A hockey player with the number 16 emblazoned on the back of his white-and-blue jersey raced down the ice, his legs pumping frenetically. His eyes darted back and forth, noting both the oncoming opposing player and his own teammate further down the ice. With a practiced wrist motion he flicked the puck further down the ice before spinning to absorb a hit.

  The puck sailed through the air before landing on the stick of the first player’s teammate – number 34. He took a moment to corral the puck before shooting it at the opposing team’s net. The goalie slid across the crease to stop it but it miraculously found its way underneath his blocker, hitting the twine of the net behind and causing the red goal light to illuminate.

  The reaction of the audience watching the game was decidedly mixed – the home team’s supporters groaned and shook their heads at their team’s poor performance, while the visiting team’s supporters leapt to their feet and cheered enthusiastically. A small cluster formed at center ice as the two players who were responsible for the goal high-fived before being joined by their teammates. After congratulating themselves they moved towards the bench, fist-bumping their teammates as they skated by.

  Several rows back from center ice sat a couple. At first glance they looked odd together – the man was wearing the blue-and-white of the visiting team, whereas the woman wore the stylized red-and-blue ‘A’ of the home team. A closer inspection revealed they had more in common though – both of them were fairly muscular underneath their jerseys, and while they teased each other gently for supporting opposing teams neither of them could seem to keep their eyes off one another for very long.

  The man with short blonde hair and light brown eyes grinned at the woman as he sat back down. “See? I told you Naz, you should have been a Leafs fan.”

  The ebony-skinned woman rolled her eyes and shook her head. “It’s only 2-1, Eli. There’s still 10 minutes left to play.”

  “Nah, they’ll lock it down for the last 10 minutes. This one is in the bag.” Eli replied, trying to inject confidence into his voice as if it would make his prediction come true.

  “The Leafs? Against the Avs?” Naz said incredulously. “Come on Eli. Have you watched hockey recently? Your team folds like a cheap lawn chair in the last 10 minutes.”

  As the home team won the post-goal faceoff and raced towards the visiting team’s net, Eli clenched his seat tighter with one hand. He watched the home team’s number 8 slap the puck hard towards the visiting team’s net. The goalie fumbled the puck from the hard shot, allowing another one of the home team’s players – number 96 – to skate in close and shovel the puck in, evening up the score not even 30 seconds after his team took the lead.

  Another mixed reaction ripped through the crowd as the goal horn went off. This time, Naz was the one to stand up and cheer while Eli groaned in disappointment. As she jumped up and down the amulet she was wearing slipped out from underneath her jersey, bouncing on her substantial chest. She grinned at him before stopping and tucking it underneath her jersey again, settling back into her seat.

  “See? Told you we’d score.” She said with a smirk as the loud music celebrating a home-team goal echoed through the stadium.

  Eli took a moment to look at Naz as she tucked a stray long black hair behind her ear. He hated that she had to use a magic amulet to hide her orcish form while on Earth, but it was necessary – most humans weren’t ready to see an 8-foot tall muscular orcish woman with enormous breasts and a toned ass to match. That being said, her disguise did nothing to hide the fact that she was jaw-droppingly beautiful, walking the line between a supermodel and a powerlifter.

  “Woah, how come I didn’t notice this fine-looking lady in the row behind me?” A voice chimed in from the row in front of them, breaking Eli out of his thoughts.

  Eli turned to see a man wearing a jersey similar to Naz’s. Unlike her though he was tall and scrawny, with pale skin and a gold chain hanging from his neck. He wore a black baseball cap with a wide rim, and Eli could see the word ‘YOLO’ tattooed underneath his right eye.

  “Did you notice I’m here with my boyfriend?” Naz replied, her voice dripping with venom.

  “Your boyfriend cheers for the Leafs?” The man replied.

  Eli pointedly looked down at his jersey before looking back at the man and replying sarcastically. “No, I’m just wearing a Leafs jersey because it’s laundry day and I have nothing else to wear.”

  “Laundry?” The man replied slowly.

  Eli looked at Naz incredulously before pinching the bridge of his nose. “You are literally too stupid to insult.”

