Semua Bab I Faked Being a Boy, Now the Alpha is my Mate: Bab 21 - Bab 30

EMBERLY LYNNWOOD The heavy, incredibly foul-smelling protective hockey gear felt exactly like a suffocating prison suit as I stood awkwardly near the edge of the freezing ice rink, desperately wishing I could simply disappear completely into the concrete walls of the arena. The head coach was entirely ignoring my frantic, repeated protests, forcefully pushing a battered helmet into my chest and loudly ordering me to get out onto the blue line for the mandatory defensive scrimmage. I desperately tried to explain that my designated academic supervisor position absolutely did not require me to participate in highly dangerous contact drills with massive werewolves, but he completely shut my argument down without a second thought. He aggressively reminded me that hundreds of legitimate collegiate athletes would happily kill someone for this exact amount of premium ice time, leaving me with absolutely no choice but to secure the chin strap of the massive helmet and step out onto the slip

EMBERLY LYNWOOD The last three weeks had passed in an exhausting, completely terrifying blur of heavily scheduled hockey practices and endless, agonizing administrative paperwork, but I had miraculously managed to adapt to the grueling routine without completely exposing my dangerous secret. I was no longer the clumsy, terrified academic supervisor who fell over his own two feet on the slippery ice. I had carefully learned how to effectively navigate the chaotic, testosterone-fueled environment of the collegiate athletic department, maintaining my rigid, defensive posture and keeping my interactions entirely strictly professional. The massive, highly competitive players still entirely ignored me for the most part, but they had at least stopped actively trying to run me over during their aggressive defensive drills, silently respecting the fact that I efficiently managed their academic eligibility without constantly complaining to the head coach. I was strictly playing a supporting r

JORDAN The sharp, incredibly loud ringtone of my encrypted phone violently shattered the quiet morning silence of my apartment, making my heavily bruised ribs ache aggressively as I reached blindly for the device on the kitchen counter. I saw Beta Ronan’s secured number flashing brightly across the screen, and a , freezing wave of pure dread immediately flooded my veins. "Tell me this is just a routine check-in, Ronan," I answered harshly, skipping any formal greeting. "I am calling to give you a highly urgent, critical update on Grandma Alder's medical status, Jordan, and the situation is dire," Ronan replied, his deep voice sounding entirely exhausted and heavily burdened by profound guilt. "Her condition rapidly deteriorated overnight. The doctors are reporting immediate, cascaded organ failure, and her weakened immune system is entirely shutting down."A blinding, terrifying surge of pure panic exploded violently in my chest. "Then you need to force the damn medical staff to do

JORDAN The condensation dripped down the bathroom mirror, blurring the exhausted disaster staring back at me. Wiping a hand across the glass revealed dark circles beneath my silver-gray eyes and a swollen lower lip. Leaning heavily against the porcelain sink, a sharp throb radiated from the fresh bandages wrapped tightly around my ribs. My mind felt like a shattered glass window.Mate.The deep, primal voice echoed inside my skull, vibrating with a smug satisfaction that made my stomach churn."Shut up," I muttered out loud, gripping the edges of the sink until my knuckles turned white. "It was a mistake. My brain was misfiring."*Mine. Tasted like ours.*Running a hand through my damp hair, I let out a bitter laugh. "He is a guy. A teenage college boy wearing baggy hoodies. You are supposed to be an apex predator, not a confused mess. We do not kiss guys."*Do not care. Smells like rain. Tasted good.*"It was pure adrenaline," I argued, staring desperately at my own reflection, ple

JORDANThe silence wasn’t helping.If anything, it made things worse.And my thoughts? That even made it ten times worse as I paced across the hardwood floor, my boots wearing a familiar path into the wood. Snatching my encrypted pack phone from the kitchen counter, I dialed Cael’s secure number, sizzling with frustration and worry. My chest heaved with a mixture of exhaustion and rage. Worse still, time was running out."You need to give me a positive update regarding the black-market bounty hunters right now, Cael, because I am running out of time and my father is closing his net," I demanded the moment the secure line connected, skipping any formal greeting. "I am going to tell you this as bluntly as I can, Jordan, because yelling at me is not going to produce the historian," Cael replied, his voice carrying the raspy edge of someone who had not slept in three days. "There is zero news from the mercenary teams operating in the tri-pack area. Silas erased his digital and physical