Chapter 38: Chapter 37

Sometime during the football game, the drizzle had turned to full rain, increasing the dangers of an already extremely dangerous sport, if you could call it that way.

Could you call the gladiators fighting against lions a sport?

I watched both my mate and my twin, in anticipation, from the sidelines, as the crowds growled and snarled. And all the animal sounds that existed in the predatorial worlds were heard.

There was something about the way Logan moved that completely enraptured me. He knew no fear when he stepped forward while commanding his teammates what to do with numbers and codes unknown to Comet.

His mere being was filled with domination, urging everyone to bow to his will. He was lethal, more like a predator than a normal player.

His powerful legs guided him between the rival players. He moved right and then pretended to go left, then moved forward instead of passing the ball.

My eyes rested on the 140-yard line at the exact same moment Logan threw the ball across the field with a flawless pass, 70 yards closer to the end line. A werewolf arena was at least three times the size of a human stadium, considering that their strength was, well, greater.

My eyes remained fixed on him, my lips slightly parted as I see him watch the ball, 100% focused on the flying ball. When a teammate grabbed it, his fist hit the air in pride before one of the Jokers pounced on him from the right and a Comet’s player attacked him from behind.

I had to cover my mouth when fangs sank into his forearm, but I quickly breathed a sigh of relief when Logan kicked the Comet’s player away and then glared at the Joker with a scary grimace: the wolf lowered his ears and with a bark went to attack another player.

My hand slipped over the necklace, my fingers traced the half moon and the sign of the letter.

I understood why my pack felt intimidated, why Lachlan felt threatened. Logan seemed more at home in a wereball arena than anywhere else. Logan was a machine that specialized in brutally injuring people and knocking out enemies like skittles.

He was a warrior who rode a predator, two in one.

“Freaking Alpha Carrion’s son is not bad at all, damn him!” My dad growled, making me smile. “I’ll personally make sure to kick his fat ass for raising such an annoying son!”

I thought I would tell father the truth, but an automatic reply came instead, as I thought my ageing dad would die of a heart attack otherwise.

“Dad, that wouldn’t be appropriate”

“Fuck that...” he grumbled, not realising he was speaking to me.

“Husband!!” My mother smacked him on the shoulder, “Language!”

“Sorry, I-”

“Come on, Highlander, fuck those little pussies!”

My dad and I both looked at each other for a second, wide-eyed and incredulous, at hearing my mother’s words as Uncle Andrew shouted several other obscenities, along with her.

By then, Comet had managed to score twice in a row, but then DD made three consecutive touchdowns, after Logan had basically slaughtered two of the Comet’s players.

Was that their strategy? Killing players, dismembering and assaulting them, until they were outnumbered?

It seemed so.

The classic “High-land-er! Go-Smash-Them!” chant vibrated through our wings, while watching my brother pull off yet another dazzling display of athleticism. He threw another perfect pass right into Caius’ awaiting hands.

However, the latter was intercepted and tackled by the defence, by none other than that Skeleton Man... I crumpled my face, he looked more and more familiar.

But I could not be sure because he was wearing that ridiculous mask with the laughing skeleton and he was practically naked. I could ask Makena or father if they knew him, but it was not worth taking my eyes off the arena. Anything could happen.

“Damn it, Caius! That was a perfect pass! One more wrong move and I’ll kick you out of the pack! You hear me? Out!” Father shouted from beside me and I patted him.

I breathed again during the first break, after the players disappeared into the changing rooms. Grabbing my phone, I quickly typed a text:

‘Interesting game. Did you see my so-called mate attacked Alex? And for no reason! The boy is completely out of his mind!’ I looked at the enemy crowd hoping to find someone staring at the phone, but it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

I was about to follow Makena and Amaia out of the stands to get some food when my phone rang.

Rudolph was calling me.

With a small grin, I moved slightly away to answer and not let my relatives or friends overhear me.

“Where are you? Could you at least wave at me, Lucien?” I used his real name and uttered it like I was some crazy wife.

His deep chuckle distracted me for a second.

“Hello to you Bunny Doc. Where are your famous polite manners that you brag about all the time?” His voice was more hoarse than usual, as if someone had punched his vocal cords. Probably he had been shouting a lot, to cheer his team.

“What about your manners then? You probably saw me and you didn’t even greet me!” I pouted unconsciously.

“Stop pouting like that!” I panted, looking around, curiosity was killing me. The endless sea of ​​faces and people moving around wasn’t helping me.

“Now I can add spy to the long list.” I rolled my eyes, which must be funny for him as he laughed again.

“Which list?”

“The list of your nicknames, RUDOLPH” I croaked, rubbing my head because of the stress. I was feeling hangover and it was only past the first quarter.

He chuckled before asking me a direct question, hitting the target.

“So, do you enjoy watching your mate? You distract him with your eyes on him all the time, you know that?”

I gasped, how could he know that I never stopped staring at my mate!?

“I can see you from the crowd. You’re practically drooling all over your mate, damn Yvaine, I didn’t take you for that kind of girl.” He answered my silent question, with an arrogant and mocking tone.

“Well, he’s MINE, so I can watch him as much as I want and please!” I replied without any shame, grinning.

“Sure you can...” His voice dropped, “But you’re distracting him. It’s obvious from how he plays,” He grumbles slightly annoyed, probably by the fact that “according to his expert opinion”, I was distracting his captain.

