Seeing Layla walk away wounded with tears rimming her eyes felt like someone had driven a stake through my heart, plucked it from my chest, and plunged it into a furnace. I wanted so badly to chase after her, catch her and tell her I was stupid and mistaken, and that I would go to the dance with her because that's what I wanted to do more than anything in the world, but I couldn't. I had to think about her greater good, her well-being, not just the way my pulse pattered when I noticed her flushed cheeks and hazel eyes when we were under her Trans Am. Not just the way I felt when we sat on the floor in her garage, holding hands. It was after a life-and-death situation, I know, but I still experienced it. I remembered the cute twitch to her lips when she had asked me about Lexa Thorn. I also remembered the way my heart thrummed when she fell on top of me, and how I wanted to kiss her more at that moment than ever before. Truthfully, that wasn't the first time I had imagined what it would be like to kiss her. There had been other moments. I had just suppressed them because I was so smitten with Lexa.

But something happened when Layla turned the corner and disappeared. My heart withdrew from the sizzling flames, the outer shell turning cold and impenetrable like hardened steel. I needed the fortitude and determination to prepare me for the task that lied ahead. The head football coach had put me in this position, and he needed to know how I felt about it. However, as hard as it was to drive a wedge between me and Layla, I considered it far easier than walking into the coach's office and giving him news he didn't want to hear. What I did with Layla, I did to keep her safe, away from me. I couldn't trust myself around her, not knowing if a monster was hiding in the dark places of my heart, waiting to devour her. Honestly, I did Lexa a favor too when I said no to her. Now, I had to march into the den of a predator and confront him, not knowing if he would howl at me and tear me to pieces or sink his fangs into my neck and drain me dry.

I would have the rest of the team to contend with, too.

When the seventh period bell rang, and after hustling to the field house, I knocked on Coach Steele's office door and waited for him to answer. I realized as I stood there that I wasn't afraid of him anymore, at least not in the sense that I was before. I discovered that my courage and self-doubt, after going through so much over the weekend, had grown along with the new strength I'd experienced after taking the pill. Watching Layla walk away made me realize I didn't care what happened to me as much as I cared about what happened to the people I loved. I had to prove, at least to myself, and hopefully to everyone else, especially Layla, that the darkness inside me was not as strong as the light within me. That there was still something good within my heart, even if a monster was gnashing its teeth to get out.

The door swung open, and the coach stared at me with that wolfish grin. "How's my star quarterback?" He gestured for me to come in, and after I did, he closed the door.

"Take a seat," he said as he dropped into his leather chair and looked up at me. As he opened his desk drawer to retrieve the bottle of red pills, the fact I still stood caught his attention. "Is there a problem?"

I swallowed a tiny trace of nerves that had tried to make me tense. Instead, I used it as fuel. "You didn't tell me everything about the pill you gave me."

He frowned. "Did you experience something abnormal after the game Friday night?"

Heat burned my cheeks, twisting them into a snarl. "You could say that. You didn't tell me about the monstrous side effects that came with taking your supplement. And you sure didn't tell me that killing someone, or any living thing for that matter, would make it permanent."

"Woe, woe, woe. Who told you that?"

"Does it matter? Is it true?"

Coach Steele rose to his feet, and as I watched him stand, a coldness fell over him. His lips twisted into a smile, and his brows furrowed into thunderheads. "What'd you kill?"

"A coyote. Two of them."

"Ah." His head bobbed knowingly. "So, what Elijah said about you is true. You're a howler like me. Welcome to the pack." He tilted his head up and howled like a wolf. When he finished, he looked at me and said, "You won't need the supplement anymore." He closed his drawer with a bang. "That means more for the other players. But you better be careful, you go killing a human and you'll have The Bureau sweeping down on your head."

My eyes narrowed with this new information. Speaking of info, I didn't tell him about my other experience with the fangs. I figured the less he knew, the better. It would just give him more leverage to use against me. "The Bureau? What do you mean, the FBI?"

"Nah. This government agency is more like Men-in-Black, except they hunt us and not aliens. They're top secret and have power to keep things hush-hush."

I thought about Agent Smith and the BSA. Wondered if there was a link... "Us?" I said.

"Werewolves and vampires, and other monsters out there."

Hearing him talk about creatures of the night in such a loose tone brought me back to the point of my visit. "I can't do this anymore. Play football. I could kill someone without meaning to, and besides that, it's not fair. I have an extreme competitive advantage. That takes cheating to an entirely different level. I realize that now."

"What are you telling me, Evan?" His eyes darkened.

"I quit."

He slung his hand in the air. "You can't quit. You're in too deep, boy!"

"What are you going to do? Tell everyone I'm taking your pills, and that they turned me into a monster? That exposes the truth about you, too. Besides, who's gonna believe you?" I stiffened. "No one is going to believe you."

Coach Steele grimaced and slammed his fist into his desk with a startling crack. The wood split down the center and slumped in on itself. "I won't let you." His voice grumbled, and a vein popped out on his neck.

"You can't stop me."

He snarled and huffed. "You would put our team at risk of losing the state title?"

