My Hockey Alpha novel Chapter 114

Nina

It was almost as if something possessed Enzo when he tried to kiss me in the locker room. At that very same time, I felt Cora’s presence inside of me. As I watched him walk away, I could feel her sadness permeate through me.

“What was that?” I said out loud once I was alone.

“I’m really sorry,” Cora said, “but I wanted to test something. I released a little bit of my scent to see if it would attract him, and it did.”

I shook my head. “First of all, warn me before you do that next time,” I replied in my mind after realizing that I would seem utterly insane if someone came in and saw me talking to myself. “Second… Does that mean I’m his mate after all?”

“Not necessarily, but it is interesting. I’d like to try it again, if I can gather the strength.”

I bit my lip, thinking about Cora’s proposition as I gathered my medical supplies and walked out of the locker room into the completely empty arena. Her proposition was tempting, but… Maybe Enzo was right about his fated mate. If this mystery woman really was his fated mate, then maybe it would be cruel of me to try to drive them apart.

…

That night, I went to work at the diner. It felt nice to return to a shred of normalcy as I walked around taking orders and cleaning tables, and it was just busy enough to keep me occupied instead of thinking too much about Edward and Enzo.

Toward the end of my shift, however, James came in and sat at the counter. I hadn’t seen him at all since I overheard him in Edward’s house. He seemed a little haggard, and looked like he was wearing yesterday’s clothes, which was out of the ordinary for him as he was normally very clean and put-together.

“Hey,” I said, hesitantly approaching as my mind raced with a million possibilities. Was he secretly working with Edward and was coming to spy on me or lure me elsewhere? Did he know that Edward’s disappearance had something to do with me and he was going to try to get revenge on me for making his secret lover vanish?

But, neither of those things happened.

“Hey,” he replied, sitting down in front of me. “I’m craving a burger.”

I nodded, pulling out my notepad. “One burger coming right up,” I said, jotting his order down and sticking it through the kitchen window for the cook.

James was silent for a moment. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he seemed to be choosing his words very carefully.

“So…” His voice trailed off for a moment before picking back up. “Werewolves, huh? And you knew all along?”

I felt my face get hot. James, likely seeing how red I became, offered a friendly smile. “It’s okay. I’m just curious.”

“Um… Yeah,” I replied. I rubbed the back of my neck nervously and let out a tense chuckle. “Pretty crazy, huh?”

Much to my surprise, James merely shrugged. “I guess. Although, I always wondered what was up with those physical fitness records.”

The mention of the physical fitness records reminded me of the times that James had shown them to me. Aside from Tiffany, who apparently knew all along and never would have revealed something like that, only James and I had access to these records. Was it possible that James was the one who posted the files online?

“Speaking of those files,” I said, “You last had them, right? Do you think there’s a chance someone stole them or something? I mean, it’s a pretty big deal for this to get out.”

James narrowed his eyes then. “You don’t seriously think that I was the one who snitched, do you?” he replied, poking his index finger into the center of his chest and giving me an incredulous look. “You guys are my friends. I would never do something like that.”

I shook my head vehemently, feeling a little stupid now for even assuming such a thing. James, despite his apparent hidden relationship with Edward, had done nothing except being an extremely good friend since I’d met him. He didn’t even seem to be aware that Edward himself was a werewolf -- if anything, James was probably just someone who got mixed up with the wrong man.

“No, of course not,” I reassured him. “I know you wouldn’t do something like that.”

James smiled weakly. Behind me, the cook rang the bell, and I turned around to take James’ burger and placed it on the counter in front of him. When I turned back around, however, I saw another unexpected guest walk in through the door: Enzo.

A lump rose in my throat. Was he going to come in and accuse me of flirting with James now, just like he had with Matt?

“Should I release a little scent?” Cora asked.

“No!” I abruptly replied out loud without thinking. Both James and Enzo suddenly looked at me with confusion on their faces.

“Huh?” James asked, his mouth full of burger.