I scoffed at that.

“It doesn’t seem like he’s playing badly at all, even though he has spent more time beating up my pack members than handling the ball! And besides, how do YOU ​​know if he’s playing well or not? I thought you were a nerd, Rudy”

“A nerd?” He laughed, “What exactly made you think that?”

“I have my sources,” I spat.

“Sure, Bunny Doc. Sure...”

As there was no point or time to argue about that, I dropped the subject.

“So, why did he hit Alex? Do you think he knew I was wearing his sweater? Maybe he smelled it on me and-”

A snarl that made me shiver came from somewhere. I saw a bench being thrown and two people running away. It was a typical wereball sight, there were already some people fighting and I didn’t give it weight.

“Rudolph? Are you still there?”

Muffled sounds could be heard.

“Did you see that bench fly? Was it you?”

“Of course not. Probably a crazy fan.” His reply came smoothly. “Anyway, why the fuck are you wearing his sweater?” I could feel a little bit of resentment there.

“And what does it matter to you? Since when are you such a champion of mates?”

“Since I met mine. And you have met yours too.” He growled towards the last part.

“There is nothing wrong! Since it started raining and since I had nothing with me, Alex lent me his sweatshirt.” I rolled my eyes and huffed when some of my hair fell on my face.

“Ok ok! No need to be so defensive!” He chuckled softly, “Now I have to go, Bunny Doc. Certain matters require my attention. I’ll call you back later.”

After saying goodbye, I sighed and looked at the sweatshirt with a frown. A heartbeat later, I took it off and put it aside.

I was able to make a stop in the bathroom and start to head back, before the game started again.

But, suddenly, a hand grabbed my covered elbow.

I turned around, almost expecting to see Rudolph, only to be surprised.

“You look pretty flustered.” A deep familiar voice chuckled.

When I turned around, I found myself in front of none other than the infamous Skeleton Man whom I had renamed the Bone-Crusher.

His mask was still there, barely revealing a face obscured by the hood of a sweatshirt he wore. He was still in shorts and barefoot and the bone designs on his legs were still perfect. They must have been drawn in special ink as they hadn’t even faded during the game.

“Did you like the hot game, Sweet Pea? I hope you are cheering for me.”

“Not really,” I muttered to myself before realization hit me like a slap and I recognised the nickname.

A light bulb went off in my overwhelmed brain.

“Gentle Eyes!” I laughed, smacking him playfully on the arm. He did not seem to have sweated even a little after running up and down the field, battering player after player.

“Or should I call you Jack Skeleton?” I snickered at his looks.

“Oh, so now you recognized me.” He hugged me and sent me a sly smile. “I knew you hadn’t forgotten me!” An arm encircled my waist but I pushed him away playfully, without stopping my grin. There was something about this werewolf that made me like him right away, despite his constant flirting. Maybe the infectious positivity, or maybe because he reminded me slightly of Rudolph.

“Makena is here too!”

He scratched his head in an adorable way. “Who?” Of course. “My friend and your night buddy.” I raised an eyebrow eloquently at his confused face.

“Ah! The black panther!” I shook my face at his predatory smile, “I wouldn’t mind seeing her after the game. Although she can leave some bruises″

I shook my head and chuckled before realizing where we were.

“So, what are you doing here? I thought this area was meant for my pack.” I asked. And the wereball players were all in their locker rooms. That was the first time I had seen seriousness on his face, in the two times I had met him.

“Well... I had to run some errands.” He winked and dropped the subject.

“So, do you have any other friends to introduce me?” He nudged me and made me laugh. “Nobody who could be your type,” I chuckled, realizing the murderous stares from my pack members who had seen me talking to the enemy.

"You are my type!” he sighed, making me laugh again, “But you turned me down!” he put his hand on his chest melodramatically. “Repeatedly!”

“Of course I did! You were in my friend’s pants!” I chuckled, not being able to believe that this wolf was the same one that had nearly broken Caius’s head before, and half of my team’s players.

“I know”, he smirked like a fox that ate the chicken, “And not only there, but everywhere else too.”

“Details not required!” He laughed at my grimace and casually placed an arm around my shoulders.

“Do you want to meet my friends?” His voice whistled with amusement. “I’m going back to the changing rooms. I can even get you to take a picture with Thor.” At that name, my heart skipped a beat.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I laughed nervously, afraid of meeting my mate. It was obvious that they were teammates, maybe even friends. “Oh, come on, you don’t play wereball, they won’t care you are from Comet since you’re so hot.”

Sure, until one of them recognizes me as the Highlander twin. Or worse, my mate would have thought I was spying on him as one of his stalkers. “No thanks, Gentle Eyes. Another time.”

When the first dong went off, he gave me a kiss on the cheek with a wink and ran away, reminding me that I could call him whenever I wanted.

As if.

With a chuckle at that delinquent, hoping that he would find a mate as soon as possible, I walk back towards the stands.

I completely missed a predator staring at me from the corner, following my every movement; that pair of reddish eyes, not too kind, a little cold, unblinking, with resentment and revenge that could have filled the whole arena.

In my world of butterflies, I reunited with my family and friends without knowing that the events that would happen soon would take a piece of my heart away.

AN/ Will post next chapter on Wednesday.

Don’t forget you can read completed series on my Patreon’s page, together with all the bonus episodes and mature content chapters, PLUS completed book 2 of Mate Mine book and part of book 3 ;)

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