Chapter 28
Reid
I keep Riley in front of me as we make our way to the food table.
It does not escape my notice how many guys turn to watch her, and it makes my already tense self even more on edge.
It’s been that way since the moment I laid eyes on her tonight.
I still have to catch my breath every time I look at her.
Riley is beautiful, always has been. But tonight...
there are no words to describe how my mate looks tonight.
Beautiful doesn’t even come close. But I’m not the only one that thinks that, and it’s been driving me crazy all night.
I’m hoping the night will go quickly, so we can take our leave.
While I would love nothing more than to take her in my arms and dance all night with her, I don’t think I could handle all the males in this room staring at her.
I watch as she steps up to the buffet at the same time another girl does.
Riley says something, and the other girl laughs.
That, in turn, makes my girl smile. They talk back and forth, and I wonder if she’s on Riley’s team.
They chat all the way through the line, and I hang back just a little bit to give Riley some space.
They part ways at the end of the food table, and Riley turns around, looking for me.
I finish putting food on my plate; I’m not even really sure what because I’m distracted.
When I turn back, there are two different girls standing in front of Riley.
I notice immediately that her face is closed off, not open like it was moments ago.
The girl closest to Riley looks down at Riley’s plate. “Wow, it must be so nice to eat as much as you want, to not have to care about what you look like.”
“Right?” The other one says. “I try to eat healthy and small amounts, so I don’t put on weight.” She shrugs. “But not everybody’s like that.”
“Clearly,” the first one says, eyeing Riley with a look that I don’t like at all.
When I get close, I recognize both of them as players from the women’s team from events in the past. Angeline is the more well-known of the two; and I’ve had my own share of run ins with her over the years.
The girl doesn’t know how to take no for an answer.
Shock rolls through me now at their words. I stop next to Riley with my plate in my left hand and slip my arm around her and stand at her back. “Hey, Gorgeous,” I say just loud enough for the girls to hear and drop my head to her neck for just a brief moment before I lift my head.
“Reid, this is Angeline and Jaida,” Riley says by way of introduction. “Girls, this is Reid—”
“Marshall,” Angeline fills in. They both turn brilliant smiles on me, and I grind my teeth. They just treated my girl like trash, and now, they want to play coy with me. I hate that.
“Yes, I know Reid very well,” Angeline says, implying something between us. There never has been and never will be.
“They’re my teammates,” Riley adds.
“Ready?” I ask my girl, ignoring them.
I place my hand at her back and direct her back to our table. There’s never been anything between Angeline and me, I feel the need to inform her.
I know.
And just like that, it’s a non-issue. I pull out her chair for her, and she slides gracefully into it with the ease of a shifter.
Her movements are always so smooth and graceful.
As soon as I’m seated, I angle my body slightly towards her and drop my arm over the back of her chair.
I can’t help it. With all these males around and Riley looking the way she does tonight, I’m battling the desire to pick her up and carry her out of here or at least give her my jacket to cover up with.
But I know neither of those are good options, especially if I want her to continue to speak to me after tonight...
or ever again. Dropping my arm over the back of the chair is as much claim as I can have on her publicly.
Everybody at the table starts eating, and I feel myself relax marginally.
You good? Riley sends me through the pack link. She surprises me by putting her hand on my thigh. You seem pretty tense.
I remove my arm from the back of her chair and take her hand in mine.
The contact eases something inside me, and I try to focus on the conversations happening around us.
Riley laughs at something somebody says, and I turn her way.
I love her laugh and could listen to it every moment of every day.
I take a few bites of food and listen as Caden regales us with stories, most of them too dramatic to be true.
“You wish,” I tell him after he tells everybody he’s going to be MVP this year.
The guys around the table laugh and give him a hard time.
“I’m pretty sure Reid’s got that spot buttoned up,” Riley adds.
Caden leans forward. “You that confident in your man?”
Riley doesn’t bat an eye. “Yes.”
Caden shakes his head in disgust, but I know he’s just playing at it.
Caden and I have been teammates and friends for three years now, and I know all of this is for show.
He’s a good guy and a good player. He’s not in it just for himself.
The conversation continues around the table, and I like it that Riley feels comfortable enough to jump in.
“Want to get dessert?” she asks when her plate is empty.
I grin. “You and your sweet tooth.” Riley’s always had a sweet tooth. When she’s in sports season, that usually means something like berries and whipped cream for her. I stand up and put my hand out for her. She takes my hand, and we make our way over to the dessert bar.
“Why do they even put all this out when all of us are athletes?” she asks, looking over the dessert table.
“Because most of us are not as disciplined as you,” I tell her.
She scoffs. “Oh please, Mr. I-can’t-ever-eat-anything-sweet.”
I lean forward so my lips are against her ear. “You eat something sweet, and I’ll get a taste of it later.”
She turns and looks up at me, and I don’t miss the heat in her gaze.
