Most Alpha Book II (Werewolf Romance)

Most Alpha Part 2

  Copyright 2014 Tee Bryant

  DISCLAIMER

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and locations portrayed in this book and the names herein are fictitious. Any similarity to or identification with the locations, names, characters or history of any person, product or entity is entirely coincidental and unintentional.

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  CHAPTER 1

  The three house brothers and four pledges spent a few minutes warming up before starting the actual practice. They had several basketballs between them and took turns passing, dribbling, and shooting. Bartley called attention as soon as he felt a drop of sweat on the back of his neck.

  “Okay, we need to figure out who's playing this weekend,” he announced. “We've got our three, we just need two more. How about we start off with you four versus us three? We can go from there.”

  “I'm not any good, dude,” Scott said. “I'm out.”

  “Any more of you want to quit?” Nick spat. Carter, Derrick, and Clinton looked around at each other and shook their heads.

  “Alright, then,” Bartley said. “Let's go.”

  “Ladies first,” Zach said. “Check up.”

  Bartley passed the ball to Clinton to start the scrimmage. Clinton's inbound pass to Derrick was immediately stolen by Zach and layed up for the the first score of the game.

  “That's alright, man,” Carter encouraged. “Let's go.” The pledges came down the court again, only for Derrick to miss an awkward jump shot. The brothers came back, and Nick made a shot.

  “Aw, man!” Nick said. “This is too easy! Are you girls going to play, or what?”

  The pledges jogged down the court once again. Clinton missed a relatively easy shot, and the brothers brought the ball back down to the other end. Bartley missed his shot, but Nick recovered and scored again.

  “Man, if y'all don't start playing we're not going to put none of y'all in on Saturday,” Nick teased.

  “Hey, Clinton!” Carter shouted, showing he was open.

  Clinton inbounded the ball to Carter. Carter, in turn, dribbled the ball down court, juked Nick, and tossed the ball for a clean net shot.

  “Uh oh!” Nick mocked. “The boy's trying to play!”

  “Yeah,” Zach added. “Trying!”

  Bartley inbounded the ball to Zach, and Zach passed to a wide open Nick. Nick made an attempt to spot for a jump shot, but Carter swooped in and stole the ball. Carter then went coast-to-coast for another layup.

  “Alright, let's go,” Nick cheered.

  Zach inbounded to Nick, who tried to muscle his way to the hole. Carter blocked his layup attempt and gave an outlet pass to Clinton, who put in a layup at the other end.

  “Nick!” Bartley shouted.

  “Come on, dude,” Zach chimed in. “You can't let this dude school you.”

  “He's not schooling anyone,” Nick said. “I'm letting him do that.”

  Bartley brought the ball back up court and made an attempt from the three-point line. Carter out-muscled Nick for the rebound. Nick, offended, shoved Carter to the floor.

  “Son of a bitch!” Carter jumped back up, ready to fight. His eyes glazed over, his nose began to protrude into a snout, and his front fangs grew. Carter was finally pissed enough to transform into wolf state. Bartley rushed in to break the guys up.

  “Whoa whoa whoa!” he yelled. “Cool it, guys!”

  “Ain't nobody worried about him,” Nick said, straightening his shirt.

  “You know what?” Carter said.

  “What?” Nick said, getting close to Carter's face. Carter came down to full human state.

  “Forget it,” Carter said as he stepped back. “It isn't even worth it. My game spoke for itself out there.”

  “Alright, guys. That's enough,” Bartley said.

  “Whatever the problem is,” Zach said, “you better bottle that shit up and bring it with you to the game on Saturday. This isn't the time or place, dudes.”

  “Whatever, man,” Nick said.

  “Okay,” Bartley said. “Now that we've seen that, this is the lineup we're going with on Saturday: Nick, myself, Zach, Clinton at the two, and Carter.”

  “Hell, no!” Nick argued. “Zach was point last year.”

  “And you saw what happened last year,” Bartley pointed out. “We won one game. One. Uno. A new year means new things. That cool with you, Zach?”

  “Whatever, man,” Zach said. “Not like we're going to win, anyway. We might as well let Scott over there play point. It doesn't matter.”

  “Well, Carter's point for now,” Bartley said. “We'll see how it goes.”

  ***

  The Omega Omega Psi basketball team gathered on the sidelines for the game. They each rocked purple jerseys with matching purple shorts and white basketball shoes. Jenni had her arm laced in Carter's as they walked in the gym. She appeared to be having an internal debate on whether or not she actually wanted to be there. Once Bartley had seen that everyone was accounted for, he jogged over to the scorekeepers' table to check them all in.

  “So, who are we playing,” Zach asked when Bartley rejoined the group.

  “None of your business,” Bartley said.

  “Excuse me?” Clinton said.

  “No, no,” Bartley said. “That's the team name. None Yo Business.”

  Carter pointed out on the court to an all African American team that was already warming up. Only one of them was under six feet tall, and he was towered by the rest of his teammates.