  Several of the man’s friends turned around at Eli’s words, standing and facing him. “Yo, what did you just say?” One of them asked.

  “It’s cool man.” The man replied with a lopsided grin. “See, this asshole thinks he’s smart. He’s all about big words and ideas and concepts and shit.” The man then looked at Naz. “What he don’t realize is that if you wanna lock down a bad bitch like this one, none of that shit matters. You gotta be an alpha like me! Bitches love alphas!”

  Naz couldn’t help but laugh. “You know that’s bullshit, right? It’s all made up.”

  “What’s bullshit?” The man replied loudly, causing yet more of his friends in the row in front of them to turn.

  “The whole alpha thing.” Naz responded slowly as the hockey game resumed in front of them. “It was based on a misconception from studying wolves in captivity. There’s no such thing as an alpha male wolf, just like there’s no such thing as an alpha male human. It’s all fake macho bullshit to cover up the fact that you have no idea what masculinity really is.”

  “You’re just saying that cause you haven’t met one till now.” The man replied with a lascivious wink.

  “First off – gross. Secondly, fine – you can be an alpha.” She said, rolling her eyes before gesturing to Eli. “But this fine hunk of a male specimen is a turbo-mega alpha, which is above alpha.”

  “You just made that up!” The man interrupted.

  “You’re so close to getting the point.” Eli said, pressing his thumb and his forefinger together until they were only an inch apart. “You’re this close. Keep going, you can do it.”

  Naz looked at Eli’s fingers then laughed. “I think that’s a measurement he’s used to seeing when he looks down in the shower.”

  “Yo, what did she just say to you dawg?” One of the man’s friends chimed in. “Did she just call your dick small?”

  “Yes, I did.” Naz said, her voice taking on a dangerous edge. “Now sit down and shut up – we’re trying to watch the game.”

  “What if I don’t want to bitch?” The man replied, his lewd tone replaced with an angry one.

  Having heard more than enough from the man and his friends, Eli stood and raised his voice. “When you started talking, it was funny. Now it’s just annoying. I don’t really give a shit what you’ve said about me but insulting her crosses a line.”

  Unwilling to back down now, the man leaned close enough for Eli to smell the stale beer on his breath. “And what are you gonna do about it tough guy?”

  Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

  Eli considered his options for a moment. With his powerful magic spells he could easily dissuade, dismember, or decease him and his friends before any of them had a chance to react. Unfortunately for him, any of those options seemed extreme given that the men seemed more like a group of mostly harmless drunken idiots rather than a true threat. Moreover, killing them would undoubtedly cause a scene – something the council desperately wanted to avoid given the fact that the existence of magic and magical races was a secret from most of humanity.

  Thankfully, he was saved from having to decide when an arena usher arrived alongside several security guards. “Is there a problem here gentlemen?”

  Eli glanced over at the usher to respond before the man twitched. He swung his arm upwards at Eli’s head in a slow-moving uppercut – one that years of combined martial arts and combat training prepared him for. He easily ducked the swing, causing the man to lose his balance and fall onto one of his friends. Onlookers from the tightly packed arena gasped as they tore their eyes away from the hockey game, focusing instead on the unfolding drama in the seats.

  The security guards leapt from the aisle into the seats, grabbing hold of the man and his nearest friends before he could stand up again. They began hauling the men into the aisle as more security guards swarmed the area, grabbing and pulling the rest of the party out. They struggled at first but quickly realized it was a lost cause, throwing their hands up and filing into the aisle peacefully – each of them glaring daggers at Eli and Naz as they passed.

  “On behalf of the league and the arena staff I’d like to formally apologize. That man was clearly overserved this evening.” The usher said as the men were pulled away.

  “Not a problem.” Eli shrugged as he sat back down, throwing one arm around Naz as he did.

  “Can we offer you anything as recompense for your troubles?” The usher asked as the crowd around them refocused on the game.

  “My man here needs a new jersey.” Naz teased with a grin as she looked at his white-and-blue sweater.

  “Clearly.” The usher grinned in reply before smiling. “I’ll see what I can do. Meet me at guest services after the game and I’ll help him out.”

  Before Eli could reply she turned around and started to walk away. “But I don’t need a new jersey!”

