Galen

Someone takes the mic from my limp fingers, and I still cannot find the inspiration to leave this spot half-hidden in the shadows.

The music is playing again - some vaguely familiar song - and the chatter of voices rises to be heard above it, with laughter sprinkled over it all to create an amicable atmosphere.

I am cold.

The light is no longer blinding me, but I'm seeing black blotches against the dusk surrounding me. With the spotlight off, the dais area is darker than the rest of the function hall, and I like it that way, but without outside stimuli to distract me, my mind is a swirling pool of rancid thoughts trying to destroy my brain.

What is a plonker like me doin' here?

Since my arrival in this snow-covered world, I've met many openly supportive and kind people. Their encouragement and goodwill lulled me into starting to believe that I had a real future in ice hockey. On the ice this afternoon, I'd felt more alive than I've felt in too many years. Now, standing here, the long list of achievements of the other recruits echoing in my mind, I realise that I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop.

It finally has.

I'm not qualified to be here. It's as simple as that. How did I even make the cut? If that is not bad enough, it seems I already have at least one enemy. That is impressive, even by my standards! I haven't even been here long enough to piss anybody off yet; I'll have a crowd of enemies by the end of next week, though. What was that yoke's story anyway? Why was he determined to humiliate me?

"Told ya, you were going to do great, didn't I?"

The words, spoken in the gentle, slightly teasing voice I've come to look forward to hearing, reach me through a blurry sea of swarming people, distorted music and loud conversations to snap me out of my spiral into misery. I blink my eyes, clearing my mind to bring the world back into sharp focus and smile when I see Hunter looking at me with eyes glittering mysteriously in the low light. I didn't even notice her joining me on the dais.

"Great, ye say?" I scoff a little hoarsely.

"You betcha!" she smiles, grabbing my arm and giving it an affectionate squeeze before she lets go again and takes a step back. I immediately regret losing her fleeting warmth. "Okay, I'm sorry. I might've blanked on warning you about the awkward intro thing. In my defence, it's usually so dull I tune it right out. You crushed it, though—no permanent trauma, right?"

It is a wee bit scary how well this cailin can read me.

"Naw, 'tis all good, lass," I shrug, and looking at her concerned face, I realise that it really is better that I didn't know. "If I'd known, I'd have been thinkin' it to death. Probably would've flung meself out the car and legged it into the mountains before we even got close."

"We don't want that, right?" Hunter laughs, her features relaxing with relief. "There are bears in the mountains, y'know?"

Japers! I'm not sure I wanted to know that!

'Well, you sure weren't boring, bud," another female voice says with a soft laugh. I look away from Hunter to see three girls gathering behind her. Two of them are smiling, looking happy to meet me. The other one is linking her arm with Hunter's and frowning at me as if she expects me to take a bite from her friend at any moment.

Do I look that hungry?

"Cheers," I say, returning the blond girl who spoke's bright smile. "I was definitely aimin' for not borin'."

She's pretty in an obvious way that has never really done much for me, but I can still appreciate the soft pink sweater hugging her curves, her large eyes and her slightly flirty smile.

"I'm Ginny," the smaller one with shoulder-length curly brown hair says, holding out a hand for me to shake while she smiles her eyes into cute half-moons. She seems to vibrate with pent-up energy and has a smile wide enough to make her seem a wee bit manic.

She has a pretty, loose-fitting choker around her neck made of colourful beadwork in a repeating geometrical pattern, and on her chest, a glitter-cat is trying to blind me every time she moves, and it catches stray rays of light.

"Howya, Ginny," I say, taking her hand. It is startlingly small in mine, and when I smile at her, she giggles happily, nodding her head like a cute dashboard puppy. Apparently, her vocal cords have given up on speech now, and she doesn't stop giggling or let go of my hand, even when I try to let go of hers.

I chuckle softly, amused when Hunter grabs her hand out of mine to release me and gives her friend a poke in the ribs to reset her to her default settings. It worked, and Ginny is looking at me again with that wide smile.

Now, it's Hunter who is malfunctioning. When her eyes meet mine in the dusk, she starts to giggle and slaps a hand over her mouth rather aggressively.

I blink, startled when she glares at me. I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything to deserve that frown. She's cute when she glares, though, and I cannot stop grinning while I enjoy that cuteness. In her current get-up, it's like being glared at by a slightly gothic, much prettier version of Sailor Moon.

Tan has a body pillow that looks a wee bit like Hunter does right now. Well, technically, it's Paisley's pillow, but Tan likes to steal his cousin's pillow to cuddle it. He's weird that way... and many other ways...

