Five Years Of Ruin

CHAPTER SEVEN

POV: Damon

Five long years had passed since the terrible night Raina disappeared from the territory, and my whole life had turned into pure misery while I continued to serve as the captain of a completely failing hockey team. I sat alone on the bench inside the locker room long after the rest of the players had showered and left, staring directly at my own reflection in the mirror on the wall, and my mind was constantly haunted by the overwhelming guilt of believing my father had ordered his men to murder Raina in that ruined cabin.

My inner wolf had remained completely quiet for five straight years, refusing to link with any other female in the pack or respond to my commands, which made my father furious every single day because he was desperate for me to settle down and secure our family line with a new mate.

The door to the locker room swung open with a loud thud, and my father stepped into the room with his hands shoved into his pockets, walking over to stand right in front of my bench while he glared down at me with pure annoyance.

"How much longer are you going to sit here in the dark after losing another game, Damon?" my father asked, crossing his arms over his chest while his voice echoed through the empty room. "The team lost five to two tonight, the fans are leaving before the third period even ends, and the league board is calling me every morning about our dropping numbers."

"I don't care about the numbers or the game right now, Father," I said, keeping my voice completely flat while I pulled off my skate guards and threw them onto the floor between us.

"You need to care, because this hockey franchise is losing millions of dollars every single month, and public support across the pack is dropping to zero," my father yelled, stepping closer and pointing his finger at my face. "If we lose the upcoming championship season, our entire business will go bankrupt, and you are sitting here looking like a dead man because of a girl who vanished five years ago."

"Don't bring her up to me, Father," I growled, standing up off the bench so I could look him directly in the eye while my hands balled into hard fists at my sides. "You got what you wanted back then, you destroyed everything, and now you can deal with the consequences of this team falling apart."

"You are the captain of this team, Damon, so you need to pull yourself together and start looking for a proper female to take as your mate," my father said, backing toward the door while waving his hand to dismiss my anger. "I am meeting with Lady Cecilia tomorrow to discuss a match between you and Chloe, so you better be at that dinner table with a smile on your face."

"I'm not marrying Chloe or anyone else you pick out for me," I called out after him, but my father just slammed the locker room door shut without answering me, leaving me alone in the quiet space once again.

I leaned back against the locker frames, running my shaking hands over my face because the team's downfall didn't matter to me at all compared to the heavy weight sitting on my chest every single day. Rumors were spreading through the territory that our family would lose the entire franchise if we couldn't turn things around, but I couldn't bring myself to care about hockey strategy when every corner of this arena just reminded me of the girl I had failed to protect.

The door opened for a second time, and Ethan walked into the room wearing his street clothes, dropping his gear bag onto the floor with a loud groan before leaning against the table in the middle of the room.

"Father is outside yelling at the assistant coach, and everyone on the team is freaking out about our standing in the league," Ethan said, shaking his head with a sour look on his face as he looked over at me. "We dropped to last place in the standings tonight, Damon, so what are you going to do about our line strategy for the next game?"

"I'm not doing anything differently, Ethan, so just go home and leave me alone," I said, leaning down to tie the laces on my sneakers without looking up at him.

"How can you be so careless about our hockey career?" Ethan asked, stepping toward my bench with a red face while his voice rose in anger. "My family gave up everything to keep me on this roster, and now you're just letting our whole rank fall apart while the fans treat us like a total joke on the news!"

"You think I care about our rank right now?" I asked, snapping my head up and glaring at him so fiercely that Ethan took a quick step back toward the table. "You were right there five years ago laughing at Raina when she tried to help you understand the game, so don't come in here complaining to me now that you're losing without her."

"Why do you keep bringing up my sister like she matters?" Ethan muttered, turning his eyes away from mine while he crossed his arms defensively. "She left this pack five years ago, she was wolfless anyway, and we are better off without her causing problems for our family."

"Shut your mouth about her and get out of my locker room before I throw you out myself," I growled, taking a step toward him until Ethan grabbed his bag off the floor, muttered a curse under his breath, and rushed out the door into the hallway.

I sat back down on the wooden bench, resting my elbows on my knees while I stared at the floor, totally drained from arguing with my father and Ethan over a future I didn't even want anymore.

Before I could get up to leave the building, my phone vibrated loudly inside my coat pocket, lighting up the dark room with an incoming call from the head director of the sports league board. I pulled the phone out and swiped the screen to answer, pressing the speaker against my ear while I leaned back against the wall.

"Damon speaking," I said, keeping my voice low and tired as I waited for the director to give me another lecture about our team's poor performance.

"Damon, I need you to listen to me very carefully right now," the board director said, and his voice sounded completely rushed and anxious over the speaker line. "I just finished an emergency meeting with the board members, and I am calling to inform you that a mysterious new investor just walked into our offices an hour ago and bought out your biggest rival franchise in cash."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, sitting up straight on the bench as my eyebrows pulled together in confusion. "That team was struggling for funding all year, so who had enough money to buy out an entire franchise overnight?"

"We don't have all the personal details yet because the papers were processed through a private legal firm," the director explained, clearing his throat nervously before adding his final words, "All we know is that the new owner is moving the team into the city arena tomorrow morning, and they are preparing to take over your territory's entire hockey board before the championship starts."