Chapter 5
Yeah, this was probably a bad idea.
Five panther shifters froze and stared at me with that eerie cat-like stance. If they still had their fur, it would be spiked straight up right now.
Three males and two females comprised the panther team.
Panthers were always sleek and lean, but one of the rare muscular males often played this game the students liked to call Scurriage.
It was like scrummage in rugby, but involved diving for the ball and then a violent game of chase where the poor soul who captured the ball scurried to the goal—and often didn’t make it unscathed.
Hence why only shifters likely signed up for these games.
The largest panther shifter stalked up to me, lithe in his movements in spite of his bulk. Unlike the other shifters, his eyes had a gold tinge to them, making me wonder if there was another breed in his lineage. “What the fuck are you doing in our locker room?”
I cleared my throat before tossing my bag to the bench. I began peeling off my sweater to reveal my tight-fitting workout uniform underneath. Olivia had even sewn on an Academy patch for me, making me feel all official even if I had cheated my way onto the team.
“I’m here to play, of course,” I said with a shrug, then pulled out my soccer shoes from my bag.
I’d managed to find them in the school store and even found my size.
My feet were embarrassingly large, but I wasn’t going to care about girly shit like that.
I’d need all the traction I could get today when I found myself running from teeth and claws.
A low, warning growl came from the male—Aaron, I remembered. Olivia thought he was hot and had blathered on about him before. To which I remember countering that panther shifters always got the short end of the stick at the Academy and would be a poor addition to our Dud alliance.
“Where’s Petunia?” he asked as claws extended from his fingernails and black fur began to poke from his skin. This panther had an admirable amount of control over his shift.
I kept my rising fear bottled up in my chest. If they smelled weakness, I would be dead before we even got on the field. “She said Logan wouldn’t let her play,” I offered with another shrug as I perched on the end of the bench and began lacing up my shoes. “Asked me to replace her.”
A horn sounded, signifying that we had five minutes before it was time to get out on the field. There wouldn’t be time to validate my story, much less replace me with Petunia even if she did manage to get back to the signups board in time.
Aaron narrowed his slitted gaze at me, the low growl still working its way through his chest. “Why would Petunia ask you to replace her? We’ve never had a dud on the team before.”
“We get enough shit as it is,” complained one of the girls as she crossed her arms and leaned against a locker. She licked the back of her hand, making no effort to hide her animalistic instincts that most of the shifters found embarrassing.
It was true, though, adding a dud like me to their ranks certainly wouldn’t help their reputation. “Just give me a chance. If I suck, you can bite me, okay?”
Aaron’s gaze flickered with interest at that. Ew, cat germs. Gross. “Very well. If you trip us up, I’m taking you up on that offer.”
One of the other females mewled with protest. “Aaron! You said you’d only bite me.”
He smirked. “Sorry, Sophie. I’ll try to restrain myself, but it’s just too easy when prey offers itself so willingly.” He gave me a wink before stripping off his shirt. “Time to play with the wolves. Let’s go.”
He turned and unlatched the door to the field. He walked out onto it, barefoot and confident as the rest of his team finished glowering at me and followed. Sophie gave me a snarl for good measure before taking the end of the line.
Adjusting my shoes, I sighed and waited to a count of three before I followed.
Four silver floodlights amplified by magic illuminated the field and dispersed any of the dreary dullness the weather changes had taken.
While the arena was indoors, a massive glass ceiling gave a spectacular view to the sunless sky.
I missed Earth, and the moon, and especially the sun, but magic was a good second when it came to fighting cold and darkness.
The grass beneath my feet held a natural warmth to it that made the shifters relax.
The wolves stalked towards us, likewise barefoot and bare-chested minus the girls who wore tight spaghetti-strap tanks that would be destroyed the moment they shifted.
It was all for a good show as part of the games and one of the rare instances the shifters enjoyed forsaking their nudity for the added dramatic effect.
Logan spotted me instantly, his surprise flickering across his features before he schooled himself in frigid stillness. His team spread out behind him and waited for the game to begin as they took me in with curious glances.
