the NHL in a couple of years.
My ultimate goal was to get a spot on a team. Still, as much as I wanted to make a spot on the Wild, and even though I was at their rookie camp, that was a crazy dream.
They invited me to camp as a favor to my dad, the guy who helped them win their first and only Stanley Cup. But it was a great way to get reintroduced to the hockey world now that I got the whole shifting thing under control. This was the perfect venue to show off my new skills: my stronger shot and playing defense. This was my chance to find a major junior team or even get a spot on the Wild's AHL team.
I devoured the poke bowl. It was delicious. I didn't generally like a lot of raw seafood, but it was so tasty. It wasn't as good as a raw steak, but it appealed to my wolf, regardless.
I even took Kennedi's empty bowl to the sink to wash it. I couldn't cook for the life of me, but I could at least clean up. Plus, it allowed me to get dangerously close to her, and man, did I want to claim her and date her. Her blood was calling to me.
"Don't worry about those until the morning. It's time to get going," Delaney said as he grabbed the keys. I followed him to the garage and hopped into the passenger seat of the SUV. Delaney didn't waste any time getting the car in motion.
As we waited for the gate to open for the community, Delaney turned toward me with an intense, threatening look. "I'm going to tell you this once and only once. Kennedi is off-limits."
Fuck. I should have known that was coming. Delaney wasn't technically a coach, but he was assisting w
I had never had an issue when someone was off-limits. But this time, it was so much harder. I wanted Kennedi so badly. Everything about her was sweet and enticing.
“You have nothing to worry about. She’s like a sister to me.” I hoped that was convincing. Sadly, before today, that wouldn’t have been a lie. I remembered Kennedi from when we were kids and how often our families would look out for each other.
"You're a shit liar." Delaney burst out with a laugh. He took one hand off the steering wheel and pointed a finger at me. "Tamp it down, now. You can have any other girl. Just not my daughter. I don't fucking care if you think she's your mate."
My eyes went wide. The word mate shouldn't be tossed about lightly, but at the same time, it made me wonder. I was definitely drawn to her the way that dad described. Her blood was begging me to make a claim. That was always an enormous sign. The other was getting jealous at even the idea of them dating someone else.
The more I thought about it, the more I hated the idea of Kennedi dating someone else.
Delaney was an alpha and powerful one. I should have listened to his orders, but it was Kennedi. My heart wanted to at least see what was there with her. Which was crazy since I should have been thinking about making my mark during rookie week. Not a girl. Especially not a girl that I was forbidden to date.
Yet here I was. Willing to throw away everything just to explore my feelings.
Chapter 3
Kennedi
Watching Jayden leave was disappointing. I wanted to ask him so many more questions about the werewolf thing, but before I could, dad had already dragged him away. I just hoped that dad wasn't going to interfere with anything.
Since I was alone and had plenty of time, I washed the bowls left in the sink by Jayden. As I was washing up, mom came in and asked, "Where's your dad?"
Of course, mom wanted to know where dad was. Those two were seriously in love with each other.
It seemed weird that my parents and several of their hockey friends had all found their mates. Many of my friends didn't get to see their parents so madly in love, so I never took it for granted. If my dad could find a mate, even with his being a bit of a prickly pear, I could find a mate one day. That was if my dad ever stopped scaring all the guys away.
"Probably giving Jayden the riot act as he takes him to wherever werewolves spend their full moon." I wanted to flick my hands, but it would have gotten soap everywhere, and my mom wouldn't be amused. Then again, anything negative I said about dad already fell on deaf ears.
"I'm sure it's not that bad," mom said. It was so predictable for her to say that. Mom came up to me and bumped my hips. "You know he means well, and he just doesn't want to see you heartbroken."
"Well, I can't get my heart broken if he won't even let guys talk to me." I rolled my eyes as I thought back to earlier. "Literally, Jayden and I were just hanging out. I taught the guy how to use chopsticks. Dad walks in and goes, 'We need to get going since it's the full moon. '"
That's when I realized my mom didn't seem phased at all by the news that Jayden was a shifter. It seemed like I was the only one who wasn't aware of that happening.
