The Hockey Alpha Wants Me

Chapter 15 Damian's Pov

The scream hit me before the message did.

I had just stepped out of Jason’s dorm when it ripped across the campus, sharp, and loud. It also carried Jane’s scent. Panic. Shock. Something that punched straight into my chest and made my wolf slam forward so fast I nearly stumbled.

“Jane,” my wolf growled.

I didn’t think before I ran.

By the time I got to the field, half the school was already gathered. Lights everywhere. Voices layered on voices. The kind of noise that swallows everything except the worst possibilities running through your head.

I pushed through as far as I could before the crowd thickened. Wolves, humans, professors, wardens; they’d all formed this wall around the scene, blocking any forward movement. If I kept forcing it, I’d end up shoving people. Starting something. Drawing attention I didn’t want tonight.

So I stopped at the back.

Jason caught up to me, panting, “Dude—what the hell happened?”

I didn’t answer him.

My eyes were already on her.

Jane stood near the front, right behind a line of wardens. Geneva had her arms around her, trying to hold her steady. Jane’s hands were shaking. Her face looked drained, like all the color had been pulled out of it. Even from where I stood, I could see the tightness in her jaw, the way her chest rose too quickly.

My wolf pushed harder against the surface.

Go to her. Now.

I clenched my fists. Not here. Not in front of fifty people ready to make her the headline of their gossip for the week. Everyone already believed she was my mate. Rushing to her side would only fuel it. It would make her panic rise even more.

Still, watching her shake while I stood useless in the crowd sent a painful stab straight through me.

“What happened?” Jason whispered.

Before I could respond, wardens stepped aside just enough for the body to be lifted.

My stomach twisted.

The smell hit a second later—burnt fur, burnt skin, burnt… everything. A wolf shifter, dead. Not killed in a fight. Not injured. Burned. Completely.

Someone gasped nearby. Someone else covered their mouth. A few girls cried.

I stayed frozen.

My eyes flicked between the corpse and Jane. Her head was turned away now, pressed into Geneva’s shoulder.

My wolf growled again.

Protect her.

I swallowed hard and forced myself to breathe.

The body disappeared behind the wardens. The crowd buzzed louder. Questions flew everywhere: Who was it? Did someone kill him? Did he fall? Was it a rogue? Was it magic?

Magic.

My thoughts snapped immediately to the letter waiting in my room.

The black envelope with no scent. No name. No anything. Just that faint glow pulsing through the paper like it was alive.

I hadn’t opened it. I didn’t want to open it. But now… seeing that body? That glow didn’t feel like some prank anymore. It felt like a warning.

Or a threat.

Jason nudged me. “Dude. Are you okay? You look like you’re about to tear someone apart.”

“I’m fine,” I muttered.

A lie. A weak one.

He raised a brow but didn’t push. Jason knew when not to pry. He scanned the field again and let out a low breath. “This is bad. Really bad.”

No kidding.

Wardens finally started directing people back to their dorms, telling us they’d update everyone later.

I watched Jane until she disappeared inside the building with Geneva, still unsteady, still clinging to her friend’s arm. She didn’t look back once.

My chest tightened again.

I didn’t go after her. I wanted to. But I didn’t.

…

The next morning, my room looked exactly the same as last night.

But that letter didn’t.

It sat on my desk, right where I had left it, but the glow beneath its surface was brighter. Slow pulses of faint light throbbed through the paper every few seconds, the kind of glow that made my wolf uneasy.

I stood across the room from it, arms folded.

I’d fought rogues before. I’d fought other Alphas. I’d dealt with angry professors, jealous rivals, and even the worst parts of my own pack politics.

But I’d never had to deal with something like this.

A letter that glowed like it was breathing.

A dead wolf thrown from a building.

And a girl who screamed like the earth had split beneath her feet.

I rubbed my hand over my face and let out a long exhale.

What the hell was happening?

I tried to piece things together, but nothing made sense. I didn’t have enemies who used magic. I didn’t have some secret past coming back to haunt me. I wasn’t cursed. I hadn’t stolen anything that didn’t belong to me—except maybe Jane’s peace of mind, but even that was temporary.

The glow pulsed again.

My wolf backed up inside me, ears down.

Danger.

I had felt that same instinct last night at the field, right after the corpse was carried away. A gut feeling that someone was trying to send a message. And whatever message this was, it wasn’t friendly.

I took a breath and stepped closer.

I didn’t touch it.

I just stared.

“What do you want?” I muttered under my breath.

The letter, obviously, didn’t answer. But another pulse of light spread across its surface like it understood the question.

I stepped back again.

Nope.

Not yet. I wasn’t touching that thing until I had a reason that didn’t involve dying on the spot.

My phone buzzed from the bed.

I grabbed it, hoping it was Jason or maybe a school update about the investigation.

Instead, it was a message from Liam, one of my teammates.

“Get to the field now. Mandatory prep. Coach is losing it.”

I stared at the screen for a long time.

Right. The match.

The challenge.

The arrogant Alpha who thought he could use Jane like some prize.

My jaw tightened as yesterday’s memory flashed through my head—the smug smirk, the stupid challenge, the words I couldn’t believe had actually left his mouth.

“The winner gets the girl.”

I felt my fists clench.

Part of me wanted to shift right there in the room and rip something apart. But another part—the one that kept me from doing stupid things—forced me to remain still.

Tomorrow was the match. Tomorrow everything would boil over. Tomorrow I’d have to deal with that i***t Alpha, the school watching, my team relying on me, the possibility of a fight breaking out if he pushed me too far.

And now, on top of everything else, there was a dead wolf and a glowing letter breathing on my desk.

I dropped onto the edge of my bed, elbows on my knees.

My wolf paced inside me. Restless. Anxious. Ready to fight anything that moved.

I’d never felt like this before—not even during pack trials.

This wasn’t just stress.

This was pressure from every direction. School. The challenge. Jane. The investigation. The goddamn envelope. My wolf’s obsession. The rumors. The fear in Jane’s eyes last night that I couldn’t unsee.

I pressed my palms against my eyes.

“Get it together,” I muttered.

But the words didn’t help.

For the first time in a long time, I wasn’t pretending.

I admitted it—to myself, to the empty room, to the wolf pacing inside me like a caged animal.

“I’m not ready for this.”

The letter pulsed again, almost like it agreed.

I let out a slow breath and sat back up, staring at the black envelope across the room.

Tomorrow, I’d have to deal with the Alpha.

And somewhere between all that… I’d have to find a way to face Jane again without the crowd, without the field, without her shaking like she did last night.

One crisis at a time.

But even that felt like too much.

I grabbed my phone again. Liam had sent another message:

“Coach says if you’re late, don’t bother showing up tomorrow.”

Perfect.

I didn’t move.

Not yet.

I just stared at the glowing envelope, feeling everything crowd in at once.

And for the first time, I didn’t pretend I had control.

Not even a little.