Chapter 2 THE SEVEN-DAY CURSE

Caleb's pov

Mate.

The word left my mouth before my brain could stop it, it was silent and I was sure no one heard it.

Around me, the entire arena went wild. My teammates were hollering, banging their sticks against the glass, and screaming happy birthday, completely oblivious. But all the noise faded into a dull buzz.

My nostrils flared, and this heavy, intoxicating scent hit me like a truck, a mix of crushed pine needles and warm vanilla. It was coming directly from Jordan.

Claim him! Mark him now! my Alpha wolf roared inside my skull, clawing violently at my chest. Mine! He is ours!

Shut the fuck up! He can't be ours. I snarled back in my head, stepping backward in terror. He's a man! A fucking man! My nose better be playing a trick on me.

Jordan stood a few feet away, holding his stick with a scowl, totally clueless. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he called out, his voice cutting through my panic. "You surrender or what, coward?!"

I couldn't breathe. The air in the arena felt like pure poison. Without saying another word, I turned on my skates, ripped my gloves off, and sprinted off the ice toward the exit doors.

"Yeah, run away, coward!" Jordan’s voice echoed down the tunnel behind me. "That’s right, get off my ice! I had told you I would whoop your ass anyways, birthday my ass!"

It took every ounce of strength I had to keep my wolf from taking total control right then and there, turning around, and pinning Jordan to the locker room floor. The second my boots hit the cold grass outside the arena, my bones cracked, and I shifted into my massive black wolf form.

I bolted into the dark woods, pushing my legs until my lungs burned.

When I reached the pack house, I shifted back in the shadows. I hadn't brought spare shorts, so I just walked inside completely naked. The hallway was dead silent, it was way past midnight, and everyone was asleep.

I dragged myself up the stairs, slammed my bedroom door, and walked straight into the bathroom. I stepped under the shower and blasted the water on ice-cold.

I leaned my hands against the wet tile, freezing water pouring over my face, but my head was boiling.

How could I possibly be mated to a man? I thought, slamming my fist into the wall. The same fucking boy I've been fighting with since I was five years old?

Everyone in the pack knew we were enemies. We traded bloody noses before we could even write our own names. And now?

I'm mated to him, I thought. Then I shook my head violently, the water spraying everywhere. No. What am I saying? That makes him sound superior. He's mated to me. Yeah that sounds right.

I looked up at the ceiling, my eyes burning. Fuck. What kind of sick game is this? Is the Moon Goddess punishing me for something? How am I going to tell my father? 'Hey dad, I'm mated to the gardener's son'? A man is mated to me! I'm not even gay!

For the next six days, I avoided Jordan like the fucking plague.

If he walked into the pack house kitchen, I turned right back around and left. If I saw his beat-up truck pulling into the arena parking lot, I stayed in my car until he went inside.

But it didn't matter. My nose caught his scent everywhere. The smell of him hung in the hallways, on the ice, in the gym—it was driving me insane. My head was pounding nonstop because my wolf tried to force a shift at least a hundred times a day.

When my wolf wasn't trying to rip my control away, we were screaming at each other inside my head.

Go to him! my wolf snarled during morning training. He is ours!

He has a dick, you idiot! I fired back, dropping a heavy barbell onto the rack with a loud clash. We are not mating with Jordan!

On the seventh day, I was sitting on the edge of my bed, staring at the floor, completely exhausted. My phone screen lit up on the nightstand with a pack calendar notification:

Jordan's 21st Birthday.

My heart stopped. The room went totally quiet.

Seven days. I had managed to hide and keep my mouth shut for seven whole days. But today, the moment the clock hit midnight... the bond was going to snap into his mind, too.

He was going to feel the exact same pull. He was going to smell me. He was going to know.

My throat went dry as I stared at the door. What the hell is he going to do when he finds out we're mates?