The Lycan King’s Abused Mate

1.

***

Dusk settled slowly. It started from the east, skimming over the top of the buildings and curling like a multi-headed hydra as it washed over the city. A chill descended on the earth, and it continued until it swept over the entire stadium.

Aiden could hear the roar of the crowd, the frenzy rising steadily as the stadium trembled with the voices of seventy five thousand people. They were cheering and screaming, heated arguments bubbling everywhere. He could feel the pounding of his heart slowly increasing, beating along with the frenzy of the crowd. The anticipation was building to a frenzy now, and it was moments like this that he lived for, with the tingling in his fingertips and his heart racing, his mind focused on one thing and one thing only:

Victory.

It was a full moon tonight, and with that realisation came the knowledge that he would have to keep his wolf in check. His powers were easier to handle on normal nights, but when the full moon came, so too did the reminder that he would have to be extra careful. One misplaced tackle, and he could end up breaking someone’s leg or cracking their skull through the helmets.

Coach Wilson walked in shortly after, wearing a black tracksuit and with a clipboard tucked underneath his arm. He was chewing his gum loudly, as he always did before a big game. Aiden’s teammates gathered around him immediately, most of them already wearing their uniform. He stood up and joined them, clapping his Fredrick -his wide receiver- on the back.

“Boys, it’s the big one,” Coach Wilson began, his southern accent so familiar to Aiden that he sometimes imagined it in his sleep. “Tonight, we go out there and we face destiny. Now I know y’all have worked your asses off to get here, but tonight is not about the what we had to do to get here. Tonight is about going out there and taking that next step, and securing our place in the Super Bowl.”

Aiden shivered at the mere mention of the Super Bowl. He didn’t want to think about that right now, because they still had a mountain to climb.

“This is the biggest opportunity for all of us,” Coach Wilson continued. “And I wish to congratulate you all for your hard work and dedication in getting here. Now the board wants me to tell you that win or lose, you’re all still champions. But words do not make champions. Actions do. And I want you to go out and there leave everything on the line, because we’ve come too far to give up. Those sons of bitches think they can take us down, but I say we go out there and show them why we’re the biggest and baddest team in the country.”

Aiden and his teammates roared in approval, the entire locker room trembling as they stomped their feet. Coach Wilson cheered with them, and in that moment they were all united under one cause. Nothing else mattered tonight, except taking down the Buccaneers.

“Cap, would you like a word with your teammates?” Coach Wilson asked when the rumbling died down. Everyone turned to look at Aiden, but he merely shrugged.

“You’ve said everything there is to say, coach,” he said. “Let’s just go out there and snag us a few pirates.”

The cheers continued, and as his teammates scrambled to get ready, Coach Wilson pulled Aiden aside until they were out of earshot.

“How’re you feeling, son?” he asked.

“Great,” Aiden replied.

“It’s a full moon, you know,” he said. “You should be extra careful out there. We don’t want anyone finding out about your little secret.”

“Coach, it’s fine,” Aiden said, gritting his teeth. “I’ll be careful.”

Still, a worried look crossed the old man’s face. Aiden had seen that look a million times to know what it meant. Two years ago before his father died, he had seen that look on his face so many times that it became his normal appearance.

“Coach, what’s wrong?” he asked.

He looked reluctant at first, but then he shook his head as though he was trying to force himself to say whatever it was that he had on his mind.

“Couple of men came to my office last night,” he said. “About six of ‘em, all dressed up like they were some federal agents or some s**t like that. Said they were looking for information on you.”

“Me?”

“Now I told them that I don’t know anything beyond your football, but they were adamant,” he said. “Showed me pictures of some chick who had her throat ripped out by some wild animal, and they asked if you had anything to do with that. Then they were asking all sorts of questions about the Nightwalkers pack, your relationship with the Lamias, whether you’d been in a fight recently. I told them to f**k off because I didn’t believe in any of that s**t, but I think they weren’t convinced.”

Aiden’s mind was racing. He knew exactly who those men were, and this revelation brought something else into perspective; something which he had been ignoring for a while now.

“Now normally, I wouldn’t bother you with stuff like this until after the game, but this seems like a serious matter and I just want to make sure you’re being careful like we discussed,” Coach Wilson said, glancing at his watch. “We’ll talk after the game. Right now, just focus on getting us to the Super Bowl. Our star QB should have no problem brushing aside those white-faced Buccaneers.”

He clapped Aiden on the shoulder before he walked away, leaving him with a million thoughts in his mind. Of course he knew about the girl. He had seen what happened to her, and he knew that one way or another, the news of her death would come back to haunt him. She was a Lamia, as he had deduced when he saw the tattoo on her neck. Of course they would think his pack had something to do with her death.

But what was a Lamia doing so far south? As far as he knew, they never strayed beyond their borders. So what could possibly have brought this woman all the way down to Los Angeles?

