Fake Dating Alpha Hockey Captain by Riley Above Story

Chapter 29

Shifting always comes with a level of discomfort. It’s unavoidable, considering the changes to your body. I’m good at mine, so the sound of my bones cracking and muscles shifting is minimal compared to the stalker.

I was prepared to fight without transforming. But since the stink decided to pull out his wolf first, well. You don’t fight a wolf in human form unless you’re okay with having 42 very sharp knives coming for your very unprotected neck.

Instead of a half-shift, he becomes a scrawny 4-foot-5 wolf with graying, crinkled fur. I have a size advantage at 4-foot-8. I can’t take that for granted, though.

The stalker charges at me with a snarl, and I growl right back, keeping my ground. I dodge to the right, his teeth clacking as he misses. A swift turn, and I’m jumping at his back. It’s surprisingly easy to sink my teeth into his shoulder.

But his skin’s tough. Hard to break through. I shake my head to try to force my

teeth in.

He yowls and twists, finally dislodging me before jumping to bite one of my front legs.

My paw smacks his face before I charge at him again.

We keep trading blows. From my training at home and hockey, I’m good at keeping my back to the enemy, unlike this rogue.

I dodge a jump by going low. Then I jolt up, clamping down on his neck. It’s easy to tackle him to the ground, belly up.

His sharp claws scratch at me, but my skin’s thicker than his.

I’m not aiming to kill. Only to subdue and get him to concede. He should know once I’m done with him to not come back.

Although he manages to turn over, my teeth clamp around his neck as I pin him. There’s blood against my tongue. Growls rumble in my chest as he continues struggling.

But, though I’m a “puppy”-his words, not mine-I’m still bigger, stronger, and faster than him.

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Eventually, his wriggling wanes, lying still. I keep him pinned though, waiting. My blood’s pumping so quickly, it’s taking more than usual for me to keep from running fully on my instincts.

Then, I finally hear a noise.

A smail, short whimper.

I growl once more before letting him go. As expected, he scrambles from under me and flees into the forest, his neck bleeding lazily. My tongue slides against my teeth as I try to get rid of the taste.

Still, it was too exhilarating. I’m still hopped up on adrenaline.

So, I slip up a little bit. Feeling heat and warmth gather in my chest before I let it out in a victorious howl.

Huffing, I consider changing back, or at least stopping in half-form. But I know it WON

be so easy. My blood pressure is still high, pumping from exertion.

So, I trudge back over to where I kicked off my shoes, pick them up in my mouth, then head deeper into the forest.

I’ll just wait it out for a while. Then I can run and go get Cynthia’s car like I did last time.

A wolf howled really, really close to my house the other night.

At first, I thought maybe a pack was migrating or something. But I don’t recall them ever being so close to my house.

And then, I remembered that Alex was still out in the world, getting my car. What if the wolf attacks him or something?

I’d considered calling him, but what if his phone attracts the wolf? I know a lot about wolf behavior, but I’m unsure if pinging noises would cause it to startle. If he was hiding from the wolf, then me reaching out to him would be bad.

So, I waited until the next day, rushing to school the next morning

I get there early enough that practice hasn’t ended yet, and when I walk into the

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Chapter 29

hockey arena, I see his jersey mingling among the others.

But I don’t identify him by jersey, not at first.

No, I realize he’s there because the arena smells somewhat like pine.

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Usually, I can’t smell much of anything in the cold room other than frigid ice and an underlying blanket of sweat. But now, even the sweat submits to the pine scent Alex gives off.

Did he put on new deodorant? Wash his clothes recently?

As the hockey players take a brief break, Alex sees me and grins, skating over. Though, his expression falters when he gets a better look at mine.

“Hey, Cynth! What’s up?”

“…Arrre you okay?”

“Hmm?” He crosses his arms on the rink board-the wall-and leans forward. “What’re you talking about? Do I look ‘not okay?”

“Well, no, but…”

Something about him just seems more…potent. Refreshed?

Or, maybe, a better word would be imposing? I mean, it doesn’t make me uncomfortable, which…

An imposing-ish guy not making me uncomfortable is enough to make the cogs in my brain stall.

But yeah, even with this strange feeling about him, he doesn’t make me itch as he at me. Instead, it’s as though the little golden flecks in his brown eyes look brighter than usual. Plus the stronger pine smell, and he’s somehow more attractive now than he usually is.

“…I just… I guess I was wondering. Don’t worry about it.”

Since it doesn’t seem he heard or encountered the wolf near my place, I decide to just let it go. And there’s no way I’m going to ask why he smells stronger than usual. The answer could either indicate he smells nice or he smells bad, and considering he’s in such an active sport, he’d probably assume the latter.

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“Alright, well…” He’s about to say something, but the coach blows a whistle,

indicating practice is back on. “Ah, I’ll be back later. If you wanna just hang out in here, that’d be cool.”

“Okay.”

He smiles, then leans forward, pushing my bangs out the way as he kisses my forehead. I don’t pull away or shove him, just scrunching my eyes a bit as I feel his lips against my skin.

“Brb,” he says, then he skates back to the group, getting ready for the next practice

round.

I head over to the bleachers as I readjust my bangs, covering my forehead. Though I already finished my homework, I still have some lines I could practice for the next performance. I’m not a main character this time, but being a secondary one is really good, too.

The players continue skating on the rink. One side doing the quick hands plus 360 drill. The other side also quick hands, but with sauce. The sauce version takes up more space than the 360.

You can tell some of the seniors from their upcoming juniors. Someone like Len, despite his size, can use the edges of his skates to move around. There’s acrobatics, technical work, and quick thinking involved in hockey that I hadn’t noticed before.

Technically, we don’t have to be so involved in each other’s hobbies anymore. However, Alex still drops by practice, though he gets an occasional scolding from Mrs. Taylor for being a tad too talkative and disruptive. And, of course, if I’m here early enough, I visit practice.

Had it been anyone else, I don’t think I would ever get so involved: The fact I am is…dangerous.

Because I’m already sure that I’m not faking this as much as I should.

I feel at ease with him hugging and holding and kissing me. He doesn’t make me scared…

I sigh, closing my eyes.

…I don’t think I’ve kept up with my side of this deal after all. No, I know I haven’t.

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I like Alex. Genuinely.

As practice ends, the players gather in the middle as the coach tells them about some sort of dance. I’m trying and somewhat failing to focus on my stuff, so I don’t hear them super well.

However, when Alex comes off the rink and calls me over, he lets me know what it was about.

“We’re having a celebratory dinner and dance cause we’re going to the finals. Yeah, might be a bit early cause we haven’t actually won nationals, but still. Something to motivate us, y’know?”

“Ooh, okay.”

He pauses, scratching slightly at his cheek.

“You, uh, wanna come?”

I blink up at him, somewhat surprised. I mean, sure, we’re fake dating, but we don’t really have to go this far, do we?

Even so, I feel a flutter in my stomach as a smile slides onto my face without my input.

“…Yeah. I would. Thank you.”

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