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. Joey 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 dash in time with the radio. We had hockey practice before lunch. That alone would have been enough to put me in a good mood.

The rink was cold and loud in the way it always is. Coach Donaven barked orders while we laced up. 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 wrong and familiar all at once. Lex lifted his head inside me, alert. I scanned the rink without slowing, eyes flicking to the benches, the open door, the group of guys standing just off the ice. One of them stood out immediately. He was tall with broad shoulders and old skates laced tight, but no stick in his hands. The scent of my mate was clinging to him, along with his own scent. He was definitely a wolf, which was odd because we didn’t get any notice of new wolves moving to town. All wolves know instinctively when they enter a pack’s territory, and they know the customs that come with being in another territory.

 At first, Lex bristled. A low warning rumble, I had to push down, but there was no challenge coming from the guy. Either way, he knew my mate. 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. He still moved like he trusted them, and that told me enough. I skated to the bench, grabbed my old one from the rack, and slid it across the ice to him. It spun once before he caught it clean. “Name’s Blake,” I said as we lined up for the next drill. “What’s yours?”

“Charlie,” he said. “I just moved here and 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. Full ice, no easing into it. 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 and tight coverage, but he absorbed it and adjusted. He shifted his weight and slipped past me on the next play with a quick cut that made Joey curse out loud. By the end of it, my lungs burned, and my grin felt impossible to hide. Coach looked impressed despite himself. “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. Theo let out an amused laugh. “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. I could see the question in his eyes before he mind-linked me. This guy is a wolf, right? Yelen had sworn he could smell one. I took another slow breath, drawing Charlie’s scent in properly. Lex stirred immediately, confident of the same conclusion, but Charlie wasn’t acting like a wolf. 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 relaxed a fraction, 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. You’re skipping half a day of school?

Yeah, I admitted. 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 had shifted. Are you sure he’s a wolf?

Certain of it, Mum. I drew in another breath, catching Charlie’s scent. He just isn’t acting like one. I don’t think he even knows what he is, and that makes it complicated. I don’t know if I can just ask why my mate’s scent is all over him. There was another pause of silence before she said more softly and carefully. 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. Yeah, I thought. We would work it out.