Trained by the Rogue Wolf

by Kristen Strassel

  Or at least I wanted to.

  Maybe that was my wolf, right there. The spark of electricity that cracked me open and made me want nothing but Matteo’s happiness. Even if we weren’t mates.

  But we had to be.

  Mom squinted at me. “What do you think? It could be your big break. We’re not all the way through the first season yet, but it’s been a gamechanger for some of the ladies whose episodes have already aired.”

  “I’m not sure.” My whole world had been turned upside down. I desperately needed to talk about this. Mom wasn’t my first choice for talking about my love life, but if anyone wanted the best for me, it was her. And she’d give it to me straight, whether I liked it or not. “How did you know Dad was the one?”

  She closed her eyes for a long blink. “I met your father in the locker room after he’d had one hell of a game, like really broke out. If it wasn’t for him, the team would’ve lost. I can’t even remember who he played for at the time, but I could tell you every single thing about his performance. Every tackle. The busted plays, the pick-six. No one was interviewing him, and it was crazy. So I started paying attention to him.”

  My mom was such a badass she would be the one who saw the mate bond before the wolf did.

  “He’d been wild and unpredictable before that. Uneven performances, but he started to settle into the game,” she continued. “And I made sure I got assigned to his game every week. It was risky, because I was new too, but I knew that a star was born. Later he told me that I was his good luck charm, that he’d think of what he wanted to say in his post-game interview with me before he even took the field.”

  I couldn’t believe I was about to ask this. “Did anything change when you kissed?”

  “Everything changed when we kissed.” Her expression softened. “I take it that means you had a pivotal morning yourself.”

  I nodded.

  “I don’t need all the details.” She forced out a chuckle. “Even with the Werewives, the film crew leaves when things get serious. Some things are only meant to be shared between mates. The audience can use their imagination to fill in the blanks.”

  I slipped the phone out from its hiding place.

  It changed everything, Jasmine said.

  If I didn’t know better, I’d think Mom and Jasmine rehearsed their responses.

  “I’m not sure I can be what he needs.” I held my hand up before Mom had a chance to protest. “It has nothing to do with shifting. He’s been through so much, losing his pack, and thinking he lost his brother. I can barely function, and I know Jasmine’s alive and well, she’s just in Idaho.”

  “We’re still concerned about him.” Now it was Mom’s turn to stop me from protesting. “There was an incident at the practice facility this morning. Security caught them before anything happened. Some shifters looking for Matteo. They refused to identify themselves.”

  “Maybe it’s the guys from his pack.” This wasn’t the best way for them to reconnect if their intentions were friendly.

  “Or maybe it’s whoever he’s been running from.” Mom frowned. “I know nothing will keep you away from him if he’s your mate, but be careful, Jessica. You have to keep your eyes wide open. Matteo’s stayed tight-lipped about where he’s been since that attack. Maybe you’re the one he’ll finally open up to.”

  I needed to learn to get down and dirty with darkness real fast if I would help Matteo keep his spot on the Bloodhounds. Talent wasn’t enough. In the CFA, reputation was everything. Loyalty. Respect. I’d grown up in that culture, and I knew the ins and outs. The game wasn’t only on the field.

  My mouth went dry, and I’d do just about anything for another one of his kisses right now. It was my turn to crack him open and change his life. “Is Matteo in danger?”

  Mom shook her head. It wasn’t often she was at a loss for words.

  “He might be,” she finally said. “But more than that, I’m worried about you. There have been attacks here before. We hadn’t been exposed to pack politics until a couple weeks ago. Revenge is brutal, and they don’t play by human rules.”

  “So what do we do?” I asked. I left out the part, as humans, because it felt helpless. And I wasn’t helpless. Ill-equipped and unprepared, absolutely. Both those things could be corrected. I wouldn’t go down without a fight.

  “I’d tell you to stay away, but I know you can’t.” Mom’s phone buzzed with a notification. She picked it up and made a face but didn’t elaborate on what she saw. “Congratulations, you’re a Werewife, effective immediately.”

  “I don’t know if Matteo would want that.” He’d been so secretive, and I hadn’t had a chance to talk to him about it. And my priorities had changed in the last few hours.

  Mom shook her head. “This has nothing to do with him. He can participate if he wants. But until we’ve eradicated this new threat, I don’t want you to be alone.”

  Chapter Eight

  Matteo

  One of the perks of being a Bloodhound was the player housing. Because everyone was new to Alaska this season, the team all lived in a condo complex. Each unit came furnished, and the superstars probably considered it modest. By far, it was the nicest place I ever lived.

  Even before the attack, my family didn’t have much. It was one of the reasons my brother and I worked so hard at the game, so we could have something better, and give back to our pack.

  I hadn’t made any changes to my place. Every week here could be my last. I hoped, when I pulled up in my pick-up truck that was even more beat up after the long drive to Alaska, that I’d see the guys from my pack. If they’d followed me this far, they’d find the condo. I didn’t have any way to get in touch with them. We had no footprint—this truck was registered to someone who didn’t exist, our phones were disposable, and there was no record of our existence anywhere online.

