Page 32 of Starlight Mates

Annie pipes in, “I told her, but I kinda forgot about the stadium set up.” She winces. “It’s a dangerous sport, but no one has died in years, so there is that.”

That doesn’t make me feel better at all. Kosma leans over Annie, his blond hair reflecting the green light show in the sky. Kosma screams bear more than even Finnegan does, with his nearly black eyes and playful smile. He is a good guy, and he suits Annie. The Gods actually chose well with them…but with me? Oh fuck, they messed up. “They will be okay. I’m a big supporter of the game, and Rhodes is fast. Onyx is brutal and smart at tactics. You don’t have to worry about them. The aim is to fling the ball through the gold rings, and the first team to get to four wins. The ball has, like, a grip on it so that most animal forms can grab it. You’re not allowed to fight with the others, but you are allowed to block them, whether that’s using the intimidating force of your shift or not. Drawing blood earns a yellow card, and two yellow cards means you’re out.”

“It’s pretty common for them to be taken out, and they have back-up team members ready. Some use the cards as a tactic to take out the better players on opposing teams,” Annie explains, having to speak louder now the stadium is quickly filling up.“Kos doesn’t like when they play dirty like that, but the crowds love it.”

Kos huffs. “I can’t wait until tryouts next year. I’m applying and I hope to get in. They usually only take rangers because they are the fittest and most skilled of us.”

“Why didn’t you apply to be a ranger?” I question.

Annie and Kos look between each other, and Kos clears his throat. “Do you know the family name Marsenton?” I shake my head. “Well, it’s my family name and I’m the only heir. My parents wouldn’t let me go to the rangers, and when I tried, Edvard said no. My family pay for nearly everything in Starlight, and the only other family close to their power is Annie’s.”

“Funny you two ended up being mates, then. One with money and one with power,” I mutter.

“That’s our parents, not us,” Kos reminds me.

Annie squeezes my hand. “If anyone knows what it feels like to not be who you were born as, it’s Gwen.”

I squeeze her hand back and look at Alek, who is a few feet away, silent and not joining the conversation, as we continue making our way to our seats. It’s hard to look at him and not feel his lips on mine, feel how good that felt and how my dreams have been filled with him ever since. The nightmares have disappeared into dreams of longing and want, and I don’t know which one is more torturous.

Something tells me he won’t kiss me again until I do what he wants, but he has no idea what he is really asking for, and it’s for the best we don’t kiss. It’s bad enough that Rhodes has sneaked his way into my heart, and I don’t know how I’m ever going to break his heart and run. He got me a puppy and saved me from Hollis. The bastard knew I’d be a sinking ship after that.

Cheering starts to echo around the stadium, and it’s so loud already. What’s it going to be like when the game begins? “I know Onyx is a wolf, but what’s Rhodes?”

I never actually saw what the twins were. Alek comes closer to answer me. “He’s a snow leopard, both of them are. You will see soon.”

Snow leopard? Not what I was expecting, but it makes sense for Hollis. He certainly has the attitude to go with a cat. I still feel wary about causing the rift between Hollis and Rhodes. I couldn’t exactly tell Rhodes that I had a freak-out because of memories in my past and not actually something that Hollis did. Hollis will always hate me, but this time, I made it worse. I haven’t seen him since the sea, but I know he is fine, because my Nexus would have told me otherwise. I would have felt it.

We finally sit down in a row of seats, which are cordoned off from anybody else. Alek disappears after a few minutes, and I hate that. I wish he stayed at my side. I blow out a breath and look forward.

“He’ll come round.” Annie hands me a drink, something red and glittery. She holds hers up and clinks it against mine. “Love you, bestie. All that matters is enjoying your first game.”

I know she is right. Boy problems can wait. Annie gets super happy when she’s drunk, and I giggle as I watch her dance in her seat to the songs playing over the speakers as we wait for the game to begin and drink more. The match begins after about half an hour. There’s only a ring of one single bell, followed by ear-splitting cheers and music before animals flood the base level of the stadium. Sand flies into the air, and I lean forward against the bar in front of my seat to watch.

The screens zoom in on Onyx and Rhodes immediately. They have a spray-painted green line straight down their backs. So do all the rest of their team. Onyx’s dark wolf comes running out in a sprint, diving into the middle of the pitch to grab a black ball tightly in his jaws. Many of the other side, including two gigantic bears of pure black, try to block him with no luck. But a familiar snow leopard jumps over, grabbing the ball straight out of hismouth and jumping on the bear’s back to get to the other side of the pit.

Rhodes’s snow leopard is stunning, all grey and white, but the rings on his fur are in a halo of gold. He is also massive, nearly matching the size of Onyx’s wolf. My Nexus proudly preens in my chest, and she feels happy? Not a feeling I’m used to feeling from her unless she is murdering someone. Huh.

A massive kangaroo blocks the path for Rhodes, but he dodges the kangaroo’s hits to get to the second level. Rhodes is quick, jumping from one side to the other. A lion from the other team slams onto his back, and I wince, watching the ball fall out of Rhodes’s mouth as he wrestles the lion off his back. A snake, which I think is our team, gets the ball next and wraps around it as it falls into the water. The current makes them float away fast. “Is the snake on our team?”

“YES!” Annie shouts in a fever before cheering loudly, and her happiness is contagious.

Rhodes and the lion fall into the water, both of them hissing and forgetting the fight in order to drag themselves out. It was quite amusing that they don’t like the water. Onyx is right behind them now. He jumps into the water, swimming through the current, and picks the snake up, ball and everything, before diving on the other end. He grabs the ball in his mouth, the snake going onto his back as he races up to the final level.

The cheering grows louder and louder, deafening me, but I join them. Several of the opposing team just get to the last level as Onyx flings the ball into the air. The ball goes flying through the gold ring, and cheers break out from the crowd. Cheering and hollering must echo to the moon with how loud it is. I cheer right with them. The game pretty much continues like this, and my throat is sore from cheering by the end. They lose one goal, but it is four to one by the end. Annie and Kos are thrilled, and the cheers don’t stop. I could come to every game, I soonrealised, to support them or just because it’s amazing to watch. The atmosphere…there’s nothing like this.

We wait downstairs by the private exit by the changing rooms for half an hour before Rhodes comes out. He’s fresh from the shower, in black jeans and a white shirt. Onyx is right behind him in a shirt and dark trousers. I grin at them both. “You were amazing!”

Rhodes leans in and kisses my cheek, and Onyx’s eyes lock with mine as his lips touch my skin. Something flashes there, but he looks away. “I’m so fucking glad you were here. I swear I could feel you cheering for me,” Rhodes says.

“She was screaming for you,” Annie tells them.

“What all mates want, right?” Kos jokes, and Rhodes laughs as my cheeks burn.

He wraps his arm around my shoulders, and I smile at Onyx. “Well done.”

“Thanks,” he coldly replies, making everything awkward. “See you around.”

We all watch Onyx leave, and only when he is gone does Rhodes lean into me. “There’s a small after-party I want to take you to. It breaks every rule at the academy to take you, but I’d break them for you.”

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