My Hockey Alpha

Nina

I woke up the next morning to the feeling of a pounding in my head from all of the alcohol, but more importantly, I woke to the sound of birds singing outside and the feeling of thick, warm arms wrapped around me. A smile spread across my lips as I rolled over and nuzzled into the muscular chest that lay beside me. I laid there for a while, listening to the sound of Enzo’s steady breathing as the memories of what happened the night before slowly flooded back into my mind.

The memories were still hazy from the alcohol, but I remembered dancing at the bar with Enzo. I remembered him kissing me as we danced, and then I remembered the feeling of his hand in mine as we snuck out of the bar together and walked back to my dorm. He tried to say goodnight to me at the door, but I pulled him inside and brought him up to my room, where we fell into a night of passion together for the first real time since the night that we first met and hooked up — only now, after all of the tension and the conflict, it felt even better to be with him.

Just then, Enzo shifted next to me and opened his eyes. I smiled up at him and planted a kiss on his cheek.

“Good morning,” I said softly.

He stared at me for a moment, seemingly processing the events of the previous night just as I did, but his reaction was much different from mine.

He suddenly removed his arms from around me and abruptly got up out of the bed.

I sat up, my eyes wide.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

he muttered as he searched for his pants and then pulled them

and so did he, but… I had thought that he was willing to make that mistake so we could be

were okay with it,” I said, my eyes frantically searching his face. “I thought you wanted to sleep with me, because you cared about

eyes that traveled far deeper than the surface. “That’s why it was such a mistake. By sleeping with you,

and shook my head. “Forget about all of that,” I pleaded. “Can’t we just enjoy one night together? Can’t we just have one night of not thinking about the consequences,

me at that moment,

presence; I know she’ll emerge soon. I can feel it. We could be mates, and then nothing

to say something, anything, but he didn’t say a word for the longest time. It felt like an eternity as I stood

his gaze from the ground to look at me. “I made a deal with my father,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “I promised I would go through with the arranged marriage and that I wouldn’t get involved with you, and in exchange, he promised that he wouldn’t hurt you or your family, and that your mom and

to come, but it caught in

tell me?” I choked

person he wants me to marry is extremely powerful and important, and I don’t have a choice. If I say no, and if I try to be with you, not only would I run the

one who fell silent. Of course he was right. Being together would only put our loved ones, and ourselves, at risk. But, at the same time, I couldn’t take no for