THE WOLF BETWEEN RIVALS

Do you think I would ever like somebody like you?” Hunter spat. The look of disgust on his face made my body crawl.

I held the giftbox in my hand tightly, my head bowed to the ground. 

“What made you think I would date a girl like you?" he hissed, and my heart shattered into a million pieces. 

I have had a crush on Hunter NightClaw  ever since we were in the tenth grade. He was the son of the Alpha king and the boy who stole the hearts of all the girls, including me. 

Who could blame us?

He was the best-looking boy in school. 

Dark brown hair, green eyes, a pointed nose, argh …those lips that formed a heart. 

But I had never thought he would look my way. All the students bullied me for being chubby. They called me names; every single one went straight to my heart,,, and sometimes I would cry alone in the girls bathroom. 

Hunter on the other hand never said a word to me 

He was the captain of the school's hockey team and every day after school, he would come to the school's ice rink and practice hockey alone. I would watch him from one of the seats and he would never know I was there.

A few weeks ago, when Elena, the prettiest girl in school and one of my biggest bullies began to mock me because of my weight, he scolded her and asked her to leave me alone. 

I was in shock, Hunter defended me? 

That was all I could think about that day. 

And I thought about it, maybe, just maybe I had a chance with him, Maybe he would look at me and see what others didn't, a girl who deserved love. 

But no, I was wrong, because all I got was a look of disgust and words that cut through like a knife.

I pressed my toes together, I could feel my sneakers slipping on the ice, my eyes fell to his hand and I noticed his grip tighten on his hockey stick, in his other hand was his helmet.

“I….I'm sorry…I thought…,” my throat tightened and I swallowed, my hands trembled visibly now and I could hear my breath shaking. I have been bullied for years and it's the first time in my entire life I have ever been so embarrassed.

“Sorry about what? Do you think if I wanted a girlfriend or a mate I would go for somebody like you!,” he snapped and his voice echoed throughout the place.

The hot tears that had gathered in my eyes rolled down my cheeks, my lips parted, my head still bowed.  

He tossed his hockey stick to the ground, a loud clank  echoed as it hit the ice , his helmet slammed the floor as well as he grabbed the giftbox from my hand , he mumbled under his breath as he brought out the content. 

It was a puck, pink with a ribbon tied around it. 

“Pink?,” his tone was displeased. 

I looked up at him, tear eyed, “I…my favorite color is pink so I thought…,”

“If it's your favorite color then you can have it then,” he cut it, tossing it at me, it hit my chest and slammed against the floor, I saw it crack the ice as it landed. 

“This is stupid, get off the ice I need to practice,” he turned around. 

I lowered myself to pick up the puck, squeezing it in my hand. I began to walk out of the ice, calculating my steps to prevent myself from slipping and falling, but who said a person couldn't be unlucky twice in one day?

I lost my balance and slammed against the ice, a loud cry escaped my mouth and I felt my knee scape against it, my hand was pressed against the ice , cold and u friendly. 

“Are you trying to break the ice with your weight?,” Hunter cursed.

I pressed my lips together and slowly stood back up, but I fell instantly, this time my knee slammed against the ice again, I swear it wounded me, my teeth gritted in pain, I couldn't believe I was embarrassing myself in front of Hunter.

I heard him skate towards him, standing before me he slid off his glove and grabbed my hand pulling me up from the floor.

I felt it. 

Immediately our hands touched, I felt something between us, something I had never felt before. 

What is that?

Why did it feel so …peaceful?

His green eyes lingered on mine, a puzzled expression on his face.

“W…what? What is it?,” I stuttered. 

He let go of my hand so fast you would think it burned, “No…no…no,” he continued to stay if somebody horrible had happened. 

“What? What is it?” I asked again. 

“Damn it!,” he cursed through his teeth and raked his finger through his blonde hair in frustration, “I shouldn't have touched your hand,” he said.

I clenched my hands into a fist, wait, is it so horrible to be touched by me?

“I'll stay away from you Hunter, I promise you'll never have to touch me again,” I cried.

“It's too late you dumbass,” he cursed, “Didn't you feel that?,” he shook his head as he asked. 

I paused. 

“Y…you are my mate?,” he said. 

“Huh?,”

“We mated when I touched you Elena. You! Are! My! Mate!,” he shouted almost as if he was blaming me. 

I took a step back , but I lost my balance again and slipped on the ice. As I fell backwards, my leg kicked him and he lost his balance as well, my back hit the ground and he landed on top of me. 

Immediately, the doors burst open and loud footsteps that seemed to come from a crowd marched in.

“Woah!!,” I heard the voices of boys murmuring. 

Hunter and I looked to our side and our eyes were wide as we saw the members of our rival schools have hockey team standings outside the ice, all dressed in their hockey uniform uniforms and looking at us through the glass. 

They came here for hockey practice once in a while to prepare for big games since our rink was bigger. 

“Yo, Hunter!,” one shouted, “Is that your girlfriend?!,” 

Hunter quickly slid off me and stood.

But it was good late, they were taking pictures, “I can't wait for the whole school to see this, the Ice king is dating a fattie,” he laughed. 

I quickly stood up, the loud sound of the camera’s flashing echoed in my ears, they would tell everyone that Hunter and I were dating. 

He already hated me.

And I think I just made it worse.