My Hockey Alpha novel Chapter 200

Enzo

I couldn’t explain the strange connection I had to this girl named Nina.

She looked almost exactly like Selena; the only differences were that her eyes were brown instead of blue, and she had freckles dotted across her nose and cheeks. She wore her long, dark hair in two braids with bangs at the front, while Selina always had her hair done impeccably by an expensive hair stylist. And Nina dressed in jeans, warm sweaters and beanies, and beat-up Converse sneakers while Selena always dressed in designer clothing that never had any signs of wear.

I had always thought that Selena was my fated mate. And I was happy with that.

And yet, every time I looked at Nina, I couldn’t deny the feeling that washed over me. I felt deeply connected to this girl in some way, and I simply didn’t have any explanation for it. Was this some sort of way to test my loyalty? Was that why Selena brought me here — to make sure that I would stay true to her before we got married? Was Nina planted here by Selena as a way to see if I would fall for another woman?

No matter what the case was, I simply couldn’t help myself from staring at this strange girl; and for some reason, she couldn’t seem to stop staring at me, either.

When I danced with her, I had felt so comfortable. It was as though I had known her for ages, every curve of her body as I placed my hand on her waist, the feeling of her small hand in mine, the sparkle in her brown eyes… But I didn’t know her.

Right?

At the end of the dance, I could have sworn that I overheard her and that other guy talking about me. They kept saying my name, and I couldn’t keep myself from getting curious. While Selena was primping in the bathroom, I finally couldn’t help it anymore and wound up going up to Nina to ask why she kept saying my name, but she seemed to think that I was just playing a practical joke on her.

At first, I told myself that maybe she just happened to know someone else by the name of Enzo — but the more I thought about it, and the more it impacted my sleep, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was something else to this.

In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I realized just how hazy my memories were before the battle against the Crescents. I thought that it was just post traumatic stress from the fighting, but I couldn’t even really remember the fighting. Instead, when I slept at night, I remembered an antidote. I remembered water raining down on top of me, and the sound of snarling rogues turning to the voices of confused and frightened people. I didn’t remember any fighting at all.

Two nights after the dance, with all of these things swirling around inside my head, I couldn’t sleep. Selena was sound asleep beside me — even snoring softly — and so I quietly got up and put on a sweatshirt and my shoes, then headed out to go for a walk and clear my head.

I walked around for a little bit, just enjoying the peace and quiet of the cold night, until I finally sat down on the edge of a fountain in the quad. The water seemed to be shut off for the season, so it was completely quiet there.

At least, it was quiet until I heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

I quickly looked up, not expecting to see anyone of importance, but that wasn’t the case.

“It’s that girl,” Fio, my wolf, said inside of me. He had taken a particular liking to Nina as well, but he couldn’t explain it either. “Talk to her.”

“No,” I replied. “I shouldn’t. Selena will get mad.”

But even then, as she approached, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her. She looked beautiful in the moonlight, but she also looked like she was in a great deal of emotional pain. And as she came closer, I realized that she was looking at me. There was something in her hands, too: a gray wolf plushie. She had it clutched tightly to her chest like a scared child.

Neither of us spoke. It felt almost magnetic; the closer she came, the more I felt the need to stand and approach her as well, and soon we were walking toward each other with our gazes fixed firmly on one another.