"This is bigger than that."

"Nothing is bigger than that." He dropped his gaze and surveyed his broken desk. "How am I going to explain this? Look what you made me do."

"I quit coach. Football isn't everything."

That statement drew his fiery gaze. "Get outta here!"

I couldn't believe how strong I'd been in confronting him, like a new me was coming to the surface. Of course, considering it was the old me that had brought me to the point of quitting football, and had hardened my resolve to stand up to the coach, and to lookout for Layla's welfare, I sensed I had to be careful not to forget who I was in the core of my being. I had always cared about people, and I couldn't forget that. That's why I was doing this... for the greater good.

"Didn't you hear me?" The coach stepped around his desk and stood taller, his eyes alighting with rage. "You've crossed the line and there's no going back. Get out of my office and never set foot in the field house again."

With my jaw clenched, I nodded and left.

As I stormed toward the covered walkways between the school buildings, Elijah chased me down. Casper, Ryan, Koby, and Jacob Hamm were with him.

"You'll pay for this, Mack!" Elijah said, decked out in shades and a long-sleeved shirt, sticking to the shadows of the field house. Casper and Ryan wore the same and did the same, shielding themselves from the sun. They were the vampires on the team. Koby and Jacob had on short-sleeves and stood out in the open with me, drawing nearer, presenting a greater threat currently. The werewolves... "You won't get away with this," Elijah said, an obvious threat. "No one forsakes the team and walks away."

This drew my glare. "No one told me what would happen if I took the pills. I didn't know what would happen to me, and I especially didn't expect to turn into a monster."

"We're not the monsters," Koby said. "The coach just told us what you did, about the coyotes. We can stop taking the supplement at any time and return to normal. But you... you're done for."

As I turned to leave, Elijah called out, "This isn't over!" His mouth curled into a wicked grin. "I know your weakness."

My heart leaped into my throat. Was he talking about a werewolf's vulnerabilities or something else? I told myself I wasn't afraid as I peered back at him, watching him bristle with vengeance in his eyes. With equal defiance, I ground my teeth and turned away, a fire building as I strode off, my steps taking me away from the school toward my truck.

Once I climbed in and slammed the door shut, I called Agent Smith and arranged a meeting with him. We had a lot to talk about.

I pulled up to Pop's Diner, parked, and waited for him to show. When he finally did, he exited his SUV and hopped into the passenger seat next to me. I looked straight ahead, drumming my fingers on the steering wheel, feeling his eyes on me.

"I did it," I said. "I quit the team."

"Good," Agent Smith replied. I glanced at him to see him staring at me, trying to discern what I was thinking. "That's the first step. Once the pill gets out of your bloodstream, you can help me bring them down." His gaze wandered down to my bicep, fitting snugly within my T-shirt. "Dang. Those pills work fast, don't they?"

"Afraid so."

"Question is, will that newfound muscle go away when the supplement is gone?"

I shook my head, knowing the answer... for me. "Not sure. Maybe. Probably." I sniffed. "Tell me what happened to Austin Campbell. The truth." I paused for effect. "Did you kill him? I know you're a hunter for The Bureau." I acted like I knew more than I did to get him to bite.

"The Bureau? Who told you that?" I couldn't keep my eyes from falling to his unique beard, his mustache shaved so as not to touch the rest of his facial hair. It might reveal something quirky about his character, which was irrelevant at the moment. I also noticed his dark brown skin appeared smooth again, even his forehead lacked wrinkles, leading up to his closely cut black hair. He had a well-held-together appearance that seemed to say he knew what he was doing. He nodded and bit his bottom lip. "Okay. You wanted to know what the BSA stands for?"

"Yeah. Of course."

"Get ready for the big reveal, kid."

"Just tell me."

He smiled, showing perfect teeth. "The Bureau of Supernatural Affairs."

I suppressed a chuckle. "That's a real government agency?"

"As real as vampires and werewolves."

I considered that point. "Okay. So, you're a hunter. Did you kill Austin Campbell because he was a werewolf or a vampire?"

"No. I didn't kill Campbell. Your coach or someone on your team did. Or someone else higher up that we don't know about. Maybe the person behind all this madness."

"But you do kill monsters?" My voice trembled.

"I do. Good thing you won't be one for much longer." He sighed, observing patrons heading into the diner. "It's my job. It's what I do, and I take it seriously."

"So, it was you who put the lid on Austin's investigation and ordered his cremation? How it all got wrapped up so quickly by the end of the week?"

Agent Smith nodded. "The police chief didn't like it, but he couldn't do anything about it."

"Why did someone kill Austin, then?"

"Because I had him turned. He was going to quit the team and help me bring down your coach, but someone got to him first." Smith pinched the bridge of his nose and then glanced at me. "This thing goes deep, and I'll tell you more later about what we're up against. Just know if they killed Austin Campbell, they'll also come after you, too. You're next kid. That's why we have to stop them."

Of course, all I could think about was protecting Layla and everyone else I cared about. Even if it meant sacrificing myself to do it.

——
Chapter 13: 2,206
Story: 26,405