“Attention, students!” boomed the loudspeaker with a showy female voice. “It seems we have a special game today. In place of Petunia Panther we have… Lily Fallen!”
The small crowd of students responded with hoots and excitement. They probably all thought I was about to get mauled.
Maybe I was.
I flexed my fingers when a referee hurried to the center of the field. A witch if I read the faint purple aura around her correctly. She blew a whistle and tossed the ball into the air.
Aaron roared, splintering the air with his claim as he jumped and shifted, his claws outstretched for his target.
Logan reacted with instant speed, his bones breaking as he burst into his wolf form in a shift faster than I’d ever seen, shortly followed by his teammates as their uniforms disintegrated from the impact.
I held my breath and watched the clash of bodies going for the ball.
I palmed my Blood Stone. It was able to use me as a conduit for established spells, but I wasn’t a witch.
I couldn’t work magic on my own. My plan had been to humiliate Logan, but I hadn’t thought much farther than actually getting myself into the game with him.
Now that I was up close and personal with the mixture of teeth, fur, and claws, I saw how ridiculous my plan really was.
Good thinking, Lils. All you’re going to do is get yourself killed.
I couldn’t see who got the ball first, but a telling yip sounded as Aaron bit down hard on Logan’s shoulder. The ball launched into the air and I tracked it as it went on an impossible trajectory.
No. You are so not heading for me.
The ball landed with a thump at my feet and I flickered my gaze up to see the shifters whirling on me.
Without thinking, I grabbed the ball and bolted. The wolves hadn’t seen me as a threat, so I had a straight shot to the goal with only one shifter guarding it.
Come on super strength, don’t fail me now.
I pushed all my power into my legs as my cleats locked into the soil beneath me. The wind made my eyes water, assuring me that my strength was working as I flew across the field. I arched my arm back and readied my shot as the wolf prowling back and forth dared me to try and get the ball past him.
I needed to focus on the two advantages I had here.
The shifters had underestimated me. As a dud, I wasn’t supposed to have any powers.
I kept my super strength only for when I really needed it, so other than a few of my bullies who I’d shoved out of the way, not many of the students knew about it. Secondly, I had rage.
A lot of it.
All this time I didn’t know what I was when I watched students all around me embrace their lineage and pursue a future that I could never have.
I was here illegally, all because of some prophecy that made Kaito believe in me.
That insecurity was still there that what if the universe hadn’t chosen me.
Would I have still found someone like Kaito? Would I be deserving of love?
When I thought back to my dredged up memories before the Second Echo of Calamity hit, I knew I didn’t deserve love.
I was a monster.
Fueling my blow with everything I had, all my rage, pain, and suffering, the ball went sailing past the wolf that launched a fraction too late.
“G-goal!” the announcer stuttered.
I whirled to see Logan shifted back to his human form as his wolves growled behind him. He stalked up to me as his jaw worked with anger.
“So you want to play? All right. Let’s play.”
He grabbed me and slammed me to the ground. The horn blew as the ball launched back into the field, but Logan kept me pinned as he straddled me and ground his hips into mine.
And, yeah, I became very aware that he was naked.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I snapped at him, but that lingering part of me that recognized Logan as my potential mate flared to life sending heat to all sorts of undesirable places. He shifted against me as I squirmed, only serving to make wetness dampen between my thighs.
He bared his teeth as his nostrils flared. Shit. Could he scent that he turned me on?
His pupils dilated and he shook his head as if stunned. “Fuck,” he grumbled, then he jumped off of me. “Stay out of my way,” he growled as he retreated.
I tried not to let my eyes roam over his perfect body, but that was pretty much impossible, so I gave in and tilted my head in appreciation, which seemed to only piss him off.
He growled again and shifted, sending fur sprouting over his muscular form and crunching bone in that sickening way that made me wince.
“Hope that hurt!” I shouted as the silver wolf ran towards the rest of his pack.
Having kept me occupied, my team was doing a bang up job of losing again. A wolf ran straight at me with the ball secured in his jaws. Getting a goal had pissed off Logan pretty bad, so I decided that I needed to do it again.