My Hockey Alpha

Nina

In the blink of an eye, Tiffany shoved her way up to me and slammed her medical bag down on the floor. In one swift motion, she yanked the glass out of my leg, dumped a bunch of alcohol on it that made me cry out in pain, then wrapped it tightly with gauze and a bandage.

“Sorry,” she muttered when she was finished, standing and closing her medical bag. “Better to get it over with quickly.”

I nodded, still biting my lip from the burn of the alcohol, but I knew that we had to get moving; I also knew that my leg would heal on its own rather quickly.

“Let’s move,” Enzo said to the group, then turned to me with a concerned expression on his face as Tiffany began to lead the group of scared students further into the tunnels. “Can you walk?”

I nodded again, then attempted to hobble forward and felt a shooting pain travel up my leg that made me wince and stagger back against the wall. Without a word, Enzo sighed and turned around, crouching in front of me. “Hop on.”

“I’ll be fine,” I replied.

Enzo shook his head. “That wasn’t a question. I’m carrying you.”

At Enzo’s firm request, I felt my face get a little hot. But, at the same time, the group was getting ahead of us now and we couldn’t be sure how long we would have before the rogues burst through the doors. So, I climbed onto his back and wrapped my arms around his neck. He stood and looped his arms under my legs, then began to follow the group.

“Do you think Matt is okay?” I asked quietly, my voice quivering.

“I don’t know,” Enzo replied. “Maybe, if he didn’t try to fight and just got away instead.”

My mind wandered to Lori and Jessica then. I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out my phone again, but when I tried to dial Jessica’s number, I had no phone service in the tunnels. A small curse escaped my mouth.

“They’ll be okay,” Enzo said softly as he walked. “The Crescents are only biting people… Not killing them. And with Tiffany’s antidote—”

“We don’t know that for sure,” I replied. I felt a tear roll down my cheek, and I didn’t bother to wipe it away. The tunnel began to slope downward. Ahead of us, the group walked solemnly with Tiffany guiding them at the front. I wondered how long it would be before the two students who I managed to shift back would turn back into rogues. Now that I knew that Justin was still a rogue even after I’d shifted him back in the woods all those nights ago, there was no doubt in my mind that my newfound power wasn’t permanent.

tunnels began to twist and turn. With each step, I felt as though my body was being

“Don’t worry. I’m here with you.” His voice was soft and gentle, a far cry from what one would expect from someone who just witnessed the horrors that the Crescents caused. Even though we were making our descent back into the tunnels where we were trapped

a room. I felt a lump rise in my throat as I wondered if that room was the

up to the door and allowed me to slide down from his back. Already, my leg was feeling a little better and I could put more weight on it now. Tiffany shot us both a weak smile as the students gathered in the room and huddled, then pulled a walkie-talkie out of her bag and flicked

as she turned the dials on the walkie-talkie for a few moments before

said into it.

a long silence. I pictured the dean laying dead in her office, or even roaming the campus as a rogue. Tiffany’s shoulders slumped with disappointment the longer

you? Where

I let out a collective sigh

she replied. “I have students with me.

Stay there as long as you can. The campus is crawling with rogues — it’s not safe.

“What’s the plan? Over.”

dean paused before answering. “I don’t know exactly. I’ve just contacted the Fullmoons. They’re sending help, but it’ll be hours before they get here. You have the

had. It’s

another long silence, even longer now than the first one. I felt my heart sink

Tiffany said. “Are you

Still no response.

muttered. “I think we lost

coming to help, but the fact that it would be hours at the very least was no consolation. We were stuck down here, in these dark tunnels, with no food or water aside from the few things Tiffany was able to grab from her office. The students started to murmur

is on the way. We’re safe down here. Let’s

keep watch,” Enzo said quietly.

staying with

me a slight frown, but didn’t protest any further. Tiffany turned and retreated into the room with the students to tend