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.

his pants

did he, but… I had thought that he was willing to make that mistake so we could be together. I climbed out of bed then and

I said, my eyes frantically searching his face. “I thought you wanted to sleep with

Nina,” he replied. As he stared down at me, there was a look of pain in his brown eyes

head. “Forget about all of that,” I pleaded. “Can’t we just enjoy one night together? Can’t we just have one night

I felt as though my entire world came crashing down on me at that moment, and I didn’t even care as I

hearing my wolf and feeling her presence; I know she’ll emerge soon.

anything, but he didn’t say a word for the longest time. It

I would go through with the arranged marriage and that I wouldn’t get involved with you, and in exchange, he

felt a sob start to come, but

tell

shook his head. “I care about you more than anything, Nina,” he said. “I do want to be with you. But… This 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 risk of hurting you in the future when I inevitably start to search for my fated mate, but I will also run the risk of you, your family, and my

was right. Being together would only put our loved ones, and ourselves, at risk. But, at the same time,