Ilya had been in a lot of fights. He’d racked up penalties and put his fist where his mouth often was. But the way he’d lost control was terrifying. It was like he’d stepped out of himself and become…
Ilya paled, and pushed the thought away.
He had started the day in the wrong mindset—thinking Shane needed protection, assuming Ilya knew better than his coach, letting the Montreal players dig under his skin in a way he hardly let anyone do. It all snowballed from there.
Now his team was out there, trying to clean up Ilya’s mess.
Source: Play Hard – Chapter 1, by Hartzy – Game Changers Series – Rachel Reid [Archive of Our Own]
Adult, post-canon. This is an amazing Ilya POV – not only seeing how much he loves Shane, how he fights for him, but also how much Shane does the same for him when his mind goes to dark places. Absolutely exquisite, this made me melt so many times.