Chapter 217: The Retirement

Reid’s father, Brad, may not have an issue with our relationship, but it was a different case with his mother, Fidora. If she decided to throw a fit or blow up the narrative out of spite or shame, everything Marina and Audrey had built to protect us would shatter.

"I need to make sure they hold their tongue," Reid murmured, leaning down to press his forehead gently against mine, his hand squeezing mine flat against my lower stomach. "I’ll handle them, Kain. Don’t worry about a thing."

"Be careful," I whispered back.

We could only hope that my secret—the fact that I was already an Omega from the onset, and had been pumping myself with drugs had not left their lips to a third party yet.

Reid gave my hand one last firm squeeze, nodded to my parents and Marina, and left the room, his long strides carrying him down the hallway toward the private exit.

What I didn’t know then—what none of us knew as Reid drove through the night to his family’s estate—was the silent battle he was walking into.

The next morning, Marina arranged for the press conference to be broadcast live straight into my suite.

She set up a laptop on my tray table, opening the official stream from the team’s media room.

Beside my bed, a fresh glass of orange juice sat untouched. My hands were freezing, my heart hammering against my ribs as the video feed flickered to life.

I was letting my lover go to fight alone, and it made my heart ache.

On screen, Reid stepped onto the podium. He was dressed in his sharp Serpents suit, his blond hair neatly styled, looking every bit the dominant Alpha and star rookie the entire country had been obsessing over for months. Beside him sat Coach Devin and Audrey Stevens.

The room exploded into a wall of camera flashes and shouting journalists.

"Reid! Reid! Over here!" a reporter shouted over the noise. "Can you confirm the rumors? Is Captain Kain Evans the Omega you were involved with during your rut?"

Reid adjusted the microphone in front of him. His dark grey eyes were completely steady, staring straight into the main camera lens as if he were looking directly at me through the screen.

"Yes," Reid declared, his deep voice carrying through the speakers with zero hesitation. "Kain Evans is my mate. We have been in a private, committed relationship, and I am proud to stand by him as his Alpha and as his line-mate."

The media room went absolutely wild. Shouts, gasps, and frantic typing filled the audio feed.

In the hospital room, I swallowed hard, tears pricking my eyes at his unwavering pride, my trembling hand reaching out to wrap around the cold glass of juice on my table.

"Reid!" another journalist pressed aggressively, leaning into their mic. "With Kain’s career effectively over due to his broken leg and Omega presentation, how do you see the future of this team? Are you ready to step up and take over as the new Captain of the Serpents next season?"

Reid leaned forward, his hands resting flat on the table, his gaze cool and completely unbothered by the media storm.

"There are more capable people in the Seattle Serpents than me," Reid said calmly. "I’m just a rookie. We still have our main wingers. We still have Russo, we have Miller, we have Gerald, we have Peter, we have Jake. Anyone could be the captain. They’re all so capable. Why me? I may be impressive, but I’m not that impressive."

He paused, taking a slow, steady breath before dropping the bomb.

"Besides... I don’t think there’s a next season for me."

The entire press room fell into a dead, suffocating silence. Even Coach Devin turned his head, staring at Reid in shock.

"Game 3 tonight will be the final game of my professional hockey career," Reid announced, his voice steady as iron, echoing through every television screen in the nation. "After we finish this series, I am officially retiring from the NHL."

Clang!

The glass in my hand slipped straight through my trembling fingers, shattering against the hard floor. Cold juice and broken glass splashed across the tiles, but I couldn’t feel a thing.

"What...?" I rasped, my breath catching violently in my throat. My eyes were glued to the screen, blood rushing to my ears as my chest heaved in pure, unadulterated panic. "What is he doing?! Marina, what is he doing?!"

I tried to pull myself up, my heart slamming against my ribs as tears overflowed, spilling down my pale cheeks. I thought of my father’s harsh ultimatum from yesterday. ’Give up your career as a hockey player. That’s how I’ll know you’re damn serious.’

I tried to pull myself up, my heart slamming against my ribs as tears overflowed, spilling down my pale cheeks.

"Really? But no... he hasn’t lived the dream yet!" I cried out, my voice cracking into a devastated sob. "He hasn’t fulfilled his promise of achieving what I wanted to achieve on the ice!"

Winning the Stanley Cup was exactly what I had spent my entire life starving for—and now Reid was planning to win it in two days and then just walk away from the sport forever.

"Because of my dad..." I choked out, clutching my head in my shaking hands as the nightmare clicked together. "What was he thinking?! He’s ruining his life because of my family! He’s throwing away his whole future!"

"Kain, stop," Marina’s calm, sharp voice broke through my panic. She stepped forward, carefully stepping around the shattered glass on the floor, and placed a firm hand on my shoulder. "It wasn’t Dad."

I pulled my hands away, looking up at her with red-rimmed, frantic eyes. "What?"

"Reid doesn’t plan to retire because of Dad," Marina said smoothly, pulling out a freshly printed legal document from her coat pocket and setting it on the edge of the mattress. "His mother called me an hour ago to finalize the legal non-disclosure agreements. Reid visited his family’s estate last night, remember? His mother threatened to disclose the fact that your body is broken with contaminated black market drugs from hiding your true gender—she was going to drag your name through the mud and destroy your entire legacy."

My breath hitched, my whole body going rigid.

"Reid made a deal with her," Marina continued, her sharp eyes softening with a rare, deep respect. "He agreed to step down from the NHL immediately after the Finals and take over as Chief Operations Officer of McCoy Enterprises. He traded his hockey career to guarantee your total protection and keep that secret buried forever."

The truth hit me like a physical blow, leaving me entirely breathless.

He hadn’t just bowed to my father—he had walked straight into his own family’s trap and sacrificed his entire life on the ice just to keep me safe.

Before I could process the crushing weight in my chest, the heavy suite door swung open.

Reid stepped inside, having rushed straight from the press conference. He was still in his suit, his dark grey eyes immediately scanning the room until they landed on me. He saw the shattered glass on the floor, the tears streaming down my face, and the open file on my bed.

He didn’t say a word. He stepped right over the broken glass, coming straight to the side of my mattress and dropping to his knees so he was level with me.

"Reid..." I sobbed, reaching out with shaking hands to grab the lapels of his suit jacket. "Why?! You love hockey! You love it just as much as I do! You threw your whole dream away for me!"