My Hockey Alpha

Nina

My heart shattered into a million pieces when Enzo left.

I wasn’t sure exactly how long I spent curled up on the floor of my bedroom after he walked out. Why did he sleep with me if he knew that it was a bad idea? Why would he knowingly break my heart like this? I didn’t fully know or understand the answers to these questions, but I had no choice but to move on with my life. At least I could take some solace in the fact that my family would be home soon and would no longer be at risk of danger, but the concept of not even having Enzo as a friend anymore broke my heart even further.

At some points during the next few days, I wished that I had just gone overseas with my mom and my brother. Thankfully, however, I still had my friends; I kept reminding myself of that every time I started to resent Enzo for what he did. At the very least, I still had Lori, Jessica, and Tiffany.

I still had my job, too. I picked up a few extra shifts at the diner to keep myself busy.

However, I quickly came to realize that even the diner wasn’t a safe zone when I was working one day and suddenly heard the door open, only to look up and see Enzo standing in front of me.

I felt my heart drop.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, my fist shaking as I gripped the dishcloth I was holding so tightly as though it was my only lifeline. Even just seeing Enzo made me feel as though I would break down and begin sobbing.

“Nina, I really need to talk to you,” he said frantically as he walked toward me. “Please. It’s really important.”

I frowned and folded my arms across my chest. Instead of looking him in the eyes, I stared directly at his chin, unable to bring myself to meet his gaze.

“What is it?”

“Can I talk to you outside?” he asked. “Please.”

pleading on his face and a sense of urgency in his eyes.

to the parking lot, then stopped and turned to face

power of Claiming,” he

eyebrow. “The

with just a touch. You accidentally turned Matt

I rolled my eyes at him, then turned on my heel. “I really

face. “I’m dead serious,” he muttered. “Look, I know I’ve been an asshole, but we really need you right now. The team wants you to turn them all so they can play during the final match. If they can’t play with me, I’ll be stuck with an inexperienced

eyes searching his face for some hint of humor — but there was none. I could tell

be willing to help him so easily

away and frowned. “No,” I said. “Find someone else to help you. When you left me the other day, you forsook any future opportunities for my help or friendship. Get lost.” I turned then and began

then fine. But if you do, meet us there. I’m begging you, Nina. We can’t do this without you. We need

lip as Enzo’s pleas sunk in. Part of me wanted to give him the finger and go back inside, but I couldn’t deny the fact

“Fine,” I muttered. “Midnight.”

…

a mistake by opening myself up to Enzo again, I finally decided that it was truly best for the town if I just helped them. So, shortly before midnight, I got dressed and headed out to

jerked his head up when he saw me, then came

thank you enough for

to

to the team. They were all sitting around the fire. Some of them looked frightened, but most of