My Shifting Mate

Chapter 7

Zain Pov

    I sat there on the bench with my eyes closed, just listening. All around me were the laughter of the guys, the swish of their clothes being changed, the smell of their skin after being in school all day. I could hear the loud thud of the ball as someone ran up and down the court with it, dribbling it. The swoosh of it sliding perfectly into the hoop, the best sound I've ever heard. I loved basketball, for as long as I could remember. Even in middle school I’d play with Grayson and Lexi at the packhouse, get a big team going if the family wasn’t busy. Seeing my mom and dad playing on opposite teams was hilarious, especially when she’d jump on his back to stop him from shooting the ball into the hoop. I couldn’t help but smile at the memory, missing the family feel of it all, wishing I could go back to that time, when everything was simpler. When everything made sense. Before. 

    “What are you doing?” I jumped, opening my eyes in surprise to see Grayson staring down at me. I grinned at him, standing up. He was frowning, probably annoyed I didn’t let him have more than five seconds of being taller than me. 

    “What are you doing here? Are you finally going to join the team?” I asked him, surprised. I couldn’t help but grin, I had been trying to get Grayson to join since he started high school with us. He was actually a pretty decent player, he just kept turning me down to join the chess club after school. But this year they disbanded, and I had been hoping he’d join but I wasn’t wanting to pressure him into it anymore. 

    Grayson sighed, throwing his stuff into my gym locker and pulling off his shirt. We tended to share the same one since we had different gym classes, and only those on a team were given a permanent locker with a lock. Someone tried to pick on Grayson the first week of high school and I destroyed them, but after that Grayson just accepted that I wasn’t going to let him get bullied, even if I wasn’t there. So he shared my locker, knew my combination, because I wasn’t about to let him have some asshole try to hide his clothes and make him walk around naked. “Yeah, I figured it’s your last year, and I don’t have a club at the moment. I was considering something else, but...what the hell, right?” He mumbled. I frowned, staring at him. I watched his back muscles as he put his gym shirt on. He’s definitely a guy. I reached out my hand, sliding my finger up his spine. He shivered, turning around and glaring at me. “What the hell, Zain?” He asked, anger in his chocolate eyes. 

    I shrugged at him, turning around and putting my foot on the bench, tying my shoe. He was smaller than me, that’s for sure. Taller than some of the girls but shorter than most of the boys. Small lithe body, like a dancer. Like his mother. How did a boy with a father like Ulric end up with a build like his mother? I stared at my hand, frowning. He had smooth skin, a giant freckle in the middle of his shoulder blades. But he was sharp-angled, and broad shoulders like a boy, no curves. What the hell was I doing? I shook my head, ignoring the jab he gave me to the side as I tied my other shoe. I stood back up and smiled down at him, messing up his hair. He grumbled under my touch, pinching my side as he walked out the locker room, angry. I couldn’t help but follow him smirking, shaking my head. He was such a grouchy kid. 

    The moment I walked out the doors I heard the voices. The girls on the cheerleading team called out for me, excited to see me here again for the last year. There was a crowd full on the bleachers, mostly girls, talking excitedly. I could hear my name repeated over and over again and I smirked, waving at them all. This was the life I loved, right here on the court, everyone cheering for me, excited to see me there, even though this was just the first day of tryouts. The coach started to clap for us all to gather around him moments after the last of us jogged out of the locker room. “Yo! Zain!” I looked over to the left as we all jogged onto the court and went to go stand beside Teddy. 

    “Hey, Teddy, what’s up?” I asked him, bumping my fist with his. He’s been on the team with me since freshman year, a good friend of mine. 

    “Nothing much, Grayson. Good to see you out here.” He said, greeting Grayson. Grayson was busy trying to shove his hair out of his face and nodded at him, sighing. Teddy was a werewolf from Grayson’s pack, he was their Gamma Sylvia and Teagan's son. He was a pretty cool guy, we hung out a lot sometimes. He had just finished tying his dreadlocks back into a big thick ponytail as the coach blew his whistle, motioning for us to run laps. I followed the others into a slow jog, pacing myself. It was only tryouts, I didn’t have to be amazing since I knew I was already going to be on the team. Plus the coach liked to make us run forever while he flirted shamelessly with the cheerleader coach. I watched from the corner of my eye as Grayson fell to the back of the group, already struggling after only a few laps. Another odd thing about Grayson, since his father was like a mega trainer, but Grayson never really did take after the training as his parents did, he was content standing to the side and watching Ulric bond with Axel over training. They were more muscle-headed about it than he was. I liked to workout as well but not as much as Lexi did, she was into it more than most people I’ve ever seen, about the same intensity as Ulric and Lyell I’d have to say. 

