My Hockey Alpha

Nina

I dropped the folding chair in my hand and sprinted over to Enzo while the rogue continued to struggle under him. Enzo looked at me, then seemed to nod as he held the rogue down tightly. I took a deep breath and crouched down.

The rogue wriggled beneath Enzo’s weight, but it was no use. This rogue was a bit smaller than the rest, and Enzo was much stronger, especially since he had the advantage over it. I finally let out the air that was trapped in my lungs as the rogue turned its head, its eyes almost pleading as though the person it once was was still trapped inside, begging me to help. To think that the Crescents knowingly were turning students against their will made me sick, but at least I could help a little bit. I felt as though I regained a bit of my strength since the first rogue I’d turned back into her human form, and I was certain I could turn this one back. I reached out and touched the center of its forehead, right between its eyes.

There was a long, pregnant pause. I began to wonder if it was working at all, and began to feel my spirits sink — but then, the rogue finally shifted back into his human form. It was a boy; a freshman, maybe, judging from the fact that he looked a little younger than I was. He looked around frantically, confusion drawn across his round face, then screamed when he saw Enzo pinning him down. Enzo immediately removed his weight from the boy’s body and I grabbed the boy by the shoulders before he tried to scramble away.

“It’s alright,” I said earnestly and calmly. “Everything will be okay. Go join the rest of the group.”

I pointed over to the group, which had grown in size now that the students from underneath the bleachers had joined. The boy nodded and ran over to them; a girl from the group ran out to meet him and threw her arms around him, sobbing.

Then, as Enzo shifted back, I stood and looked over at the one rogue who we couldn’t save. I wished that I could go back and find a way to keep such a horrible thing from happening, but as the screams and sounds of growls continued outside, I knew that it was bound to happen. I didn’t know how many of our classmates had turned, and I wondered if Lori and Jessica were okay.

While Enzo directed the group to the locker rooms where it was safer, I pulled out my phone and quickly dialed Lori’s number. My heart raced as I waited for her to pick up…

curse escaped my lips along with a choked sob, and suddenly, I felt the comfort of warm arms wrapping around me. Enzo’s scent

he said gently. “Don’t

rattled again. I felt another yelp catch in my throat as Enzo and I stumbled backwards, but we quickly realized that

muffled voice screamed through the door. “Please let me

running over to the door in unison. We moved some of the barricade out of the way as quickly as we could and opened the door just enough for the boy to squeeze through. Right behind him was a rogue; somehow, I managed to slam the door shut just before the rogue barreled into it, nearly knocking it

to see that the boy was sobbing and holding

behind himself. “We have to restrain him before it’s too

surrounding area for something — anything — that we could use to restrain him as snarls began to replace his sobs. Finally, I spotted the supply closet. “Over there!” I said, pointing. “Let’s get him in there.” Enzo nodded — then, just as the boy’s bones began to contort as he started to shift, we rushed at him and grabbed him by either arm, dragging him kicking and struggling over to the supply closet. With a final grunt, Enzo shoved

dude,” Enzo said, sticking a hockey stick through

to find Tiffany,” I said, panting from

look at the back entrance of the arena. “She’s supposed to be in town right now, though,” he said quietly. “Assuming she’s still human,

back to what she had told us about her history with the Peacekeepers. I was certain that she would have known what to do. For all I knew, she

students and protect them,” I said, bending down to tighten the laces on my