Lahat ng Kabanata ng Fake Dating The Alpha Hockey Captain: Kabanata 151 - Kabanata 160

ASHERWe left the pack house Sunday morning.Dad actually walked out to see us off. That almost never happens. He stood up there on the top step in the freezing dawn, just watching Jace cram bags into the trunk. Looked like he was making himself be there, not just going through the motions.I went up to say goodbye and he put his hand on my shoulder. Solid. Heavy. The kind he saves for when it actually means something.“Come back when it’s done,” he said.“I will.”“Bring her.” He jerked his chin toward the car. Sierra was still talking to Vera, swapping numbers or whatever, laughing about something I couldn’t hear. “She fits.”Two words. From my dad that’s basically a whole speech.“I know,” I said.He dropped his hand and turned back to the house. Paused at the door.“Brennan heads north Tuesday. He’ll take care of the Fenwick mess from that side. Tell Jace.”“Already did.”He made this little grunt. That was him saying good.Door closed. Morning got real quiet, like the whole place

ASHERThe council chamber was a room built for heavy stuff.Old stone walls, high ceiling, this long dark wood table that had been there longer than any of us. Seven seats on the council side, filled with people from seven different territories — neutral, by design, no ties to either side. The place smelled like old paper and the kind of cold you get in buildings that only heat when they have to.My father sat to my left. Sierra to my right. Jace was behind us with Rebecca, who'd traveled two days to get here and looked like someone who'd made up her mind and wasn't turning back.Sebastian sat across the table with his advocate and two witnesses. He'd dressed for it — the kind of clothes that say "I'm permanent and legitimate" before he even opens his mouth.He looked across at me once, when we were all seated.I looked back and didn't say anything. That's the best answer when someone's fishing for a reaction.---The senior council member was this woman Aldene. At least seventy, buil

ASHERThe season ended in March.I won't go through every single game from October to then. I remember most of them though. Not in some obsessive way, but because I cared about it the right amount. The kind that actually sticks. We finished fifteen and four in the regular season. More than Harlen expected, less than Petrov wanted. We made it to the conference final as a team that didn't have to explain itself anymore.Callum turned into someone I trusted by November. The kind of guy who saves you from your own stupid mistakes a few times and never makes a big deal about it. Petrov settled into the line like he'd always belonged there. Two other walk-ons became essential in ways nobody saw coming. That's the best kind of thing on a team and the hardest to plan for.Sierra got through her first full season with the women's program without any big incidents and scored one goal that Jace texted me about seventeen seconds after it happened. From three rows up in the stands. All capitals.I

SierraThe warehouse sat way out at the end of this gravel road, nothing but frozen fields and bare trees all around. Garrett stood by the door, hands buried in his coat, breath puffing white. He looked older than Sierra remembered. Or maybe just beat down.Asher parked behind a busted tractor and killed the lights. They sat there in the dark a second.“You stay behind me,” Asher said.“No.”“Sierra—”“He talks to me or we walk away right now.”Asher’s jaw clenched but he let it go.They got out. Cold hit like a slap. Sierra’s boots crunched loud on the frozen gravel. Garrett saw them coming. Face didn’t change.“You shouldn’t be here,” he said when they got close.“My parents are stuck somewhere with Sebastian’s men,” Sierra said. “You set the route. You picked the guards. You know exactly where they are.”Garrett glanced at Asher. “I’ve been with your father since before you were born.”“That’s not an answer,” Asher said.Garrett looked back at Sierra. Something shifted in his eyes.

SIERRAA month later---Spring came in swinging again, same old story in this city. One warm week everyone’s peeling off jackets and grinning at random people, then bam—three cold days that make you scramble for your coat. Sun pops out for a minute, gets you hopeful, then rain rolls in and kills the vibe completely. Campus turned all jittery and loud. Kids tossing jackets aside too early, dragging tables out in front of coffee shops like the owners had magically decided it was patio season. They definitely weren’t.I kinda liked the chaos though.After that rough winter we barely made it through, spring felt bigger this time. The light in the apartment window slanted different. That heavy wet-dirt smell after the first real rain stuck in the air. Even the grass looked like it finally remembered it was supposed to grow. I’d wasted too many months in those fancy empty palace hallways and didn’t know I’d missed plain regular life until one random Tuesday I was standing at the kitchen wi