My Hockey Alpha

Nina

My eyes widened at my mother’s words. “What?” I asked, momentarily pulling away from Taylor as my hands started to shake. “How do you–”

My mother sighed and bowed her head. She was silent for several long moments that felt like an eternity before looking back up at me with tears in her eyes and speaking again. There’s so much I haven’t told you, Nina,” she said. She patted the seat next to her

I stood there for a few moments, blinking incredulously, before slowly and warily sitting down. My mother turned toward me in her chair and took both of my shaking hands, squeezing them gently as she leaned closer to me.

“I found the baby picture in your room when I went to visit you,” she said, reaching into her pocket with one hand and producing the photograph. I snatched it away and stared at it for several moments before looking back up at her.

“Why didn’t you say anything then?” I asked.

My mother sighed again. “I wanted to be sure before I said anything that might scare you,” she replied, then reached out and tapped the part of the photograph that showed the blanket with the oddly familiar pattern on it.” You were wrapped in that blanket when I found you. This picture was tucked into your basket, too. It was burned like this already, though, if it wasn’t, I would’ve found your real parents by now” I didn’t know what to say.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” my mother said quietly. “I immediately recognized the pattern on the blanket as being something related to werewolves, but I wanted to be completely sure that you were one before I scared you. You never showed any signs of being one, so I thought it was just a coincidence. But when I saw the way Taylor’s condition improved just now, I knew it was because of you. Because of your gifts. They’re finally blossoming.”

“So you’ve known about werewolves all along,” I muttered. And to think that I felt so alone at the beginning of this semester when I first learned about werewolves being real, when I could have had my mother there to guide me. If only she had been open about things with me, I would’ve maybe felt even remotely comfortable telling her about my predicament.

My mother nodded. “I’ve never told anyone. Not even my first husband, before we got divorced when you were little.”

you know?” I

in college When I was

Tiffany’s office; the photograph that contained my mother, looking happier than I had ever seen her. Had the knowledge

I said suddenly “I saw a picture of

watched as my mother’s eyes widened for a moment before she

you tell

“Because…”

I scrambled to my feet and ran to his bedside, grabbing his hand again. As I did,

bit of brown hair out of his eyes.

stared at me for a few long moments as his eyes came into focus before a slight smile

I grabbed a cup of water and lifted his head to help him drink, then laid him back down

hidden my entire life… And she hadn’t even had the decency to ever show me the two things that may have linked me to my past the picture and the blanket with the strange pattern on it None of that mattered now, though. What mattered was that my brother was going to be okay

with a sly smirk

play when we were kids We made up our own superheroes when we were little and would play as them day in and day out, pretending to save the world from evil, only stopping when it was time to go home for dinner. Even as teenagers,

I said, laughing through the tears

came in then with two nurses, interrupting our