Page 186 of Blackwood

“Well, how about we dial back the girl chat and get a little more dancing, yeah?” Knox says, dry as ever. “You’re supposed to be hyping up the Wolves, not hosting late a night podcast.”

Ellie groans. “Ugh, buzzkill, you’re no fun. We haven’t seen Hughy all summer!”

Bella sighs, “Sorry, Hughy… duty calls.”

And with that, all three of them take off toward the student section while the rest of The Legacy gets into formation on the field.

Knox shakes his head and as he walks off. An exasperated mutter comes over the speakers one last time, “I swear to God, these girls…”

Dad shakes his head in disbelief. “What was that?”

I laugh. “That was part of the show. They don’t just dance. They runthe field. Interact with the crowd during timeouts, halftime, you name it.”

The second the girls take their places in front of the student section. Bella motions for them all to sit down. They listen to her.

Cade leans over beside me, watching the crowd sit down with a brow arched. “I guess they all know something we don’t.”

Pitbull’s “I Believe That We Will Win” hits the speakers—loud, electric, and pulsing with adrenaline. The Trifecta doesn’t move at first. Bella just steps forward, and lips Pitbull’s lines to the student section.

Her mouth syncs perfectly to the lyrics about fear and what they are going to do about it. She paces in front of the students, eyes fierce, chin high, and locking eyes with the shirtless Order guys on the front row with W-O-L-V-E-S painted on their chests.

When she gets to the end of the line and mouthsand rise, the three girls all motion for the students to stand up like a damn pastor calling the invitation at the end of a sermon.

The crowd stands and completely erupts.“I Believe!”chants thunder from the student section to the top row. Fans bang on bleachers. Flags wave. The little girl with the Bella sign loses her shit. Even the damn concession guys stop what they’re doing.

Dad leans forward, wide-eyed. “Holy fuck, son your girl…” He shakes his head, grinning like a lunatic. “Goddamn.”

“Yeah. She does that,” I mutter, jaw ticking with a twisted kind of pride.

The girls run to the field and take their places in front of Josh, Drake, and Sam. The guys lift them in the air as the next round of chants begin.While the guys hoist them into the air, the girls point toward the tunnel and the stadium detonates.

The Wexley Wolves burst onto the field like an army breaking formation. Helmets flashing under the floodlights. Smoke cannons firing from the end zone. The crowd goes feral. Drums, chants, horns, and thousands of voices vibrating the bleachers.

Bella’s the first to hit the turf. She and the girls sprint toward the Wolves’ huddle, sneakers kicking up turf pellets and static under the lights. She slips right between the shoulder pads and helmets like she belongs there. Like the entire goddamn team takes orders from her.

The beat hits that line about showing up and showing out and she doesn’t hesitate. She grabs August by the chest pads and yanks him down so they’re face-to-face. The crowd’s roaring, cameras flashing, but all I see is her—wild, fearless, commanding.

She shouts something in his ear, pure fire and authority, and August just grins and nods like a soldier taking orders from his general.

And I swear to God, I’ve never seen anything hotter in my life.

Across the field, the Titans look like they’re going to shit their pants. Well, some of them at least.

Not my Hollow Kings brothers. DeShawn and Chase are on the sideline hyping themselves up like the psychos they are. Rez just has his eyes focused on Bella, shaking his head and grinning from ear to ear. Bastard.

The huddle breaks into synchronized jumps, fire in their eyes and of fucking course it’s Callumwho is jumping with my girl in his arms like he’s king of the world.

“Fuck that guy,” I mutter under my breath.

Dad laughs, clapping once. “Well, that’s one way to start a damn game.”

The refs head toward midfield, the Wolves and the Titans following in behind him. The captains line up for the coin toss.. All eyes shift to the center of the field.

Except mine.

Because The Trifecta just disappeared into a black tent on the sideline like they’re pulling off some sort of magic trick. Rico screaming in Spanish so loudly we can hear his dramatic ass from here.

Dad leans forward, squinting. “What is that? Where’d they go?”