My Hockey Alpha

Nina

The last thing I saw before Selena shoved me through the portal was Enzo’s pained face staring back at me.

Then, suddenly, I was back in my home realm. I was exactly where Edward had first taken me through the portal before, but before I could even collect my bearings, I was alerted by the sound of a rogue’s howl coming from the direction of the campus. I had to move and get somewhere safe before I could do anything else, no matter how long I wanted to spend writhing on the forest floor in sadness. The rogue howled again, but sounded a little closer this time.

I cursed under my breath and scrambled to my feet, whipping my head this way and that frantically before I decided to run in the direction of the town. The campus was likely crawling with rogues now, and although I wanted to go back and search for my friends, my best bet was to go where there would be fewer rogues for now, and where Lisa and Ronan would be least likely to be wandering around. Not only that, but hopefully I could find supplies.

As I ran, the thought of the gun shop just outside town where I went before crossed my mind. However, as I thought about the possibility of shooting and killing any of my friends or classmates, I decided that I’d rather try my luck hiding out until the Fullmoons came to help… If they were still coming to help.

The closer I got to town, the more I realized that there was a very good chance that the Fullmoons would lose against the Crescents even if they did come. With this many rogues on the loose, I wasn’t sure how well even the Fullmoons would fare if they tried to fight. Would they give up on the town entirely?

The town started to come into view. I slowed down my pace and took more caution as I made my way through the woods, always on the constant lookout for rogues or Crescents. Thankfully, it was mostly quiet; until I got to town.

When I got to town, I nearly let out a yelp of surprise when a rogue walked right past the building I was about to come out from behind. I quickly clapped a hand over my mouth, pressing my body against the wall of the alleyway. I didn’t even breathe.

I could hear the rogue’s slow, ragged breaths. Even though I held my breath, I could still smell its fetid stench. It lingered in front of the building, sniffing the air. I couldn’t move; I could only squeeze my eyes shut and try not to cry.

swore that it could hear my racing heart

a distant gunshot. So did the rogue, who suddenly stopped its sniffing and let out a loud, keening howl before

shot it from,

I finally released my breath and let out a sigh of relief before slowly poking my head out from between the

but wreckage. Shop windows were shattered, debris lined the streets, and cars were left abandoned in the middle of the road. The little town that had once been a lively place filled

trash cans as I crossed the street toward the abandoned convenience store. I

of a shelf, ripped the tag off, and then

the bag with first aid supplies when I suddenly heard the sound of broken glass crunching underfoot. Without a moment of hesitation, I quickly darted behind a shelf and crouched down; a human

outside. Then, my heart leaped into my throat as I heard the door open, causing the little bell to tinkle against the

the little store. There was the sound of the stranger taking some things off of shelves and

for the door and run as fast as I could… But, as I shifted in my crouched position, I made the grave

sound of a

I have

knew that

“J-James?” I called out.

“Nina?”