My Hockey Alpha novel Chapter 51

Nina

I went to work that night with a smile on my face. It felt good to get back to work, and the diner was surprisingly busy, which kept me busy after spending so much time in my head for the past couple of weeks. It was refreshing to feel like my life was getting back to some sense of normalcy; no Lisa, no skeleton bodyguard as far as I could see, and no strange attacks from feral werewolves.

Halfway through my shift, however, it seemed that the universe simply couldn’t exist without throwing some sort of drama in my face.

I was cleaning up dishes and wiping down tables after the dinner rush. It was quiet in the diner now, with only a few people seated here and there. I was whistling along to the music playing on the radio, and smiling to myself, just happy to be back in my old routine.

My smile faded when I heard the bell on the door jingle and looked up to see a familiar face walk through the door.

It wasn’t Enzo, or Justin, or Lisa, or even Luke. If it had been any of them, I would’ve been annoyed.

Instead, I was terrified.

It was K.

I knew he came looking for me specifically, and that this wasn’t just a crazy coincidence, when he walked in and immediately looked directly at me.

Seeing his face nearly made me drop the bin of dirty plates I was holding, but I somehow managed to maintain my composure.

“S-Sit anywhere you like,” I said with a forced smile despite my racing heart. “I’ll be right with you.”

K smiled back and nodded, taking a seat at a booth in the corner. I took a deep breath and scurried into the kitchen, setting down the bin of dishes next to the dishwashing station and smoothing down my apron with shaking hands.

Part of me considered running. The back door beckoned to me; I could just run out of the diner and never come back… but I really needed this job.

I considered calling Enzo as well, but I also couldn’t do that for two reasons: for starters, my phone was in my bag, which was under the counter out front, meaning that K could potentially see me calling for help and do something horrible. I barely knew this guy, and it seemed as though he was stalking me if he knew where I worked and exactly what time I would be on shift… Hell, for all I knew, he could’ve been a mass murderer of humans, not just werewolves!

Besides, I couldn’t tell Enzo because then Enzo would think that I had been in cahoots with a supposed werewolf hunter. K might’ve killed someone that Enzo knew personally; there was no way of knowing, and there was no way I could tell him about my meeting with K.

I was stuck talking to K.

Telling myself that this was all just a big coincidence, I steeled my nerves and headed out into the dining area.

Time felt as though it was moving in slow motion as I made my way over to K’s table. The whole way there, he was staring directly at me -- unblinking, unmoving. Like a hawk waiting to strike its prey.

“F-Fancy seeing you again,” I said, taking out my notepad to take his order. “W-What can I get for you?”

“No theatrics,” K said abruptly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a folded up piece of newspaper. He unfolded it and smoothed it down on the table, then slid it to me. “You still not interested in having your Lycan problem solved?”

With shaking hands, I reached out and took the paper, my eyes widening as I read the headline.

“BREAKING NEWS: Hiker finds man brutally murdered in abandoned house on Newburgh hiking trails -- Locals claim supposed ‘werewolf’ attack.”

My hands started shaking even more. I raised my gaze up from the paper.