Page 50 of Clawless

“Yeah, but when it comes to you, it’s not rage,” he told me. “It’s guilt.”

Thirty-Five - Vail

Straight after the pep rally, the students streamed out of the gym and headed for the playing field, their yips and growls floating behind them in the freezing night air. Callum had left me in the booth without explaining what Reed had to feel guilty about, and I used my vantage point to try to pick him out of the crowd. But I couldn’t see either him or Jasper. In fact, I hadn’t seen Jasper during the rally at all, I realized. Just his two lieutenants at the front of the bleachers, tossing a packball back and forth until their pack were howling for Hunter Green.

But Baron and Felix’s smiles disappeared as I followed the last stragglers up to the field and stumbled on their huddle. There were about thirty shifters on the Arras team, all dressed in the flimsy uniform of silky shorts and singlet despite the freezing conditions. My heart stuttered a little as I looked for Jasper’s golden head in their midst, but when Baron saw me, his lips thinned and he stepped into my path.

I’d always thought Baron Becker was one of the nicer alphas in the school. Cocky and completely full of himself, but he’d never been rude to me, and had even seemed pretty cool about my relationship with Jasper. Or at least up until the night of Hunter Moon. But now he looked at me with the cold gaze of a predator. “Keep walking, Omega. Your pack is that way.” He pointed to the Marshall huddle a little further down the field and I nodded, but Felix was suddenly at his shoulder, leering at me in the moonlight. It took me a moment to realize Marnie had come up on my other side and was glaring just as fiercely back at the two Arras alphas. I was surprised by the hostility coming off her until I remembered shifts were more likely under the sway of the full moon.

Felix curled his lip as he looked us over, his gaze settling on the tag on my collar. “Who let the dogs out?”

Before I could reply, Marnie lifted her chin and snarked back, “Where? All I see are a pair of pussies.”

While I gaped at her, Felix stepped forward and thrust her hard in the chest, making her stumble back. “Shut your yap, dud.”

“Hey!” I batted his hand away, putting a bit of heat into the blow. “Keep your paws to yourself, asshole.”

Felix’s eyes gleamed with fury, but Baron nudged him back towards their teammates. All the Arras players were now glaring at us, and I grabbed Marnie’s wrist. “Stay on the sidelines,” Baron warned as I began leading her away. “You put so much as a toe on the field, we’ll bury you both.”

The way my stomach was feeling, I was more than happy to sit the game out. But as we headed over to the Marshall players, I realized Marnie was clenching and unclenching her fists, and I had to wonder if the Frost Moon was riding her hard. “Everything okay, Killer?” I asked, bumping her shoulder with mine.

She blew out a breath and gave me a sheepish smile. “I don’t know. Those guys just really get under my skin.”

“They’re assholes,” I agreed, “but I did almost get them gutted on the last full moon. Not to say they should be throwing their crap your way, though.”

She looped her arm through mine. “That’s pack. Your crap is my crap.”

I had to laugh, but we were at the edge of the Marshall huddle, and my amusement drew the attention of a few players. Carter shot me a wink, but Beckett looked all business, and I bit my lip in apology. My chagrin only deepened when I realized Reed was at the center of the huddle, absently bouncing a packball on his fist as he listened to something his lieutenant was saying. But he went still when he saw me approach, the ball bouncing off into the shadows. It was hard to tell what he was thinking in the dim light, but I thought I saw guilt swimming in the depths of his brown eyes. It was so much like the frozen image on Callum’s phone, I swallowed hard. What did Reed have to feel guilty about? All he’d done was welcome me into his pack, and promise me the security of his name. When I gave him a small smile, his back straightened and he thumped Beckett on the shoulder mid-instruction. “Time to get the ball rolling. The night’s not getting any younger and we’ve got places to be and things to do.”

Some of the other players snickered, and I felt my cheeks redden. No one knew what we were planning to do later, but the heat in Reed’s gaze was hard to mistake. It also brought to mind the fierce way he’d kissed me that morning, and I forced myself to say, “Good luck, Alphason.”

It drew a few more chuckles, and I turned abruptly, only to have a ripple of whispers sweep across the crowd. As I hurried away, I glanced at Marnie, who was also chewing on her cheek to hide her grin. “What?”

