THE HOCKEY CAPTAIN AND HIS VIRGIN STRIPPER

HELENA POV By the time I arrived on campus, I already knew my anonymous exposé had gone viral on the university forum. It was the only thing anyone seemed to be talking about. No one could believe that someone had publicly criticized Kaine Jackson, Crescent Ridge University’s golden boy. Unfortunately for him, that someone was me. Kaine Jackson was everything this university worshipped. Six foot four. Captain of the hockey team. Legacy family. Women from every department and even neighboring campuses circled him like satellites. And as if that wasn’t enough, he was next in line to become Alpha of our pack. But my resentment had nothing to do with jealousy. I didn’t hate him because he was admired. I hated him because he was arrogant. He mocked those beneath his social standing, especially omegas. If this was the man destined to lead our pack, then we were in trouble. So I did what no one else had the nerve to do. “Have you seen this?” Jennifer rushed toward me, phone in hand. As a member of the campus press committee, she looked personally betrayed. “Yeah,” I answered, keeping my tone neutral. She gasped dramatically while rereading the post. “They called him a mediocre bully who doesn’t deserve the pedestal he’s on,” she said, clutching her chest. “Who would write something like that about Kaine? He’s nothing like this.” Of course she would defend him. Half the girls on campus still looked at him like he personally invented oxygen. I rolled my eyes. “Jennifer, be serious. You know exactly who he is.” Jennifer’s eyes seemed to grow ten times bigger as she stared at me. “Hold on. You were the one who did it?” she whispered accusingly. I shrugged my shoulders. “Someone had to call out his bullshit.” “Did he approve this?” she asked with raised eyebrows. Of course I could have gone to the director first, but he would never approve of my article seeing that it was targeted at Kaine Jackson, the son of our biggest university sponsor. But as I opened my mouth to speak, both of our phones pinged at the same time. It was a general message from the Director of Student Media calling an emergency meeting that required all press members. I did not need a soothsayer to know that it was because of the article. **••**••**••**••** Everyone stood in the brightly colored office filled with files, none of us making eye contact with our furious director. I knew he was going to be pissed, but not this pissed. The small office felt too cramped now that every member of the media team was standing in front of him. “Answer me,” he commanded. “Or have you all suddenly grown deaf?” Vex, one of the nerdy boys with big glasses and a checkered shirt, spoke up. “We don’t… I mean, I don’t know who did it.” Mr. Smith ran his hand through his hair before leaning back against his chair. “So you are all saying that the article made it into the school portal on its own?” Jennifer looked at me briefly before looking away. I should probably say something, but my mouth felt heavy. Given the state Mr. Smith was in and our past disagreements, I did not want to answer. I did not feel as brave as I did last night when I posted the article without his approval. He continued. “Since no one wants to step up, I guess there is no reason to continue this interrogation. You all can leave.” But before we so much as turned to go, his voice stopped us in our tracks. “But as you leave, just know that all press funding has been revoked, including the loss of scholarships for those who rely on the media for it.” The entire room erupted in panic. “You can’t do that,” I gasped in shock. “I can and I will,” Mr. Smith said. “But we can be lenient if someone confesses that they did it.” Even though I hated Kaine and his influence, I could not let my teammates suffer for my mistake. But as I opened my mouth to speak, Jennifer beat me to it. “I did it,” Jennifer said. “No, you didn’t,” I said, but she ignored me and continued. “No need to punish them for my fault. I was the one who wrote the article out of spite.” “I appreciate you trying to be a good friend right now, but I’m not going to let you take the blame for the article I wrote,” I said, then turned my attention to Mr. Smith. “I did it. Everyone knows Jenny is a fangirl of Kaine. She couldn’t have written such an article even if she had a gun pointed to her head.” She folded her arms around her chest. “Maybe I wrote it because I wanted Kaine to notice me. And what better way than to write an article about him?” she smirked. Mr. Smith shifted closer to his desk. “The rest of you are free to go.” As soon as everyone had left, Mr. Smith got up from his chair and moved over to the window, breathing in the sunlight. “I did have an inkling that the suspect was you. It had that sharp tone your articles normally have. I used to admire it, but now I know it is too dangerous,” he said, still looking out of the window. “So you don’t believe Jennifer wrote it, right?” I asked, feeling a sense of relief. “No,” he said. He turned to face me. “Do you have any idea what you just did, Helena? You exposed this university to legal and reputational liability.” “But I only said the truth. He’s a…” “If you were so sure it was the truth, why did you not submit your article before publishing?” I sighed. “Because I knew you wouldn’t approve it.” He ran his hand through his hair again, something he did when he was stressed. “I have no idea why you hate Kaine, but I will not let you ruin yourself and this university. You are hereby suspended for violation of publication protocol and breach of press contract.” And then he turned to Jennifer. “Since you are an accomplice, you will suffer the same punishment.” “That’s unfair,” I said. “If you want to make things right, I suggest you go and apologize to Kaine Jackson.”