Page 5 of Power Shift

I laugh. “You say that every time we’re in the locker room.”

Dash grins. “It’s not too bad. I’m just fine.”

“Lucky you.” Ronan’s glare is sharp as he pulls on his sweatpants and zips his bag.

With a glance around the room, the only member of my family I don’t see is Landon. It’s not surprising. He’s the most scent sensitive of any alpha I’ve ever met.

“What are we having for dinner tonight?” Dash asks, rubbing at his stomach.

Ronan shrugs a loose shirt on and stares blankly at him. “It’s only two.”

“And? I’m still hungry.”

“You’re always hungry.”

“I’ll make something,” I volunteer.

Dash shoves his gear into his cubby. “Nuh-uh. It’s Landon’s turn to cook.”

“You’re not that hungry, then,” Ronan says.

I chuckle and change into my clean clothes before zipping my bag and tossing it over my shoulder. The other three do the same thing, and I say goodbye to a few of the other players on my way out.

Landon is waiting for us in the hallway, his phone in one hand and bag in the other. When he notices he’s not alone anymore, he looks over, exhaustion dulling his eyes, turning the blue a shade darker. His hair is shoved back and out of his face the usual way, but it’s longer than ever, curling at the middle of his neck.

“Ready to go?”

“Yep. And Dash says it’s your turn to cook tonight,” I say.

We fall into a line, blocking the hallway as we make our way to the players-only parking garage.

“Why me?” Landon asks.

“The dinner chart,” Dash sings.

Landon huffs. “Whose idea was that?”

We’re all terrible cooks. Cooking classes haven’t helped, either. It’s quite pathetic.

“Mine. If we’re ever going to convince an omega to join our pack—” I start before Landon cuts me off with a low, warning growl.

“We’re not taking an omega.”

I stiffen, straining with the effort it takes to check my words before I say them. Ronan shifts subtly toward me, feeling the shift in my energy.

Landon rolls his neck, adding, “We’re not having that conversation now.”

“Now or ever?” I snap.

His silence is answer enough. He knows better than anyone else how desperately I crave an omega. I’m off balance, and that feeling grows worse every day that I go without one. What happened today on the ice is a result of how odd I feel. Like I’m not right.

There’s a piece of me missing, and the hole in its place is doubling in size at a rate that worries me. What happens if when I do find our omega, the hole is too big for her to fit? I’ll be incomplete forever. Our pack won’t be able to endure that.

“Not never, Jasper. Just not here,” Dash says, covering for Landon.

Ronan’s words are gruff, tense. “We can’t keep pushing it off.”

We all know that, including Landon. Ronan has never said he wants to find an omega, but even he isn’t as against it as Landon is. And our beta is more excited than our pack alpha is. That’s just . . . wrong.

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