  It had worked for us for years, but it was nothing more than survival. We woke up every morning wondering where our next meal would come from and where we’d sleep. Because of that, we’d spent most of our time in our wolf forms. On the move. I shifted to human mostly to practice.

  Some of the guys on the team thought I was standoffish. It didn’t bother me. But when Jessica said she thought I didn’t want her around, I knew I had to change things. I had to come clean about who I was.

  Once I figured out who these fucking wolves were and what they wanted.

  My pack wouldn’t fuck this opportunity up for me, would they? They might not know that Cade was dead. They might have already had to deal with his beta wolves, who were hungry for revenge after Marcus killed their alpha.

  Or this wasn’t them at all.

  I had to shift.

  Stripping out of my clothes as soon as I got to the condo—all I had with me was what had fit in my duffel bag, so I had to be careful with them—my skin melted away. My animal had been clawing to get out ever since that kiss. Jessica made him finally feel alive.

  This was why we came here, he said as I dropped to all fours, and let the metamorphosis roll through my body. It led us to her.

  Leaving my back door open was a bad option but the only option when I was in my wolf form. I let out a howl, because I was done hiding. Whoever came for me would know I was here and ready to fight.

  I tore down the same path that I’d kissed Jessica on this morning in the waning moonlight. I could still smell her, and that was dangerous, because any wolf who came down this path would be able to pick up her sweet scent.

  Before Coach called me into his office, I’d planned to invite her over to celebrate before we left. Ask her if she’d come to Milwaukee to watch the Championship game. I’d put her name down for a ticket, even though she was probably already covered. I wanted her to be my guest of honor. She’d sit with her sister and my brother, who already said they’d be there. Every time I saw my brother, it was a celebration. We’d flipped the script and taken control of our lives. It was a victory greater than any I could achieve on the field.

  B
ut now, I had to figure out who the hell came looking for me. Friend or foe.

  I ran further and deeper into the mountains than I ever had before. The trails were dark again. Alaska spent most of the winter under the blanket of night but it didn’t give me any comfort. I stopped every so often to howl, and listened to it echo off the mountain basin.

  No reply.

  These fuckers were playing with me.

  All my life, I’d run defense. Even on the field. Now I had to switch gears and play offense or I’d lose everything.

  **

  So many fans came out to see the team leave for the Championship game. Sports reporters and cameras from The Real Werewives recorded the team’s descent to the buses that would whisk us away to the airport, en route to Milwaukee. Jessica stood in the middle of the crowd of Werewives, outside the stadium, ready to send the Bloodhounds off to the Championship game. All of them wore our jerseys. Even Jessica. Holy shit, I had my own souvenir jersey. Sometimes I couldn’t believe any of this was real. I kept expecting to be woken up from this dream, somewhere in the Black Hills of South Dakota, in the nothingness I’d become so accustomed to after the attack.

  She was gorgeous, glowing, and her gaze was glued to me. I wasn’t the only Bloodhound that broke out of the crowd to kiss their good luck charm. Jessica laced her fingers around my neck and rested her forehead against mine.

  “I’m proud of you,” she said between kisses.

  I couldn’t remember the last time someone had uttered those words to me. It probably last came from one of my parents. I thought about them every day, and I knew they’d be with me on this journey in spirit. In my heart. Where it mattered. They were cheering me on.

  “Matteo.” Coach’s voice was the only thing that could break us apart. Time had stopped, and I had no idea if the other Bloodhounds were still with their Werewives of if they’d already boarded the bus. This woman was a dangerous distraction when I had to be acutely aware of my surroundings.

  “See you in Milwaukee,” I said as I drew away. But any warm fuzzy feelings faded when I looked at Coach’s face. It wasn’t the suit that made him somber.

  He motioned for me to follow him, and we didn’t head toward the bus. He put his hand on my shoulder, but it didn’t comfort me.

  “I just spoke with the team owners,” he said. “Remember, this is a team. We’re all greater than the sum of our parts when we come together. The safety of that team is their top priority. We’ve been investigating the threat from yesterday, the shifters that came looking for you. There are no credible leads.”

  “I looked for them last night, in the forest. There was no trace.” The problem was, no one would come to Alaska and give up and leave after one try. Whoever was looking for me was still here.

  Coach nodded, but it offered no reassurance. “Because there are so many questions surrounding how you came to us, ownership doesn’t feel comfortable having you join us on this Championship trip. I’m sorry, Matteo. I want you to know that I fought for you. I told them that they were cutting our chances at the knees if you didn’t take the field for us. But like I said, this is a team. And a game loss is less devastating than something happening to our players.”

  All the air left my body. I would’ve done anything to wake up from this nightmare. When I closed my eyes, I was back in my packs’ village. Everything was burning, and blood stained everything.

  “We can talk when I get back from Milwaukee. When the coaching staff isn’t preparing for a game, we can help you piece together the information we need to move forward. You’re a hell of a football player, Matteo Shaw. I’ve been proud to have you on this team. While this feels like the end of the line, it’s not. It’s a setback. I’m still your coach. But I don’t have final say over this.”

