Chapter 55: How many times have you slept with my brother?

​Marina took a slow step toward me.

The warmth of the lasagna between us did nothing to cut the sudden, icy draft of her Alpha aura. She stopped just a foot away, towering over me with that terrifyingly familiar pride, her eyes boring directly into the fabric of my high-collared sweater.

​"Kain," she murmured, her voice dropping into a register meant strictly for my ears. "You know I’ve spent the last ten years helping you guard this line. I faked the reports. I lied to Mom and Dad. I watch your back every single time you step onto that ice because I know what happens if your foot slips."

​She leaned in, her nostrils flaring slightly as she took in the air around my shoulders.

​"But that rookie out there? His scent isn’t just floating in the hallway because he’s been around you. It’s deep in your skin, Kain. It smells like a dominant Alpha who has spent the last forty-eight hours hammering his presence into your space." Her eyes snapped back to mine, sharp as flints. "I know what a mandatory bonding session looks like. And I know what an Omega looks like when they’ve been completely pinned down. Tell me the truth. Right now."

​My breath hitched, my back pressing hard against the edge of the sink as the walls of my lie began to crumble under her stare.

I could fool five Betas with a hockey story, but I couldn’t fool a sister who shared my blood and possessed an Alpha’s instinct.

​Before I could find my voice to scramble for another excuse, the swinging wooden door creaked open.

​"Everything alright in here, chef?" Reid’s smooth, arrogant drawl cut through the suffocating tension like a knife.

​He stepped into the kitchen completely unbothered, his massive frame instantly taking up the remaining space. He had a lazy, charming smile plastered on his face, but his smoky grey eyes were darting between Marina and me, instantly reading the heavy, combative vibe in the air.

He stopped right at my side, his hand casually coming up to rest on the counter right behind my hip—a possessive, unbothered movement that made my heart do a violent flip.

​"The twins are threatening to eat the raw salad if the main course doesn’t come out soon," Reid chuckled, turning his full, blinding charm directly onto Marina. "I’m Reid, by the way. You must be Marina. Kain talks about your cooking like it’s a league secret. Nice to meet you."

Marina didn’t smile. She didn’t offer her hand. Instead, she stood perfectly still, fixing him with an excruciating, razor-sharp look that could have melted the ice at the arena.

Her gaze dropped to his hand resting carelessly on the counter behind my hip, then flicked up to trace the broad alignment of his shoulders.

​She knew I wouldn’t spill the truth. She knew I was too terrified of the house of cards collapsing to ever admit a slip-up.

So, out of nowhere, testing the waters with the ruthless efficiency of a predator trapping its prey, she spoke.

​"How many times have you slept with my brother?"

​My eyes widened. No!

​The water in my glass sloshed over my knuckles as my entire body went rigid. The kitchen became completely, horrifyingly silent, the rich scent of the lasagna suddenly turning sickeningly heavy in my throat.

I looked frantically between Marina’s unyielding face and Reid, my mind screaming at me to say something, to yell, to spin another desperate lie before everything was destroyed.

​But my tongue felt glued to the roof of my mouth.

​Reid didn’t move. The lazy, charming smile on his face didn’t entirely vanish, but it froze, his smoky grey eyes narrowing just a fraction as he processed the direct hit.

The heavy, dominant Alpha presence I had felt all weekend suddenly spiked beneath his polished exterior, shifting in response to the challenge of another Alpha.

​He didn’t stumble. He didn’t stutter. He just slowly tilted his head, his fingers tapping once against the marble counter behind me with a terrifyingly calm, deliberate rhythm.

"Well, we’ve shared a room on the bonding trip, and I shared his bed when I was at his house a few times," Reid said, his voice entirely smooth, not a single note of hesitation or guilt bleeding into his tone.

He let out a lazy, low chuckle, turning his smoky grey eyes back to Marina with absolute, unbothered confidence. "So, I’d say, a couple? Not sure. It’s normal for guys to sleep together, right?"

​My heart, which had been practically violently hammering against my ribs a second ago, suddenly froze. He... scaled through.

​My sister had asked such a question, completely blind to the fact that her sheer recklessness could have spilled my life-ending secret right across the kitchen floor.

But as I stared at her, I realized she hadn’t been careless at all. She had been utterly confident. Confident that either Reid already knew the truth about my second gender, or he had absolutely no clue at all—and to an unsuspecting, arrogant Alpha who thought he was dealing with a Beta captain, a question like that would never come off as strange.

In the brutal, close-quarters world of professional hockey, sharing hotel beds and crashing on teammates’ couches after a rough night was a common reality.

​Marina kept her sharp, dark gaze locked onto his face, searching for even a microscopic flicker of deceit or deeper knowledge behind his eyes.

​Reid didn’t give her one. He just stood there, his large hand still resting carelessly near my hip, completely playing the part of the spoiled, thick-skulled rookie who thought the terrifying Alpha sister was just being a typical, overprotective sibling.

​"I see," Marina said slowly, the dangerous, rhythmic rumble in her voice fading just a fraction, though her posture remained unyielding. She slowly leaned back against the counter, her eyes dropping to his hand before rising back up. "Just teammates sharing a bed. How charming."

​"Exactly," Reid smirked, his snobbish, victorious demeanor sliding right back into place as he felt the pressure ease. "Though I have to say, the Captain doesn’t make for the most comfortable pillow. He’s all elbows and rules, even when he’s asleep."

​"Get out of my kitchen, McCoy," I gritted out, finally finding my voice as I slammed my empty glass onto the counter, my face entirely blank to hide the cold sweat breaking out across my collarbone. "Go sit at the table before I have the twins throw you out."

​"Whatever you say, boss," Reid chuckled, completely unbothered as he gave the counter a final, lazy tap. He shot Marina one last, blindingly polite smile. "Smells incredible, Marina. Looking forward to dinner."