Profound Devotion

Chapter 13

July 24th
Monaia

  Game point.

  Both teams were tied two-to-two, and we were rushed to finish the game by my mother who finished setting up the sound system nearby.

  We drew in a crowd of pack members who were interested in seeing our face-off, and Raian sported a wide grin as he watched me lower into a crouched stance, my eyes focused solely on the ball as it was passed to Cory.

  He easily dodged Taylor's outstretched leg that he'd kicked out to steal the ball and was now weaving through to get an open shot.

  I wrinkled my nose and wiggled my fingers at my sides, desperate to stay on my toes and stop him from scoring again.

  Cory raised his head, glaring me down as he managed to shove one of our defensive players out of the way and line up his shot.

  This was it. Nothing was going to stand in my way from blocking this.

  As if playing out in slow motion, he spun his body as his foot collided with the surface of the ball. Relying on pure instinct, I stumbled to the right and forced my body into its darting path.

  I winced and tried to ignore the pain as the vinyl collided against the palm of my hand, the ball bouncing back from the force and landing a foot in front of me while my bad shoulder came into contact with the dirt below.

  The throbbing pain was overwhelmed by the mass of loud cheering. Raian was on his feet, smiling widely and aggressively clapping his hands. Atticus rolled his eyes, though he struggled to mask his smirk as he jogged backwards to defend his own net.

  My muscles protested as I forced myself back to my feet, and I urged myself to brush it off and used my good arm to lob the ball back into play. Taylor was the one to receive it, and after minutes of fighting off the other team, we managed to get the ball into the net for one final point.

  Every inch of me was sore, but the happiness I felt from finally securing a win over my brother made it worth it. Even more so when I was surrounded by my team, their arms suffocating me within a tight group hug.

  "We won!" Kyra squealed, energetically bouncing on her toes. I couldn't contain my laughter that barked out, even as Taylor ruffled my already messy hair and brushed his chest against my injured shoulder. "You definitely need to play with us more often."

  "Yeah, I'm sure Ryan won't mind being replaced." Taylor chuckled and backed away, breaking up the circle of suffocation. Kyra shrugged, her smile beaming brightly and stretching to an unnaturally wide state.

  Nathaniel was the only member of his team to venture across the field and offer his hand for me to shake. "Not bad." He chuckled, engulfing my hand in his sweaty palm. "I'm sure you'll feel those hits in the morning."

  I didn't need to wait long for that. Every spot where the ball made contact ached, but it was almost a good sort of pain. Even so, it wouldn't take long for the bruises to heal.

  "Thanks. I don't know how you do this so much." I rubbed my fingers across one specific mark on my ribs where another of Atticus' attempts at scoring made contact.

  "Eh, you get used to it." He smirked. Nathaniel was shoved away from my side soon after, now replaced by my brother who engulfed me in a sweaty hug.

  I weaseled my arms between us and struggled to break free from his hold, but it was no use.

  "See? You did great!" He hollered. I rolled my eyes and slipped free, clawing at the jersey until it was over my head and gone from my body. I needed something to drink and to let my sore muscles rest. "Where are you going?" His voice called after me.