"So, are you doing anything fun over Christmas?" asked Case, as he folded a paper plane from a piece of old homework.
"Nothing, it's the same as every year." I shook my head. "We're going to spend some time at the mansion and a few days at my grandma's house."
"The one that's human-born?"
I nodded.
"How does that go over?" Case tossed the plane across the room. It didn't fly far.
"We don't talk about it when we go to the mansion. My parents sat my siblings and me down and filled us in on why my grandpa gets so uptight when my grandma is mentioned."
"That must be hard. Then again, having an alpha as your uncle and grandpa—" He shook his head. "That's scary. Your cousin is going to be the next one, right?"
I nodded. "His alpha hormones showed up a few months ago. Max got so mad he broke a window."
Case's mouth fell open. "How?"
"My uncle has a heavy paperweight on his desk, and Max kind of threw it. He has it under control now, mostly."
"Wow." He shook his head. "Your family sounds more stressful than mine."
"No, I think you have me beat there." I stretched my arm overhead and glanced at the paper on my desk.
"Are you going to go?" Case gave me a smirk.
I shrugged. "Maybe."
"Rudy, go," he replied. "It's an introductory meeting. You're not committing to the swim team. You can change your mind."
"What if I'm not any good?"
"No one starts off as being that good. I watched some old videos of me when I started soccer, and I get why my parents never looked excited during my games. They're hard to watch."
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I stood. "Okay, I'll go."
"Good luck."
"Thanks." I put on my jacket and left the room.
My heart was pounding, I was nervous. I knew how to swim but at a basic level. I watched a few videos to get an idea and it seemed complicated. I took a deep breath as I started down the stairs. If I wanted to do a sport, swimming was it. Everything else required werewolf form at some point.
I stepped outside and shivered at the cold air. It had snowed last night. I hated winter. Thankfully, it didn't last long like in other places. I hurried to the building with the indoor pool. I noticed some other boys entering through the front door. They all looked older. Hurrying inside, I rubbed my hands together as I looked for the entrance to the pool. I noticed the groups of boys walking down a hallway.
Following them, I started to smell the chlorine in the air. I opened the glass door to the pool and was hit with a wave of humidity. It was warm inside, at least. I unzipped my coat and went to sit with the others on the bleachers.
It was a smaller group which was to be expected. The other teams had a lot more people. The others all seemed to know each other. I didn't see anyone from my grade. If there wasn't a giant pool in front of me, I would have thought I was in the wrong room.
A couple more boys joined us before an old man walked out of the locker room.
"Hello, team." He smiled and stood in front of us. "I'm excited to kick this year off and start working on conditioning." He eyes a few of the bigger boys. "Hopefully, none of you have been slacking during the off-season."
A few chuckled.
"Alright." He took out his clipboard and scanned the bleachers. "We have a new face."
I froze as eyes started wandering over to me.
"I'm Coach Walker, though I prefer swimming over walking."
A few boys scoffed and rolled their eyes.
"What?" Coach Walker only grinned. "I think it is a good joke. Anyways, what's your name?"
I licked my lips. "Rudy."
"Rudy, welcome to the team." He wrote it down. "Last name."
I shifted in my seat. "Midfield."
The coach lifted a brow. "Pack or last name?"
"Both," I said quietly.
His pen stopped for a moment. "You'd be my first Midfield." He chuckled. "It's nice to see none of the other coaches managed to snatch you up. Swimming is a great sport no matter what anyone else says."
I nodded.
"Any particular reason why you wanted to try swimming?"
I shrugged. "Um... I've never done a sport before and I thought I'd give it a try."
"Great. You made a good choice. Right?"
The other boys nodded and voiced their agreement. I wanted to sink into the shadows. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. Someone would find out the real reason I was here and make fun of me for it. I physically couldn't do any other sport. I'd wait until the meeting was over and get out of here. I'd focus on my education. Not everyone was cut out to be an athlete.
***
"Alright," said Coach Walker. "Grab a paper on your way out the door. I will be emailing your parents tonight. Remind them that they need to call in to confirm they are fine with your participation and whether you're allowed to travel."
My heart was beating so fast as I stared at the exit. This meeting was taking way longer than expected.
"Once we're back from break, we're starting hard on conditioning. I better not hear any complaining." He motioned to a couple of boys. "Alright, get out of here. Have a good night."
I jumped to my feet.
"Hey, Rudy. Can we talk for a second?" asked Coach Walker.
Frowning, I walked down the bleachers as everyone else started to leave.
"So"—he smiled—"what do you think? You looked scared to death up there."
I took a deep breath. "I don't know."
"What other sports are you thinking about trying? I've been doing this long enough to know, swimming isn't everyone's first choice. I can have the coach contact you. They're always looking to add a Midfield."
Bowing my head, I shrug. "This is it." I glanced behind me. The last of the boy had left. "I can't do any of the other sports."
"What do you mean? Did your parents say contact sports aren't allowed? We don't have to worry about toxin incidents as much."
I shook my head. "I have a disability." I played with the zipper on my jacket. "I can't shift."
He seemed confused and then seemed to understand what I meant. "You're that Midfield? The alpha's nephew."
I nodded. "I want to try, but I'm worried that it'll get out that I can't shift. I was bullied so much in elementary school, my parents took me out. I don't want that to happen again."
He clasped my shoulder. "Rudy, no one is going to bully you on my team. If they do, they know it'll be their last day on the team. Swimming isn't widely popular but the members of my team are that—a team. We work together. We stick together. If you want to be a part of that, we'd be happy to have you. If you are worried about it getting it out, I'll sit the team down and talk to them."
"I don't know." I rubbed my neck. "It might make it worse."
Coach Walker shook his head. "Is it worse than worrying about it?"
I thought for a moment. "Probably not."
"Alright then. It's your choice. We'd be happy to have you. I'm still trying to recruit some boys your age. We usually get a few after basketball tryouts. Anyways, grab a packet and let me know what you decided."
"I will, thanks." I backed away and grabbed a paper as I hurried out the door.
I started to skim parts of it as I headed for the dorms. I wanted to try. Case had so much fun with his team. I wanted that, too, but I was so nervous. I stood outside and took a deep breath. Gripping the paper, I read it again and again. Human form only was clearly written at the bottom. I wanted this so bad. All I needed was to work up the courage to actually go for it.
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