  I nodded. There were no words. I’d told Coach absolutely everything. Those gaping holes in my story had served me in the moment, and now they’d come back to bite me in the ass.

  The Werewives called out to me as Coach walked to the bus alone. An outcry rose from the fans who’d come to see the team off. The doors closed and the bus drove away. Without me on it. Reporters closed in on me, asking questions I didn’t have the answers to.

  Jessica hoisted herself over the fence she’d been standing behind and ran toward me.

  “Matteo.” She tackled me. “Why aren’t you on that bus? Why did they leave without you?”

  She was already crying. She knew.

  “I’m not going.” I could barely feel her arms around me. I was totally numb.

  The crowd parted as Tessa approached, motioning for the camera crew to stay back. For years, I’d dreamed of being interviewed by her, in the locker room after the game, in triumph. Never like this.

  I planned on spending the rest of my life with her daughter—and I prayed to any deity that would listen that dream hadn’t been compromised too—but this was the first time I’d spoken to Tessa Williams.

  “What happened?” Tessa asked, her voice soft. None of her signature toughness.

  “They don’t know who came for me yesterday. There are too many questions surrounding how I came to the team. Ownership didn’t want to put the rest of the team in danger, and they thought it was too dangerous for me to play in the Championship.”

  “That’s bullshit.” Jessica tightened her grip on me. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “I can’t prove I’m not a threat.” That was the problem with having no history. There was nothing to back up my claims.

  “You’re a hell of a football player, Matteo.” Tessa gave me a sad smile. On this horrible morning, I could still take that as high praise. She knew the game as well as any player. “No matter what happens, this isn’t the end of the road for you.”

  I nodded, putting my arms around her daughter and doing my damnedest to soak in the comfort she was trying to offer. But I’d turned to stone.

  “If I thought it would make a difference, I’d drive you to the airport myself and buy a ticket for you to go to Milwaukee,” Tessa said. “But pissing off management won’t bode well for either of us. This is what I can do. I’ll call in all the resources I have to figure out who screwed this up for you and make sure they never do it again.”

  “Thank you.” I always thought the Bloodhounds would be my new pack. But it was these Williams women—Jessica, Tessa, and even Jasmine, because if she hadn’t posted the video of the birds at the shelter, I’d never know my brother was alive—who truly had my back.

  I made a vow right there and then I would never let them down.

  Chapter Nine

  Jessica

  I was so pissed for Matteo. He was handling this devastating news with grace and class. I couldn’t imagine what I’d do if I’d had my dream ripped away from me like that.

  What the hell was management thinking? They could’ve texted him with the news and told him to stay home instead of shaming him in front of the rest of the team, the fans, and the cameras. The whole world knew he wouldn’t be taking the field on Sunday night. The reporters flocked to Matteo as the bus pulled away, leaving him literally in the dust, but all he said was ‘no comment.’

  Good thing they didn’t put those microphones anywhere near the Werewives, which is where I watched the whole thing play out. We had plenty of comments, most of which would have to be beeped out if any reporters wanted to use the clips.

  I’d jumped over the makeshift fence, pushed through the throng of reporters and tackled Matteo. I squeezed him, and he didn’t reciprocate right away. He was in shock.

  Everyone was. But he’d just taken a sucker punch to the gut and I was holding on for dear life, hoping the injuries weren’t fatal.

  My mom was there too, the only reporter without a microphone in Matteo’s face. She spoke softly, not to be picked up by the microphones, and assured him everything would be okay.

  The reporters kept shouting questions at him. Was he a threat, and was there a pack war brewing, and was the championship game safe? I really w
anted to scream at them to shut up, they were being ridiculous. But their accusations were pretty spot on and as the daughter of Tessa and Cole Williams who hoped to have this much interest in my career someday, it behooved me to think out my strategy a little better than that.

  I forced myself to let go of Matteo and turned and faced the microphones and cellphones that had been thrust in his face. Now they were in mine. Some of the reporters recognized me—Mom loved to bring Jasmine and me to work whenever she had a chance, and of course Dad had us on the field for all the celebrations—and their mouths dropped when they realized from where. They just got a whole new story to add to this one.

  “Matteo and the team will have a statement for you soon.” My voice shook. I’d never felt like less of a wolf than I did now. “Right now he’s not ready to comment.”

  After a quick pause, the questions kept coming.

  “Let’s go,” I said.

  It took him a few seconds to nod. He kept his arm around me protectively. He’d never felt more like a wolf than he did now. The fans called out to him. Like me, some of them already had his team jersey. I only thought I wanted to cry before I saw that, now everything was blurry.

  We drove back to the condos in silence. The sun hadn’t risen all the way yet, and the reflection from the snow piles was blinding. The cool, dark cocoon of his condo was like we’d stepped into a world where nothing bad ever happened.

  “You’re amazing,” I said for the hundredth time since we’d come back. There were some scary-ass shifters hanging around that made the Alaska Bloodhounds decide Matteo was too dangerous to associate with, but I wasn’t scared. I was pissed. That whoever did this had the balls to rip Matteo’s dream away from him. They should’ve come forward already, if they came in peace. But no, these cowards’ lives were so small they couldn’t stand to see him succeed.