Chapter 4- Hockey & Howls

Naeva Quinn

A few weeks later…

It was my first hockey game, and honestly, I hadn’t expected to care. But Theo had casually mentioned it during tutoring, tossing out a, “You should come watch us tonight,” like it wasn’t a big deal. I’d shrugged, said maybe, and then spent an hour staring at my closet like I was dressing for a date. Which was dumb. It wasn’t a date.

Still, there I was—shivering on the metal bleachers of Snowridge Ice Arena, watching the Wolves storm the rink like they were born on skates. And technically, I guess they kind of were.

The Snowridge Wolves. Yeah, that’s really their team name. Subtle, right?

The crowd screamed around me, the sound echoing off the walls and ice. People waved signs and stomped their boots. I tried not to flinch when the puck slammed against the glass in front of me.

Ironvale High had already racked up three penalties, and we weren’t even through the first period. These guys didn’t play nice.

The Wolves, though? They played like a pack.

Camden moved with perfect control, fast, precise. Theo darted across the rink like it was all instinct. Jax played for the crowd, flashy and unpredictable. Kai hung back, skating with less speed but just as much purpose. And River—damn. River was a wall. He knocked Ironvale players down like it was personal.

Every time one of them touched the puck, I felt it. Like a thread tugging behind my ribs.

When Camden scored halfway through the second period, the whole arena went insane. People jumped up, chanting his name. But I didn’t cheer. I couldn’t. Because right as he raised his arms in victory, the air around me changed.

Something sparked.

My skin tingled. I gasped. My chest felt tight, like I’d been shocked by invisible wires.

No one else reacted.

I looked around. Everyone was clapping and screaming. It was just me, my body reacting like it had short-circuited.

And then came the hit.

An Ironvale forward, way taller than Camden, slammed him into the boards. The sound was loud. Brutal. The glass shook. Camden dropped to his knees.

I stood up, heart lurching.

He pushed himself up slowly, there was blood on his bottom lip.

Then he growled.

Not like a grunt. Not like pain. No, this was low, sharp, primal. It didn’t sound like it should come from a human throat.

Some people around me laughed. “That’s our Camden!” someone shouted. Another yelled, “Wolves bite back!”

But I was frozen. Because as he skated away, I saw it.

The ice beneath his feet cracked. Just for a second. Thin, spidering lines before it smoothed over like it had never happened.

I sat down slowly. My hot chocolate spilled onto the bench but I didn’t notice.

The rest of the game blurred after that. River blocked a goal with his body. Jax flipped a puck through someone’s legs. Theo moved like he knew where the puck would go before it did. It was almost... choreographed. Not natural. Not just skill.

The Wolves won. Barely. The final score flashed 4–3.

The crowd rushed out into the cold night air, buzzing and loud. I lingered, the inside of my brain still playing catch-up. My legs carried me toward the back hallway by instinct. The area near the locker rooms wasn’t marked, but I found it anyway.

I didn’t know what I was doing. Until I saw Kai. He leaned against the brick wall just outside the locker room door, one leg bent, the other stretched out. His jersey was off, slung over one shoulder, and he had an ice pack on his thigh.

He looked up and smiled when he saw me.

“You came.”

“Theo invited me,” I said, stopping a few feet away. “Didn’t know it would be... intense.”

He chuckled. “Ironvale doesn’t hold back.”

“I noticed.”

I glanced down at his leg. “You okay?”

“Old injury,” he said. “Gets angry when I push it too hard.”

I hesitated, then leaned against the wall beside him. Not too close. Just... enough.

“Camden growled,” I said.

“Yeah.”

“Like an animal.”

“Yeah.”

I stared at him. “That’s it? No denial? No ‘you must’ve imagined it’?”

He shrugged. “Would you believe that?”

“No.”

“Exactly.”

I folded my arms. “I saw the ice crack. No one else did.”

“I know.”

That caught me off guard. “You do?”

Kai turned, looking at me seriously. “You see things other people can’t. You feel things. Right?”

I nodded slowly.

“You’re not imagining any of this, Naeva. The energy, the sparks, the pull. It’s real.”

My mouth felt dry. “Why me?”

“I don’t know. But I was the first to sense it.”

“Sense what?”

“You.”

Kai set the ice pack down, then reached out and gently took my hand.

His hand was warm. Solid. He brought it to his chest, pressing my palm just over his heart.

“Feel that?” he asked.

His heartbeat pounded steady against my skin.

“That’s what it’s like when you’re near.”

I couldn’t breathe.

“I’ve never felt that with anyone else,” he whispered. “But with you? It’s like something inside me woke up.”

My lips parted. “What are you?”

He held my gaze. “We’re not just high school hockey players, Naeva. We’re not just boys with attitude problems and perfect teeth.”

He smiled faintly at that.

“You’re not just human. And neither are we.”

I pulled my hand back slowly, blinking hard. “You’re serious.”

“I’ve never been more serious in my life.”

The hallway light buzzed above us. The door to the locker room cracked open, and I heard Camden’s voice inside. He was yelling at someone—River, maybe.

I looked back at Kai. “Is this why you guys are so weird around me?”

“We’re not weird.”

I raised an eyebrow.

He laughed quietly. “Okay, we’re a little weird. But yeah. You showing up changed everything.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

“Doesn’t matter. Fate doesn’t wait for permission.”

My head spun.

“Why me?” I asked again, softer.

Kai’s face turned serious again. “We don’t know yet. But we’re going to find out.”

He took a breath like he wanted to say more. But the locker room door slammed open, and Camden stormed out, shirtless, eyes flashing.

He stopped cold when he saw us. Me. Kai. My hand was still hovering awkwardly midair.

Camden’s jaw tensed. “We’re leaving. Now.”

Kai straightened but didn’t move.

“She deserves to know,” he said.

“Not yet.” Camden’s voice was low. Cold. “You’re rushing it.”

“She already knows something’s off.”

Camden’s eyes locked with mine. “You want answers? Fine. But don’t come crying when you realize what you’ve walked into.”

Then he turned and disappeared down the hallway.

I looked at Kai.

He gave me a half-smile. “That’s his way of saying he’s scared.”

“Of me?”

“Of what you mean to us.”

I swallowed hard. “This is getting real, real fast.”

Kai leaned back again, like nothing had changed. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

Then he stepped closer. I could feel the heat from his body.

“You feel it too, don’t you?” Kai whispered.

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. The air between us had changed, again. It wasn’t just tension now. It was gravity. A very strong pull. It felt tightening. Daring me to lean in.

And I did. Or maybe he did first—I couldn’t tell.

His lips brushed mine. It felt soft against my lips but then, something snapped.

My vision blurred like heatwaves rolling through winter air. My knees buckled. The hallway tilted. I gasped as everything spun, my heart was beating too fast, too loud. The cold hit me hard, through skin, through bone. I felt the world shift beneath my feet.

Then darkness enveloped me.

When I opened my eyes, I wasn’t in the hallway anymore.

I was lying flat on ice. Real ice. My breath came in sharp clouds as I sat up, confused, barefoot and freezing.

I was glowing too.

Faint blue light traced through my veins like fire. I stared at my wrist. I saw two bite marks, red and raised, pulsing like they were alive.

What the hell was happening to me? Growls echoed from the trees nearby.

I wasn’t alone. And this time... I wasn’t sure I was still human.