With that thought in mind, I stop running so fast and instead concentrate on watching as much of the field as I can, waiting for Gwen to pop back out of the portal.

She finally does, about halfway down the field from where the rest of us have managed to run. The ball is starting to glow red-hot, though, and I know she’s going to need to get rid of it soon.

Eden figures it out, too, because she swoops down and grabs the ball in her talons. But her thirty seconds as a dragon are almost up, so she drops it to Flint, who rockets down the field with it.

But one of their witches casts a spell that binds his wings to his body, and he starts freefalling toward the earth. Macy counteracts the spell with a flick of her wand and some words I can’t hear. Then snatches the ball away from him and takes off toward the goal line.

Rafael fades straight for her and I hold my breath, because I know she doesn’t have a chance.

Jaxon must know, too, because he fades to her in what feels like the blink of an eye. She tosses him the ball, and then he takes off fading the short distance to the goal line. He’s so close, I think he’s going to make it. But then Rafael comes out of nowhere and slams into him so hard that they both go flying…and so does the ball, straight into the air.

Flint, Eden, and the two dragons on the other team go racing for the ball, but it looks like they’re on as big of a collision course as the vampires were. Which means I might have a chance to swoop in and steal it.

I shift into my gargoyle form before I even finish the thought and take off flying. On the sidelines, I can hear Hudson shouting for me, but I don’t have time to pay attention to that. Not when the four dragons are closing in on the ball like their lives depend on it. I only have thirty seconds of flight available, and I’m determined to reach the comet with a few seconds to spare.

Suddenly, Flint and Eden both disappear into two camouflaged midair tunnels—which leaves me the only one on the team with any chance of retrieving the ball. I lay on the speed, and since the other team’s dragons make the mistake of thinking the threat is gone now that Flint and Eden have disappeared, I swoop in from behind and underneath them and steal the ball right out from in front of their noses…and claws.

I get a swipe across my wing for my trouble, but there are perks that come with being made of stone. And while it sets me off-kilter, I manage to recover.

Part of me wants to make a run for the goal line, but I know that when it comes to speed, I’m no match for two dragons. So I swoop toward the ground and drop the ball into Xavier’s waiting hands.

He takes off with it, but it isn’t long before the vampires are on him, so he moves toward Jaxon, who has gotten back to his feet, and tosses the ball straight into his waiting hands.

Rafael makes a lunge for him, but Jaxon avoids him and fades his way straight to the goal line.

The whole match is over in less than two minutes, and no one is more surprised than I am that I actually played an important part in helping us win.

Once I’m down on the ground, Macy throws her arms around my shoulders and shouts, “One down, three to go.”

“Three to go,” I echo, grinning from ear to ear. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all…

76

From Jock to

Cock-a-Doodle-Doo

The rest of the day passes in a blur of excitement and anxiety, exhaustion and adrenaline rushes.

Our second match takes more than twenty-five minutes and nearly destroys us, while our third match is even worse. We pull it out, though, then watch in disgust as team twelve beats team three in a game that stretches forty-five minutes long and leaves the team led by the alpha wolf, Cole, as the only other one standing.

“Oh shit,” Xavier snarls, and there’s a wealth of rage in those two words. He drops back down onto the bleachers as Cole runs the ball across the goal line, much to the excitement of half the stadium.

The other half groans in dismay, and I groan right along with them. Considering our history with Cole, that wolf is going to be out for blood.

Normally, it would be strange for Xavier to have the same feelings I do, since Cole is technically his alpha. But Xavier is a relatively new transfer to Katmere, too—he’s only been here about a year—and as I’ve learned over the last couple of days, not a big fan of the school’s alpha.

Not that I blame him. Cole is a total jerk, and that’s putting it mildly. Then again, stealing a guy’s canine will likely piss off even the best person, and Cole is definitely not that.

“He’s a total arse,” Hudson says. “Personally, I think someone should have challenged him a long time ago.”

“Give Xavier time,” I respond. “I’m pretty sure that’s coming before the end of the year.”

He grins. “I knew there was a reason I liked that wolf.”

“Look at it this way,” I tell Xavier as I reach over and grab his hand in solidarity. “After today, he’s going to be so humiliated that everything else that happened before isn’t even going to register.”

