C7 Seven

Adrain’s POV

The night was cold, the Corvette was loud, and I was going way too fast. But I couldn’t help it. Anger had this way of making my foot heavier on the gas.

A rogue wolf attack. Yeah, right.

I barked out a humorless laugh, shaking my head. That woman’s completely nuts.

There hadn’t been a single rogue attack for years. Nothing that would justify the panic she was pulling. So unless some suicidal wolf crawled out of its grave to take a bite out of her roommate, this was bull.

Total, grade-A, Selena-level bullshit.

She probably cooked it up to get my attention. Or worse, to get me off the ice. My grip on the wheel tightened at that thought. The Corvette growled under me, matching my irritation.

Of course. This is just perfect.

Get Adrian distracted with a bullshit sob story, make him ditch training, and voilà, her sweet little godson Raymond and my biggest rival on the field, slides into my spotlight.

Yeah. Bet they came up with it together.

And the irony being that, she still had the guts to look me in the eye and call me arrogant.

I snorted. “You’ve got some nerve, Doc.”

My wolf, Rock, stirred in the back of my mind. “Watch it.”

“Oh, don’t start,” I muttered under my breath. “You saw her same as I did.”

“She’s our mate.”

“She’s my stepmother,” I snapped.

“Doesn’t change what she is.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that father used to fuck her, either.”

Rock growled, deep and annoyed. “You tread dangerous ground, boy.”

“Yeah, well, so did the goddess when she decided to pair me with her.” I huffed a bitter laugh. “The Moon Goddess really must’ve been drunk that day.”

“The goddess is never wrong.”

“She most definitely is. Because tell me, what kind of divine joke makes my father’s widow my mate?”

“You don’t understand yet.”

“Don’t want to understand.” My jaw ticked. “I’ve got a championship to win. I don’t have time to babysit the pack or deal with her little soap opera drama.”

“You reek of denial.”

“Well, denial smells better than desperation.”

Rick huffed, this old, rumbling exhale that usually came right before he told me something I didn’t want to hear. “You can pretend all you want, but she’s hurting. You felt it.”

I gritted my teeth. “I felt her manipulation.”

“You felt the bond.”

“Same thing.”

“You’re lying to yourself.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” I bit back. “She shows up crying ‘rogue wolves’ right before her precious Raymond’s team plays against mine? Please. You think that’s a coincidence? Nah, she’s trying to get in my head. Wants me distracted, off my game, maybe even benched. Then her golden boy gets to shine. Classic move.”

“She’s not the enemy, Adrian.”

“She’s exactly the enemy. Father was stupid enough to have fallen for her act, but I’m not him.”

Everything went totally quiet. All I could hear was the engine and my own heartbeat.

“You keep saying that,” Rock finally said, “but you sound more like him every day.”

That one hit me so hard I struggled to swallow.

Before I could think of a comeback, my phone buzzed in my bag. Saved by the damn bell.

Fishing it out, my best friend, teammate and beta’s name flashed on the screen. I hit the button on the steering wheel and the call went through.

“Yo, dude, where the fuck you at?” Ethan’s voice blasted out the speakers, riding over the bass and shouting. “The party’s been going for an hour! You didn’t bail, right?”

I smirked. “Chill, I just left the facility. Some stuff came up.”

“Stuff?” he laughed. “Bro, unless ‘stuff’ is code for you dying, you better haul your ass over. Leila’s been bugging me about when you’d show up.”

I dragged a hand down my face and sighed. “Of course she has.”

Leila Nightingale, head cheerleader for our team and one of the pack elders’ daughter, though in my head she was always just the one-night-stand-that-wouldn’t-die. Hot as hell, sure. Fun, sometimes. Loud as fuck, always. Not exactly the type to make you forget the rest of the world, but at least she kept my mind occupied.

And right now? I’d take any distraction from the mess that is Selena.

Rock rumbled in the back of my mind, unimpressed. “She’s not for us.”

I fired back in my head, “Yeah, and neither is my stepmother.”

“Watch your tongue.”