    I looked out at the crowd and sighed, looking for her. Of course she wouldn’t be here, she was captain of the karate club this year. I blew past the cheerleaders as they giggled and called out for me, winking at them. All of them were calling out for me besides Barbie, she was always strictly in love with Grayson. I chuckled, turning around to look at him, watching him struggle to keep up with everyone. He looked like he was already out of breath and I chuckled again, watching his hair falling into his face. This is why I pushed my bangs back with bobby pins, it was annoying during training. I slowed down, letting him catch up to me, and smirked as he huffed along, his breath coming out like he was struggling. “Having fun?” I asked him, running backward as I smirked at him. 

    Greyson threw out a right hook, missed, and started muttering under his breath at me. “f**k you, Zain.” He mumbled. I laughed out loud, making him cuss me out even more under his breath. 

    “Come on, you got this,” I said to him as the coach finally allowed us to stop running. After that it was standard, running back and forth on the court, dribbling, shooting baskets, normal. I was laughing out loud as we did suicide runs back and forth, the excitement of the adrenaline surging through me. Coach paired me up with Teddy, he usually always did because we were an unstoppable force, against all the freshmen that tried out. Within minutes they were blown away, sent to the bench while the real boys played. It was crude but it’s how it usually was, barely ever a freshman was allowed to play. I was the exception of that, of course, but even Teddy was benched until he was a sophomore. 

    Grayson was holding his own against us and I was glad, otherwise, he’d probably have been benched too, especially since he was weak at running. But his dribble and reflexes were good, and he knew how to play against me probably more than anyone else on the team and was the only one who could score a basket against me. Just one, of course, but it was still something that surprised everyone since it didn’t usually happen. I grinned at Grayson as he danced around Teddy, his reflexes really were better than any others and I was glad he was finally trying out. All three of us on the same team would be amazing, and the way the coach was staring at him with wide eyes made me nod, knowing I was right. 

    Finally, we all went into a lineup and the coach handed out colors. Reds for who made the team, yellows for who was benched, and white for those who couldn’t cut it. There were only five whites, less this year than last year. Teddy and I got reds, no surprise there, and everyone from the team last year did as well. Grayson was standing next to me as the coach stared down at him, both a yellow and a red belt in his hand, contemplating. I could see why, Grayson wasn’t motivated. It was obvious he wasn’t one hundred percent wanting to be here, and I suspected as Carrie blew kisses at us and bounced up and down that Lexi might have made him do it. Grayson wasn’t a fast runner and he tired easily, he wasn’t as big as the other guys and he was the shortest one trying out. Still, I tucked my arm around his shoulders and glared at the coach and he sighed, handing him the red belt as I knew he would. Grayson punched me in the ribs and I grinned, messing up his hair. It didn’t matter, I’d train with him and get him motivated. 

    Finally, it was time to leave and I took a quick shower in the locker room, each of us inside the stalls with the curtains drawn in front for privacy. I leaned against the wall and sighed, feeling the water cascading down my body, my pale blond hair falling into my eyes as I took a deep breath. The water felt amazing on my sore body. After a while I finished up and walked out with the towel around my waist, going to the lockers. Grayson was there pulling his pants up over his boxers and I watched him, noticing the curve of his back as he struggled to get dressed fast. He really hated being naked in public. I stood up beside him and found my boxers, sliding them on and he looked away, turning his back to me as I got dressed as well. 

    Once finished we walked out together. “Are you waiting for Lexi?” Teddy asked, coming up behind me. It was known that I took her to school with me every day, but there was always a way for her to get back home if she needed to. 

    “No, she took my keys earlier. Said her team would be done before ours so she drove herself home.” Grayson said to us. I nodded, walking with the two of them. It was usual, Grayson practically lived with us anyway with all the time he spent over at our pack. 

    “Do you need a ride home, Grayson?” Teddy asked, pulling his dreads out of the ponytail he had them in and shaking his hair. 

    “Nah, I’ll just go with Zain.” He said, nodding at me. I nodded, of course he would. We were going to have a whole weekend full of killing zombies. Teddy nodded at us, saying bye as he walked off to his car. Greyson slipped into my passenger seat and I grinned at him. “What?” He asked, throwing his bag into the backseat. I never did get my backpack from dad, no doubt he’d give me a lecture when I got back. Well, mom definitely would anyway, hopefully he didn’t tell her. 

    “Nothing, I just prefer you to sit there than Lexi. She talks to Barbie on the phone all the time on speakerphone and I can’t play music.” I said to him, grinning. 

    He slouched down, ducking his head to the side, strange. He was such a strange kid. After a minute I put the car in reverse and backed up, driving it straight out of the school parking lot. “Yeah?” He finally said, out of nowhere. I chuckled at his awkward nature. “Girls are strange sometimes.” He said. 

    I chuckled as he turned on the radio, blasting some rock music. I nodded, staring straight ahead as I drove him. Yes, girls really were strange sometimes.