My Hockey Alpha novel Chapter 269

Nina

I watched Enzo storm off in the direction of the hockey arena. He was clearly angry, and if I was being honest, I was angry as well because of the nasty things he had said. I didn’t think that he fully meant what he said, but it still hurt nonetheless and I had to blink back a few more tears.

“Enzo!” I called. “Enzo!” But he didn’t turn around. With a sigh, I turned back to face the recruits, who were now standing around me with confused expressions on their faces. I had no idea how to train them, and I felt like I was left with a job that I wasn’t qualified for.

“Um… Should we go home?” one guy asked, scratching his head confusedly.

I sighed again and glanced at the time on my phone; there was still supposed to be another half hour of practice, and we really didn’t have enough time to be ending training sessions early because of arguments. Enzo was telling the truth when he said that the Crescents — or the Luna’s special rogues, or whoever we were really fighting against at this point — could show up at any time, and we needed to prepare.

“Um…” I felt myself getting nervous already just from the fifty recruits staring silently at me. “Let’s just finish up with training for the day,” I said. “How about… Everyone, line up over there, by that cone, and I’m gonna have you take turns running to the end.”

The recruits all groaned, almost in unison, but lined up at the cone I was pointing at nonetheless. I scooped up Enzo’s discarded stopwatch off of the damp grass and clicked it on.

“Okay,” I said, walking over to meet the recruits. “On the count of three, I want the first person in line to sprint to the end and weave between the cones, turn around, and come back. Tap the next person on the shoulder when you get back and then that person can go immediately. Okay? Three… Two… One!”

The first recruit, a girl, took off running through the cones. But her legs were tired and shaky, and she kept slipping on the grass. When she whipped around at the end, she slipped in the wet grass and fell with a yelp. Pausing the stopwatch, I ran over to her and helped her up.

“You okay?” I asked, to which the girl nodded tearfully. I bit my lip, thinking, as I realized what the issue was; these students didn’t know how to channel their wolf’s energy. I could tell that it came naturally to some, but not to all of them. I decided then and there that I needed to help them learn how to channel their wolf’s energy if they wanted to perform well, so I waved them all over and began to give them instructions.

“When you’re running, you sort of need to let go of your own inhibitions and put your trust in your wolf,” I said, pacing back and forth in front of the students as I struggled to put into words how it was done. “If you don’t trust your wolf, then it won’t work. You and your wolf aren’t really the same consciousness; you have to work together. Everyone, I want you to close your eyes and try talking to your wolf now.”

The recruits all looked at each other confusedly before they closed their eyes one by one. I watched as they seemingly struggled for a few moments. Then, one girl suddenly popped her eyes open and grinned widely.

“I did it!” she exclaimed. “My wolf’s name is Freya!”

After the first girl spoke, the other recruits slowly began to open their eyes and smile. Even just as they stood there, they appeared to fill with more vigor than before.