“Then stay out of my head,” I shot back, spotting the glow of Ethan’s latest human fling’s mansion through the trees. “Anyway,” I told Ethan, “I’m almost there. Just hit the gate.”

“Good. Because this place is insane right now.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything less.”

I ended the call and rolled through the gate, engine rumbling as I parked among a ton of cars. The bass was already punching through the air.

Yeah, this was the usual Friday night mix. Loud music. Too much booze. No rules till dawn. Pretty much team tradition; train like hell all week, wreck your body, then party through the weekend before jumping back into it on Monday.

I killed the engine and stepped out, cracking my neck. Hadn’t even taken three steps when I spotted some topless girl on her knees beside a Lexus IS, mouth on a guy’s cock as he fucked her throat.

Real classy.

Inside wasn’t any better. Sweat, smoke, and alcohol was like perfume. People were yelling, laughing, making out, dry humping–you name it.

I spotted Ethan, red cup in hand, arm around his latest fling, grinning. He caught my eye and waved me over.

“Finally, the champ arrives.” He pulled me in for a bro hug.

“Hey, Mia,” I nodded at his girl when we pulled apart.

“Hey, Adrian,” she said with a small smile, and Ethan just smirked.

“So… about Leila —”

And of course, speak of the devil and she appears. “Adriaaannn!” Leila’s high-pitched squeal rang out over the noise as she bounced toward me, two of her minions trailing behind her.

Rock instantly snarled. “Not her.”

But she was already throwing herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and rubbing her full tits over my chest. “Where were you? I tried calling! Practice must’ve been brutal. I missed you so muchhhhhhh.”

I didn’t answer. Her minions waved from behind, giving me those hungry looks like I was dessert. Before I could even get a word in, Leila grabbed my hand and tugged.

“Come on,” she purred. “You look tense. Let me fix that.”

Ethan just grinned. “Good luck, bro.”

I let out a deep sigh.

The bass was softer upstairs but still vibrated through the walls. Leila shoved me into one of the spare rooms, closed the door, put on some soft music, and started her usual strip routine she thought was sexy.

But the second she started swaying, I knew I was totally and utterly screwed. Because all I saw was Selena.

Her round face. Those full kissable lips. That waist-length black hair. Her curves, every damn one of them.

No matter how many times I blinked, her face kept replacing Leila’s.

Rock was real smug.“You feel her even when she’s not here.”

“Shut up,” I hissed.

“You remember the shower,” he pushed, “You knew she was there, and you didn’t stop. You wanted her to see.”

I tensed. “Enough.”

But the memories didn’t care: the sweet scent of her arousal perfuming the air, the way I’d lost control.

I’d blown my load like a fucking teenager, all because my mate had been right there, watching, wanting…

I shoved the thought deep down and jumped to my feet so fast the chair toppled over.

Leila stopped in the middle of her dance, left in just a black thong. “Uh… what are you doing?”

“Leaving,” I said shortly, already heading for the door.

“What the hell, Adrian!” she yelled as I walked out.

I didn’t even glance back. I needed a drink, hell, I needed something stronger. Maybe a bullet. Maybe oblivion. Anything to shut it all off.

Rock laughed softly. “Running doesn’t help,”

“Neither does listening to you.”

The crowd had gotten louder, wilder by the time I got downstairs, most of it coming from the living room. Shouts, cheers, and whistles.

I tried to ignore it at first, probably just another drunk dare or fight, but the noise kept building.

Curiosity won.

On my way to the bar, I caught one of my teammates heading upstairs with a girl clinging to him.

“Yo,” I called. “What’s going on?”

He grinned. “Bro, you’re not gonna believe this, Doc’s here.”

Huh? “Doc?”

“Yeah, your hot stepmom. Shows up outta nowhere. Next thing I know, she’s in the middle of a beer pong match and destroying Ryan’s team.” He laughed. “And now, I think she’s doing a strip round.”

“Wait… what?”

He shrugged, pulling the girl even closer. “Man, you should see her. She’s killing it.”

Rock thundered possessively. “MINE.”

My fists curled into balls. “Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”