  “None Yo Business,” he said to Clinton. “You know these guys? Any of them vamps?”

  “Nah man, I don’t know them,” Clinton replied as he laced his shoes extra tight. Even with their strength advantages it was going to be hard to match up against the opposition’s height.

  “Dude,” Scott sighed, “we're going to get killed.”

  “Ha ha,” laughed Zach. “Told you.”

  “Nah,” Nick said. “Just a bunch of wannabe thugs trying to keep their hoop dreams alive. I'm not worried. Just give me the ball, and everything will be okay.”

  “I can't believe I'm friends with you,” Bartley said, shaking his head.

  “And don't you be trying to show off in front of your girl,” Nick said, pointing
to Carter and ignoring Bartley's comment. “This is a team game.”

  “I assume that 'team' means 'give Nick the ball before he starts crying'?” Zach joked.

  “Shut up, grease face,” Nick said. “How about you get some confidence? You've got us losing the game before it even starts.”

  “He is right about that,” Bartley commented.

  “Wrong,” Zach said. “I've got us losing the whole season.”

  “Always with the jokes,” Bartley said as Zach and Scott chuckled. “Alright, let's get warmed up!” Scott took a seat on the bench while the guys grabbed some basketballs to go warm up. Carter lagged behind with Jenni.

  “I hope y'all win,” Jenni said.

  “Why do you sound all sad and stuff?” Carter said. “It's not like I made you come.”

  “We never do anything together anymore, so…” she started.

  “We are not having this conversation right now,” Carter said. “I'll talk to you later.” He gave her a kiss then trotted off to join his team. Jenni slumped on the bench next to Scott.

  “Why aren't you playing?” she asked him.

  “Because I suck,” he replied.

  “Seems as good a reason as any,” she said. Almost as if on cue, Bartley looked over at Scott and motioned for him to get on the court.

  “Come on, Scott!” he said. “You're part of this team, too. You need to be warming up.”

  “For what?” Zach asked, glancing over at their opponents.

  None of them appeared to have missed any shots during their warm up. The guys watched in awe as the tallest and lankiest team member dribbled toward the basket. With the grace of an angel, he held the ball in his right hand, and his body seemed to be magically suspended several feet off the ground. His long braids levitated in the air behind him as he flew toward the basket and dunked the ball.

  “That's Marquese,” Scott told Jenni.

  “Oh?” Jenni said, realizing that she had been staring.

  “He's in my math class,” Scott continued. “As you can probably tell, he's here on a basketball scholarship, so we're screwed.”

  “Don't worry about them!” Bartley shouted from the court. “Come on, Scott! You're an equally important member of our team.” Zach laughed as he missed yet another shot.

  “Good luck,” Jenni said.

  “Thanks,” Scott replied as he got up to join the team.

  The guys were allowed ten more minutes of warm ups before the referee made his way onto the court and blew his whistle.

  “All starting players in OOP (Omega Omega Psi) and NYB (None Yo Business) report to the court,” he announced.

  The teams positioned themselves on the court with their starting lineups. Derrick and Scott went back to the bench with Jenni, and three of the guys of NYB sat at their own bench. Scott shifted uneasily as he watched the face-off with Nick and Marquese.

  “This is going to be way too easy,” Marquese laughed.

  “Whatever,” Nick said. “Just tip the ball.”

  “Oh, I'll tip it,” Marquese sneered.

  The whistle blew. Nick won the tip off, and Carter was in control of the ball at half court.

  “Woo! Carter!” Jennie cheered from the sidelines.

  “Let's go, boy!” Scott cheered.

  Carter dribbled the ball up court and set up the offense. Nick set up in the post, but Carter passed to Clinton on the wing. Clinton then canned a shot off the perimeter, and his team applauded him.

  “There you go!” Scott's voice rang from the sidelines. “Let's go!”

  “Good pass, Carter!” Jenni shouted.

  NYB brought the ball up court. Their small forward shot from the point and missed. Bartley got the rebound and snapped it to Carter, who pushed the ball up court on a fast break. He delivered back to Bartley on a no-look pass for an easy layup, calling for more applause from their two cheerleaders and Derrick on the bench.

  The guys on NYB frowned as they brought the ball back up court. The point guard passed to Marquese on the post, as Nick made an ill attempt to block him. He spun on Nick for quick basket.

  “That's alright, man,” Bartley encouraged. “Let's go!”

  Carter brought the ball back up court, only to be trapped with a double team. Nick was open on the wing, but instead Carter forced a pass to Bartley. The turnover went to Marquese, who dunked the ball on the fast break.

  “That's alright!” Carter heard Jenni say. “Come on!” He was surprised at how much smaller her voice was when she was yelling for him instead of at him.

  Nick glared at Carter, who got the ball on the inbound and brought it back up court. He passed the ball to Zach who shot from the post, but missed. He jogged up the court wearing a cheesy smile and waving his hands in the air as if he had just won the game.

  “Come on, Zach!” Bartley said. “We can win this!”

