By halftime, we were up by a touchdown, but barely. My muscles were screaming, and I’d taken more hits than I cared to count. But I felt alive, energized in a way I hadn’t in days.
In the locker room, Coach Flannery went over adjustments while I grabbed some water. Karrick plopped down beside me, still in his beast form, panting heavily.
“Your boy’s really into the game,” he commented, gesturing toward the door with one clawed hand. “Saw him nearly fall out of the stands when that asshole blindsided you in the second quarter.”
I remembered that hit. It had knocked the wind out of me, and I’d looked up to see Ash half-standing, his face pale with concern. Even his shadows had seemed agitated, writhing around his feet, making other students nearby pull away from him in fear. But I couldn’t see why they’d be afraid of him. He was the sweetest guy in the entire school by a long shot.
“I see you too my advice, by the way,” Karrick added quietly, giving me a nudge. “Feels good right? To lean into the mate bond?”
“We haven’tleanedinto anything,” I replied quickly. “In fact, last time I touched him, we blew a goddamn hole in the school wards.”
Karrick just smiled. “Yeah. I heard about that.”
“It’s not funny! That’s a huge issue! Not to mention what’ll happen when my parents find out…”
“Think that’ll happen soon?”
I shook my head with a sigh. “I don’t know. I’ve got my butler trying to find a solution. But I’m not sure there is one.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because,” I said, leaning close to his ear. “There might be a true love spell involved.”
“Holy shit! Really?” Then he paused, his brows furrowed. “Wait… he didn’t?—”
“Yes, he did,” I nodded. “But when he was twelve. He didn’t know what he was doing.”
I glanced toward the locker room door, wondering if Ash could somehow sense what we were talking about. The bracers should have been containing his magic, but after what happened in the locker room, I wasn’t taking any chances.
“Twelve years old,” Karrick repeated, his voice dropping even lower. “And the spell actually worked? That’s... fuck, Silver. That’s some serious power.”
“Tell me about it,” I muttered, taking another swig of water. “The Dean nearly had a stroke when he found out. Apparently true love spells are not only illegal, but nearly impossible to pull off. And even then, they usually just create temporary infatuation.”
“But this one stuck,” Karrick said, his brown eyes studying me carefully. “For eight years, waiting for you two to meet.”
“Maybe,” I corrected. “We still don’t know if it’s the spell or a mate bond or some weird combination of both. That’s what Caldwell’s researching.”
“And in the meantime?”
I ran a hand through my sweat-dampened hair. “In the meantime, we’re trying to be careful. The bracers help, but...” I trailed off, remembering the feeling of Ash in my arms last night, the way his lips had felt against mine. “It’s hard.”
“I bet it is,” Karrick smirked, then yelped when I punched his shoulder. “Ow! I meant emotionally, you pervert!”
“Sure you did,” I laughed, grateful for the momentary levity.
Coach Flannery’s voice boomed across the locker room, calling us back for the second half strategy session. I pushed thoughts of Ash and spells and impossible situations to the back of my mind. Right now, I had a game to win.
When we jogged back onto the field, the crowd’s energy had somehow intensified. I searched for Ash immediately and found him still in the same spot, though now he was talking to someone—a petite fae girl with iridescent wings who kept gesturing animatedly. Even from here, I could see Ash’s uncomfortable body language, the way he kept his bracer-clad arms close to his sides.
“Focus, Captain,” Daisuke called out as we lined up.
He was right. I needed to get my head in the game. Moonhaven had clearly spent halftime strategizing because they came out swinging. Their werewolf quarterback was playing more aggressively, taking risks that paid off more often than not. Within the first ten minutes of the third quarter, they’d tied the score.
I called a timeout, gathering the team around me. “They’re getting cocky,” I said, my eyes scanning each of my teammates. “They think they’ve figured us out. So, we’re switching to the Phoenix formation.”
Several players exchanged glances. The Phoenix formation was risky. It relied on perfect timing and coordination. One missed step and the whole thing fell apart.
“But we’ve practiced it,” I reminded them, channeling the confidence my father’s advisors had drilled into me. “And I trust every single one of you to execute it perfectly. We’re going to show Moonhaven what Widdershins is really made of.”
