15. Fifteen - Rebel

fifteen - rebel

. . .

It takes about thirty five minutes to find all of the cameras hidden in my room. If I hadn't been clued in, I wouldn't have known they existed. Makes me wonder just how many times he's planted cameras in someone's room. Well… that ends with me.

If Tate Geekies, don't even get me started on that name - I know - thinks I'll just lay down and roll over, then he's in for a rude awakening. You don't take away my right to choose a mate and expect me to just take it since I'm an omega.

"Hey, Nova!" I shout across the hall at her.

She dips her head out of her room, and we meet in the hall. "Yeah, what's up?"

"We're going out tonight. I need to get out of here and just enjoy time with my bestie." I use that pout face to my advantage.

There's an initial hesitance, but she doesn't do or say anything other than just yes. Maybe she knows I just need this tonight, no questions asked.

She stands with her arms crossed, her foot tapping lightly against the hardwood. "Yes, but… I need you to pose for me."

My brows furrow. "Pose for what?"

She shrugs nonchalantly. "My photography class. The professor asked us to work on our silhouette stories. Which is basically photographing backlit subjects to look at contrast or something like that."

Right, I keep forgetting that Nova picked up some extra classes in the afternoons this semester. I couldn't tell you what the exact title is she's going for, but it's photography and arts related. I'm proud of her. Maybe now that I'm free of Brad, I'll go back to school.

Hmm . Hope flits through her eyes. "Sure, drinks will give me some liquid courage."

"It's not like I'm planning to upload them for the world to see or anything. It'll just be my class."

"Nova, girl." I reach out to grab her hand and giggle. "Chill, I'm cool with it."

Her smile spreads those perfect lips of hers. "Really? You're the freaking best, Rebel."

My eyes find the box full of electronic equipment on my bed where it's been lying since I deposited the last camera in it. "Yep, there are a couple of places I need to run before all that happens."

She leans past me, following my line of vision. "Are we making a little detour to the arena?"

"Absolutely." I grin back at her.

We take Nova's car to Ozark Arena. The guys should be in practice right now, so I'm planning on just leaving a little gift for my mate . My stupid heart bleeps out what seems like a sigh, and I have to just calm down. We're going to take care of this… somehow…

She slows as the front doors to the arena come into view and pulls into the first spot before putting the car into park.

A steady breeze whips through my hair as I get out of the car, and I have to blow it out of my mouth. I close my door and try to open the back one. "Hey, Nov. Can you unlock the back door for me?"]

"Sure thing." She looks over and hits the button on her keys, releasing the door.

The parking lot looks grave; a desolate swelling today like an afternoon funeral procession. Material dips and sways with the small breeze swimming around us. I'm assuming they're just tiny pieces of trash from the games this past weekend. The empty lot is not surprising given that it's not a game day.

After grabbing my stuff from the back seat, we head toward the arena. Nova buzzes herself in with her badge, and we make the long trek down the hallway.

"Hey, Nova. Didn't expect to see you here today. Ya forget something on Saturday night?" A lean man steps through a doorway and into the hall with us. His voice is low and deep like he could really growl you into a coma but also not.

He's not an alpha. The pheromones are not strong enough if he is, plus, he's on the shorter, scrawnier side of what an alpha should look like. Not that I'd complain. I've been given no reason to judge him.

"Oh…" His eyes dip to me. "Who's your friend?"

"Hey, Tommy Boy. Just wanted to stop by and drop off a few things." I can almost see hurt in his deep gray eyes. Is his name not Tommy Boy or does he just not like being called that? It's one of the two, but I can't figure it out. I wonder what his story is…

She reaches out and pats him on the arm. "This is Tommy, he's the equipment manager for the Hellbenders."

I smile politely. "Nice to meet you…" I shuffle the box holding the cameras in my arms and lift my hand for him to shake, but he looks at it as if it's a poisonous snake that may latch onto his arm at any second. "My apologies for having to put up with those guys." Nodding towards the arena, he seems to catch my drift as I chuckle.

Rubbing a hand on the back of his neck, a grin threads out between his lips. "Yeah, a bit of a mess most of the time, but they're good guys. They invite me out to hang even though I'm not one of them, ya? Like… I'm included and not just the equipment manager."

His words sound harsh, but I understand the look from earlier now. Tommy Boy or Thomas, whatever his true name is, wants to be known as more than just the equipment manager for the Columbus Hellbenders. I get it, boy, do I understand the desire to not be hidden in the shadows. Whether it be because of the family name or your designation in life. I'd been a simple shadow in a corner since I was born, first neglected by my mother, the one person I should've been able to count on, and then unwanted by all my parent's friends and family who took on the care of my siblings but couldn't be bothered with me.