Lookin' at Hunter, I get the attraction now.

The colours are just all wrong, and I don't think she was trying to be a cute anime character when she got ready for the party. Reddish brown ponytails, long black boots and attitude. So much attitude.

Seriously, what did I do?

"Sorry about my brother, eh?" the pretty blonde says, drawing my attention away from Hunter.

"Which one is yer brother?" I ask her, trying to remember where we are and who I've met. Looking at Hunter too long tends to mess up my brain and leave me a wee bit dazed.

"Oh! Uh—right. I'm so sorry," Hunter interrupts, no longer glaring at me. She slaps her forehead pretty hard and offers me a contrite look. The girl is being surprisingly violent towards herself tonight. She's going to end up all bruised if she keeps this up. "I forgot... I was supposed to introduce you. These are some girls I know... sometimes they're my friends... but not tonight, 'cause... yeah... Libra, Ginny, and Miko. They're, um, figure skaters. At the academy. Obviously."

That was the strangest bleedin' introduction I've caught wind of all night.

"Nice to meet ye," I say in answer to the greetings from the girls who aren't Hunter's friends tonight. I have no clue about the criteria to qualify as her friend in this instance.

I stagger under the narrow-eyed look the exotically beautiful, dark-haired one levels on me. I'm really not sure what to make of her hostility. Does she not like hockey players, or is it me specifically she doesn't approve of for some reason? Well, I can think of many reasons for her not to approve of me, but she would at least have to know me first.

I didn't actually say the Highlander shite out loud after all, did I?

"Who's yer brother?" I repeat my question to Libra, deciding to ignore Miko's less-than-friendly looks for now and focus on one enemy at a time. I already have my suspicions about this brother who needs some apologies given on his behalf. There is a slight family resemblance between Libra and the spanner who tried to mock me. That resemblance is mostly in their high-class looks and expensive clothing. As the owner of almost exclusively chain store bargains, hand-me-downs and thrift shop clothes, I know expensive clothes when I see them.

They come with loud labels tellin' the likes of me to jog on.

I don't think I'll be getting into any tussles with Libra; she doesn't have that arrogant head tilt, or cocky arsehole looks her brother was throwing around expertly. She actually seems nice and really sorry about something that wasn't her fault.

To be sure, tusslin' with the lass will be pure craic!

Feeling inexplicably guilty for thinking what it would be like to cuddle the pretty blonde, I shoot Hunter an apologetic look, clearing my throat and swallowing uncomfortably.

What in the blazes is wrong with me?!

I can shift with whoever I want! There's nothing to feel guilty about, but looking at Hunter, my heart is fluttering restlessly, slamming into my ribcage. There's only one girl here I want in my arms, and she's not the pretty blonde; she's the cheeky one with the ponytails, blinking up at me as if she can read my mind.

Shite, I hope she can't do that!

"Wade Carmichael, the one who tried to make things hard for you during your introduction," Libra says, and it takes me a second to remember what we were talking about.

So, that's his name.

"Oh! That bloke!" I grin, trying not to show how much the guy got to me. "Naw, lass, don't stress yerself. I'm used to yokes like him; I barely noticed him."

While Libra's face relaxes into another warm smile, the worried expression on Hunter's face tells me that I should notice Wade Carmichael and be wary. My words have clearly not set her mind at ease, and neither has my feigned indifference.

"Take it as a win, honestly," Libra assures me, and now I'm really confused. "Wade only chirps like that when he's feelin' threatened. You must've lit a fire under his butt—he's probably seen you play and it shook him."

"Naw, he couldn't have seen me play."

I've been in town all of five minutes, and the only playing I did was this afternoon, and that was mostly just me getting my arse handed to me by guys way out of my league. Nothing for a Farm prospect to feel threatened over; besides, we were definitely the only people there. Same goes for last night with Jax.

"Don't worry, bud," Hunter says, suddenly becoming animated and reaching out to lay a gentle hand on my arm. She is definitely done glaring at me; her smile is as gentle as her touch, and its impact on me is worse than a slap would've been. "Half the room's already pulling for you, and the rest just haven't figured it out yet."

Even in this bad lighting, it is hard to look into her intense eyes, so I look down at her hand on my arm instead, watching her thin fingers curl into the fabric of my sweater.

"Come," she says, wrapping that hand around my wrist and dragging me into the brighter light. Part of me wants to protest - I feel safe in the shadows - but the rest of me is glad for the help to get out of this spot I'm rooted in. "Let's get you some grub and a beer or whatever, eh?"

