Caleb’s P.O.V
The crowd erupted into cheers all around the stadium, my players cheering the last minute victory. I looked at the bleachers, where Caroline and Aurora stood cheering our win, but before I could lift my hand to wave at them, someone yanked me back with brutal force.
I whipped around to see Damien’s face twisted in a snarl before his fist connected with my jaw with a force that sent me flying to the ground, the sickening crunch of bones breaking a reminder of the damage done.
I fell to the ground hard, my back aching from the contact and my vision blurring for a few moments as I tasted blood on my tongue.
“Caleb!”
I heard Aurora’s scream from amid the gasps and murmurs of the crowd, and for a second, I was worried that she would come to my aid, putting herself in harm’s way.
But I didn’t get to dwell on that for much longer because Damien was upon me, trying to throw in as many punches as he could while I tried to block him as best as I could.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I snapped at him, landing a punch to his gut as he doubled over. “You want this to turn into a pack issue? Just because you couldn’t handle losing a fucking game?”
“This isn’t about the fucking game, Caleb! And you know it!” He snapped, pressing one hand to his abdomen as he grabbed onto my collar with his free hand. “One match, Caleb! What would have gone wrong if you lost one fucking match! But now, you blew my chance at getting my mate! You ruined everything!”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I looked at him incredulously. “What chance? What-”
But that’s when it hit me…what Damien had told me that day at the restaurant. It all came rushing back, making sense like never before.
‘I want to claim what’s mine. What always has been mine but the only reason I’m holding back is because of you. And once this match is over, I will claim it.’
Damien’s words from ages ago came to my mind. He had specially hunted me down before my birthday to deliver me the news. Something about what he had said had me worked up for days, but then Aurora had turned out to be my mate and with everything that had followed, I had completely forgotten about that day and his words.
Fuck!
‘Were you serious back then? When you told Mia that if our mates are from another pack…you’d still let us go?’
Fuck!
Both Caroline and Damien’s words meshed together inside my head, forming a theory that I wasn’t ready to believe.
No…It wasn’t possible…it couldn’t be! Fuck! Hell no!
Caroline and…Damien? Of all the people in the world?
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath; both to calm myself the fuck down and to take a whiff of the scents all around me. It didn’t take long for me to separate out Caroline’s earthy scent from all the unfamiliar ones. And it was accompanied by Aura’s floral notes, but what concerned me the most was the fact that they were coming towards us.
Fuck!
Suddenly, commotion erupted from all around me and the players from our teams and the coaches were upon us, trying to pry us apart as the referee kept on blowing the whistle.
“Guys! Cut it out! This is supposed to be a friendly game; it’s your last year in high school!” They kept on saying and finally, Damien and I both separated, but the animosity remained.
Soon, the players broke us apart and Jade was beside me, forcing me to look at him. “What on earth just happened, Cal?”
“It’s Damien.” I told him through gritted teeth. “He’s Caroline’s mate.”
“The fuck!” Jade ran a hand through his hair, sweat dripping down his brows. “Let’s get this ceremony over with, shall we? So we can deal with this late on?”
“No, I need to talk to Damien now.” I told him, taking a deep breath. “Distract the players while we sort this out, shall we?”
Jade looked unsure at first, but then he nodded, knowing that someone had to be here to take care of the school ceremony while I dealt with the bigger issue.
I turned around to find Aura and Caroline hovering around the edges of the field, both looking incredibly worried, and Caroline’s eyes were on that goddamn bastard!
Double fuck!
Striding towards the edge of the field, I took Caroline’s hand and stopped only a moment to look at Aura. “Can you please wait for us by the car?” I tried to keep the hostility out of my voice, because none of it was directed at her, but still I saw her eyes widen slightly.
“But…Caleb…” she managed to stutter out as she looked at my leg, and I understood her concern.
“I’m alright, I promise.” I told her. “But I need to deal with something urgent first. So please…stay by the car. I’ll meet you there as soon as I’m done here.”
Without waiting for a reply, I began dragging Caroline towards the back of the stadium where the woods met the large field. It was a private area and safe for us to vent, and within moments, I could scent Damien’s scent in the air as he followed behind us.
“Caleb…is this really necessary?” Caroline asked in a small voice, but she didn’t resist.
“I took few punches thanks to your Romeo, so yeah; I think this is damn necessary.”
We came to a stop right at the edge of the woods, the night dark and still, as if the nocturnal animals too were holding their breath.
Damien emerged from the shadows a second later, his eyes immediately going to our joined hands.
“Is this the reason, Caroline?” Damien asked, his voice hoarse. “Is this why you keep on stalling, keep refusing to accept the bond between us?”
“Of course not!” I let go of Caroline’s hand as she stepped forwards.
“I can’t, Damien!” Caroline pleaded. “You have to understand…we belong to two different packs! I can’t accept the bond!”
“Don’t kid yourself! You know as well as I do that it’s not the reason why you don’t want to accept the bond.” Damien snapped, however his aggression wasn’t towards Caroline.
Hell! Did he actually think that…Caroline and I…?
“Apologize to Caleb.” Care told him firmly. “You were way out of line to hit him. Your bet was with me, not him!”
“Wait up…hold on a minute,” I interrupted them, stepping forward. “What bet? What are you talking about, Care?”
“The bet that if I won, I would confess to her to accept the bond,” Damien told me, his jaw clenched.
“And what if you lost?”
“Then I stay away from her for good.” He finished.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I got beaten up because of this stupid bet? How the hell was I not made aware of such a thing and why would Care place such a bet in the first place?
“You should leave.” Caroline whispered quietly. “Your teammates need you. I don’t want to have this conversation anymore. You lost, Damien. Keep your word.”
Damien sighed heavily, running a hand down his face before he turned to Caroline
“Deny the bond all you want. Say you hate me. But I really hope you can stand by your choice once you turn eighteen.”
With that, he turned around and began walking away from her.
“Caroline?” I whispered when I saw the longing on her face as she watched him leave… and just as he was out of sight, Caroline broke down into sobs.
I rushed to her side and caught a hold of Caroline before she fell to the floor. Caroline clutched onto me and began crying even harder.
Her sobs broke my heart. I had never seen Caroline so broken in my entire life. She was always the strongest one of all of us. She had always been my biggest support, my pillar of strength. She was the one who almost always had a solution to all of our problems. Seeing her like this…it made me feel terribly helpless.
“Shhh…I got you.” I whispered to her, wrapping my arms tightly around her, but that just made her cry harder. So I stayed quiet and rubbed my hands up and down her back soothingly.
However, as Caroline broke down in my arms, I couldn’t help but wonder why she was pushing Damien away.
And also…I had no idea that we hadn’t been alone. That Aurora had witnessed the whole scene…