Chapter One

Cassie's POV 

Hockey isn't my thing. It never has been. 

The hockey fans are screaming and cheering like the world depends on a stupid puck sliding across the ice. I should have been in the library, buried in one of my medical textbooks or romance novels.  But no, Maya, my best friend has other plans. 

She drags me everywhere, and tonight, she has dragged me here to watch her brother's game. The noise in the arena is louder now. The lights are harsher. And for some reason, my pulse refuses to settle. Probably because I find the sound of blades scraping the ice and the sticks clashing very annoying. 

I lower myself in the second row seat beside Maya, desperate to disappear into the chaos. If Maya's elbow weren't jabbing into my side every time a player passes the puck into the net, I'd be invisible,  like I always am. 

I tilt my head up and then I see him. Knox! 

My breath stutters, freezing in my chest. I blink once, twice, hoping it's a trick of the light. But it's not. He's really here. 

Of course, he is. Where else would he be? 

The golden boy of Bridgestone College, the captain of the Icefang's team, and my best friend's brother. 

Suddenly, the game doesn't feel boring anymore. My eyes lock on him, on the way he skates across the rink, fast and ruthless. When his puck hits the net, I almost scream to cheer him on, pretending like I understand the rules of the game. 

He turns around, his eyes scanning the crowd through his gear as if he is in search of someone, probably his sister. Then, he suddenly… goes down.

It's not a stumble or a trip. 

Knox collapses on the ice. 

The crowd gasps in unison. The other players skid to a stop around him, shouting his name. 

Before I can think, I am already forcing my way through the crowd. My feet race down the steps and I hurl myself over the barrier and stumble onto the ice. 

“Cassie, wait—” Maya's voice is drowned by the noise. 

The cold slaps me in the face as my sneakers slide uselessly against the rink. I pull the cap of my oversized hoodie over my head, shielding my face as my knees hit the ice beside him. 

His eyes are closed. His chest doesn't rise. It is too still and a cold shudder runs down my spine. Something is wrong. 

“Call an ambulance!”  I bark at the nearest player, pushing away the ones around him. 

“Y'all, stay away. And someone fucking call the ambulance,” I yell again, annoyed for no reason. 

Oh, there's a reason. Knox. I've secretly admired him since my first year in college even when he didn't know I existed.  And now… he can't just go. 

My trembling hands are already on his chest, pressing down as I count under my breath. 

One, two, three. 

The moment my palms touch him, the air shifts. A jolt of electricity slams into me, lighting up every nerve in my body. 

His eyes snap open. Not the usual emerald green eyes. It is different. Silver. Sharp… and not human. It is animalistic. 

My eyes widen as shock ripples through me. Instinctively, my hands fly off his chest. 

A sound ripples from his throat, not a groan, but a low guttural growl. And I swear I hear it, clear as if someone had whispered it in my ear. 

“Mate!” 

Mate? What the hell is that? 

Before I can react, his hand shoots up, clamping around  my wrist as his body jerks up, confusion clouding his features. His eyes flicker back to emerald green, but his face darkens. For a brief second, something raw passes between us. 

Then he suddenly yanks his hand off my wrist, like it burns him, irritation flashing in his eyes. 

“How dare you touch me, fucking nerd?” His voice is cold, but I do not miss the pain laced in it. 

I freeze. My stomach twists with rage and disbelief. I just saved him and that's what I get? 

He's truly an asshole like I've always heard. A proud jock! 

His eyes are on me now, something unreadable passing through them. 

“You know,” I grit out, my teeth clenched. “I should have just left you to die on the ice.” 

Gasps ripple from the other players around us, but I don't care. My cheeks burn with fury as I push myself up to my feet, brushing imaginary dust from my  hoodie like he's nothing. 

Someone tries to stop me. A guy from Knox's team, but I shove past him. My sneakers slip and slide across the ice, until I finally reach the gate in the boards. I push through it hard, nearly tripping over myself, and then I'm climbing the stairs back towards the rink, my heart hammering against my chest. 

The crowd is roaring now, chanting Knox's name like he's some god. But all I hear is my own pulse and his voice echoing in my head. 

Fucking nerd. 

My eyes sting with tears and my chest tightens painfully. Those words of his shouldn't have mattered to me, but for some reason, they dig into me deeper like a knife plunging into my heart. 

I shouldn't have been here. 

I shouldn't have touched him. 

And I sure as hell shouldn't have felt whatever that was that I felt earlier. 

I should have just remained invisible like I've always been. 

So what if I’ve always admired him since my first year? What if he’s been my secret crush? 

It doesn't mean I had to run onto the ice like I did minutes ago to save him like some wannabe  superhero and get myself insulted for touching him.

It shouldn't hurt. He shouldn't matter. 

But he does. 

And worst of all? Even now, I can still feel his touch burning through my skin. The way those silver eyes lock on me earlier. It is strange. 

I push towards the exit, desperate to leave before I get caught up in another more humiliating scene, when I hear the most annoying voice I have always tried  to avoid all my life at Bridgestone College. 

“Nice save, super-nerd!” Lizzy's sharp voice, sweet with mockery reaches my ears from behind. 

My heart sinks to the pit of my stomach. Can my night get any worse?