Chapter 96 - The Summer Solstice Festival (3)

The crowd of players in dark gray jerseys that were around Keith formed a line and started a light jog to warm up, leaving a few players to stand on the side and stretch.

Keith used this breather to join Talia and Lulu on the bench, but before Keith could reach the bench, a teenage girl approached him with haste. "Coach!"

Keith looked behind her like he was expecting someone, and then he asked the girl, "Where is Rosie?"

"I'm sorry, coach, but my sister found her mate last night."

Keith's face fell. "Does that mean she won't make it?"

The girl looked at Keith and shook her head guiltily. She pushed some things into his hands, mumbled an apology, and left.

Keith dragged his feet to the bench and plopped on it. "I hope this is not a sign of how the rest of the day will go."

"Who is Rosie?", Talia asked Lulu in a whisper.

"She is our team spirit.", Lulu responded and pointed at things in Keith's hand. "Those are parts of her costume."

Talia didn't get it. A team spirit with a costume?

Keith rubbed his face irritably before adding to Lulu's explanation, "Rosie was practicing our cheering dance. If I knew this would happen, I would get a few more girls to practice as a backup."

He was frustrated to make this rookie mistake. But this was his first year to be the main coach. So far, Keith was assisting the previous coach who decided four months ago that he wants to travel the world, leaving Keith to manage all these sport-ish activities in the pack.

Keith was knowledgeable about the game, strategies, and training players, and he focused on those aspects which made it easy to miss the miscellaneous things that are part of the whole experience. He really needed a team manager.

Seeing that Talia was looking at him blankly, Keith pointed to the other side of the field, where another team was warming up. "Do you see that girl in the blue skirt?" Talia nodded, and Keith continued, "She is the team spirit for their team. Every team has one, and now we don't."

Keith hid his face in his palms and let out a string of unintelligible sounds that was a mix of groans and curses.

Talia wanted to comfort him, but she didn't know what to say, so she kept quiet.

"Aren't you giving up too early?", Lulu asked Keith.

"Game starts in ten minutes. Where will I find a cute girl that doesn't have other plans, and can learn the routine?", Keith grumbled.

"Is routine necessary? As for a cute girl who is available, we have one right here…"

Talia's face fell when she realized that Lulu was talking about her.

Before Talia could object, Keith was looking at her with sparkles in his eyes. "Talia, you need to do this, for the team. For the pack."

"Do, what, exactly?", Talia asked robotically.

Without a word, Keith placed a headband on her head. It had black wolf ears.

"Give me your hands. These are your paws…" he put fingerless gloves on Talia, and while she was looking at her now furry hands, Keith reached into the sports bag that was on the ground, next to the bench.

Talia didn't move a muscle when Keith pulled over her head a dark gray jersey with number 0 on it which was big enough to fit over Talia's clothes and have additional space.

Keith adjusted the headband that was on Talia's head and hummed in approval. "Now you are the spirit of Dark Howlers team. Perfect."

And just like that, Talia became the team spirit.

'Everyone!', Keith mind-linked team members. 'Rosie is out, but Talia agreed to be our team spirit. Let's show her our support and she will give us hers.'

"Awoooo!" Howls erupted from the field, and even Lulu and Keith were part of the sudden noise and Talia shrunk.

What the heck was going on? She came to check out the festival and watch the game. How did she end up in a costume? If she knew it will come to this, Talia would stick to her seat in the audience and not come to the field.

Keith put his hand on Talia's back. "They are happy to have you here as our team spirit. We all are."

"I don't know how to be a team spirit.", Talia said weakly while brainstorming exit strategies.

"Cheer for us to win. Think of it as moral support. Other than that, you need to be cute, and you have that covered." Keith ended with a wink, and Talia felt her cheeks warming.

Keith said that she is cute. That was a first. No one ever called her cute and Talia was not sure how to respond.

Should she thank him for the compliment? What if he didn't mean it and she makes a fool of herself when she thanks him?

