My Hockey Alpha



Chapter 0683 Nina

"He'll be okay, Nina. I promise."

Jessica's voice came through the phone loud and clear, reassuring as ever. But despite her insistence, I just wasn't buying it.

"I just... I feel like something is going to go wrong," I found myself saying. "Is that crazy?"

"Yes, Yes, it is." That was Lori that time. She was sitting in the background of the FaceTime call, eating a peanut butter sandwich. Normally, her matter-of-fact attitude would have made me laugh, but not today.

"Lori," Jessica hissed, smacking her in the leg. "Rude."

I let out a soft sigh. "No, no, she's right," I said. "I'm just hormonal, I think. The doctor warned me of this. He'll be home first thing in the morning."

"And he's staying home this time?" Jessica asked. "He's not taking the job after all, is he?"

"I think he's staying." I paused, biting my lip. It broke my heart a bit that he wasn't taking his dream job, but it had ultimately been his decision to turn it down. Maybe it would be for the best. "Is it bad that I'm a little relieved?" I blurted out.

Jessica and Lori shrugged in unison. "It's not bad," Lori said. "You're pregnant. Oh, and your life is like one big movie. You never know when danger is on its way."

Now, I finally laughed. Lori was right; sometimes, it felt as if the moment one thing cleared up, more danger found its way to me. I felt like a magnet sometimes, always attracting some sort of drama. But I wouldn't have it any other way, really.

"Yeah," I finally said. "Maybe it's for the best if we're together during this pregnancy."

"Honestly," Jessica chimed in, "he should be with you throughout the pregnancy anyway. We know you love your independence, Nina, but he made a good decision in sticking with you instead of taking that job. You need each other right now."

I let out another sigh. Once again, my friends were spot on. Enzo and I did need each other at the end of the day, and maybe it wasn't so wrong for me to feel relieved that he was staying. I just felt like a bit of a fool for pleading with him to take the job when he had expressed his reluctance earlier.

Maybe then, if I had only let him carve his own path and make his own choices instead of strong-arming him into following his dreams', none of this would have happened.

"Yeah," I finally said, chuckling wryly. "I guess you're right."

The day passed with no word from Enzo. I kept checking my phone, hoping that maybe he would text or call at some point, but he never did. Figuring that he was busy, though, I decided not to bother him, instead opting to spend the day avoiding the heat and watching movies inside.

The sun had just finished its nightly descent behind the horizon, and I was curled up cozily beneath a blanket in bed, watching an old movie on my laptop that I had seen a hundred times before.

It was a comfort movie of mine, a cheesy romance about a professor and her PhD student. I was laughing along to a scene, tears in my eyes and a half-eaten bowl of popcorn sitting beside me.

And that was when it happened.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when a sudden, frantic tweeting followed by sharp tapping erupted just outside the window. Popcorn went flying, and I felt my heart pound in my chest.

Whirling around, I spotted a familiar red bird pecking violently at the glass pane. Her usually melodic chirps came out shrill, almost panicked.

It was Daphne. Something was very wrong.

I rushed over and fumbled with the latch, finally flinging the window open. Daphine immediately fluttered inside,novelbin

circling the room in a red feathered frenzy before shifting abruptly back into her petite human form, her ginger hair falling haphazardly into her eyes.

"Oh Nina, thank god!" She rushed over to me and grasped my shoulders in both hands, her eyes wide with dread. "The wolf, he's outside!"

My blood turned to ice. "W What?" I stammered. "You mean the yellow-eyed one?"

Daphne nodded grimly. She grasped my wrist, yanking me out of sight of the window.

"He's been lurking for a few hours now," she said, her voice dropping to an ominous whisper.

My eyes widened. "What? And you didn't tell me?" I hissed.

Daphne swallowed. "He lurks a lot," she said. "Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so I just watched him. But then... he's not alone anymore, Nina..." Daphne's voice trailed off, a shudder quaking her body. She began chewing her nails nervously.

I furrowed my brow and grabbed her by the shoulders, willing her to gather her wits. "What do you mean, he's not alone?"

She took a deep breath. When she spoke, her words tumbled out like an avalanche. "He was alone all this time, but then... All of a sudden, a bunch of other wolves emerged from the woods. A dozen of them, including the yellow-eyed wolf, just surrounded the house. Nina, I think they're planning a break-in."

My lungs constricted, my palms turning clammy at this information. A dozen wolves, surrounding the house? They must have known that Enzo was gone. But why were they coming for me? Were they Crescents?

"Did they see you?" I asked frantically.

Daphne quickly shook her head. "No, thankfully. I don't think they know about me at all."

"Good." I bolted across the room, fumbling around for my cell phone with trembling hands. I figured that if I could just call Luke and the others, they could send backup. If the house was surrounded, then that meant there was no way out for me; even if I shifted, I doubted I could outrun a dozen wolves all on my own.

But Luke, Matt, and the rest of the pack-they could be here in just a few minutes. They could help.

However, before I could dial Luke's number, a high-pitched squeal suddenly filled the air, emanating from nowhere and everywhere at once. I cried out, dropping the phone to cover my ears.

"No no no, not now!" Daphne shouted over the piercing sound.

The lights flickered once, twice then they went out completely, plunging the house into darkness. At the same instant, all noise ceased except the frantic pounding of my heart. No clocks ticking. No familiar hum of the refrigerator.

Just dead silence, and pitch blackness save for the dim light of the moon streaming in through the window.

I felt my way back to Daphne's side, gripping her shoulders tightly. "The landline," I whispered, half-crazed. "It has to work still. If we can just get downstairs-"

Daphne's large, round eyes reflected the small stream of moonlight filtering in through the window. They held a sorrow that squeezed the breath from my lungs.

"They've cut the power, Nina. We're stranded."

My knees wobbled dangerously. No, it couldn't be. How had we let this happen? Who were these wolves, and what the hell did they want with me, with my home?

Suddenly, a guttural howl sounded somewhere from beyond the treeline, echoing in the dark night like a warcry. The wolves had just marked their target.