Fangs Beneath the Ice

Chapter 11: A Dangerous Debt

WREN

I rushed towards the school clinic with my bag hanging from one shoulder and my mind still occupied with everything I had seen on the sports blog. I needed to talk to Asher, and there was no way around it. If anyone knew what was going on, it had to be him, especially after what happened yesterday. The message, the pictures, the videos, and the comments from strangers kept replaying in my head, and the more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable I became.

The moment I reached the clinic, I heard a scream from inside.

“AHHHHH!” I froze. That was Asher.

“What the hell?” I gasped, holding the knob.

“Bear the pain, Asher!” Coach Daniels' voice came right after his scream. “You want to play again or not?! Then stop moving!”

I stared at the door for a second before slowly pushing it open, and the sight in front of me immediately made me stop. Asher was sitting on the clinic bed shirtless, his hair scattered messily across his forehead and his face so pale that he looked like he hadn't slept all night. His broken arm was being treated while his other hand gripped the edge of the bed tightly, his knuckles almost white from the pressure.

His tired eyes moved the moment I stepped inside and landed directly on me, and I flinched. There was anger in his eyes. No, it was more than anger. It was an accusatory gaze that made me look away immediately. Of course he was angry. He had every reason to be angry at me, but I wasn't exactly feeling guilty after what he had done to me yesterday. He had pushed me off a rooftop to force me into admitting that I was a werewolf.

‘If you had just told him you were a werewolf and accepted the mate bond, none of this would have happened, Elise suddenly said inside my head.

I rolled my eyes mentally. ‘Not now.’

‘I'm just saying.’

I ignored her and looked towards Coach Daniels, who had finally noticed me standing by the door.

“Wren?”

I looked at him.

“How are you?”

“I'm fine.”

He frowned and looked between me and me. “You're sure?”

“Yes.”

He nodded slowly, but he clearly didn't believe me. His eyes moved back to Asher, and he sighed. “Can someone explain to me what the hell happened yesterday? I've been trying to get an answer out of him since this morning, and all I keep getting is that he fell.”

My eyes moved towards Asher, and he was still staring at me.

I swallowed.

“Asher fell,” I said. “That's all.”

Coach Daniels' brows pulled together. “That's all?”

I nodded. “He fell.”

“And you were with him?”

“You”

“And both of you ended up on the ground together?”

I didn't answer immediately because there was no normal explanation for that. Coach Daniels looked between us again and shook his head.

“You two are acting suspicious.”

Asher remained silent, and I avoided his gaze. Coach Daniels sighed and rubbed his forehead. “I don't know what is going on between you two, but I need both of my best players in one piece. Especially with the upcoming games. I can't have one of you breaking something every time you see each other.”

I almost rolled my eyes.

If only he knew.

His phone suddenly rang, and he pulled it out, glancing at the screen before freezing.

I frowned. “What?”

He didn't answer me immediately. He looked at the screen again before his expression changed.

“It's the scout.”

My brows rose slightly. “A scout?”

“Yes.” His expression suddenly became serious. “He's coming to examine the hockey team.”

I didn't think too much about it. A scout coming to examine the team wasn't exactly my problem, especially when I had someone sending me creepy messages and apparently watching me through videos online.

Coach Daniels quickly answered the call and stepped outside while talking, leaving the door behind him.

I stood there for a moment, staring at Asher. Now it was just him and me, and he was still staring at me.

“What?” I asked.

He didn't answer. His expression remained cold, and his eyes were filled with something I couldn't quite understand.

I walked closer to the bed and folded my arms. “You're angry at me?”

His jaw tightened. “You know why.”

I rolled my eyes. “I came here to check on you, so don't start.”

“You came here because you saw the blog.”

My steps stopped, and my heart skipped.

“H-how did you know about that?”

His eyes narrowed. “I know more than you think.”

I swallowed. I walked closer and looked down at his injured hand. “You know what?”

“What?”

“You owe me.”

His brows furrowed. “For what?”

I stared at him as he had just asked the dumbest question in the world.

“You almost killed me yesterday.”

His face remained expressionless. “You're alive, and I am injured. ”

I blinked. “Are you serious?”

“You're standing here.”

I stared at him in disbelief. “You pushed me off a f*****g building!”

“And I caught you.”

My lips parted, and I wanted to argue, but he wasn't wrong. He had caught me. But that didn't mean I was going to let him off that easily.

“You still owe me.”

He looked away from me as if he was already tired of the conversation, and I stepped closer, looking at his hand again. It was wrapped tightly, and I could still see the swelling around it.

“You know, you should be thanking me.”

“For what?”

“For not leaving you there.”

His eyes snapped towards me. “You're the reason I'm injured.”

“You're the reason I almost died, Asher.”

He went quiet, and I crossed my arms while staring at him. “Exactly.”

He looked away again.

I smiled slightly. “You have a debt to repay.”

“Wren.”

“What?” I smirked.

“Don't.” his eyes held caution.

I ignored him and reached for his broken hand. His eyes widened immediately. “Wren, don't touch it.”

“I just want to look.”

“You don't need to look.” he tried to move back.

I grabbed his hand anyway.

“Wait, I just want to...”

“AHHHHH!” His scream exploded through the clinic, and I immediately froze as his entire body jerked. His face twisted in pain, tears instantly filling his eyes before a few slipped down his cheeks while he glared at me like he wanted to kill me.

I stared at him before I suddenly laughed.

I couldn't help it. He looked absolutely miserable. His face was pale, his hair was scattered everywhere, and now he was sitting there with tears running down his face because I had touched his broken hand.

“You should see your face,” I said between laughs.

“You're f*****g insane,” he breathed, his voice strained.

I smiled. “Maybe.”

He tried pulling his hand away, but I released it before he could.

I looked at him and shook my head. “You pushed me off a building yesterday, and now you're crying because I touched your hand.”

“I'm not crying.”

I raised my brows. “There are literally tears on your face.”

He glared at me, and I laughed again.

“You really are pathetic.” He looked away with his jaw clenched, and I smiled before leaning slightly closer. “But don't forget you still have a debt to repay me for almost killing me.”

His tired eyes moved back to mine.

“You're never going to let that go, are you?”

“No.” I smiled. “Not a chance.”