Page 69 of The Golden Receiver

“Meaning tomorrow, you’re done.” Kieran looked at each of the boys who had attacked him just for being a human on the team, for outperforming Willis, for whatever other bigoted reasons they might have.

Willis, Reyes, and Hopkins looked at each other and back at Kieran. Despite the fear on his face, Willis still had to push things. “You’re not going to do anything.”

Kieran took a step closer to them. I could feel the rage coming off him, warm in the cool fall night. When I took a deep breath, I could smell him, but there wasn’t a trace of that sour anxiety I’d come to know. He locked eyes with Willis, and I saw the way his lips curved upward into a dark smile. “You’re right, because I’m not like you.”

Kieran pushed past his attackers, and my pack and I followed him.

I was surprised when Kieran didn’t go toward the dorms. Instead, he went back to the gym. He found Coach Erikkson and Coach Shaw outside and asked if he could speak with them.

We went to their office, and Kieran told them everything.

I was so proud of him.

Chapter Twenty-One

Kieran

Tonight hadn’t gone the way I thought it would.

One minute, I’d been ecstatic at the fact that we won our away game. I was riding high on a last-minute touchdown. I knew it was the kind of play that professional recruiters could watch to see what I had to offer. If I decided to try going pro after college. I was still on the fence about that. I was also buzzing on Evander’s contagious energy. He’d been excited when we got off the bus because he could tell that some members of his pack were hanging out by the stadium. Probably waiting to hear how the game went.

He’d been buzzing with energy, which probably explained why he wasn’t still in the locker room when I got back from the bathroom.

I didn’t mind. As much as I loved his company, it was nice to have a short break from the possessive werewolf. I figured I’d text him when I got back over to Karloff Hall, and then we’d meet up when he was done hanging out with his friends. If I passed out before then, I’d meet up with him in the morning.

Then things took a turn.

I’d barely made it outside the stadium when I was grabbed and pushed against the building. Willis, Reyes, and Hopkins crowded around me, and this time, they didn’t bother changing into their monster forms. Maybe they thought that since I hadn’t identified them to our coaches, I wouldn’t if they fucked with me again. Before they could do anything, Evander and his pack were suddenly there.

Everything was a blur from that point. One minute, I was being pinned and I knew I was about to get my ass kicked again. Well, I figured they were going to try, because I wasn’t going to make it easy on them this time. The next, Evander was pinning Willis to the ground, and two other wolves had his friends. Then suddenly, the wolves were gone, replaced by their human selves, and Evander was making threats.

I’d never heard him like that before.

It ended in our coaches’ office. I told Coach Shaw and Coach Erikkson everything. I gave them details I’d left out from the initial attack. I told them how I’d felt targeted all season with examples. I told them about tonight’s attempted attack, and Serena, Nick, Charlie, and Evander gave their points of view. Evander told Coach Shaw about something he’d heard in the woods before the blood moon. We answered questions, and they told us they’d look into everything.

After tonight, I knew I had to draw a line, and I did.

I thought I’d be exhausted when we finished, but adrenaline coursed through my veins the whole walk back to Karloff Hall. Adrenaline and the need to talk to Evander about something he said during the confrontation, something I didn’t even know if he realized he said.

But the words were hanging in my head like moths around a light, and I knew that nothing would put it out of my mind.

“Can we go to your room?” I asked him as we waited for the elevator.

“You’re staying tonight?” he asked. I swear if he still had his tail out, he’d be wagging it. He looked that excited.

When we got to his room, I wasn’t surprised to find Preston still studying in his chair. I could count on one hand the number of times I’d seen him anywhere other than the chair, and that included the cloudy memories of the night I got attacked when he helped clean me up and tried to convince Evander to take me to the campus clinic. We waved as we passed him, but he didn’t even look up.

The moment we pushed into Evander’s room, I grinned. “Does Preston ever leave that chair?”

“To go to class and to go to bed,” Evander answered with a laugh. “We’ve just accepted that it’s his chair.”

“What about your other two roommates?” I’d seen them in passing, but I hadn’t really gotten to chat with them much. Same as Evander with my roommates, I supposed.

Evander shrugged. “They’re around. When they’re in the suite, they’re either in one of their rooms or playing video games on the couch. But they have a lot of friends, so they’re not here a lot.”

So, from what I understood, the typical college experience of the non-athlete. Well, the non-athlete that actually got along with people outside of a select few they’d spent too long making their mind up about.

I had a few more questions, ways to ease into the conversation I wanted to have with him, but I didn’t get a chance.