Chapter 4: Hunter

Hunter's POV

Practice had started, but all I could think about was her.

Taylor.

I hadn't been able to stop thinking about her since we mated.

I had started to care for her.

All night she was in my head, poking at my thoughts like a drug I had become addicted to.

Which was strange, because I had never looked her way throughout our high school years.

When she got bullied by Elena last week, I had only stopped it because they were being too loud. But today in the hall, even though I had pretended to do it for our fake relationship, I was actually worried about her.

What if Elena had actually scratched her?

Earlier, when one of Asher’s teammates cursed at her, it made me angry , almost as if I cared about her.

I was losing my mind. I knew it.

But I had to be patient. As long as the both of us weren’t in love with each other, the mating bond would be broken. I couldn’t let it bother me right now when I was at the peak of my career.

She is not important… she isn’t.

I gripped my hockey stick tighter and slid across the ice, practicing with my teammates. I could feel Taylor’s force pulling me in her direction. Even when I tried to concentrate on hockey, she was in my head.

My eyes searched for her through the ice rink glass. Asher stood before her. They weren’t talking, just looking at each other with shocked expressions on their faces.

What was going on between them?

Since when did they become friends?

“Captain! Watch out!” Mark, a member of the team, shouted.

My brows pinched together as I looked in his direction. Before I knew what was happening, he slammed hard into me and we both landed on the ice with a loud thud.

The whole place echoed with a gasp.

My back ached as I struggled to sit up.

“MoomClaw!” the coach shouted. “Get your head in the game! Are you injured?”

Mark stood up and stretched his hand out to me. “Sorry, Captain,” he apologized as he pulled me up.

My teeth clenched in frustration. I had never been this distracted before. I took my helmet off and looked at Taylor. Her grey eyes were wide, staring at me in shock.

“Let’s take five,” I said as I slid towards the door.

Taylor quickly walked towards the door as I approached. “Are you okay?” Her tone was urgent.

“I’m fine,” I mumbled. “I think I hurt my knee.” I slid off my hockey skates and slipped into a pair of sneakers I had taken off earlier.

“Oh my God! Hunter, are you okay?” Elena shouted, her voice high-pitched as she ran to me. “Are you okay? I watched you fall.” She reached for my hand. “Do you want me to take you to the nurse’s office?”

Taylor took a step back as Elena drew closer. Elena didn’t even look her way, but I saw her flinch. I literally felt her fear.

Is this how she lived her life?

Scared?

I yanked my hand off Elena’s. “My girlfriend will do it,” I said, limping as I walked to Taylor.

I could see her confused expression as I wrapped my arm around her neck.

“I’ll do it,” Asher suddenly said.

I froze. “Excuse me?”

“You’re putting too much weight on the lady. I’ll do it,” he said and walked closer.

I blinked. What is wrong with him?

Asher and I had been enemies for as long as I could remember.

No one knew this except my manager and the dean of the school, but he was my half-brother.

My father, the Alpha King, had an affair when Mom was pregnant with me. She moved to a different part of town after Dad said he wanted to focus on his real family , his Luna and heir… me.

I found out about Asher when I was eight years old.

“What?” I asked, puzzled.

He gently pushed Taylor away from me and wrapped my arm around his shoulder. “Come on, Hunter. Don’t lean on a lady,” he said.

I looked at Taylor. She gazed at him with a mix of emotions in her eyes.

I instantly grew jealous.

I tried to pull my arm away from Asher, but he gripped it even tighter. Beneath his palm, he had something pressed against my skin. It was slipping out of his hand and I saw it , a puck. It was pink, just like the one Taylor had given me.

Did she give it to him instead?

My fists clenched in anger as he led me out of the place. Taylor walked behind us as he led me to the nurse’s office.

The hall was quiet. All you could hear was our footsteps. We stopped before the door to the office and I pulled away from him. “I can walk,” I spat, staggering backwards.

My eyes fell on Taylor. “Let’s go in,” I said and reached for the door knob.

As she moved to follow me, Asher suddenly grabbed her hand, his eyes fixed on me. “I need to talk to her.”

I smacked my hand against the door behind me. “About what?”

“It’s private,” he said in a calm tone.

“It can’t be private, you dummy. She’s my girlfriend,” I said in a harsh tone.

His grip tightened on her hand. “Well, brother, she’s my mate.”

Taylor’s head snapped up. “B… brother?”

My brows pinched together. “Mate? What are you, stupid? She’s my mate.”

“Well, that’s impossible. She’s mine,” Asher protested.

“Tell him who you are mated to,” We both spoke at the same time and looked at her.

Her chest heaved.

Her eyes switched from mine to Asher’s.

Asher was already a threat to my position as heir. He couldn’t have my mate as well.