I
must apologize to some of you for this next chapter; I am not an expert when it
comes to human sports. However, my next mate that is of note was the star
quarterback at a local university. When I found him he had been recently
changed by a lycan. This story should tell you why you should never play sports
as a lycan. The man in question was named Nikola Stevenson. He was gorgeously
built. Even before he became a lycan he was as close as any human could come to
Adonis. Afterwards, let’s just say that his wolf appreciated the workouts after
a while.
He
and I dated way before even Jacque. I believe that he and I dated close to the
time when I started my freshman year at Leland.
It
was the day before the big game and the coach had the entire football team
running ladders up and down the practice field as a light warm up before
practice. Nik was looking at the stands hoping that I was watching. I was not
there. It was unfortunate but on that day I had a very important meeting
between my pack and the Hunters. The Hunters were making a point of personally
making peace with each and every pack of Lycans around the country. We had lost
many, many brothers and sisters to the group of self-righteous murderers. They
wanted to let us know that there was only one reason that they would kill us
after they became the police force to watch over the lycanthropes: endangering
the lives of humans.
“Stevenson,
stop your daydreaming and pick up the pace. We’ve got to be in top shape for
tomorrow.”
“Yes
coach.” Nik said as he let himself go just a bit more. He couldn’t show how
fast he actually was, but he could at least show a bit of his speed. He set
school records every time he ran the mile. It was another thing about being a
lycan that he still wasn’t quite used to. He was stronger and faster than any
human ought to be. He still had to keep an eye on the heart monitor that he
always wore, just to make sure he wouldn’t get to the point where he’d change.
He really didn’t want that. As he ran his heart rate picked up, but just a
hair. It wouldn’t be anything to worry about unless he went all out. It wasn’t that
he was worried about being able to control himself when he was a wolf; it was
more about worrying about other people’s reactions to finding out that he was a
lycan.
He’d told his coach as he’d felt that he
was obligated to. The coach sighed, and asked when he received the bite. It was
only logical to tell the coach the truth. Of course I was called in. They
wanted to know why I endangered the life of my lover by giving him the bite.
Yes I did actually turn him, but why I did so wasn’t their business. Nor is it
any of yours.
It
was tomorrow, the Rose Bowl, that is. This was the first time the University
had gotten into the Rose Bowl in forever. They were facing the University of
Oregon and were expected to have their ten game winning streak end to the Big
O. The coach was adamant that that wouldn’t happen and in fact was quite
certain that with Nikola in charge that they would almost certainly win the
Rose Bowl. So naturally they’d practiced almost constantly since their last
game. They’d wait and see until the next day.
It was the day of the big game and
everyone was excited for the chance to play at Rose Bowl Stadium. I sat in the
bus with the rest of the football team trying to hide a massive hard on. Nikola
just chuckled, knowing exactly what that was from. “You ready for the game? You
know what you get for winning, don’t you?”
“Is that all you think about, love?”
“No there’s also food, and videogames
and hmmm…..not much else, I guess.”
He chuckled again. “Well watch me; I’m
dedicating this win to you. On national television. You know that, right?”
I
looked at him astonished. He was about to tell every football fan in the entire
country that he was gay in the most overt way possible. I was both proud of and
nervous for him.
It
was third and ten, the fourth quarter, two minutes left on the clock, and they
were on the fifteen yard line. The score was tied at thirty-five, thirty-five.
Nikola was sweating bullets. He was about to call a shotgun on third down. This
was going to be a make-or-break. He had led his team through this game in a way
few could have, without changing which was one thing that surprised me. He
called out, “Blue, 43, Saxophone…HIKE.”
The
center hiked the ball to Nik. Nik moved to fake it to the running back then
started to run. The line was holding well from the very beginning. It was
fairly impressive how great the team’s offensive line was. It was the only
reason that they’d made it this far this well. He was on the five yard line
when he heard the sounds of one of the defensive linemen on his ass. He let
himself go a little faster. It was only a few more steps then possible victory.
He stepped across the goal line just as the lineman caught up to him and he
braced for impact. The lineman tackled Nik and ended the play. The referee blew
the whistle with both arms straight up in the air signaling a successful
touchdown. It was only after the lineman helped Nik back to his feet that he
heard the roar of the crowd. The crowd was going wild. Even though there was
still a minute, fifteen on the clock.
It
was up to special teams, now…that’s what it’s called, right?...I thought so.
Nik trekked back to the bench barely able to hear the heart monitor he was
wearing beeping fiercely signaling that he was severely close to a change. The
coach was looking at his monitoring device as well. The coach motioned over to
him and over the radio said, “Stevenson, well done! Remember I don’t want to
see the beast even come close to the surface. You need to relax.”
“Understood,
coach. It’s up to—” the crowd erupted in a climax of clamor and noise as the
special teams was able to complete a two point conversion. Leland was now up by
eight with the score at 43, 35 Leland. I looked at my mate from the front row
above the bench just as he looked up to me and flashed a fanged smile. He was
toying with his wolf. I worried about that somewhat, but not overly much.—“the
Defense now.”
Another
intense minute and a quarter of football and the score was set 43, 38 Leland.
As the clock ticked to zero the teams started to relax. The two teams met in
the middle and gave obligatory handshakes and high-fives. Afterwards, Nik was
pulled to the side by a lady holding an ESPN microphone. “That was a close
game, Nikola. Tell us what pulled you through the game.”
“To
be honest, Giselle, My team’s and my own tenacity and work ethic, our spirit
and our desire is what allowed us to win. Though, I have a feeling that that’s
not what you meant.”
“No,
no. People want to know if there’s someone special in your life. So I’ve gotta
ask is there?”