All thoughts about that had to be pushed to the back of his mind however as the game was about to start. He headed back into the locker room and grabbed his helmet, and together they marched out onto the field amidst the cheers and roars of the crowd. Aiden spotted a few posters of himself up in the stands, and the camera followed him everywhere, his face plastered up on the jumbo screen. He ignored it like he always did and gathered around his teammates. The Buccaneers were out already, sporting their red and black uniforms which made Aiden sick. His team wore blue and yellow, the two colours he was always proud to be seen in.

The game proceeded smoothly. The Rams drew up some solid plays but the Buccaneers forced a punt and despite good field position, were not able to convert in 3rd or 4th and short and the Rams took over at the 50 yard line.

The game opened with a TD score on 3rd down to OBJ after a long catch & run by James Byers. It was an early lead for the Rams, but the Buccaneers were able to answer following maybe the early contender for catch of the game by rookie WR Andre Chase, but only for a Field Goal.

Aiden was sweating the whole time, his mind working faster than his body. The different plays they had practiced over the last few weeks were playing all through his mind, but he couldn’t focus. He kept thinking about the woman who was killed, and the fact that he was now a suspect in her death. He had a sneaking suspicion that the men were in the stands right now, watching him closely. But he tried not to think about that.

The moon came up shortly after, and he felt his strength growing immediately. Even though he had never shifted before, the strength of his wolf fuelled into his human form, and his eyes began to glow, scanning through the opposing team until he found who he was looking for.

Spencer Brady.

Words alone could not describe the amount of hatred he held in his heart for the Buccaneers QB, the man who had beaten him at every national tournament. Aiden was determined to beat him today, and he banished every other thought from his mind.

A few minutes into the second quarter however, Fredrick sustained a nasty injury to his left knee, and he had to be carried off the field. Aiden knew they were f****d from that moment on. By the time they reached halftime, they were down by three points.

“Aiden,” Coach Wilson called as soon as they returned to the locker room, “what the hell is going on out there?”

Aiden shook his head, his anger rising to the surface even though he tried to keep it at bay. He wasn’t one to lose his focus so easily, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to stay focused. He kept missing his throws, and it was as if his mind had slowed down when it was supposed to be working much faster.

“Son, you need to get your head in the game, other wise we are screwed,” Coach Wilson continued.

“I’m trying, okay?” Aiden growled. “I won’t slip up again.”

“You better not,” the old man said before he began passing out instructions to the rest of his teammates. Aiden sat alone in the corner and tried to ignore the feeling of shame that was rising in him. This was not his day, and yet he knew the fate of the team rested on his shoulders.

When they were about to return to the field, Coach Wilson pulled him aside and asked, “Is this because of what I told you earlier?”

“No,” Aiden replied vehemently. “I just would prefer if I was passing to Fred. He knows my routine better than Harry.”

“Son, this isn’t high school football,” he said. “It’s the big leagues. We have a chance to make history today. And if you don’t win this for us, then all our hard work will be for nothing.”

Aiden really did try. In the third quarter, they snatched back the lead by two points after some excellent touchdowns from his team, but something strange was happening to him. Every time he tried to throw the ball, he would suddenly see a vision of a woman curled up in the corner of a dark room, her dirty blonde hair sprawled across the floor. Aiden would shake his head, and the vision would disappear. But it was incredibly distracting, and he found that whenever she appeared in his mind, he would surely throw the ball either too long or too short.

Sweat dripped down his face, and he was breathing heavily under the helmet as the fourth and final quarter began. They were in the lead, but barely hanging on. Spencer Brady was excellent for the Buccaneers, weaving through his teammates easily and with a speed which almost seemed superhuman. Aiden was reluctant to use his wolf speed, because he knew the risk of doing that.

It came down to the final minute, with the Rams trailing by a single point. If they could score a touchdown, they would win the game and go on to play in the Super Bowl.

As their final play began, Aiden grabbed the ball and took off to the left, leaping over a defender and darting forward with the ball clutched in his hands. The crowd roared him on, and his heart was pounding as he scanned through the press and picked his lane. He was like a bullet, moving so fast that no one could catch him. He could see victory in front of him, so close that he could taste it. The path was clear in front of him, and all he had to do was cover a hundred yards at full speed.

But then his vision blurred, and suddenly he found himself standing in the middle of a dark room, with the blonde woman pressing against the wall in horror as the door flew open and a shadow descended on her.

“I told you what would happen if you disobeyed me, did I not?” a cold voice growled. She screams filled Aiden’s ears, and he felt a strange pull towards the woman, in a way he had never felt before. He wanted to move towards her and save her from the man, but he couldn’t move. And as the man drove his boot into her with a heavy kick, Aiden was suddenly thrown back into his body as someone slammed into his side, knocking him to the ground. The world spun around him, and he crashed to the ground with the ball rolling away from him. He looked up and saw who had knocked into him, and he saw that it was Spencer Brady.

A horrible, sinking sensation descended on him as he realised what had just happened when the crowd went silent for a split second before a thunderous roar exploded over him.

His team had lost.

And, perhaps more importantly, he had just seen his mate for the very first time.

***