  NYB brought the ball up court, and the team's shooting guard made a shot from the perimeter.

  “These guys can't play with us,” Marquese said. “No way!”

  Carter quickly brought the inbound pass up court. Nick aggressively positioned himself in the post on Marquese. Carter instead passed to Clinton coming off a screen who went for an awkward turnaround shot and missed.

  “Come on, Carter!” Nick fumed. “I was open! Give me the damn ball!”

  “There he goes,” Zach laughed.

  NYB ignored the commotion and took the ball on the fast break. Marquese tossed it through untouched air for an easy basket.

  “Too easy! Too easy!” Marquese said.

  “Come on, guys!” Bartley yelled. “Stick together!”

  “Come on, guys!” Jenni encouraged.

  Again Carter brought the ball up court and passed to Bartley in the post who muscled his way to a layup in the post and missed. Nick scrapped for the rebound and laid it back in.

  “Here we go! Here we go!” Nick said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. The competitive flow had him feeling good.

  “Here we go,” Zach repeated.

  Marquese brought the ball up court for his squad and pulled up on Nick, who attempted to block Marquese's towering figure. Marquese easily elevated past the block with a jump, and scored a three-pointer.

  “Yup, yup,” he said. “Here we go!”

  “That's alright!” Derrick cheered. “We got this!”

  Carter commanded the ball at half court and pulled up for a three-point shot of his own, only to miss it. Nick commanded the rebound, pump-faked on Marquese, and dished the ball to Zach for an easy layup in the post.

  “Carter!” Nick yelled. “Come on now!”

  “That's alright, guys,” Bartley said again. “Let's go!”

  NYB brought the ball down, and the team's guard missed a jump shot. Nick snatched the rebound and pushed it to Zach instead of a wide open Carter. Zach maneuvered his way past a defender for a flashy layup on the fast break. NYB called a timeout immediately after the ball went through the basket. They were winning 11 to 10.

  “Come on, guys,” Bartley said when the team grouped together on the sidelines. “Let's keep playing hard. We're only one point behind.”

  “I'm playing,” Nick retorted. “I don't know about the rest of you.”

  “I'm trying my ass off, dude,” Zach said. “Don't get mad at me.”

  “I'm not talking about your bitch ass,” Nick said. “I'm talking about Carter's bitch ass.”

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Carter snapped.

  “You!” Nick shouted.

  “What? Shut up!” was all Carter could retaliate with.

  “You saw me open!” Nick continued. “And don't even try to get big in front of your girl, 'cause I'll break you down.” Carter accepted the challenge, moving closer to Nick.

  “I don't need to get big! How about…”

  “Stop this!” Bartley commanded. “We're only down by one. We need to play together. Now hands in!” The guys surrendered to Bartley and put their hands together in a huddle. �
�On three, sunt omnes unum. One, two...”

  “Sunt omnes unum!” the team mumbled.

  “Derrick, you're in for Carter,” Nick announced.

  “What?!” Bartley, Carter, and Scott said in unison.

  “Dude, what the hell?” Carter complained.

  “Just go with it for awhile,” Bartley said to him. “Don't worry about it.” The team took their place on the court, and Carter took his place on the bench between Scott and Jenni.

  “That's some BS,” Carter said.

  “I know,” Scott replied, jokingly. “I haven't even gotten to go in yet.”

  “Screw that,” Carter said as if he didn't hear Scott. “I'm the best player on this effing team.” He watched miserably as his team received a rebound and Derrick fed Nick for a basket. “What a idiot,” he mumbled.

  NYB went back down the court and their guard missed another jumper. Marquese clapped his hands in fury.

  “No more shootin' for you bitch!” Marquese scolded. “We ain't losing to these fuckin' white boys and that black loser. No way! This is our year!”

  Clinton glared at Marquese. “Let's go!” he shouted to his team.

  Derrick brought the ball up court and passed to Clinton on the wing. Clinton made a move on his defender, then dished a flashy pass to Nick for an easy layup.

  “There we go!” Bartley screamed.

  “We actually got a chance,” Scott mused. “Wow.”

  “I don't care,” Carter pouted.

  Marquese brought the ball up the court and pulled up on Nick for another three pointer. It was time for him to take over.

  “C'mon, fools!” he shouted. “Get back!”

  Derrick brought the ball back up court and set up the offense. Nick was getting physically played by Marquese in the post and could not get into position for the entry pass. Nick could have used his brute strength but didn’t want to blow his cover around humans. His human strength was fully tapped and exhausted. Derrick passed to Zach instead, who missed a perimeter shot. Derrick clapped his hands together in disappointment.

  “Sorry, dude!” he said.

  “It's alright,” Bartley reassured him.

  NYB grabbed the rebound and sent the outlet pass to Marquese. He brought the ball up court and pulled up on Nick again for yet another three point score. He was on fire. His shooting form was so perfect the ball barely moved the net as it fell through for the score.

  “Get back! Get back!” Marquese directed at his team, swinging his arms in a pushing back motion.