I feel like feckin' royalty or a sheikh surrounded by his harem.

Ginny puts a plate in my hand while Hunter finds me the beer I want from the ice bucket. She even opens it and puts it in my other hand. All four girls (even Miko) start piling things onto the plate, directed by an aye or a nay from me. I laugh and take a bite when Hunter touches a sausage roll to my lips and winks at me.

"Promised you sausage rolls for supper," she says, popping the rest of the roll into her own mouth.

"Aye, to be sure, to be sure," I grin, and to distract myself from her sparkling eyes and cherry lips, which are starting to make me sweat, I take a sip of my beer.

"You've got this, Gan," she says when I have half the food that was on the table piled high on my plate. She manoeuvres me to one of the scattered high tables where I can put my plate down. There are a couple of my new acquaintances already standing around the table, and they happily make room for us.

I'm about to assure Hunter that I've been feeding myself since I can remember, so I know I've got this, when she clarifies.

"Just don't feed into his crap, Gan," she advises, looking up at me with an earnest expression on her face. "He's all about getting under your skin to make you lose your cool—tries to stir the pot so someone ends up suspended or booted. He's way too chicken to come at you head-on."

"He's not above getting some of his local goons—folks who aren't part of the Farm—to do his dirty work for him, though. Just so you know," Miko warns me, finally not completely glaring at me anymore. She is still giving me cautious looks. She puts a plate heaped with snacks on the table and nudges Hunter to help herself while she takes something wrapped in puff pastry from it and bites into it.

"We've got your back, buddy," Jax assures me, helping himself to a piece of rolled pastrami stuffed with mayonnaise-mashed potatoes from my plate. He laughs when Hunter glares at him and dramatically replaces my pastrami roll with one from the plate she's sharing with Miko. He must've caught the tail end of our conversation when he came over to check on me the way Hunter did.

Misplaced as it is, seeing their genuine concern for my well-being makes me feel less lost. I'm not one of them, and I doubt that I ever will be, but I'll just enjoy being here with them for as long as it lasts.

"Wade has come after almost all Hank's boys at one point," Jax informs me, and Kame, appearing beside him with a filled plate of his own, nods his head in agreement. "It's not surprising since his dad is always going after Hank."

Ah, that makes more sense than the part where he feels threatened by my talent. Bummer...

"Yeah, my dad's one of the big wheels behind the Farm—shares, admin, all that fun stuff that gives him way too much power," Libra says in answer to the puzzled look on my face. With Ginny in tow, she joined us to stand at the table. They are also sharing a heaped plate between them.

Is that a girl thing, or are they afraid of being judged if they each have a plate of their own? That wouldn't make sense at all. If you're hungry, you're hungry, whether you're a burly ice hockey player or a figure skater built like a fairy.

"He's not the one callin' all the shots or anything," Libra continues. "But if the rest of the board weren't solidly team Hank, my dad would've slapped up a shiny new barn here just to freeze Hank out. That's the kinda fella he is."

I don't like the sound of that. Why would her dad be so anti-Hank? From everything I've seen so far, the kind man is a huge asset to the Farm, and not just because he runs a really great ice rink centre. He is likeable, and as far as I've heard, he really knows his ice hockey.

I can name a few pure class hockey stars who made it into the pros through his help in that chaotic boarding house. I saw the pictures and signed jerseys in the display cases in his home. The guy knows how to find real talent. I was blown away by the skills of my housemates this afternoon. They fall into a category of their own. Especially Denny and Kame.

I hate hearing about some rich bastard scheming to oust Hank. I do not want to be used as a pawn in that game and have my shite actions damage the man trying to help me.

"That is just feckin' grand," I grunt and looking across the hall, I'm not surprised to see Wade hanging out in a group containing Miles. He is not listening to Miles - probably going into more details about his greatness - he is watching me, ignoring the sulky girl hanging onto his arm. "Give me an effin' break."

I lift my bottle in salute to him, giving him my most seductive smile - I've been assured that it is quare seductive... Tan told me... - and I am satisfied to see Wade's face fleetingly react in anger before he looks away, pretending not to have seen me mess with him.

"Come on, Jax!" Hunter snaps, drawing me back to the ever-growing group crowding the plate-covered metal and glass table. Jax stole a small quiche and a sausage roll from my plate, and the girl clearly did not like that. "You've been grazin' non-stop since we walked in. Gan hasn't even had a bite yet. You're still hungry, or what?"

"Yes, Mum," he tells her with raised eyebrows and a cocky smirk.

