My Hockey Alpha

Nina

Enzo drove me home that night. As I got off of his motorcycle, I wanted so badly to stay with him. We could drive away on his motorcycle together and never return to this place, but at the same time, I knew that he was right about our relationship. If he truly had a fated mate, it wasn’t my place to tear him away from her.

“Thank you,” I said, standing beside his bike and shivering in the chilly autumn wind. “I appreciate your kindness.”

Enzo simply nodded before driving away. As I watched him go, I blinked away tears.

I returned to my room and tried to get some sleep, but I couldn’t. Every time I fell asleep, I would have relentless nightmares about Edward returning to torture me or kidnap me. Finally, after an hour of tossing and turning, I began to feel claustrophobic in my bedroom and decided to go outside for a bit. As I put on some warm clothes and slipped on my sneakers to go out, I couldn’t help but think that my time spent in Edward’s little dungeon had impacted my ability to be in an enclosed space for very long.

The air was cold and brisk when I went outside, but it felt refreshing on my hot skin, and it was peaceful. With everyone else asleep, the campus was dark and quiet.

I walked for a bit with my hands in my pockets, staring at the ground as I thought about everything. Finally, I looked up at the sky and realized that the stars were clearly visible, so I stopped in one of the campus’s many small parks and laid in the grass. Maybe I could just fall asleep out here — if only that would be a possibility.

My heart started to ache a little bit less as I looked up at the stars. It was funny to think that, just a few months ago, I wasn’t even remotely aware of werewolves, and now it turned out that I actually was one myself. What was even funnier to me was that a few months before that, before I even met Justin, I had absolutely no interest in love and now I was pining away for the exact opposite of the type of guy I would have ever even thought about. I was solely focused on work and school back then. Sometimes, I wished it could just go back to that. It was so much simpler before.

Suddenly, my train of thought was broken by the sound of footsteps echoing on the sidewalk through the quiet night. I lifted my head up to see who was coming, prepared to run or even fight if it was Edward or Lisa, but relaxed as I saw who it was.

Enzo.

“What are you doing out here?” he said, stopping in front of me and blocking my view of the stars from where I lay.

I shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep. Didn’t wanna be inside.”

“You’re not planning on sleeping out here, are you?”

I chuckled. “What are you doing out here?”

Enzo who shrugged. “I saw you through my window. You made me kinda worried. You’re endangering yourself by being out

stay with me, then,” I said, patting the grass next to

the stars, and saw him glance over at me out of the corner of my eye before he tilted his head back and

can see all of Orion tonight,” I said, pointing to the big constellation of the hunter in the sky. I traced my finger along the

grass beside me and following my finger with his

one point, I looked over to see that Enzo was looking at the sky intently and with wonder, almost in a childlike

that

eyes shut, then made my

did you wish

I told

my face start to blush.

asked, pointing at the red

even tighter. It was a delicate scarf that was meant for a woman, not a man. There were little designs stitched into

it in

I know we’re not supposed to be romantically involved, but I still consider you a

My dad sent it to me, as… motivation to win the tournament.

felt a knot form in the pit of my stomach. “Oh,” was all I could say before I rolled back over onto my back and looked up at

time before my curiosity got the best of me, and

blinking away the tears that were beginning to well up

he didn’t want to answer, and rightfully so. But finally, and much to my surprise, he did answer

“It’s… nice,” he said.

“Just nice?”

explain it. It’s like… You know how sometimes you smell something, like a specific soap or a candle,

the stars, praying that he didn’t notice the