Or take Brad, for instance… he thought an omega was below both an alpha and a beta. We were slaves who should just be willing to sit back and deal with the card life's dealt us.

Well, fuck that shit right off a ruddy cliff.

I may be an omega.

I may be happy with my designation.

I will not tolerate assholes, which is why I have to get this locked down with Tate now before it escalates.

I'm going to avoid thinking about how much the thought of disobeying him turns me on. Shifting, I squeeze my thighs together at the mere ache between my legs, reminding me that he could be very useful in helping with this problem. He's not even my fated mate, I chide myself.

What happens now if I find him? My thoughts explode in a kaleidoscope of Drake images. Why does my mind always slip back to him when the word mate comes up? It has to mean something, right?

I sigh softly.

Tate Geekies has me all messed up in the head, and I'm pretty sure he loves it. A small part of me likes it, too. I've never felt this madly wanted, like if he doesn't have me he'll go utterly insane.

As if he just realizes it, Tommy reaches over to try and grab the box from my hands. "Let me carry this for you." He eyes the box of cameras suspiciously but keeps all the comments to himself.

"Thank you, but I'm okay. Just returning these to one Tate Geekies…"

He smiles at the snort Nova doesn't manage to conceal. "Oh… well, Tate's out on the ice practicing right now."

A big smile crosses my lips. "Perfect, then we'll be able to sneak in and sneak out without being seen."

Nova makes an obvious nod, looking down the hall behind me. "Tommy, anyone down in the locker rooms right now?"

He glances down at his watch, then into the room behind him. "Shouldn't be. Unless housecleaning is down there, but I just picked up all the laundry for the week to start on."

We say our goodbyes to Tommy and head down the hall. The brisk feeling of cold from the ice seeps into the pores of the arena's basement area, and a chill scrambles for purchase up my arm.

The door to the locker room barges open, hitting into the wall with one press of Nova's hand. The thunk seems loud in the almost too quiet space. The locker room is everything I imagined it would be. There's a musky odor hanging in the air like an amalgamation of dirty socks, grungy pads, and ball sweat. Yet, there's also a light lingering scent of where someone may have potentially tried to just bathe in cologne versus showering earlier.

I cringe at the thought. Guys used to do that in school and always thought we didn't know they stink, hiding behind the fake facade of spray.

In the narrow, locker-lined room, there really isn't much to see besides the blue tile leading into where I'm assuming the showers are located. Wheeled baskets sit around the room for soiled laundry items. A few lockers hang open where someone carelessly forgot to close them. Uniforms are hung from cubbies in no particular manner. Some hang nicely and others look like they've had much better days.

It's surprisingly clean for a bunch of adult alpha males.

My eyes trace over the name tags on the cubbies - Sanders, Ellis, Morgan, Vlasik, and then Geekies. I'm walking towards them before stopping and lifting my hand at his cubby to run my fingers over the raised print of his name and number.

Why doesn't this feel wrong? Why doesn't it feel like my world is ending? There's gotta be something here, right? I don't plan on having any Stockholm Syndrome – went and fell in love with my captor type of omega – anytime soon.

I let the name Vlasik slip from my lips. Why does that name sound so familiar? I can't place it, and now it will bother me for the remainder of the day. Cause that's just how life tends to pan out these days.

Shouts and voices hit our ears coming down the hall. "We need to get a move on, Rebel, because I promise, you may want to see those alpha cocks, but you will not live it down. And I'm fairly positive your mate would have something to say about you seeing his teammates cocks."

I laugh, and then slap my hand over my mouth, eyes bouncing wide before wiggling indecently. "Don't tempt me with such glorious ideas. You know I have no self control sometimes."

"Babe, I'm not sure Tate is someone you can just mess with and not expect consequences from… I've heard the water cooler talk about him and, yeah . Let's just say he's more bite than bark, if you catch my drift..

"Real comforting, Nova." I roll my eyes.

"Come on, we gotta go," she insists again as the voices trail even louder and closer. I drop the box of cameras in Tate's cubby and attach the cute note I wrote before leaving the house. He'll know exactly who left these here.

A smile broadens my face as I think about the reaction Tate will have, and it makes me almost wish I could stay to see it, but I need time away from him.

She grabs my hand, and she's pulling me out of the locker room and into an alcove to the left of it. We're secluded just in time to watch as three massive hockey players head into the locker room, chirping at each other and talking about their plans for later.

"Okay, let's go. Need to run up to the hockey development department. I want you to meet my boss." She smiles, and then turns to leave.