  “Yes you do.” Naz countered with a laugh.

  Eli turned back to her and rolled his eyes before kissing her deeply. For a moment they tuned out the noise of the arena around them, losing themselves in the kiss. Naz’s black hair brushed softly against his face as they pressed their lips together, their hands finding a home on each other’s bodies. Eli gently bit Naz’s bottom lip as they made out, causing her to groan quietly.

  “I’m so happy to be yours.” She whispered as they broke the kiss, her dark eyes locking onto his.

  “Good. Because after that douchebag hit on you, I feel like I should remind you of that fact.”

  “Oh, yes please.” She replied huskily.

  Suddenly, another ripple of mixed reactions shot through the crowd. They belatedly looked up to realize that the home team had scored again – this time with only seconds left to play. Naz’s grin turned into a wide smile as she jumped up and cheered, making Eli groan in disappointment. The sound of the goal horn followed by celebratory music resumed, and he couldn’t help but shake his head at his team’s poor performance.

  “See? Like a cheap lawn chair!” Naz said, sitting back down as the players skated to center ice one more time.

  The visiting team tried to make a final push after the faceoff, desperate to even up the score in the dying seconds of the game. It wasn’t enough though, and all too soon the final horn announcing the end of the game echoed through the arena as fans of the home team cheered. Loud music began to play through the arena again as people slowly made their way towards the exits.

  Eli stood and clapped alongside Naz as the players skated to the center of the ice, congratulating each other. Even though his team had lost, he could appreciate a hard-won victory – especially one which was snatched from the jaws of defeat at the last moment. When the players finally began to move towards the dressing rooms Naz took Eli’s hand and they made their way towards the nearest exit. After stopping briefly at guest services to pick up their package they slipped out into the cool, cloudy night air of Denver, Colorado.

  “I’m glad we came here.” Naz said as they walked through the parking lot. “We needed some time off.”

  “You’re right.” Eli nodded. “When I bought these tickets as your Christmas gift, I didn’t realize how much I’d need a break by then.”

  “You’ve been working yourself pretty hard.” Naz replied, glancing around to make sure the crowd was dispersed enough that nobody would be listening in before continuing. “You’ve had a heavy load.”

  Eli chuckled humorlessly. “You know, I thought that opening the portal would be easy enough that I’d have it done before our date.”

  “You’ll figure it out. I have complete faith in you.”

  “I just wish I knew what was wrong.” Eli continued. “I’ve got the portal coordinates - you heard them in the council chambers just as well as I did. And I’ve got no problems opening up portals to other realms, it’s just this one that’s the problem.”

  “Eli.” Naz said, squeezing his hand tightly. “You’re going to figure it out.”

  “And that’s not even mentioning the lizardkin and the naga banging down the damn door to get to that hybrid. I mean, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with it! The healers say they could wake it from its medically induced coma, but I have no idea what it’s going to be like once its awake. Minerva said the lizardkin used some sort of magical technique to graft several lifetimes of knowledge into the hybrid’s brain while it slept. Does that mean it’s going to have the same views as Serpentius Rex? Between its pheremonal powers and the fact that it’s the first successful lizardkin/naga hybrid, it’s going to be influential in their society. We could be sitting on a time bomb, and-”

  “Eli.” Naz interrupted sternly, pulling his arm so he faced her. “You’re going to figure it out. I believe in you. Everyone believes in you. You can do this.”

  Eli took a deep breath before nodding. “You’re right. Sorry. Just got a lot on my mind.”

  “Which is exactly why we needed tonight.” Naz insisted. “Now what do you say we go back to the hotel and I ride you until you forget about all our problems – at least for awhile.”

  “Sounds perfect.” Eli grinned before kissing her again.

  The bright lights of the arena faded behind them as they weaved through the parking lot hand-in-hand. When they reached the main road they turned right, seeing the sign for their hotel in the distance. All around them traffic was at a standstill as thousands of cars tried to leave the arena all at once, flooding the streets. The utter chaos of it all made Eli glad they’d decided to stay the night nearby.

  “Yo, it’s that fine-ass girl again!” A voice shouted from a nearby alley.

  “Ah fuck.” Eli swore, shaking his head.