"Sweetie. Relax. It's probably nothing." She looked down at her watch and said, "It's pretty late for him to be out. You know he doesn't like to have any close calls with the full moon."
It was frustrating to be so completely dismissed. I went upstairs to get comfortable before I lost control of my body, and I was drawn to the bathroom I would share with Jayden for at least the next week.
Tomorrow was a big day for Jayden since it would be his first day at the rookie camp after the full moon.
I had no idea if he planned to come back to the house before heading to the rink. But if he didn't, it would still be nice to leave him a brief note for later, even if he saw it a couple days later.
I grabbed the awful maroon lipstick I picked up, thinking it would be cool to do a dark lip, but it just failed to work with my skin. I scribbled:
You're going to do great out there. Be one with the puck or whatever you need to tell yourself. Just know I have faith in you.
It was way harder to write neatly with the lipstick than I thought it would be, and the message covered the entire mirror. It was still legible, which was the important part. The plan was to go straight to swim practice in the morning after a change of clothes. Not like I'd be trying to look cute before practice.
I just hoped that Jayden would like the message. It was more personal than a text. Plus, there was no way my dad would sneak into the bathroom. It could be a way to cheer on Jayden without my dad getting all weirdly protective.
I felt the pull of the full moon approaching. I headed to the basement since I needed easy access to the pool.
While my parents could use the slides built along the stairs to get into the basement, I couldn't.
True mates would actually transform into the size of a normal sea otter, while those who were unmated had a much more difficult transformation process and were the same size and weight as their human form.
Seeing the ease and how cute my parents were together during the full moon made me want a mate. That was why I got so annoyed that my dad wouldn't even give me a chance to find one.
Chapter 4
Jayden
Getting out of the car, I immediately saw another one of my dad's old friends, Kirby Blades. Kirby was the second in command of the pack. Which still seemed kind of crazy since I remembered him as a babysitter and someone who hung out with my dad.
He was always the fun uncle when Delaney was, well… Delaney. Delaney was always a little rough around the edges, but he was a straight shooter who would help you out.
Almost immediately, Kirby came up to give me a hug.
Thoughts of Kennedi and how Delaney might be right about her being my mate consumed me. Yet he had banned her from me.
When I didn't immediately return the hug, Kirby said, "Uh oh, seems like we need to have a chat."
He led the way into the woods, presumably for some privacy since we didn't head towards the rest of the pack. I followed. He had that same aura of authority as Delaney, but I felt like I had to obey him a hell of a lot more. It must have been because he was a werewolf. Although it could be because I liked Kirby more. He always reminded me of my uncle Smithy. He was so easygoing and just wanted to make sure people were doing okay.
As we got further away from the pack, the moonlight did its thing to me.
I dropped to all fours and wretched. The pain was killer. I tried to let myself go and not care about the snapping and the cracking of the bones.
I closed my eyes and tried to center my breath. Just shake it off. That's what I told myself, and things got easier.
Before I knew it, I shook out the fur, and I opened my eyes to a world of black and white. I'd gotten used to it, but I always missed color when I was a wolf.
I looked up at Kirby. He was still in human form since he was powerful and had been a shifter longer. He would have to turn into a wolf soon enough, but not until it was completely dark.
I hated how I couldn't hold my form a little longer like Kirby. But that was something that came with power and time. At least he didn't chastise me for becoming a wolf with the first bit of moonlight.
I tucked my tail in submission. Kirby knelt down and leaned his head towards mine. "Do you want me to shift now so we can get to someplace where it's not so open, or do you want to talk now?"
Kirby wouldn't let me avoid the conversation, but he was willing to make it as comfortable as possible. "Privacy would be nice."
I respected him for catching onto the fact that I wasn't my normal self and wanting to find out what was going through my head. It was why he and Paddy had remained in power with zero challenges.
Kirby nodded and shifted into a wolf, too. His shift seemed quicker and easier than mine. But dad had mentioned something about how Kirby's bloodline allowed for easier shifts. Once Kirby shook out his fur, he used his muzzle to indicate where we needed to go.
I trotted behind him, and the howls of other wolves grew more distant. We were going in the opposite direction from them.
