Game on, Alpha

Chapter 4: You're Hiding Something

The next morning, I woke up exhausted. Which made absolutely no sense, I had slept for nearly eight hours. Yet my body felt like I had spent the entire night running.

My muscles ached, my head hurt, and for some reason, every sound seemed louder. The birds outside my window, the creaking floorboards downstairs, the hum of the refrigerator.

I buried my face in my pillow. Nope, I wasn't dealing with that. Unfortunately, life had other plans. Twenty minutes later, I was dragging myself into the academy gym.

The scent hit me first, I froze. The scent? My nose twitched. Freshly polished wood, sports drinks, rubber from basketball shoes, sweat, I could smell all of it clearly. Way too clearly.

A strange unease settled in my stomach; something was definitely wrong.

"You're late."

I looked up and immediately regretted coming. Chase, standing courtside and looking annoyingly perfect again. "It was thirty seconds."

"Thirty-seven."

I stared. "You counted?"

"Yes."

"That's weird."

"No. Being late is weird."

I dropped my bag. "Has anyone ever told you that you're irritating?"

"Frequently."

At least he was self-aware, that was something. Training started immediately, no mercy, no greetings, no warm-up conversation, just work. After nearly an hour, I was drenched in sweat.

But strangely enough, I wasn't as tired as I should have been. If anything, I felt...restless. Like I had too much energy, not too little.

During a sprint drill, I took off fast, really fast, faster than normal. I reached the other end of the court and stopped abruptly.

Had I always been that quick? Chase blew his whistle.

"Again."

I did it again. The result was the same, too fast. His eyes narrowed, he noticed. Of course he noticed, the man noticed everything.

The rest of the session continued in uncomfortable silence. By the end of it, I wanted answers. Unfortunately, Chase looked like he wanted them too.

And that worried me a lot.

"Do it again." He said like he wanted to see something.

I groaned. "No."

"Do it again."

"No."

"Again."

I pointed at him. "You keep saying that."

"And you keep arguing."

We were back at the sprint line. I was tired, annoyed, hungry, mostly hungry. Actually, very hungry. I had already eaten two protein bars during training. Somehow, it hadn't helped.

"One more time," Chase said.

I rolled my eyes and took off. The world blurred. The court flew beneath my feet. A second later, I reached the opposite side. Silence followed, not from the gym, from Chase.

I turned around; his expression had changed. The teasing was gone, the amusement too. He looked serious, dangerously serious. "Okay."

I frowned. "What?"

He walked toward me slowly, carefully, like I was something he didn't fully understand. "How long?"

"How long what?"

"How long has this been happening?"

A knot formed in my stomach. I knew exactly what he meant. The speed, the hearing, the strange sensations, the howls, the restlessness. I forced a laugh.

"No idea what you're talking about."

His stare hardened. "Audrey."

"What?"

"Don't."

For some reason, that single word made my pulse jump, not because it was loud because it wasn't. It was quiet, controlled and certain like he already knew the answer. I looked away first, a mistake.

His eyes immediately narrowed. "You're hiding something."

"I am not."

"You are."

I folded my arms. "Prove it."

For several seconds, neither of us spoke. Then Chase stepped closer, not enough to touch, just enough to make me aware of him. Every single second, my heart did something embarrassing.

"You don't smell right."

I blinked. "What?" The words caught me completely off guard. His gaze remained fixed on me.

"You smell different."

Okay, now he officially sounded insane. I pointed at myself. "You're smelling me?"

His expression darkened. "That's not what I meant."

"It sounded exactly like that." He looked frustrated, good. We could be frustrated together.

"I mean your wolf scent."

The teasing disappeared from my face because that wasn't funny. I didn't have a wolf. Everybody knew that. Yet Chase continued staring at me, studying me like he was trying to solve a puzzle. A puzzle that shouldn't exist.

"You smell human."

I rolled my eyes. "Groundbreaking."

"Mostly human."

The words stopped me. Mostly? A chill ran down my spine. No, impossible. My mother was human and I had shown no sign of wolfing. I clearly took after my mother, if I had any wolf in me, I would have transformed a long time ago.

Before I could respond, Coach Reed called my name. The moment shattered. Thank God, because I had absolutely no idea what to say.

The rest of the day felt strange. I couldn't focus in class, couldn't focus during lunch, couldn't even focus during practice.

Every time I looked up, I found myself thinking about Chase's words. Mostly human. Mostly, mostly, mostly. I started hating that word.

By evening, my mood was terrible. Which was probably why I agreed to go for a run. The academy grounds stretched far beyond the main buildings. It cut across fields, trails and wooded paths. Normally, running helped clear my head. Tonight, it only made things worse.

The forest seemed different, sharper, and more alive. Every rustling leaf grabbed my attention, every movement stood out. I stopped near the edge of the trees, breathing heavily.

A sudden c***k echoed through the forest. My head snapped toward the sound instantly without thinking. A shadow moved between the trees, gone before I could identify it.

My pulse spiked. "Hello?"

Nothing. The wind stirred, the branches swayed, then I heard it. A growl, low, deep, close, very close.

Fear shot through me. The sound came again, this time from behind. I spun around, my breath caught. Two glowing eyes stared at me from the darkness.

Wolf eyes. They were large, golden and predatory. Every instinct screamed at me to run. The wolf stepped forward. Massive, far larger than any normal wolf should have been.

My legs refused to move. The creature's gaze locked onto mine. The growl deepened, then something impossible happened. Instead of fear...a strange heat spread through my chest.

Recognition. Like something inside me knew this creature, knew exactly what it was. The wolf suddenly froze, its ears lifted, its attention shifted. A second later, it backed away slowly. Almost cautiously, then it disappeared into the trees. Just like that, gone.

I stood there trembling. Trying to understand what had happened, trying and failing. Only one question kept repeating itself in my head.

Where did that strange feeling of recognition come from?