1. Bryce Maxwell

1

Bryce Maxwell

“ B ryce, will you be returning to the ice soon?”

“Paxton said that you will be retiring at the end of the year. Is that true?”

“Mr. Maxwell. Do you have any comments regarding the rumors that Jensen Diggs made regarding your future with the Crows?”

Keep your head down, and walk ahead. You don’t want to give them an opening.

The telepathic message from my bodyguard, Bruno, had me picking up my pace.

The reporters had been camped out in front of the hospital all week. They were hungry for any bit of news they could snag about me and my ability to continue in the hockey world.

Reaching the limo, relief washed over me at escaping the press. They had been hounding me all week since my last game in Chicago.

My other bodyguard, Hector, opened the door to the back seat so I could easily slip inside while he and Bruno protected me from the bloodthirsty paparazzi.

“Bryce, is it true that last week’s game will be your last ever?”

Ignore them, Bruno reminded me as the car door clicked closed behind us.

“Bryce, is it true that your relationship with Timothy Nichols was a publicity stunt?”

Idiots, Hector growled into my mind. You haven’t been with Timothy for months; it was one date.

They are just doing their job. I knew what I was signing up for. I kept my gaze down on the floor as the limo started up and pulled away from the crowd. More questions were shouted at me, but now that we were safely enclosed in the limo, it was more like an annoying hum I could block out.

“It still doesn’t mean they have the right to ask the same ignorant questions fifty times whenever they see you.” Hector switched to his outward voice instead of keeping the mental link going. “I swear, how often do they need to ask you about your romantic entanglements before they realize they won’t get an answer?”

“They’re hoping that one day, someone will slip and spill all the deep dark secrets. The public devours that shit in a frenzy; you can’t really blame the reporters for asking the questions the fans are dying for answers to.” Bruno handed me a bottle of ice-cold water from the refrigeration unit beside him.

“Sure, I can.” Hector tossed a bag of trail mix from the snack cabinet into my lap. “Eat that and hydrate yourself. Your wolf wants meat, but we have to get out of this city before we can stop somewhere and get him a steak. That mix will have to tide him over.”

“This is perfect.” I filled my mouth with a handful of the salty-sweet goodness and groaned. It had been forever since I ate something, even though it had only been a couple of hours. The healing my body was attempting was draining my energy. It would take a few more weeks to get full mobility once again.

“Have you and Alex spoken about your next steps?” Bruno knew my manager would have been hounding me for my decision. I had a lot to decide, some of which would affect everyone who worked for me.

“I’m still going over my options. We both agree that I shouldn’t return to the rink as a player, at least not anytime soon. If those scans and medical reports were ever leaked, people would realize how impossible my recovery would have been if I hadn’t been a shifter mixed with a powerful witch bloodline. It would lead to too many conspiracies and drama in the human world.”

“I agree with that.” Hector placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “Maybe you need this small vacation away from everything in Chicago.”

“I agree about the vacation. But are you sure you want to head back to Valleywood?” Bruno took a swig of his water and recapped the bottle. “You don’t have to attend the charity gala this weekend. We can tell Alex to call the organizers and explain the situation.”

I thought about everything in my hometown and everyone out there waiting to see me again after years of being away pursuing my dreams. An invisible string tugged at my chest like it had been doing for the last decade. I was done running from the pull, done chasing fantasies out in the human world and ignoring the true desires of my heart. I was ready to return to the place that made me the shifter I was and to the boy who still held my heart in his.

I stared out the window, the rushing of the street signs and cars reminding me of one of the other reasons I needed this escape. I had almost lost the true nature of myself. “I need to go. I’m being called home.”

***

“Papa, are you home?” I let myself in through the front door of my childhood home after Bruno and Hector dropped me off. They had gotten a room at L’Hotel Valeur and would be sticking around in case their services were needed. I told them to go to the Grand Escape resort since they needed the vacation anyway. But they refused my offer to pay for it, so they went to the Value Hotel instead. I’d give them until tomorrow to find me for directions to the resort. I had a feeling that Valleywood may be where those two needed to be. They had been in the human world for way too long and needed some of this town’s magic.

“Bryce?” My papa ran out of the kitchen and embraced me in a giant hug. “I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow. Are you hungry? I made beef stew. Can I fix you a bowl?”

Chuckling at his excited chatter, I squeezed him tighter. “I’d love a bowl, Papa. I decided to come straight here from the hospital instead of waiting the extra day. Hopefully, that’s no issue.”

Papa swatted my arm as he pulled away from me. “Of course, it’s no trouble. This is your home. Your father is still at work but will be just as happy to see you here.”

“I missed you, Papa.” I followed him into the kitchen and sat down at the table near the bay window overlooking the backyard. “It’s good to be home.”

“It has been too long.” Papa ladled the stew into a large soup bowl.

My mouth watered at the delicious smell of beef and vegetables. “I think I am home to stay this time. This is where I am meant to be now.”

“I always knew you would be back. And if my intuition is correct, there is a certain someone who has been pulling you back here throughout the years, and it isn’t necessarily your father and me. Have you seen him yet?” Papa placed the bowl in front of me and sat in the opposite chair.

“No.” I picked up my spoon and took my first bite. “This is delicious. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. But, tell me, will you call Connor now that you are home?”

I put down my spoon and wiped my mouth with my napkin. Leaning back in the chair, I closed my eyes. Perhaps Papa could help me figure out what to do about Connor. “I’m not sure what to say to him. I’ve thought about him every day since I left, but he has never called me. He told me that staying in contact would be too difficult. What if he’s changed in the time I’ve been gone? What if I am the only one holding on to hope of being something important to one another?”

“Stop thinking of what-ifs and start taking action. You’ll never know if the pull you feel is still real unless you speak with him. I have seen him often over the years, and there is a reason that boy is still single and hardly dates.”

I growled at the idea of Connor dating anyone other than me. He was my omega. The moment I returned to Valleywood, I was here for good and would be making Connor mine. If another man was sniffing around, I would have to prove I was the better match.

Chuckling, Papa patted my hand. “Go find him and make him understand you won’t be leaving this time.”

“You don’t think I’m too late?” I needed some reassurance from the man whose judgment I trusted most.

“You will have some work to do in claiming your omega, but I know my son, and when you decide something is meant to be yours, you don’t give up easily. So, the question is, do you truly believe Connor Hughs is meant to be yours?”

“I think so, Papa. Something is pulling me home, and, when I close my eyes, I only see his face.” And when I dream, it’s of a future with him in my arms and a dozen pups running around our feet. An image of the two of us in our favorite forest, shifting with two pups, formed in my mind, and I want it so badly to become reality.

“Then go tell him that.”