Before she could think of something to say, Keith was on his feet, and he was shouting instructions at two people in dark gray jerseys who just came to the field. The game still didn't start, but they were late for warmup.

Talia was totally out of her comfort zone with this whole team spirit thing, but Keith was her personal trainer, and he was nice to her, and if she could help him out by wearing this costume, she was determined to go through it. Well, at least she will try.

"Congratulations on becoming the team spirit.", a man said while plopping on the bench next to Talia and she jolted in fright.

"Doctor Travis!", Talia exclaimed when she recognized the newcomer.

Talia was happy to see another familiar friendly face!

Travis rubbed his eyes and looked at the field. He was holding onto a disposable cup and Talia picked up the scent of coffee.

"Is the hospital busy?", Lulu asked.

Travis nodded. "It's crazy since last night. Luckily, it was just a bunch of cuts and bruises with a few broken bones and no casualties other than my sleep. Cathy was supposed to come with me, but she is sleeping in the staff room, and I couldn't wake her up. We all had a sleepless night."

Travis threw a side-glance at Talia who was looking at him with sparkles in her eyes. "Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have something on my face?"

"Uhm… no… it's just…", Talia stumbled over her words. Waah! If she tells him that she is happy to see him, he might misunderstand. "I didn't know you will be here."

Travis smiled at Talia who was completely flustered, but he didn't want to tease her. He gestured toward the group of players that formed a semi-circle in front of Keith. "Someone needs to fix them up." He looked at Talia with amusement. "How did you become the team spirit?"

Talia looked at her fuzzy hands helplessly. "The original team spirit found her mate and couldn't come, and they needed someone, and I was here so…"

Travis stifled a laugh. Talia was obviously uncomfortable but pushing herself to do it.

"You will do great. Don't worry about it. It's just about shouting 'GO HOWLERS' and doing a few cartwheels when we score a goal.", Travis said to Talia and then he yawned.

Talia thought that she is going to pass out. "What?"

Lulu giggled. "He is messing with you. You don't need to do cartwheels, but shouting is encouraged."

Talia shrunk between Travis and Lulu while wishing for an invisibility spell.

Several more people got onto the field, each wearing completely black outfits and Lulu told Talia that those are referees. "Coaches take turns being referees with the rule that one can't be a referee when his team is playing…"

Talia was grateful for the explanations that Lulu provided. It helped her understand what's going on.

…

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Up in the VIP area, Damon took seats with his guests, and he glared at Maya with displeasure which Maya caught, but she pretended that she didn't notice.

She knew that Damon wanted her to go and find Talia, but Talia is not a child, and Maya was confident that Talia will manage.

However, Maya felt guilty because she would go and find Talia if not for Damon's stubborn insistence without any explanation.

If Damon said that he cares about Talia, that he was worried about her, or anything... it would be different, but Damon was in his dictator-mode where he would boss people around and Maya didn't like it because matters of the heart can't be forced, and his behavior was contradicting everything a mate should do. If Maya didn't witness Damon cuddling with sleeping Talia in the back seat of the car on the day when they left the Red Moon pack, Maya would never guess that Talia is Damon's mate.

It took Maya a few deep breaths to push aside the negativity that Damon caused and to focus on Talia and check where she was.

Considering that Keith was one of the few people Talia knew, Maya guessed that Talia will be with him and a few players she met in the training center. After all, they talked about watching games and Keith mentioned securing seats for them.

Maya stood up and looked at the field, where the home team was. Thanks to her werewolf-enhanced vision, it took Maya only a few seconds to spot Talia sitting on the bench between Travis and Lulu and she smiled when she saw a pair of fuzzy black ears on top of Talia's head.

Since Travis was one of the few people who were familiar with Talia's circumstances, Maya mind-linked him, 'Let me know when Talia wants to leave the field. She is new and I want to keep an eye on her.'

'Of course, Beta Maya', Travis responded right away.

Satisfied with this, Maya went to sit next to Caden while ignoring Damon's glare.

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