Welcome to Crimson Falls
1074 Words
Chapter 2 - Welcome to Crimson Falls
Dakota's POV
Two weeks later, I stood outside Crimson Falls University with one duffel bag and a bad attitude.
The campus was a beauty to behold. Massive stone buildings that looked like castles, perfectly manicured lawns, students who'd probably never seen the inside of a warehouse fight. This wasn't my world.
"You must be Dakota."
I turned. A guy around my age jogged up, blonde hair perfectly styled, wearing a Crimson Falls hockey jacket that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe. His smile was bright and artificial, like he practiced in the mirror.
"I'm Tyler. Welcome to Crimson Falls!" He stuck out his hand.
I looked at it but didn't shake. "Where's the rink?"
His smile faltered just slightly. "Right. Okay. Straight to business. I like it." He gestured toward a huge building behind him. "Athletic center is this way. Coach Brennan said you'd be arriving today. We've got your gear ready and...."
"I have my own gear."
"Oh." Tyler glanced at my beat-up duffel bag. "Right. Well, uh, the locker room is co-ed since you're the first girl on the team, so we set up a separate changing area for you..."
"I don't need special treatment."
Tyler stopped walking. "Look, I'm trying to be nice here."
"I don't need nice either. I need to know where I'm playing and when practice starts."
He stared at me like I was a puzzle he couldn't solve. "Practice is in an hour. But maybe you should, I don't know, settle in first? Meet the team? There's a whole orientation thing...."
"I'm not here to make friends."
"Yeah, I'm getting that." Tyler shook his head. "Fine. The locker room is through those doors. Try not to terrify everyone before the first practice."
He walked away, and I felt a twinge of guilt. He was just trying to help.
But I couldn't afford friends. Friends meant vulnerability. Vulnerability meant weakness.
And weakness meant losing Ember.
I pushed through the doors into the athletic center and stopped dead.
The place was unreal. State-of-the-art equipment, multiple rinks visible through glass walls, screens displaying stats and training programs. This wasn't just a college hockey program. This was professional level.
"Impressive, isn't it?"
I turned. Coach Brennan stood behind me, in the same expensive suit, with the same unsettling smile.
"It's excessive," I said.
"We believe in investing in our players." He gestured down a hallway. "Your locker is this way. I trust your travel was uneventful?"
"It was fine."
We walked in silence. I noticed other players staring as we passed—some curious, some hostile. The girl who invaded their space. I was used to it.
Coach Brennan stopped at a door marked "Staff Only" and punched in a code. "This will be your private space. We thought you'd prefer privacy."
The room was small but clean. Locker, bench, shower. More than I'd ever had.
"Thanks," I said, though the word felt foreign.
"Practice starts in forty-five minutes. Don't be late." He started to leave, then paused. "And Dakota? Welcome to the family."
Something about the way he said "family" made my skin crawl.
The door closed. I was alone.
I dropped my bag and sat on the bench, suddenly exhausted. This was it. One season. Play hockey, get the money, win custody of Ember. Simple.
Except nothing about this felt simple.
I changed into my practice gear—worn pads, skates I'd repaired myself, a stick I'd stolen from a sporting goods store when I was sixteen. Everything was functional but clearly used. I didn't care. Gear didn't make the player.
The rink was already full when I stepped onto the ice. Thirty guys, all of them bigger than me, most of them staring.
"Well, well. Fresh meat."
A massive guy skated up, easily six-three, with a scar across his eyebrow and a mean grin. "I'm Rex. Team captain. And you're the charity case Coach dragged in from the streets."
"I'm the enforcer who's going to make you look slow," I shot back.
The team laughed. Rex's grin widened. "I like you. You've got balls. Stupid, but ballsy."
"Line up!" Coach Brennan's voice echoed across the ice. "We're running contact drills. Dakota, you're with Rex."
Oh, he was testing me. Fine.
Rex and I faced off at center ice. The whistle blew.
He came at me like a freight train. I dodged, using his momentum against him, and checked him into the boards. Hard.
The team went silent.
Rex got up slowly, surprise flickering across his face. "Not bad, street rat."
We went again. And again. Each time, I held my own. I was smaller, but I was faster, meaner, and I'd been fighting my whole life.
By the end of practice, I'd earned grudging respect from some players. Others still looked at me like I was a threat.
Good. I was.
"Nice work today, Cross." Coach Brennan appeared as I left the ice. "I knew you'd fit in."
"I'm not here to fit in. I'm here to play."
"Even better." He leaned in slightly. "By the way, there's a team meeting tonight. Ten PM. Mandatory attendance. Don't miss it."
"What kind of meeting happens at ten PM?"
His smile didn't waver. "The important kind."
He walked away before I could ask more questions.
I showered and headed to my dorm. Someone had left a welcome basket with snacks and a Crimson Falls hoodie. I ignored it.
At 9:45 PM, I left for the meeting. The campus was quiet, most students already in their rooms. I followed the directions Coach had texted: basement level of the athletic center, room B-7.
The hallway was dim. Emergency lights cast everything in red.
I found the door. No window, just a keypad. I knocked.
It opened immediately. Tyler stood there, but his friendly smile was gone. He looked scared.
"You shouldn't have come," he whispered.
"What?"
"Dakota Cross. Right on time." Coach Brennan appeared behind Tyler. "Come in. We've been waiting."
I stepped inside and my blood turned to ice.
The room was huge, stretching deep underground. And in the center was a cage. A fighting cage.
Inside it, two players circled each other, both bleeding, both shifted into partial wolf form.
My breath stopped. Werewolves. They were all werewolves.
And I'd just walked into a trap.
"Welcome to the real Crimson Falls," Coach Brennan said softly. "Now let me explain how this works."
- Writer