Hunter pulls a face and passes the well-stocked plate she's sharing with Miko to him across the table and turns away to head back to the food table for another one when he thanks her profusely for not letting him starve.

Aye, now I'm gettin' looks.

Jax grins at me as if I'm made of chocolate and he's about to take a piece. Looking away from him, I see more speculative smiles from some of the other lads I was introduced to earlier. One or two of them don't look as pleased as Jax, though. I'm about to take a sip of beer to hide my discomfort when I see Miko giving me a raised eyebrow look as if she's about to scold me and almost pour the sip right past my lips.

"What?" I challenge the smirking group, coughing my way through the wee sip I managed to take with some success. "I'm the new bloke, right? You said she always takes care of the new guy," I remind Jax.

"Yes, that's all it is," he chuckles, happily stuffing his face with the food Hunter gave him.

"For sure, eh?" Ginny agrees with a giggle, cheerfully drizzling cracker crumbs all over the place while she tries to eat some kind of sweet slice with a layer of chocolate covering a thick section of custard she's getting all over her lips and fingers.

"Oh, you betcha," says Libra, winking at me when I give her a startled look.

"Galen's not wrong." Miko's voice of reason draws everybody's attention away from me, and I'm fierce grateful. "That's just who Hunter is—she looks out for people. Always has."

She's no longer glaring at me; she's dishing out lethal looks to all the others, still trying to make more of Hunter's kindness than it is. Some of them wisely falter beneath her gaze, and others are bravely trying to flirt with her, which is not going over well with the girl at all. She mutters something in Japanese, making Kame gasp in shock, and then she leaves the table.

"What did she say?" Jax wants to know, laughing heartily now, and I am curious too.

"Ancient curse for men who have too many women," Kame explains, casually lifting a cracker topped with something weird-looking from his plate. "She made it up; it won't work; you don't have to wear ball caps when you shower," he assures the guys who'd been flirting with the girl. "No matter what she says, it won't wash away down the drain," he adds, popping the canapé into his mouth.

"Ball caps?" I grimace, and Libra's snorted laughter and Ginny's red-faced giggles confirm my suspicions even before Jax clarifies.

"Jockstraps. Come on, Kame," he exclaims, swatting his friend's shoulder. "I've told you a thousand times now."

"Jockstrap makes no sense, Jax-kun!" Kame insists. "Who is this Jock person? And a strap will not give protection; we need caps."

I think this might be an old argument because after heaving a deep sigh, Jax launches into explanations that have Kame roll his eyes and Ginny cover her face with her hands, nearly choking on her food with laughter.

Japers! The lass didn't need help gettin' her bake covered in flakes and jam. She was doin' a quare job all by herself.

"He's got a point," I assure Jax, bringing the increasingly disturbing explanations to an end when he jeers at me.

"Why don't you dry your arse, McKenna," he says, messing up my hair, "and tell us what you were trying to say about deadly noodles?"

"Pick one or the other, Mwangi," I grumble. "I cannot be dryin' me arse and talkin' at the same time." There is some satisfaction in seeing the confused faces around me, even if Jax is laughing happily.

"You were going to dry it for him, right? That's what you said earlier," Paul says, making me raise an eyebrow, giving Jax a confused look.

I know it's Paul doing the talking, because after standing here for a bit, I can now match some names to faces. The youthful face that name is attached to belongs to a guy I don't want anywhere near Hunter. He is too damn likable, smooth and witty... and pretty with his thick dark hair, matching his equally dark eyes.

The lad has Hunter Drake vibes, and I want that dude as far away from Hunter as I can toss him. Unfair towards Paul, I know, but... sure look...

I was also told that Paul is one of the farm's best goalies, despite not being a big guy. He is apparently admired for his strong legs and core, his agility, reflexes, coordination, and endurance... the kind of things girls probably like.

Aye, I'm off me nut!

"It's nothing," Jax assures me, pounding a fist into Paul's shoulder, making the guy laugh. "It got lost in translation."

Chuckling, I lift my beer to my lips, looking for Hunter in the small crowd milling about at the food table. When I find her, she is chatting animatedly with a couple of guys while Miko takes the half-filled plate from her to complete the task she went there for.

Why are there so many effin' guys here?!

I watch Hunter laugh at the boys' jokes, squeeze their biceps, and tap their abs on request - at least, that's what it looks like she's doing.

Wee minx!

She is generally enjoying their company. Seeing her offer one of them a pastry and encouraging him to try it when he looks sceptical, I realise that there's nothing flirty about the way she treats these guys. She looks genuinely concerned for and interested in them. Miko is right. Hunter takes care of people.

It is who she is.

~~~