“Hmm…
Oh you mean like a girlfriend or something like that. Well yeah. I’ve got
someone special. In fact, he’s in the stands right now. Well I mean of course
I’m dating him he’s the one who turned me. Yeah, that’s right I’m a lycan and
proud of it.” He noticed me and called me over, “This lyko here is my mate.
We’ve been dating for a while.”
“Well that’s interesting. So Nik did you hear that you’re
lined up to be a first round pick by six different NFL Teams? What are your
thoughts on this? Which team are you thinking about?”
“Well,
I’ll defer to Gabi here for that one.”
He
looked down at me and I just said, “As long as we don’t leave the West Coast.”
“I’m
not even sure if I want to go pro. There’s a part of me who just wants to
coach. After all playing sports as a lyko gets real tough. We have to let our coaches know so that
they can hook us up with heart rate monitors so that they know when to have us
sit out a play or two. I’ll tell you what, that third and ten play at the two
minute marker I was dangerously close to changing.”
“So
which colleges would you be looking to coach for?”
“Any
of the Pac 12.”
On
the bus ride back home I asked Nik, “Did you change during the play? This is
important, did you?”
“Um…”
Nik was vying for time, he looked ashamed. “Why? What does it matter?”
“If
you changed, Nik, it could mean the end of your career. You must know that NCAA
rules state that any lycan caught playing in his changed state is likely to
lose his ability to play in his respective league, possibly his scholarship if
any, and his eligibility to go on to the NFL Draft.”
“Only
enough to get the edge on that last play. You saw. Only my fangs were showing.”
“That
may be enough. Do you realize what this could mean for Leland, Nik. The team
could be stripped of their first Rose Bowl title in sixty odd years. Just hope
none of the U of O players saw your fangs.”
About a week after the Rose Bowl Nik was packing up his
stuff to move back to his home for at least a little while during the last week
and a half of his winter break. The coming semester was going to be his last
and so he was looking to get some quality family time before he was forced to
stay up in the dorms. Of course, he only had to show that he had a dorm room in
order to keep the college scholarship.
“Are you ready?” I asked him. He
looked over to me and smiled. It had been a huge deal when he'd come out to him
mom and dad, but now they had come to terms with it and they had even invited
me down for Thanksgiving Dinner. It was amazing how quickly his parents had
accepted his homosexuality. His team had accepted it when they first met me, though
they still gave him shit for it.
“As I'll ever be,” He replied. The
edge of his mouth curled in a sardonic, knowing smile. I knew that look. He still
wasn't very happy with his parents even if they had accepted him. It was
something about which I worried.
“Don’t you dare do anything stupid!”
I commanded him.
“Awww! C’mon, just a little scare?”
He pleaded.
“No!
I will not let my mate go to jail, or possibly the grave over something so
juvenile.”
“Are you sure that’s what you saw,
Mick?” The coach asked.
“Definitely. The fucking fag’s fangs
were showing for everyone on the defensive line to see. You’d have had to be
blind not to see it.”
“That just makes it even more
important that we report this to the commission. I knew that kid wouldn’t be
able to keep it at bay for long.” The coach looked at the brutish defensive
lineman before asking, “This isn’t some way of getting back at the other team
for winning or a way to destroy Nikola’s career for pure bigoted reasons, is
it?”
“No
coach. The fag changed. I don’t truly give a shit that he hikes his tail up for
the beaner, but the fact is he changed. Ask any of the other defensive players,
coach. They’ll corroborate my story.”
“I
regret to inform the fans, the players, and their parents that due to Nikola
Stevenson using his wolf during the Rose Bowl game last week, we have lost the
title. Nikola has also lost his full ride scholarship…” I heard on the
campus radio.
I unlocked my zPhone and immediately
called Nikola, “Are you hearing this right now?”
“Yes,
Gabi. I’m actually seconds away from making a statement to the public.” I
heard on the other end of the line, before he ended the call.
“In
order to allow him to tell his story we have Nikola here to give his
statement.”
“Firstly I must apologize for this
misunderstanding. I did not change
fully during the game. So I must disagree with the Commission’s decision and I
will be appealing the ruling. I will tell you that I did let myself go a little
bit more than I probably should have, but I still was nowhere near a full
change. From my understanding of the rules as set by the NCAA, I should not be
losing my scholarship, nor my career, because some player thought that I had a
bit longer canines than I should. I also have a feeling that there is also a
possible conflict of interest in this case. As far as I saw, the only people
reporting this were the defensive linemen of the University of Oregon. It is
also well known that the first player to call me out is extremely bigoted and
may be bringing this forward as a way to spite me for publicly coming out after
the game. On my honor as a student of Leland University, I will return to us
this title, which has so wrongly been taken away from us. I again apologize for
this.”
“After
reviewing the rules set by the NCAA, the commission has decided to redact all
charges against Nikola Stevenson, his scholarship will be restored as well as
his right to be part of the NFL Draft, if he so chooses.” Nikola and I
heard over the campus radio in the middle of our make-out session. We both
looked at the stereo, eyes wide and a smile on Nik’s face.
“Oh I love loopholes!” Nik
exclaimed.
“You wouldn’t have had to exploit
them if you didn’t change in the first place, Nik. You fucking idiot.” I
replied, punching him lightly in the arm.
“Gawd, you don’t have to tell me
again.”
“That’s right. I’m watching you all
of next semester, you know that right.”
“Of course. It’s not necessary,
though I’m not fucking up anymore.”
“Good.”
So why did this chapter seem more
like “Don’t Change While Playing Human Sports” instead of what I was saying.
Well if Nikola hadn’t played football after becoming a lycan he could have
completely and utterly avoided the entirety of this debacle. It’s that simple.
If you are a lycan, please for the love of all that is right in the world,
avoid playing sports with humans. Thank you.
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