“You know what’s written on the back of your sweatshirt?” When I shook my head, she said, “Let’s just say no one will doubt who it – or you - belong to.”

I cringed as a couple players ran past us towards the field and I caught sight of their names blazoned on the back of similar sweatshirts. It had caught my eye on Hunter Moon, too. Seeing Jasper’s name stenciled on the back of his packball tank. Running my fingers over the silky letters, and secretly wishing they were mine. “So much for spontaneous,” I muttered to myself.

Packball wasn’t much of a spectator sport, since it was played at night in the middle of a forest, but given this was the final game, a large group was gathered outside the little building they used as a clubhouse. Or two groups, I corrected myself, as I realized they were split into green and red huddles, with pockets of Sawyer blue scattered throughout.

The moon was bright and full, but there was a thin layer of cloud in the sky, and extra lighting was strung from the pavilion roof to nearby trees. Fires were burning in metal drums, and a bunch of omegas were handing out salted pretzels and hot cocoa. There were plenty of hip flasks also getting an outing, and music was thumping from speakers set out on the pavilion’s porch. I’d only ever been to a couple of football games with Darkness, but the atmosphere felt kind of the same, even without the fancy stadium.

“Just remember, there aren’t really any rules,” Marnie warned me as we crunched across the snow towards the Marshall supporters. “Things can get kind of wild.”

I nodded and stuffed my hands into the pockets of Reed’s sweatshirt. “I’m just glad there aren’t any cheer routines. I’d probably handspring straight into a snowdrift.”

Marnie snickered. “Cheer is definitely not your strong suit.” She nudged my arm and lifted her chin in the direction of the field. “Not that the team captain looks like he agrees.”

I gave Reed another wave as he watched me join his pack, then turned to face off with Baron. I quickly looked across the field for Jasper. But again, I couldn’t see him among the players, and I felt a painful pang somewhere between my belly and my heart. He loved packball, and there was no way he’d be missing the Cup game if he could help it. But maybe it was for the best, given what Reed and I had planned for later in the evening. A public claiming was going to be stressful enough without having the Clan Alpha looking on.

Someone howled – which I took as the start of the game – and I was quickly swept up in the action. There was some rough tackling right in front of us, then Reed scooped up the ball and was running towards a distant cherry-red flame. It danced atop one of the two hills that served as goals, with a matching bright green flame on the other. I remembered enough about what Jasper had told me to know the objective was to get the ball to your home hill. By any means possible. This was where the rules, and their shifter natures, became a little blurry. Anyone on the field could score, and it didn’t matter which form they did it in. Shifting was constant, so the players got naked really fast.

A few of the spectators around us ran onto the field, clearly deciding to join the game. Other players came off – limping or worse – and the omegas ushered them into the pavilion to patch them up. The coppery scent of blood quickly filled the air, and as a shout went up from the hill with the red flame, the Marshall spectators roared their approval. I cheered along, but it was weird only seeing part of the action, and others around me clearly agreed. When the next play started, part of the crowd broke off and began moving further into the trees. Marnie and I were swept along with them and I grinned at her excited giggle as we jogged to keep up.

“Duck!” Someone yelled right in front of me and I dodged sideways, narrowly missing a tree. But it was better than getting hit by the packball, which flew by my head like a missile. A whole bunch of the spectators went down as the players charged through, and I saw Reed flash by, his face set in a determined mask. I steadied myself against the tree, looking round for Marnie. She’d leaped the other way, which put her further out on the field, and was still down on her knees. I rushed over to her, thinking she’d been trampled, and my heart seized as she made a helpless whining sound. But the next moment she disappeared in a burst of brown fur. I was so startled, I fell back on my rump in the snow.

“Marnie! You shifted!”

The look the brown wolf gave me was so like my friend’s wide-eyed stare, I started to laugh. And the next moment she was launching into my arms, her feet kicking up clumps of snow as her cold muzzle slobbered all over my cheeks. I was laughing so hard, I didn’t hear the returning players until they were almost on top of us. Carter ground to a halt beside us in his human form. I almost didn’t notice he was completely naked, since the expression on his face was so comical. “Is that? Is that? Is that?”

---