Getting boarded in Calgary was supposed to be the worst thing that happened to Leo Vance all week. Then his teammate showed up at his hotel room. Stellan Frost: six foot eight, terrifying on the ice, impossible in the locker room, and, as it turns out, not strictly human. One night with him and Leo's whole season goes sideways. There's the split lip he has to explain to the trainer. The defenseman who keeps saying "you're mine now" like that's a thing people say. And the belly that, two days later, won't zip into his warm-up pants. Turns out Stellan's not just the guy on his line. He's a Jotunn, an actual frost giant out of the old stories, and frost giants don't do casual. Now Leo's got a season to save, a body that's changing by the hour, and a secret that won't fit under three compression shirts. The trainer's asking questions. His best friend keeps almost catching him in the shower. A reporter's knocking on his apartment door. And somewhere between the first kick and the press conference, Leo's going to have to figure out what he's actually willing to lose. CHECKED MATE is a high-heat MM hockey romance with knotting, a magically accelerated mpreg, one extremely smug frost giant, and a whole locker room of grown men who will absolutely lie to the media for their captain. HEA guaranteed. No hockey knowledge required. Some pizza shame included. 🏒 MM hockey romance 🏒 Mpreg, magically accelerated 🏒 Knotting. Yes, that kind. 🏒 Monster romance, frost giant edition 🏒 Teammates to lovers 🏒 He fell first. Two years ago. Ask him about it. 🏒 Possessive MMC, size difference, "you're mine now" 🏒 Secret relationship x very public reveal 🏒 Forced proximity: one hotel room, one cabin, zero chill 🏒 Found family in a locker room 🏒 Milk, breeding, belly worship. You've been warned. 🏒 HEA with a baby and a wedding.