“You mean like when Jaxon drained him in front of the whole school?” Xavier says, with a wicked gleam in his eye. “Or like when someone else drained him in the middle of the night? Or—”

“Yes,” I tell him. “Yes, that’s exactly what I mean.”

“Oh, goodie.” He grins. “Please, universe. Please let me be the one to plow my elbow straight down his throat in the middle of a pileup.”

“I was thinking your foot,” I tease him. “But if you want to go small…”

His smile turns into a full-on belly laugh as he holds a hand up for a high five. “Girl, I like your style.”

“Good,” I tell him as I slap my hand against his. “Because you’re pretty much the only one in this whole school who does.”

“That’s totally not true,” Eden says, dropping back to wrap a hand around my shoulder. “Any girl who can keep Jaxon and Hudson Vega in line at the same time is a girl I can get behind.”

I just shake my head. “You’ve got a very broad definition of ‘in line.’”

“Hey!” Jaxon yelps. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

I roll my eyes at him teasingly. “It means that I’m not sure who’s more trouble. You or your brother.”

“My brother,” he and Hudson say at the exact same time.

“I rest my case.”

“You know,” Flint tells Xavier quietly as the mandatory fifteen-minute rest period kicks in for the other team, “if you need to kind of chill out this game, so you don’t piss off your alpha, we get it.”

“Umm, no, we don’t,” Macy grumps. “Cole’s got a solid team. We’re going to need every single one of us.”

“I don’t understand, either,” Xavier answers, looking completely affronted. “What kind of asshole do you think I am?”

“The kind who has to live under this alpha for at least another year,” Flint tells him. “We can still kick their asses, even if you need to hang back a little.”

“I’m not hanging back!” Xavier looks seriously pissed as he goes into full peacock mode. Chest out, feathers up, and eyes wild with a vicious annoyance. “Give me half a chance, and I’ll be the first one to kick that guy’s ass, alpha or not.”

“Okay, okay.” Flint holds up a conciliatory hand. “I just thought I’d offer.”

“Yeah, well, don’t do me any favors,” Xavier tells him, and it’s obvious he’s still pissed.

I wait a few minutes before I move over to sit next to him. “You know Flint didn’t mean any harm, right?” I say quietly.

“I’m not a punk,” he fires back. “I didn’t come this far with you guys just to sell you out to make things easier for myself. That’s not who I am.”

“I know,” I tell him as Macy moves to sit on his other side.

“I think you’re super brave going against Cole,” she tells him, and I swear he puffs up a little more right in front of us. And since he’s in good hands with Macy, I move back to Jaxon—just in time for the bell to go off, warning us to get to the field.

“You’ve got this,” Jaxon tells me, giving me a hug for luck as we move toward the field. “You’re a badass, Grace, so just go for it.”

Once we’re there, it’s to see that Cyrus himself is waiting to escort us onto the field. Of course he is. No way would he let the final match go on without him.

I’ve managed to avoid him since he arrived, so this will be the first time I’ll get the up-close-and-personal introduction. Super excited…not. #ratherhavearootcanal

He smiles when he sees Jaxon, but there’s no warmth in it at all. And the cold blue eyes he runs over me might be the same shade as Hudson’s, but the look in them gives me the creeps in a really big way.

I try to ignore him—and the stakes of this final game—but as I line up on the purple paint between Xavier and Macy, my stomach goes from tight to doing backward somersaults.

Because while this might just be a game to everyone else in the arena, for me this means a whole lot more. I lean forward to look at Jaxon, maybe even try to catch his attention, but he and Flint are in an intense eye fight with the guys on the other team directly facing them. Any other time, I’d be amused at their intensity, but right now, I’m trying not to vomit up funnel cake and humiliate myself in front of my mate.

“You’ve got this,” Hudson tells me. “Just fly your badass heart out and you’ll do great.”

I don’t know about that. I look across at Cole’s team, which is made up of some of the biggest assholes in the school—big surprise. I glance at Jaxon, who’s been holding his own all day but is definitely showing signs of fatigue, although far less than I’d have imagined with Hudson still feeding on the mating bond. I have a feeling I’m about to get my ass handed to me.

“Look at it this way,” he tells me with a wicked grin. “At the end of the day, there are way worse asses that you could have in your hands.”