When the wolf broke
1266 Words
✓✓✓✓✓✓✓ CHAPTER 3 ✓✓✓✓✓✓✓
AIDEN CROWL
I couldn't hold it!
I knew it was going to be a bad night the second I stepped into the locker room.
I couldn’t explain it. There was no vision, no warning, no flashing sign that read "Disaster Incoming." It was just a feeling. Heavy, like something crawling under my skin. Something was wrong.
But I said nothing…
Because tonight was game night, and I was the damn quarterback. Our school’s golden boy. The future Alpha. Everyone expected me to light up the field, score touchdowns, bring home glory, and smile like I wasn’t slowly losing my grip on reality.
And worst of all, it was the full moon.
Great timing, right?
I sat on the bench, pulling my jersey over my head as Coach Tom paced up and down the aisle in front of us like a general about to send his army to war.
"Alright, boys," he started, clapping his hands together. "You know what this game means. They're coming from East Ridge. Those bloodsuckers think they can walk into our stadium and humiliate us on our turf."
I stiffened.
He didn’t mean literal bloodsuckers. But it still made me flinch.
"They’ve got speed. They’ve got coordination. But they don’t have heart. They don’t have you." He pointed at each of us, face intense. "They don’t have Aiden Crowl.”
Everyone turned to look at me. I kept my eyes down.
Coach, as we often called him, narrowed his eyes. “Crowl.”
I looked up.
“Tell me,” he said. “What’s our formation if they run two safeties high and close the middle?”
I blinked.
My mind was blank.
Totally blank.
I said the first thing that came to my mouth. “We, uh… we spread wide?”
Coach stared at me like I just said the Earth was flat.
“Crowl,” he said slowly, “that’s the answer you give when you’ve had a full concussion and two beers. Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” I lied.
He studied me for another second, then nodded slowly. “Alright. Get your head in the game. You’re leading the team tonight.”
Then he clapped his hands again. “Alright, everybody up! Let’s get focused. And Crowl, give the team a few words.”
I stood.
Everyone quieted.
They waited.
And… nothing came.
I opened my mouth, but the words stumbled out, fragmented and dry.
“Uh… let’s just… play hard. Stick to the plays. No mistakes. And, uh, yeah. Do our best.”
It was weak. Pathetic.
Even I knew it.
But they still clapped, half-heartedly, because that’s what you do when your leader speaks, even when he sounds like he’s barely holding it together.
We started heading out, one by one. Helmets in hand. War paint on faces. Hopes high.
That’s when Luca walked beside me.
He nudged me with his elbow. “What’s up with you, man?”
I didn’t answer right away.
He bumped me again. “Hey. Don’t do that thing where you pretend you’re okay when you're clearly not.”
I sighed.
“I don’t feel like playing tonight,” I muttered.
He blinked. “What?”
“I said I don’t feel like playing.”
“Aiden, it’s the biggest game of the season.”
“I know.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
I stopped walking and looked at him.
“You know what I am.”
His face dropped. “Yeah.”
“But you’re not like me.”
“Obviously.”
“It’s the full moon tonight,” I said quietly. “I’ve been trying to keep it down, keep it controlled, but it’s loud, Luca. The wolf’s loud. I can feel him pressing against my skin. I’m scared I’ll hurt someone.”
Luca went quiet.
He scratched the back of his neck. “I forgot what you said about that. The full moon makes it worse?”
“It’s like trying to hold back a hurricane with duct tape. My heart’s racing, my hands keep twitching, and every scent is like" I cut off, breathing through my nose. “I’m barely holding on.”
“But we need you.”
I met his eyes.
“You’re the team, Aiden. Without you, we’re done.”
I swallowed hard. “And if I lose control?”
He was quiet.
Then he said, “Then you don’t. You won’t. You’ve held it in before. You’ll do it again. You always
do.”
I nodded slowly.
But I didn’t believe it.
“Thank you,” I said, just to sound like I understood.
The game started…
And we were losing.
Badly.
The other team, East Ridge, was faster, sharper, more aggressive. Every time I snapped the ball, someone was in my face. My passes were off. My vision was blurred. My instincts were drowning beneath the howl that echoed in the back of my skull.
At halftime, we were down by seventeen.
Coach pulled me aside. “Crowl. Talk to me.”
I wiped sweat from my face. “I’m fine.”
“Son, you’re playing like your shoes are tied together.”
“I’ve got it. Just give me the ball.”
He didn’t look convinced, but he nodded.
The second half was worse.
The sky had darkened completely, and the moon was full. Bright. Too bright.
And then he came.
Number 13 on the East Ridge team.
Tall. Slender. Eyes too dark.
I knew that scent.
Vampire.
He lined up opposite me on defense. Every time he tackled someone, he smirked like it was a game. And when he got close enough, he whispered under his breath.
“You smell nervous, wolf boy.”
I ignored him.
“Your blood’s sweet when you’re scared.”
I still ignored him.
“I bet she screams your name in her dreams. What was it again? Liora?”
That did it.
My vision blurred. My jaw clenched. The wolf roared.
I could feel my nails stretching, my bones aching.
I shoved him back… hard.
He grinned. “There it is.”
I turned to the coach.
“Sub me out.”
“What?”
“Now. Please.”
He frowned but motioned for a sub.
I jogged off the field and straight into the locker room.
I didn’t stop.
I hit the showers, locked the door behind me, dropped to my knees, and braced both hands on the tiles.
My hands were shifting.
Fingers elongating.
Claws coming through.
My breathing turned ragged.
Not now. Not here. Not like this.
I could hear the water running but it did nothing to cool me down. My spine arched. My head dropped forward.
“Aiden!”
The voice was Luca’s.
He pushed open the locker room door, eyes wide.
“What’s happening to you?!”
I couldn’t lift my head.
“Get out,” I growled.
“What?!”
“I said, GET OUT!”
He stared.
And then ran.
Good.
Because I couldn’t stop what was coming.
My hands were no longer mine.
My vision was going dark around the edges.
I growled, slamming my fist into the tile wall, cracking it.
And then…
A voice.
Soft. Female.
Unmistakable.
“Aiden?”
Liora.
I turned slowly, eyes glowing.
She stood at the edge of the locker room, not moving.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I snarled.
She took a step closer.
I dropped to all fours.
She reached for me.
And the wolf lunged.
- Writer
