Chapter 6 The contract

Nivilia Carson

“Miss? Miss, wake up.”

“Uh… Oh!” Niv jolted out of her sleep, her neck aching the moment she sat upright. “Damn it.” Cradling her neck, she flicked her blurry gaze to Alpha Zay’s bodyguard. “Is it over?”

She had fallen asleep during her prayer, and the show on the TV wasn’t giving much answer to her question.

“Yes. All you have to do is…” A large tablet appeared before her. “... sign the contract.”

“Contract?”

“Alpha Zay left specific instructions. Please sign this within the next twenty minutes and get prepared to leave.”

She accepted the device, which barely fit in her hands. 

Still confused, she asked, “Leave to where?”

“Miss? Please be fully awake.”

She blinked and smacked the dry feeling in her throat. 

Then, it settled in her mind, the implication of everything this guard had been saying.

“They won?!”

“Indeed.” He held his hands behind him, his chest flexing against his tight shirt. “And as promised, you’ll have a new life in Upper Moongladea.”

Now, her heart raced with both disbelief and excitement.

“Is… Is this really happening?” She blinked. “Did nobody come looking for me?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Who would?”

“N-Never mind.” She had finally noticed that she wasn’t burning up that much.

The fact that her family still hadn’t found her added to her excitement, and for the first time since she had been running, a feeling of relief truly, truly settled. 

“Go through the contract. It contains the terms Alpha Zay gave you last night, as well as additional details. Read them carefully before you sign and ask any questions you have within the next twenty minutes. And prepare yourself…”

She looked up at the bodyguard. 

“... to become Alpha Zay’s official girlfriend. I’m sure you know what that means.”

She really didn’t know what that meant.

All she knew was that soon, she’d be free from the Craving Spell and living a better life in Upper Moongladea!

~~~

Zay Mullani

“In all that’s good in heaven and this world, we absolutely tore up asses in that rink!” Stefan, the right winger, raged, and the rest of the team agreed with their collective howls. “Guys! Tonight!” Stefan hollered. 

The bar went silent. 

“We!” Stefan, in his ever-dramaticness, paused. “We!!! We fucking party!!!!”

“We fucking party!!!!” the boys howled. And it soon became a festival of drinks. 

However, for Captain Zay… Ah, now former Captain Zay, sharing in that joy was nearly impossible. Apart from Stefan, nobody else knew that the so-called break he announced he’d been taking was actually an eternity break from the game. 

Should he join their drinking, he could slip that out and ruin their fun.

“They deserve a good memory,” Zay muttered to himself as he pulled his glass of water closer. “We won today.”

They won. Indeed. 

Zay didn’t want to fully agree that it happened because of the bet he made with the universe and that she-wolf. But the strategy they used in today’s game was barely different from the previous ones. 

Somehow, the bet probably worked wonders. 

“I must be out of my mind,” he mumbled, his fingers perched on his lips. “How does that even make sense?”

“The party’s barely started, and you’re already drunk-talking?” Stefan plopped onto the couch, half-lying down, his head tilted like he was about to make a love confession. “How about you actually join the party?”

Zay glanced at Stefan’s shiny forehead and narrowed his eyes. 

He then mumbled, “I have to leave soon.”

“There are still some days before resumption, dude. What’s the rush?”

Zay’s mind zapped to that weak-ass she-wolf. “I have something to attend to.”

“Family matters?”

“Personal matters.”

“Oh, my precious goddess.” Stefan sat up right away. “Has a she-wolf finally melted your icy heart?” Sparkle filled his hazel eyes. “Do I know her? Is she also a MUite?”

“When a person says something’s personal.” Zay finally gave in to the temptation to flick Stefan’s forehead. “It means it’s personal.”

“Dude.” Stefan wasn’t bothered by the flick. He was too invested in the potential gossip he was fishing for. “Even the geckos on the walls of MU know you’re returning by now. Nothing about your life is personal.”

“For the love of all good things, I’d like to attend Uni without the usual theatrics, please.”

“Unfortunately.” Stefan sighed, his muscular chest heaving along. “With your ever-rising fame, that wish can never come true. But! Do not fear.” He wiggled his fingers over Zay’s chin. “For I am here. Your knight in shining armour.”

Zay, with his eyes wide, slowly turned to his friend. “Permission to kick my knight in shining armour in the nuts for daring to touch me.”

“There’s a reason I’m in armour, dude. Tsk. So much for being Captain. You’re secretly dumb, aren’t you?”

“You need some good resetting when we reach campus.”

“Why? Are you planning something big for me?”

Zay snickered at the flutters in his friend’s eyes. “Probably to choke you while you’re not looking.”

“Okay.” Stefan switched into serious mode just like that. “Enough jokes. I might be taking a break, but I’m returning to the team once my third year’s over. What’s your plan? Are you really not going to try working things out with your old man?”

“What’s the point?” Zay drew lines on the rim of his glass cup. 

“Huh… You’re captain? And the game’s your life? What other reason do you need?”

“The team will be in good hands, yeah?”

Stefan sighed. “You really won’t say a proper goodbye to them? They’ll be so disappointed.”

“Better that than a sappy goodbye.” Zay reached for his royal crested ring and slipped it on his left fourth finger. “I have to head back. Lots of stuff needs to be packed.”

“Is your sister helping?”

Zay frowned. “Please, no. I don’t need a hater around me.”

“You are stupid for calling her that.”

“And you’re dumb for not confessing about your silly crush.”

“Zay.” Stefan’s eyes dilated. “Y-you know?”

“I have eyes.” Zay got up. “And whenever I go home, I hear the ridiculous conversations you have with her over the phone.” He glanced at his friend. “Stop waiting for the perfect time. There’s nothing like that.”

“Oh.” Stefan was still in shock. “Thanks. See you later. Maybe at Endirise?”

“Yeah.” Zay gave a casual goodbye wave as he walked away. 

He threw a couple more of those waves at the rest of the boys who looked bummed that their Captain was leaving early.

Zay also would have loved to stay. But again, there was nothing to celebrate. 

Well, maybe his final goodbye to hockey could be celebrated.

Yes.

With that special wine the royal butler gifted him after they won the last season, he could get his mind occupied and perhaps finally start processing the fact that he’d be returning to Moongladea University. 

‘Fill it up! Fill it, fill it…’

Zay’s ridiculous ringtone blared just as he stepped out to the parking lot of the private bar. 

It was his bodyguard, Axon, calling.

He answered it.

“Has she signed it?”

‘Yes, sir. We’ve arrived at the Mallon.’

“Tell them to pay attention to everything I listed. She must look like a new person the next time I see her.”

‘Yes, sir.’

“And the school?”

‘The principal is willing to take Miss Carson as a special student. As long as she passes the entrance exam.’

Zay hadn’t thought of that possibility. 

“Do you think she might pass it?”

‘We’ll have to wait and see what happens, sir.’ 

Zay pressed his lips tight. His plan to avoid a repeat of his first year at MU depended on having a fake girlfriend.

That Beggar she-wolf needed to actually pass that exam.

If not…

“Good job, Axon,” Zay praised. “I’ll see you later.”

‘Yes, sir.’

“One more thing.”

‘Yes?’

“That she-wolf…” Zay looked down at his hand, the very one that made brief contact with hers. “What’s her name?”