Chapter 135: Drug Test

​The team grumbled, quickly scattering under my glare, knowing better than to push a truly irritated Captain.

​Once they cleared out, I instinctively looked back toward the squat rack. Reid was leaning casually against the iron bar, entirely unbothered by the chaos. He had heard the entire exchange. As our eyes met across the gym, the sly bastard let out a slow, devastating smirk and deliberately winked at me.

​My heart did a stupid, chaotic flip against my ribs. A sudden, violent flush heated up the tips of my ears, and I turned my face away sharply, aggressively rubbing my neck with the towel.

​"Whoa, Cap," Peter teased from a safe distance near the dumbbells. "Is that a blush I see?"

​"No, it’s the stars you’ll be seeing when I make you run double laps, bonehead!" I snapped back, my voice completely clipped as I forced my eyes onto my clipboard, desperately trying to ignore the low, deeply amused chuckle vibrating from Reid’s side of the room.

​Once the workout wrapped up and the rest of the team started getting ready to head toward the showers, the atmosphere in the gym shifted. I stood by the tactical whiteboards, reviewing the Avalanche’s projected starting lineup for tomorrow.

​Reid walked over, throwing his damp towel over his shoulder, his frozen pine scent flaring with a sudden, heavy intensity as he leaned over my shoulder to look at the board. His eyes immediately locked onto the top line.

​Right there, under the captain’s designation for the Avalanche, was the name: Edward Stein. Number 11.

We found out that in his recent post-game press conference with the Stars, Edward had spoken highly of my leadership, treating me with absolute respect for all to see, and deeming himself the only opposing captain who looked me in the eye as a true equal.

I knew he had respect for me and wasn’t like the other rowdy discriminating Alpha Captains but man, he had gone really far in showing it this time.

It was as if he was trying to get my attention, but it’s not just my attention he’s getting. I looked at Reid and sighed. That exact kindness was the problem.

​Reid’s jaw was clenched so hard the bone looked sharp enough to cut. His grey eyes were fixed on number 11 with a dark, simmering hostility.

For an Alpha as fiercely possessive as Reid, an enemy who was openly hostile was easy to crush—but a rival captain who was acting all nice, respectful, and lingering around his Omega with clean intentions? It made Reid’s blood run completely hot with jealousy and just like before, he strongly believes Edward is after something from me.

​"Though you may not like him, Edward plays a clean game," I muttered, trying to gauge his expression. "Don’t let him get under your skin."

​Reid let out a low, harsh breath, his eyes narrowing at the whiteboard. "He’s too loud with his respect, Cap. I don’t like the way he looks at you either."

​He leaned in closer, his voice dropping into a rough, possessive whisper that vibrated right against my ear. "Tomorrow night, I’m keeping my eyes on number 11. If he thinks his nice-guy act gives him a free pass to get close to my Captain, he’s going to learn real quick how hard I can hit."

I rolled my eyes. There he goes again. But I can’t deny that his possessiveness makes my heart flutter... a bit.

The door to the private briefing room opened, and Marcus walked in with a clinical-looking clipboard, flanked by two official league medical representatives dressed in sharp grey suits.

The relaxed, post-workout atmosphere in the gym evaporated instantly.

​"Listen up, Serpents," Marcus called out, his voice echoing off the concrete walls. "Standard pre-game protocols. We all know anti-doping and regulatory drug tests are mandatory before we clear the roster for the Avalanche game tomorrow. So no exceptions. Everyone lines up by the medical wing, provides a sample, and gets cleared before you hit the showers."

​A collective groan rippled through the team, but the players quickly started gathering their gear to head down the hallway.

​I stood completely frozen by the tactical whiteboard. A sudden, icy wave of panic crashed straight over my chest, making my fingers go cold against the plastic of my clipboard.

​Drug tests were nothing new to me, but this time was entirely different.

In the past, the gender-suppressing blockers I used to disguise myself as a Beta were heavily customized, chemically complex, and deeply elusive, that’s why they were illegal in the first place.

They were specifically engineered to slip right under the league’s standard screening protocol without raising a single red flag.

​But now? I took Omegan contraceptives to avoid getting pregnant. They weren’t designed to hide. If the chemical composition showed up in the bloodstream panel, the medical board would instantly flag the hormone levels.

The truth about my secondary gender would be stripped bare in front of the entire front office.

I took it a while back but I was still unsure, insecure if the chemical was still in my system.

​My breathing grew shallow, a thin sheen of nervous sweat breaking out across my collarbone that had absolutely nothing to do with the workout we had just finished.

​"Cap? You good?" Miller asked as he passed by, throwing his training jersey into the laundry bin. "You look like you’re staring down a five-minute major."

​"Fine," I forced out, my voice tight and strained. "Just... reviewing the power play unit."

​The second the rest of the players filtered out of the gym, leaving the space empty, a heavy, solid warmth materialized right behind me.

Reid stepped into my personal space, his broad chest blocking the doorway as his thick, grounding scent of frozen pine immediately enveloped me, trying to cut through my rising panic.

​He leaned down, his eyes scanning my rigid shoulders before his mouth hovered just inches from my ear, his voice a low, gravelly vibration meant for me alone.

​"Hey. Stop spiraling, Cap," Reid whispered, his tone incredibly steady and anchoring. "You’re going to give yourself away just by looking like that."

​"Reid, the screening panel," I hissed back, my hands trembling slightly as I kept my back to the security cameras in the hallway. "The contraceptives aren’t like the old blockers. If they run a full hormonal sweep, the system may catch a trace of the contraceptives and then they’ll ask, why is a Beta on plan B pills? Then... Then... The league will find out everything."