CHAPTER 17: DANGEROUS PROXIMITY
1762words
The post-game reception was held in the arena's exclusive Diamond Club, a glass-walled space overlooking the ice where VIPs mingled over champagne and canapés. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, I could see the zamboni cleaning our championship victory from the ice.
I wanted to be anywhere else in the world.
"Remember," Noah murmured as we approached the entrance, "stay near the buffet table, keep moving, and if anyone gets too close, spill something on yourself and excuse yourself to clean up."
"What if that doesn't work?"
"Then we implement Plan B."
"What's Plan B?"
"I fake a medical emergency and you help me to the nurse's station."
I stared at Noah. "That's your master plan?"
"You have a better idea?"
Before I could answer, the doors opened and we were swept into the reception with the rest of the team. The room was elegant and crowded, filled with well-dressed adults who looked like they could buy and sell small countries.
"There's our championship team!" A booming voice announced our arrival, and suddenly we were surrounded by congratulations and handshakes.
I kept my head down and my answers short, accepting praise with mumbled thanks while scanning for exit routes. The VIP section crowd was here somewhere, and I needed to know where at all times.
"Impressive game tonight," said a woman in pearls, studying me with sharp eyes. "You're the new player everyone's talking about. Ari Silver, isn't it?"
"Yes, ma'am," I replied, fighting to keep my voice properly deep.
"Remarkable skill for someone so... compact." Her gaze was assessing in a way that made my skin crawl. "You remind me of someone, though I can't place who."
Before I could respond, a familiar voice cut through the chatter like a knife.
"Where's this mystery player I keep hearing about?"
Dominic Blackwood's voice sent ice through my veins. I turned slightly, seeing him making his way through the crowd like a shark through water. People stepped aside automatically, their body language screaming submission to his Alpha presence.
He was even more intimidating up close than I remembered from our brief encounters. Taller than Damon, with the same striking blue eyes but harder features and an aura of controlled power that made the air feel heavy.
"Excuse me," I muttered to the woman in pearls, moving quickly toward the buffet table as planned.
But the room wasn't big enough.
"Damon!" Dominic's voice carried across the space. "Come introduce me to your new teammate. The one with the impressive performance tonight."
My heart hammered as I heard footsteps approaching. I kept my back turned, pretending to be fascinated by the selection of fancy sandwiches.
"Dom, this is Ari Silver," Damon's voice said behind me. "Ari, my brother Dominic."
I had no choice but to turn around.
Time slowed as I faced Dominic Blackwood for the second time in my life. His pale eyes studied me with the intensity of a predator evaluating prey. I forced myself to meet his gaze steadily, though every instinct screamed at me to run.
"Pleasure to meet you," I said, extending my hand and praying my voice sounded masculine enough.
Dominic's handshake was firm, lasting just a beat too long. His nostrils flared almost imperceptibly, and I saw the slight narrowing of his eyes that meant he was processing scents.
"Silver," he said thoughtfully. "Unusual name for the Western territories. Most packs out there use geographical surnames."
"My family's diplomatic," I replied, sticking to the script. "We've moved around a lot."
"Interesting." His gaze never wavered. "And your parents? Which pack do they currently serve?"
The questions were casual, but I could feel the trap being set. "The Riverbend Coalition. Small alliance of mountain packs. Very... remote."
"How remote?" The voice came from behind Dominic, and my blood turned to absolute ice.
Vanessa stepped into view, resplendent in a cream-colored cocktail dress that probably cost more than most people's cars. Her perfectly styled blonde hair caught the light as she tilted her head, studying me with those familiar blue eyes.
"Vanessa," Dominic said. "This is the player I mentioned."
"Yes," she said slowly, her gaze locked on my face. "I can see why you found him... interesting."
Something in her tone made my mouth go dry. Did she recognize me? We'd barely interacted growing up—she was five years older and had always treated me like I was invisible. But blood calls to blood, and sometimes family members could sense each other in ways others couldn't.
"You have very distinctive eyes," she continued conversationally. "That particular shade of blue is quite rare. Almost... aristocratic."
"Thank you," I managed.
"Vanessa has an eye for bloodlines," Dominic added. "She can usually trace someone's heritage just by looking at them."
The trap was closing. I could feel sweat beading under my scent neutralizer, could sense Damon's growing confusion at the tension in the conversation.
"I should—" I started to excuse myself, but Vanessa smoothly stepped closer.
"You know, you remind me of someone," she said, echoing the woman in pearls from earlier. "Someone I knew as a child. A playmate, perhaps? Or maybe..."
