Page 9 of Fortune Academy: Year Two
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 athumpat 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 and 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 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.
Waiting until the wolf was just within reach, I sprang towards him and ignored the snap up my calves as my muscles protested the burst of energy. A cold, numbing sensation spread from my core, alarming me, but my fingers were already on the ball.
Yanking it free, I tucked it in the crook of my arm and ran in the opposite direction. “Ew!” I muttered to myself, wiping my free hand on my pants leg as I ran. “Dog spit!”
If you’re afraid of a little spit, you’re in the wrong place.
Logan’s voice invaded my mind without warning and made me falter. I’d almost forgotten he had that power with me. I didn’t have time to wonder if it was a shifter thing, or just a Logan thing, because there he was, all teeth and snarl as a silver wolf that dared me to try and get past him.
Already having put my supernatural speed into my sprint, there was no way I was going to slow down in time. I glanced to my right to find a sleek panther trailing me. Those golden eyes beckoned me to toss the ball.
Well, the panthers might not have expected me to play on their team, but Aaron seemed to accept me. Maybe it was just to piss Logan off, or maybe the panther had decided to give me a chance. No matter his reasons, I wanted to get this goal. Not just because I was on a mission for Hendrik, but because for the first time since I arrived at the Academy I wasgoodat something.