"Nova!" I whisper-shout at her, but she doesn't seem to listen. It's not because she can't hear me. Kid has ears like a bat. Nerves strike up a chorus in my veins and blood starts to pump along with the beat. I'm running my hands through my hair, nervously trying to make sure it's presentable. Nova knows I hate surprises. But she also knows that if she didn't take me while I was here, the chance I'd come back on my own is slim.

I'm chasing after her, our feet sounding like a scream in the middle of the night.

"Nova! I'm not dressed to meet anyone. What are you trying to pull?" I admonish her, but my tone comes out scattered.

"I'm getting you a job. They have an opening, I vouched for you, and so did Gunnar… and Tate, about giving you the chance to audition for it."

I stop and peer intently at her. "Wait, I have to audit… Tate? Why is Tate trying to get me a job?" How does he know I don't have one?"

She gives me a coy grin. "Gunnar may have gotten some confidential information out of me last night when he was charming me with his bedazzled dick."

My eyes widened. "Seriously? A bedazzled dick?"

She grins widely. "From what I hear, several of the alphas on the team have their own shiny peens. You've seen Tate's… tell me, does he have one, too?"

Before I can conceal my answer, she reads it plain as day across my face. "Oh, my god. He does. Your mate has a bedazzled peen."

"Nova… keep your voice down," I scold her, looking around to make sure no one is listening in on our not work appropriate conversation.

"Rebel… babe… chill out." It escapes my notice that we're on the third level by the time we are walking through the glass doors to the developmental office. "I bet it was one of those weird initiation things or maybe it was a bet? He didn't divulge all the details… or maybe he did and I just wasn't paying attention?"

"So, you were dick drunk?"

She giggles, not even having the slightest desire to look ashamed. "Something like that."

The sound of her hand on the door is loud as she knocks. "Come in." An older woman's voice comes from inside the office.

"Ready?" Nova smiles at me, trying her best to boost my confidence.

I scoff. "Could've been more ready…"

"Oh, come on. You'll do great." The door creaks open as she pushes it inward, entering the office.

She stands briefly, proving good manners were drilled into her at some point. I know that all too well. "Good, Nova, please come in. Is this the friend I was speaking with you about yesterday?"

My eyes widen as I look at Nova. Seriously, girl , is the statement I'm trying to convey with a lift of my brows.

I enter the spacious office before me and plaster a fake smile to my face. Behind her wooden-top desk, the woman sits in a leather chair. She's wearing a casual outfit of a blush blouse under a silk sage scarf, paired with a pair of dark wash blue jeans. I can't see her shoes from where I'm standing, but I imagine they're also the casual route.

"Come, come. Sit, please." Her smile is pleasant. Her long ebony hair hangs in curls, shaping her face, and if I had to guess, she's probably in her late thirties or early forties. Egg shell blue glasses with diamonds shade brown eyes lined with bits of gold flecks.

Her nails are painted in the same light pink blush color as her blouse, and it makes me wonder if her toenails are the same color.

"Yes, Ms. Peppertree, this is my roommate and best friend, Rebel Davis. She's proficient in skating, knows some of the members already, and I think she'd make a great fit for the crew."

My eyebrows squish together, and my eyes form what I can only imagine look like deep blue slits. This is so bizarre. What the hell is going on here?

The crew? Wait, doesn't the crew only hire new ice help in the summers? Like… there's a big audition and shit, no? My eyes ping pong between the two of them as they chat like I'm not in the room.

"Well, Rebel. It's nice to meet you." She stands, a hand outstretched to shake mine.

"You as well, but… isn't it too late to be looking for ice crew members? If I recall correctly, auditions happen in the summertime before the pre-season games start, no?"

Her smile brightens. "So, you do know a little about the job. I was beginning to worry that Nova here was BS-ing me, saying you knew what we do."

I chuckle. "I've been with this one for years. I'm used to her antics by now." It's true. My best friend may be the biggest weirdo I've ever met, but dammit, she's my weirdo, and people can fight me if they disagree.

"Let's have a look at you." She gestures for me to stand up, and I spin on command like a puppet trying to get picked for the pageant. All those terrible beauty pageant competitions from when I was younger flood my mind, and I can't manage to stop the cringe that slips out. Back when my parents still liked me. Back when we were still a family and not the misfit island of toys we'd been at the very end.

"You certainly are gorgeous. Now, if you can skate as well as Nova says, I'm sure you'll be perfect. Those boys certainly like eye candy. It's the whole look, but don't touch, thing, I think. They always seem to want what they can't have."

I frown at her comment. "What do you mean by that?"

"On page four in the contract you'll sign, there's a no fraternization clause. Now, if something happens. Say you find your mate on the team, we obviously can't stop fate like that, but we would ask you to keep your affairs… how do we say this… private? Will that be a problem?"