She leaned in slightly, and I caught a whiff of her familiar perfume—the same expensive scent she'd worn since we were teenagers.
"Maybe a family member?"
My vision tunneled. She knew. Somehow, impossibly, she'd figured it out.
"Vanessa," Damon said suddenly, stepping partially between us. "You're making him uncomfortable."
"Am I?" She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I was just trying to place that face. You know how it is when something's right on the tip of your tongue?"
"I have one of those faces," I said, my voice barely steady. "People always think they know me from somewhere."
"Mmm." Vanessa's gaze flicked to Damon, then back to me. "Yes, I imagine they do."
The moment stretched like a wire pulled taut. Around us, the reception continued—laughter, conversation, the clink of glasses—but our little group existed in a bubble of tension.
Then Carter appeared at my elbow like a bad omen.
"Sorry to interrupt," he said with false politeness, "but I couldn't help overhearing. You're discussing Silver's... heritage?"
Dominic's attention shifted to Carter, and I saw a flicker of interest. "You know something about his background?"
"I might," Carter said, his smile predatory. "I've been doing some research on our new teammate. Very... thorough research."
My heart stopped. This was it. Whatever Carter had found, whatever proof he'd uncovered, he was about to destroy everything.
"How fascinating," Vanessa murmured. "Please, do share."
But before Carter could speak, the lights flickered and a voice came over the intercom.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we're experiencing a minor electrical issue. For safety reasons, we ask that you please evacuate the Diamond Club in an orderly fashion. The reception will resume in the main lobby once the issue is resolved."
The announcement was perfectly timed, professionally delivered, and completely fake. I caught Noah's eye across the room and saw them pocket something that looked suspiciously like a maintenance key card.
Plan B in action.
In the confusion of the evacuation, I slipped away from Dominic's group and made my way toward the exit. But as I reached the door, a hand caught my arm.
"Ari, wait."
It was Damon. His eyes were dark with confusion and something that might have been hurt.
"What's going on?" he demanded quietly. "The way they were looking at you, the questions they were asking... It's like they think they know you."
"They don't," I said, but my voice cracked on the words.
"Don't lie to me." His grip on my arm tightened. "Not now. Not after everything."
The evacuation crowd pushed around us, but Damon held his ground, creating a pocket of stillness in the chaos.
"There's something you're not telling me," he continued, his voice low and intense. "Something important. And I think... I think it has to do with why you're really here."
I stared up at him, heart breaking at the confusion and hurt in his eyes. How could I explain that everything he thought he knew about me was a lie? That the person he was falling for—because I could see it in his face, could feel it in the mate bond that pulsed between us—didn't even exist?
"Damon," I whispered.
"Tell me," he said, stepping closer. "Whatever it is, just tell me the truth."
People streamed past us toward the exits, but we might as well have been alone in the universe. The moment felt crystalline, fragile, like everything balanced on the edge of my next words.
"I—"
And then, before I could confess or run or do anything rational, Damon's mouth was on mine.
The kiss was desperate, confused, full of questions he couldn't voice and answers I couldn't give. His hands came up to frame my face, thumbs stroking along my cheekbones as he kissed me like I might disappear if he let go.
I should have pulled away. Should have remembered where we were, who might see, how impossible this all was.
Instead, I kissed him back.
The mate bond exploded between us, flooding my system with warmth and rightness and a deep sense of coming home. This was what I'd been denying myself, what I'd been running from. This perfect, impossible connection that transcended everything else.
When we finally broke apart, we were both breathing hard. Damon's eyes were wide with shock and something that looked like wonder.
"What the hell was that?" he whispered.
"I don't know," I admitted, which was both true and completely false.
"I'm not... I don't usually..." He ran a hand through his hair, looking completely lost. "Ari, I think I'm losing my mind."
"You're not," I said, reaching up to touch his face. "You're really not."
"SILVER!"
Carter's voice cut through our moment like a blade. He stood in the doorway, his expression triumphant and cruel.
"There you are. Come on, Dominic wants to continue our conversation. I have so much to tell him about your... family history."
Damon's hand found mine, squeezing gently. "Whatever this is about, we'll figure it out. Together."
I wanted to believe him. Wanted to think that love could conquer political alliances and family loyalties and the web of lies I'd built around myself.
But as I looked at Carter's victorious smile and thought about what Dominic would do when he learned the truth, I knew that some problems were too big for love to solve.
Some problems required running.
The question was: would Damon run with me, or would he let family loyalty keep him behind?
