Chapter 109: Skyrocketing Stardom Amid Uncertain Chaos

Ridgecrest High School, Fallon Creek, Michigan...

Since the incident with the Daly brothers, Rick had calmed down a lot as the rut finally seemed to pass and he'd once more been focused on his studies and basketball of course. He'd been such a slave driver in terms of attempting to whip the team into shape, that Casey began to prefer when he'd been driven by his wolfish hormones instead of his need for victory. Coach Bert had been no better at adhering to Rick's rigorous training schedule and forcing it onto the rest of the team. Rachel had words for Rick more often than not about her sink and him skipping out on her following their party, Rick largely ignored her and turned his attention back to practice. Courtney had not been angry with Casey, finding any chance she could to jump his bones when Rick or the coach had been otherwise preoccupied despite his training regiment intensifying as well.

Casey had doubled over nearly puking his guts in a bid to catch his wayward breath when Rick came dribbling toward him and passed him the ball. Casey rolled his eyes and set to work making his way down the court dribbling and working out the new set of drills. He'd been sweaty and his body seemed to ache more than usual as he continued to press on.

Rick seemed to be once more in his element so long as he'd been on the court. The rest of the team had hardly been able to keep up but managed to do alright on their own determined to keep up their seemingly impossible win streak at all costs. They had been as competitive as Rick when they'd gotten a taste of glory and knew all too well that it was only the beginning.

Coach Bert had been convinced that Rick's way was the best way after seeing the improvement made by Casey Peterson in such a short period. He turned his practices over to him to lead confident that they would see the rise of a new winning streak in the process and he'd been right.

The Wolverines had been undefeated with a 5-0 streak that seemed to get everyone talking. There was no big secret about the efforts of Rick Channon being a large factor in those wins nor the combined efforts of Casey Peterson who had been enjoying a bit of newfound fame among the school halls himself.

In fact, he'd even gotten a few nods from Carl and the other boys after they saw firsthand how grueling Rick could be in practice and even pitied Casey for having to endure it after school hours. None had been any the wiser about their status as werewolves contributing to their prowess on the court and they knew even less about their lingering "practice sessions" usually evolving into a full-on workout minus the court and a few articles of clothes when everything had been said and done.

For the most part, Casey had been in a good mood, Rick steered clear of Maddox who seemed more or less embarrassed about his behavior when it came to his heat and his brothers using him to assault Rick in the woods. While they'd been licking their collective wounds, Maddox continued to attend school making sure to focus on his studies now that his wolfish body wasn't drowning out the use of his brain.

Things seemed to be looking up for Casey until he was reminded of the full moon seen to make an appearance and what the old brute had told him. His tendency to see odd visions of blood and chaos hitting Fallon Creek by way of sharp fangs and outstretched claws had struck him once again and he found himself faint near his locker.

He doubled over dropping his backpack and nearly hit his head on the cold metal door when Rick rushed over and prevented a nasty fall and collision. He seemed more worried than he wanted to be in front of everyone but it was quickly dismissed by how much he wanted to win the upcoming game, having a hurt player, especially a secondary star, would have been catastrophic but not an impossible thing to get around with him on the court.

"Hey...you alright?" asked Rick reaching down and helping Casey get back to his feet, albeit rather shakily.

"Y-Yeah," replied Casey taking a deep breath for a moment before turning his attention to a rather concerned Rick. "Got a little dizzy is all no need to go all nurse maid on me."

"Fuck you, I just don't wanna have to do all the work on the court for the game this week," replied Rick rather smoothly once the onlookers found themselves interested in their conversation.

He leaned against the rows of lockers with his arms folded across his chest and a blue sucker in his mouth tucked into the side of his mouth as if it had been a toothpick.

Casey rolled his eyes as he turned his attention to his backpack.

He slowly scooped it up and found himself staring face to face with Courtney Stevens who had still been angry about his lack of social grace when he left her naked and alone at the party without so much as a word of goodbye.

"Courtney," said Casey in something of a charming tone.

"Don't you Courtney me, jerk," she growled narrowing her eyes at him.

Casey backed up into the lockers as she leaned against him.

"You're lucky I like riding your dick otherwise I'd have moved on by now," she said while licking her lips and running her hand along his crotch.

Rick had been long gone, thankfully as he had known what he'd do if he saw Courtney doing what she did.

Before Casey could get a word out, Courtney had pushed him up against the lockers and kissed him winded. She smiled noting how she still had him weak in the knees and simply walked away.

Casey did his best to compose himself as she disappeared and turned his attention to collecting his bag and closing his locker. He knew Rachel would have a few choice words for Rick, but he was confident the sly dog knew how to handle it.

As he got ready to head toward his next class, Casey once more noted the vision that plagued him since that strange night in his bedroom.

Blood, claws, chaos, people mourning over the dead, and a massive amount of tension filled the town as news hit with wave after wave of attacks.

He had hoped that this wasn't anything to worry about but felt he needed to talk to someone, and since Rick wasn't gonna take it seriously, Casey had come to the conclusion that there was only one other place he could go to acquire any answers about what was happening to him and the visions that plagued him ever since awakening with beast blood.

Even before he could talk himself out of it, Casey had made up his mind to see the brute in the woods. He had just hoped he'd get the answers he was looking for and not have to endure his company for very long.