"Um, no. I don't think so." It's clear as day now. This is Nova trying to protect me. Unless I willingly admit that Tate Geekies is my mate, then he'll need to stay away from me. The situation is priceless, and I couldn't have come up with a better strategy myself. Let's see how Tate acts when he doesn't have access to his toy. The sick part of me cheers at the idea.

My masterful brain loves the idea of him being jealous over me or him having threatening thoughts about others over me. Jealousy and possessiveness never seemed to fit what I was looking for in an alpha, but with him, it's just so very right. He's so sexy when he brings out that disapproving scowl, and can you even imagine what would happen if I decided to wear someone else's jersey and he couldn't do shit about it?

The smile on my face just keeps getting wider with each thought that passes through my mind. "Rebel, honey? You okay?" Oh, dear lord, they probably think I'm psychotic sitting here thinking about Tate. What can I say, he brings out the psycho in me…

"Yep, I'm perfect, and I do think this will be a great opportunity for me. Plus, I get to hang out with my bestie. Can't really complain."

"Now, you won't be getting paid a ton of money. You'll probably still want another job on the side, but it pays something, and I'd like to think our crew enjoys what they do at home games just as much as everyone else here does."

The desire to ask what the going salary for an ice crew member is burns in my gut, but I don't want to bother her with that useless question when I can just demand answers from Nova later.

"All right then, shall we start the audition?"

"Sure…" I bite my lip. "I don't have my skates on me, though. Didn't exactly plan on getting a job while I was here."

Ms. Peppertree casually laughs as she gets up from her chair, pulls a file folder from her desk, and then guides us back to the hallway.

When we get down to rink level, Ms. Peppertree manages to get me hooked up with a pair of hockey skates to use for the audition. She turns to me as we're walking out to the ice. "I just realized I never really answered your question as to why I'm looking for someone now instead of waiting until next season."

I keep one eye on the path before me as I nod my head in agreement. "Yeah."

"Well, one of our girls, Tracy, bless her sweet soul, is out for maternity leave and given the papa bear antics of her hubby on the team, they decided that this year maybe wasn't the best idea. It's a liability if she slips and falls on the ice and something happens to her or that sweet little baby."

"Does it matter that I'm an omega? I'm sure Nova told you already."

"No, we don't discriminate here like some places. We strongly believe in the ‘hockey is for everyone' vibe. We accept anyone who wants to join; alphas, betas, deltas, gammas, omegas."

She pauses. "Now, obviously, there are certain stipulations; like we prefer you be on suppressants during the season. We don't need an omega heat causing a rut in all of our alphas. We know heats can't really be helped. Sometimes, they happen at the most inconvenient times during the season. The coaches do tend to work around that stuff. Most of them have family, too, and understand the anger issues and animalistic drive behind an alpha who has an omega in heat at home."

I nod along. All too well, unfortunately. I can't tell you how many times I almost lost a door during a heat when an alpha was in the same house. It's why I started going to the heat club for help with my heats once I was of age to go by myself. Luckily, it was only a couple of times before I met Derrick, Brad's alpha friend.

I wouldn't say we were ever into each other in that way, but he had the parts to satisfy the wanton omega inside of me and make the pain go away.

She clears her throat, shifting on her feet as she grabs for my attention once more. "I'm not sure if you know this or not, but last year was the first time the team even allowed a beta to join. Leon's good. He picks up things quickly, knows how to move his feet, is good with stick handling… And now I sound like a coach." She huffs and we both laugh.

"All right. I'll give you some time to practice and get comfortable, and then we'll begin. I'm thinking about the basics - power skating, backward skating, flags, and ice scraping - because if you can't do those, then we should stop right now."

"Understandable." As offered, she gives me time to collect my thoughts and get warmed up. I feel eyes upon me, but when I look around, I don't see anyone other than Nova and Ms. Peppertree.

"Okay, Ms. Peppertree, I think I'm ready now."

"Ohh, pshhhh… please, call me Penelope. That miss stuff is entirely too formal for my taste." Thank God.

We take the next hour and a half going over everything she's asked of me. Halfway through, I noticed a figure in my peripheral vision, watching. I can't look over directly, but the hair standing on the back of my neck and the tingle of my mate marking tells me it may be Tate. It wouldn't be anyone else, right? No, he wouldn't be able to get in here. My heart speeds up with the threat of a new confrontation.

Why is he still here? Practice finished a while ago.

When we reach a stopping point, I turn to find the spot empty. Was it just my imagination? My subconscious just reminding me that I'm forever linked to him now?

I shake it off. I'm so fucked. He's already pulling me under the riptide with no regrets, and I may be the happiest drowner ever.