I step forward, closing the distance between us.
She puts her hand on my chest, and I feel my muscles bunch beneath her hand.
She’s playing with fire, and she has no idea.
Or maybe she does because a glint enters her eyes.
She turns back to the dessert table and fills her plate with berries and of course, fresh whipped cream.
I follow her back to the table. Once we’re seated, she wastes no time grabbing a strawberry and dunking it in whipped cream before pulling it to her lips.
Right before she takes a bite, she turns to look at me.
Then she takes the bite slowly, being sure to lick her lips when she’s done.
I resist the urge to growl and grab her and kiss her, so I can taste the sweetness of her lips and the berry at the same time.
“Reid.” I realize belatedly that Caden is calling my name.
I’m honestly not sure if he’s called my name more than once.
It takes effort to pull my gaze away from Riley and focus my attention on Caden.
He grins like a Cheshire cat. “You having a hard time focusing, Bro?” he asks.
I level a look at him, but he just grins. “Did you need something?” I ask, my voice clipped.
His grin widens. “First game. What’s your take?”
I force myself to think about basketball and our first game in just two weeks. “SGC. We’ll see what their team looks like this year, but based on other years, I expect a win by,” I pause and think. “Thirteen points.”
Riley turns to look at me. “Wow, somebody’s confident.”
The guys around the table laugh; they’re used to this. I shrug. “We play them every year. I’ve got a feel for how things will go.”
She studies my face. “Do you do this for every game?”
“Yes,” the guys say, diming me in.
“How accurate are you?” she asks.
I shrug. “Sometimes I get it pretty close. Other times, I’m way off.”
“Yeah, remember last year against North Carolina? You called that game that we’d be ahead by twenty at halftime, and—”
“Don’t remind me,” I say, cutting him off; but he continues.
“But they had two new freshman that were outside shooters. They killed us. They were up by nearly twenty at halftime!” The guys all laugh, and I shake my head ruefully. I can admit it when I’m wrong.
I look over to see the host for tonight walk up to the podium.
I sit back in my chair, ready to get through this part and on to the rest of the night.
“We are honored tonight to have Coach Bellani with us.” I look over at the coach, not surprised they were able to get him.
They usually pull in some pretty big names for these banquets, and Coach Bellani is definitely a big name in the world of basketball with three rings to show for it in the NBA.
We all turn our attention to him, and I discreetly pull Riley’s chair closer to mine.
He talks about our upcoming season and gives us a motivational speech that normally would appeal to me.
Tonight, however, I just want to get to the part where I can have Riley in my arms. We’ve never attended a dance together before.
I’ve never actually even stuck around for the dance at these events.
Tonight is different. Tonight, Riley is my date, something I’ve dreamed of the past three years I’ve had to attend this event alone.
Riley must feel somewhat the same way, because about halfway through she starts absently drumming her fingers on my thigh.
Any attempt to pay attention flies out the window.
Finally, he finishes, and the music starts.
The tables around us empty quickly as players partner up and head to the dance floor.
I stand beside Riley and put out my hand.
“Dance with me?”
She smiles up at me and takes my hand. “I thought you’d never ask.”
I lead her out onto the crowded dance floor.
Normally, I wouldn’t want to be around this many people.
Now, I’m grateful because it pushes Riley even closer to me.
I drop my hand to her back and pull her close to my body.
She fits in my arms like she was made for me, which she was.
Her heels almost put her eye to eye with me.
We sway to the romantic music, and I relish the treasure of simply getting to hold her.
“I didn’t think he would ever stop talking.
” Her voice isn’t super loud, but I can still hear her over the music.
“Can I tell you that I’ve envisioned this night for three years?”
Her eyes light up. “Really?”
I nod. “Every year, when we get to this part, I always leave.”
She stares up at me with wide eyes. “Thanks for waiting for me, Reid.”
I pull her closer. “I would wait for you forever.”
She smiles. “You can’t say stuff like that.”
I smirk. “Sure, I can.” Her body stiffens against me, and she frowns. “What is it?” I ask.
“Do you feel that?” Her eyes scan the crowd.
I’m instantly alert, letting my wolf come just to the surface. I reach out to my wolf. Feel anything?
And then I feel it—an unnatural slimy darkness.
Shadows line the walls, and I feel something...
evil. Then dark creatures, black as midnight and hideous in form converge on the room.
People start screaming and running for the exits.
There’s chaos everywhere. I pull Riley off the dance floor.
“Stay right with me.” Then we start for the exit; I reach out immediately.
Alpha, we’re under attack. Skinwalkers are here. Basketball banquet at the Hilton.
Riley? He sends back immediately.
She's with me.
We’re on our way. Get my daughter out of there.
I will. People are screaming all around us, but my focus is on getting my mate out of here safely. I have no doubt that they’re here for her, but that’s not going to happen...not while I have something to say about it.