Help! The Alpha Hockey Captain is Obsessed with Me

TRIXIE'S POV Two years ago, I would have eaten the floor just to keep them from stepping on me. I still remember the exact smell of that locker room: cheap cherry body mist, and absolute terror. Back then, I was the girl who let them borrow, and permanently "lose" my designer bags. I ran their errands, swallowed their cruel jokes, and handed over my allowance just to sit at the edge of their lunch table. They called me stupid. They called me a clown. And then came the nightmare that almost ended me. They cornered me, stripped me down to my underwear, and recorded a video of me sobbing as I confessed a pathetic, humiliating crush on Liam. Within an hour, they broadcasted it across every phone in school. The whole campus watched. The mocking laughter, the pointed fingers, the vile comments splashed across group chats, it pushed me so close to the edge of a bridge that I could still taste the cold air in my lungs. I wanted to die. If Mary hadn’t broken down my bedroom door that night, holding me as I shook apart and whispering the words that saved my life... I wouldn't be standing here today. “Listen to me, little miss,” Mary had told me, pressing a cold compress to my face. “In this world, they’re going to look for a doormat every single day. Better they call you a brat and hate you from a distance than trample you.” Mary was right. It’s better to be a b***h than to be trampled on. I took a deep, shuddering breath, locking every shred of weakness deep inside. I spent all summer rewriting my wardrobe, my posture, and my soul. I am not that terrified girl anymore. I am the queen. I walked down the crowded hallway, my pleated skirt swishing with every step. Every single eye was on me. I knew it, I liked it, and honestly, I expected nothing less. I was not the same girl from before. "Oh my god, Trixie, I love your shoes," a sophomore muttered, probably expecting me to hand it to her. "Thanks. They're Prada," I said, breezing past her. "Step aside, babe, you're blocking my light.” She turned bright red and stepped aside. But instantly, the whispers started behind my back. My stomach churned. I knew those voices. They were the exact same ringleaders who had leaked my video last year. Chloe stepped hard into my path, shoving her shoulder into mine. "Watch it, clown," Chloe sneered, her friends pulling out their phones like they were ready to record another tragedy. “Hand over your bag." A year ago, I would have shrunk. Not today. Before my brain could even process the movement, my hand lashed out, shoving Chloe hard backward against the lockers with a loud clatter. The entire hallway went dead silent. Chloe gasped, staring at me in absolute shock. "Touch me again, and you won't just hit the lockers," I hissed, my voice dropping to a venomous whisper. "I am done being your victim. Try me." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him. Liam. The boy from the video. The boy I had humiliated myself over. He was walking down the hall, watching the whole scene unfold. He saw Chloe cornering me. And what did the golden boy do? He didn't step in. Instead, Liam offered Chloe a casual, approving smile as he walked past, stepping right around me like garbage on the pavement. "Did you hear her? Such a total b***h," Chloe recovered, trying to save face. How dare her tattletale ass talk about me? I wasn't going to reply, but her dress? Absolute trash. "Did you get dressed in the dark, or does your mirror just have a personal vendetta against you?” I said loudly. Chloe gasped, her face scrunched up like spoilt bread. "Leave her, she's going to come begging to sit at our table soon." I smirked, swallowing the lump of anxiety burning my throat. “Two-faced bitches.” I pushed through the heavy double doors leading to the ice hockey rink. The freezing air hit my skin, smelling like shaved ice and sweat. Down on the rink, the human-majority team was finishing practice, the scrape of their metal blades echoing through the empty building. The moment my high heels clicked against the concrete bleachers, Liam, the hockey captain and future second-in-command of the local wolf pack, stopped dead on the ice. He stared at me like I stole his tail. Suddenly, a strange, heavy shock wave hit my chest. My heartbeat quickened, slamming against my ribs. Why do I suddenly feel like this? Liam skated hard toward the barrier, ripping his helmet off. His blonde hair fell perfectly across his forehead. "Trixie?" Liam breathed, his voice carrying across the quiet arena. "You... you're my mate?" Oh… that explains the insane heartbeat. "No. No way," Liam suddenly said. His shocked face hardened into a cool, annoying smile. He shook his head, looking at me like I was a charity case. "I can't accept this. The Moon Goddess must have made a mistake. I reject you, Trixie." My smile froze. My hands dropped to my sides. "A Beta needs a calm, supportive girl, Trixie," Liam said, his voice entirely too reasonable. "You're too loud, too bratty, and frankly, you're a nightmare. You would ruin my future pack. I reject you as my mate.” Oh…I'm the loud one? The bratty one? A sharp, agonizing rip straight through my chest that made me want to double over and scream. But the humiliation? The rejection from someone who was supposed to be my other half, right after he smiled at the girls who terrorized me? It felt like drowning. Where was he when I was crying on that bridge? my mind screamed. Don't cry, I screamed at myself, biting my cheek until I tasted copper. Do not let them see you bleed. Remember Mary. I would rather swallow glass than let these wolves see me break. Up in the stands, the whispers erupted into a full-scale frenzy. “Suits her well, who does she think she is?” “She's just a pathetic bitch.” “Watching Trixie Wells get humbled is getting boring now.” I? Get humbled? It's not happening. Fueled by blazing fury, I let out a loud, mocking laugh that echoed off the walls. The murmurs died down instantly. "A mistake? Oh, honey, you're absolutely right," I snapped, my eyes flashing fire as I buried every ounce of pain beneath layers of ice. I leaned over the glass barrier, looking down my nose at him. "The Moon Goddess must have been completely blind or high on drugs to pair a queen like me with a basic, blond charity case like you in the first place." Liam’s calm smile twitched. "Look at you," I mocked, aiming straight for blood. "Your hair looks like wet straw, my horse looks better, your hockey form is embarrassing, and everyone knows your defense line carries your career. You think you're a prize? You're a local tragedy." The crowd gasped. Liam’s face flushed a furious, dark red. I spun around on my heels, flipping my hair right in his face. I marched toward the exit, keeping my chin impossibly high as the gossip reached a fever pitch behind me. I clenched my fists so hard my acrylic nails dug deep into my palms. I will destroy him, I vowed. I will ruin his life, his pack, and his precious hockey career until he is begging at my feet. I threw open the exit doors, ready to storm back into the school hallway, and walked straight into a solid wall of pure muscle and black leather. “Are you f*****g blind?” I stumbled back, my eyes traveling up a massive chest, past a sharp jawline, straight into a pair of pitch-black eyes. Hunter. The terrifying, quiet Alpha captain of the rival all-werewolf hockey team. Ungodly gorgeous and ruthless as I've heard.The entire hallway plunged into a dead, terrified silence. Hunter didn't move an inch. “Blinded by beauty? Yeah,” he murmured, his voice a low, gravelly vibration that sent a violent, traitorous shiver straight down my spine. “At least you know beauty when you see it… not like that foolish puppy, Liam,” I snapped, brushing past him. A dark, dangerous smirk spread across his lips. In one fluid motion, he blocked my path, leaning down until his breath ghosted against my ear. "Hello there, Mate," Hunter whispered, his eyes locking onto my lips with an intense, predatory hunger that made the world outside fade away. What? "What the hell are you talking about?" I demanded, crossing my arms and forcing my voice to stay steady, even as my pulse hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. "I'm your second-chance mate, sweetheart," he growled softly, his alpha scent wrapping around me like a heavy, inescapable cage. "And since that little boy inside couldn't handle a queen, I will show him how to."