Chapter 1 THE MIDNIGHT SHIFT

Jordan's pov

"Don't expect to win like you did yesterday, pretty boy," Caleb said, leaning his massive frame against the doorframe of the hallway. "I allowed you to win yesterday so you don't start sulking."

I turned around, my skin already burning from the tight chest binder and compression singlet I was forced to wear under my shirt. God, I wished I could rip the damn thing off right here, but I didn't dare. If I did, my father might just finally kill me. For twenty years, I'd kept this secret, growing up as a boy, breathing like a boy, and playing on the men's hockey team, when I actually had a vagina between my legs. Right now, I could literally feel sweat sliding down between my flattened breasts.

"I'm going to always whoop your ass, Caleb," I said, my voice low but tight. "You should be practicing instead of boasting here. You're going to end up getting beaten anyways."

Caleb smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. "We shall see, bitch."

Behind him, a couple of his teammates bursted into a laugh. One of them, a loud-mouthed wolf named Marcus, pointed a finger right at my face. "Look at him. He’s no man…he sounds like a girl."

"Yeah, but I beat like a man," I snapped.

Before anyone could react, I stepped right past Caleb, grabbed Marcus by his collar, and slammed my fist straight into his nose.

Marcus doubled back with a loud groan, blood spurting over his jersey. His nose cracked back into place and healed in a matter of seconds thanks to his wolf, but the shock was still there on his face.

I turned back to Caleb, who hadn't even blinked. "That would've been you, but unfortunately for me, you're our Alpha's son. And don't you ever in your goddamn life call me a bitch again, you dumbass."

"I will call you whatever the fuck I want to call you, pretty boy," Caleb said, taking a slow step toward me.

I walked right past him, shoving my middle finger straight in his face. "Yeah, thanks for the compliment. That's why your crush wants me."

I didn't bother listening to whatever insult he threw next. I headed straight down the dark hallway toward an abandoned storage room in the back of the hockey arena. That dumbass face card is just a damn waste, I thought to myself, kicking the door shut behind me. Stupid, arrogant jerk.

I stripped off my damp shirt, unhooked the binder, and pulled it even tighter around my ribs until I could barely take a deep breath. Then I jammed my compression singlet back on and started pulling on my heavy hockey gear, piece by piece.

Twenty minutes later, I stepped onto the ice rink. The cool air hit my face, relieving a tiny bit of the heat trapped beneath my pads. I gathered my team—the Sun-Ridge Wolves—around the bench for a quick captain's talk before practice started.

As I was talking to them, a guy from Caleb's lineup, a second-line forward named Jax, skated lazily onto the ice toward our zone. He stopped a few feet away, a dirty grin plastered on his face.

"Hey, pretty boy," Jax called out, his voice echoing across the empty stands. "Want some dick?"

The entire arena went dead silent.

My line mate, Seth, grabbed my shoulder immediately. "Jordan, calm down…"

"You all are just as stupid as your captain," I muttered under my breath.

I didn't wait. I ripped off my right hockey glove, skated straight up to Jax, grabbed the collar of his padding, and started punching him square in the jaw. I didn't stop until his eyes rolled back and he went completely limp in my grip. I dropped his unconscious body onto the cold ice, calmly pulled my glove back on, and turned back to my team.

"Alright, like I was saying about the power plays…"

"Are you some sort of thug or what?!"

I turned around to see Caleb and the rest of his team stepping onto the ice. They immediately gathered around Jax, who was sprawled out on his back. One of Caleb's defensemen hissed at me, shaking his head. "Always beating people!"

"Tell them to stop fucking provoking me!" I barked back, tapping my stick against the ice.

Caleb skated straight up to the red line, staring me down with cold, dark eyes. "You're just afraid I'd win. So you beat my defenseman unconscious, you coward."

I smirked, leaning heavily on my stick. "It won't take me a complete team to whoop your ass." I turned around and pointed toward my own defenseman, Luke. "Luke, sit out of today's game."

Luke blinked, confused. "What?"

"Sit out. Now we're equal," I said, turning back to face Caleb. "And I'd still win."

Seth threw his hands up in frustration. "Guys, it's just practice! Does who wins really matter?!"

Both Caleb and my heads snapped toward Seth at the exact same second.

"It fucking matters!" we shouted in unison.

Seth raised his hands in total surrender, backing away toward the bench. "Okay, okay! God, you two can't just put your rivalry behind you? Two adults behaving like kids..."

"Shut the fuck up, Seth," I snapped.

One of Caleb's guys tapped his stick on the boards. "Let's just start. It's almost midnight and I don't plan on sleeping here." He looked over at Caleb with a wide grin. "Besides, Caleb, your birthday is in a few hours, man. You will finally find your mate!"

Caleb chuckled, adjusting his grip on his stick. "Yeah, right. I will beat his ass and use it as my birthday celebration."

"In your dreams!" I yelled back.

The puck dropped, and the game instantly turned brutal.

We traded bone-crushing hits against the plexiglass, slamming into each other during every single shift. Every line change came with a round of nasty insults. I scored the first goal off a slap shot; Caleb answered two minutes later by crashing right through my defense and tucking the puck into the corner of the net.

The scoreboard flickered: 2-2.

There were only ten seconds left on the clock. I had the puck near the neutral zone, leaning low to make my final move toward their goal, when Caleb suddenly dropped his hockey stick right onto the ice.

The clatter echoed loudly in the arena. Everyone paused.

Caleb didn't go for the puck. He stood frozen in the middle of the rink, his chest heaving up and down. His breathing grew ragged, loud enough to hear over the hum of the arena lights. Slowly, his pupils dilated, and his eyes flashed a bright, dangerous red.

Behind him, his teammates started pounding their sticks against the boards, hollering and screaming. "Happy birthday, Alpha! The bond is hitting!"

I rolled my eyes, gliding a few feet closer with the puck still on my stick. "Are you going to surrender or continue?" I called out, annoyed that he was ruining the final drive.

Caleb didn't answer. Slowly, his head turned toward me.

He was staring directly into my face, his red eyes wide, his jaw slightly open in total shock. The color drained from his face as his gaze locked onto mine, completely unblinking.

His lips trembled slightly, and without making a sound, he mouthed a single word directly at me:

Ma...