Page 89 of Surprise Mother Pucker

“Perfect, and I bet after some newborn snuggles, she’ll be asking us for another, and I’ll be more than happy to oblige.”

We piled out of the locker room, all still in our jerseys. I loved the attention, and usually, I would bask in it, but I had other priorities. I walked straight over to Kennedy and the guys, who were standing by a far-off wall, waiting for me.

She was stunning, bundled up in a coat I was pretty sure belonged to Eli, her auburn hair tumbling over her shoulders and our daughter on her hip, wearing the cutest baby jersey ever.

I noticed the girls a few seats down from them, but I paid them no attention. Had I met them before? I didn't recognize them. My stomach clenched uncomfortably at the idea that something I had done in my past was causing Kennedy pain now. As soon as we were home, I was going to ask Micha for more details. I needed to know exactly what was said, so I could make it right.

The women in question were craning their necks, desperately trying to catch my eye as I stood with my pack. I was sending a clear message that my pack was important to me, and they weren't. I had zero interest in them. Sure, in the past, I would have paid them a little attention and enjoyed the praise, but now, the thought didn’t even cross my mind.

They were my past, and Kennedy was my future.

“Hey.” I beamed at her, pulling her in for a hug. She didn’t pull away, even though I probably smelled like sweat.

“Hey, good game.” She smiled shyly at me.

“It seems I have a little lucky charm,” I cooed, taking off my gloves and holding Charlotte’s tiny hand. “I guess you’re going to have to come to all of Daddy’s games, aren’t you?” I purposefully said it loud enough so people around us would hear. Word needed to get out that Storm Sanderson was a taken alpha, and he had an adorable daughter, to boot.

“She loved it,” Kennedy informed me. “She especially liked banging on the glass.”

“We’ll make a hockey fan of her yet,” I said, keeping one arm wrapped around Kennedy as I spoke. There were plenty of people around, and I knew photos of us would be circulating the next day. “Can I hold her?” I asked Kennedy, who nodded, handing me the baby.

“Oh, that is cute! I need a photo of you two,” Charlie said, pulling out his phone. I wrapped one arm around Kennedy and held Charlotte on the opposite hip, pulling them both close to me. We probably looked like the perfect little family unit.

“We need a pack photo,” I insisted, looking around for someone to take the photo. As my eyes landed on the perfect person to not only take the photo but to make it clear that Kennedy was a permanent fixture in my life, I opened my mouth and yelled. “Hey, Coach!”

He turned his head to look at me. “What do you want, pest?” he yelled good-naturedly.

“Can you take a photo of me and my pack?” I shouted back. We were far enough away from each other that the back-and-forth shouting was being heard by a good number of people.

It wasn’t official yet, but as far as I was concerned, Kennedy became a member of our pack the moment she had Charlotte.

The coach grinned at me. “Sure thing, kid,” he said as he ambled over to us, taking the phone off Charlie. We all gathered around, Kennedy in the middle and Charlotte still in my arms as we grinned for the camera.

There were plenty of people milling around, so I knew news of this would get out. The coach handed Charlie his phone back and only had time to throw a smile our way before he was dragged off by someone else wanting his attention.

“Okay, we better get home. It’s getting late. Kennedy, I assume you’re staying at our place tonight?” Eli asked.

I was planning to show her the nest tomorrow, so she could see where she would be staying and have her own space. Part of me was excited to show her what I had been working on, but part of me was terrified. What if she didn’t like it?

“Storm!” a grating voice pulled me out of my thoughts as a blonde beta wearing a maroon jersey ran up to me, grabbingmy arm. She smelled like charred Italian food, and my body desperately wanted to recoil from such a repulsive scent.

“I’m sorry. I’m busy with my family right now,” I said diplomatically. I didn’t want to behave like an asshole without cause.

She paused, glancing between the rest of my pack and me, a look of confusion on her face. Had I ever liked people like her? Her smile was meant to be sweet, but it was so obviously fake. It lacked the genuine warmth of Kennedy’s.

“You know,” she said quietly, so only I—and possibly her friends—could hear, “it’s really nice for you to play family with your pack mate’s charity case and bastard, but we can take care of you. We like to share,” she insisted, batting her eyelashes and looking at the brunette friend next to her, whose top was so tight, I was shocked she could breathe. It was plainly obvious that Charlotte was mine, so why were they insinuating she was Eli’s?

“You don’t have to keep slumming it with your pack mate’s bad choice…”

My body stilled, and I saw red. Had she really just said what I thought she had? It was so hard to believe those words, that they took a moment to fully sink in.

Behind me, Kennedy and my pack had stopped talking.

They had heard.

No. There was no way in fucking hell I was going to let a puck bunny talk badly aboutmyomega.

I turned to my nearest pack mate, who happened to be Eli, and handed him Charlotte before turning back to the puck bunny.

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