Hands grab at me, trying to pull me off, but I shake them away. Morris's face is a mess of blood and bruises, but I can't stop. Won't stop. He tried to hurt what's mine.
"AIDAN, STOP!"
Jax's alpha bark cuts through the rage, and suddenly Dmitri's arms are around me, physically lifting me off Morris's limp form. I struggle against him, still trying to get at the Vancouver player, but Dmitri's stronger than me. Stronger than anyone.
"Enough," he says in my ear, his accent thick. "It is enough, Aidan. You got him."
The red haze starts to clear, and I see what I've done. Morris isn't moving. There's so much blood on the ice it looks like someone spilled paint. The refs are blowing their whistles frantically, and both benches have emptied onto the ice.
But worse than all of that is Darren.
Zayn's got him at the bench, physically holding him back from the ice while also standing in the way of anyone who might think of following in Morris’s footsteps. He's clearly deep in heat now, no hiding it. His face is flushed, his eyes glazed, and the way he's pressing back against Zayn isn't about trying to get free. It's about seeking contact, seeking an alpha's touch.
The whole arena can see it. The cameras are definitely rolling. There's no taking this back.
My eyes track to the VIP box and lock instantly on Lexie. She's still there, still watching, her eyes wide with shock and concern. I don't know if she's afraid of me after what she saw me do to Morris, or just afraid for Darren. Maybe both.
The thought makes my soul ache. Have I made things worse for Darrenandlost her?
"Get him to the locker room," Jax orders Zayn, his captain's authority cutting through the chaos. "Now!"
Zayn doesn't need to be told twice. He practically carries Darren off the ice, and I can hear the crowd's mixed reaction. Every possible emotion rolled into a roar that makes my ears ring.
Dmitri still has me in a gripping bear hug, and I realize I'm shaking. Not from exertion or adrenaline, but from the magnitude of what just happened.
"Is Morris...?" I can't finish the question.
"Alive," Dmitri confirms. "But he wouldn't have been if you'd kept going."
The Vancouver trainer is on the ice now, working on Morris while the refs try to restore order and the medics rush onto the ice. I can see them conferring, probably trying to figure out what the fuck to do. There's no protocol for this. No rule book entry for "what to do when an omega goes into heat during a game and violence erupts between alphas."
"Aidan." Jax is in front of me now, his gray eyes serious. "You need to get off the ice. Now."
I nod, suddenly exhausted. The adrenaline's wearing off, leaving me feeling hollow and scared. "Jax, I?—"
"Not now," he cuts me off. "Locker room. Go."
Dmitri releases me, and I skate toward the tunnel on legs that feel like jelly. The crowd's booing now, throwing things onto the ice. I don't know if it's for me, for Darren, or for the whole situation. Maybe all three.
As I reach the tunnel, I turn back to look at the ice one more time. It's chaos. Our second string and Jones are going at it with the other team, the refs pulling them apart. Both coaches are screaming. The fans are going wild. And there's still a puddle of Morris's blood staining the ice where I left him.
Maybe I'm supposed to regret it now that the adrenaline is worn off, but I fucking don't.
All I can think about is Darren and Lexie watching from the stands. How scared they must be. How vulnerable. And how the whole fucking world just watched us fall apart on national television.
The media's going to have a field day. The league's going to lose their minds.
And, fuck, what's this going to do to Darren?
I stumble into the tunnel, my skates clicking against the concrete as I head for the locker room. Behind me, I can hear the arena announcer trying to restore calm, but it's pointless.
Everyone knows.
The league knows. The fans know. The whole fucking world knows.
Darren Malloy, The Brick, is an omega who just went into heat during a professional hockey game. And I nearly beat a man to death defending him.
There's no coming back from this.
