My Hockey Alpha



Chapter 0759

Nina

I awoke with a sharp gasp, my heart pounding against the inside of my ribcage as the last remnants of my dream faded away. I could still see his face in front of me-Enzo's. I could still see the way his eyes were filled with betrayal.

It made me shudder, and instantly I knew that tonight was going to be like all of the others: sleep was going to elude me.

Throwing back the sheets with a sigh, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and sat there for a moment, rubbing my tired eyes. The past few nights had been like this, fraught with nightmares and sleeplessness.

With a frustrated groan, I rose to my feet, padding across the room toward the large window that overlooked the grounds. Pale moonlight filtered through the glass, casting everything in shades of silver and blue.

I stood there for a few moments, just looking out over my father's estate. The chilly night air soothed my hot skin, just like it had for the past few days.

Three days. It had been three days since Enzo had officially left, and I hadn't seen or heard hide nor hair of him. The last I had seen of him was that one solemn look over his shoulder before he walked off into the forest, and then he had just... vanished.

I couldn't help but wonder where he had gone. My father had banished him, so maybe he had returned to Mountainview somehow. But I doubted our friends would welcome him with open arms, either.

Even Matt, Enzo's most loyal friend, had been disgusted by him.

With another sigh, I grabbed my robe and wrapped it around myself. I needed to walk around a bit; maybe that would help soothe my pain.

I found myself wandering downstairs and into the kitchen, hoping that a cup of hot tea might help. Or anything to distract myself, really.

But I froze when I saw a familiar shadow standing in the kitchen.

"Tyler? What are you doing up?" I asked.

"Ha. I could ask you the same thing," he murmured.

I shrugged as I sank into one of the chairs at the kitchen table. "Couldn't sleep. Bad dreams."

Tyler studied me from where he stood for a long moment, his brow furrowed in concern. "You look a bit more out of it than just 'bad dreams'," he said softly. "You were dreaming about him, weren't you?"

I opened my mouth, surprised by Tyler's candor. Gone were the days, I supposed, of Tyler being the goofy younger brother. He was an adult now, and more astute than I would have liked him to be at that moment.

"You'd be right," I said, numbly staring down at my lap. "Every night, I dream about him."

His expression softened, and he walked around the table to meet me. "I'm so sorry, Nina. I wish I could help."

I let out a wry chuckle. "There's nothing you can do," I said. "I keep going over everything that happened, trying to figure out if there was something I could have done differently..."

"Hey." Tyler's voice was gentle but firm as he spoke. "None of this was your fault, you hear me? Whatever happened, Enzo made his own choices. You didn't do anything to deserve this."

I nodded, sniffling as I struggled to keep my tears from spilling over. He was right, or at least, he seemed to think

So.

I, on the other hand, wasn't so sure. The word 'choices' just didn't seem so... right in this situation. Whatever darkness had clouded Enzo's mind didn't feel voluntary.

But there was nothing I could do. He hated me, and I had no idea where he was, and my father wanted me here,

where it was 'safe'.

"You know what might help take your mind off things?" Tyler suddenly asked, breaking the silence. "A change of scenery. Why don't we get out of this stuffy old mansion for a while?"

I quirked an eyebrow at him. "And just where did you have in mind?"

A mischievous grin spread across his lips. "Trust me; I know just the place."

"I found this place a few months back," Tyler murmured, tugging a worn quilt from his pack and spreading it out on the ground. "I like to come here when Mom fusses over me too much."

I couldn't help but smile as I sat down beside him, looking up at the stars. The small forest clearing out behind my father's mansion wasn't anything particularly special, but it was peaceful and the cool air was refreshing.

"Thanks for bringing me to your secret hideaway, then," I said with a soft smile, laying back on the picnic blanket. Tyler chuckled. "Sure beats staring at the inside of your eyelids, right?"noveldrama

I laughed softly, shooting a sideways glance at my brother. "I guess you have a point."

For a while, neither of us spoke. We laid there in companionable silence, just enjoying the quiet of the night, the chirping of the crickets, and the twinkling stars overhead. A soft breeze ruffled the leaves on the trees and sent goosebumps down my bare arms.

But eventually, the question that had been weighing so heavily on me bubbled up to the surface, and I couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Do you think he'll come back?"

I felt him shift beside me, rolling onto his side to face me fully. "I think you know the answer already, Nina." Tears burned in my eyes at his words. "But I don't know. He wasn't... He wasn't himself. Something happened, and

"You two are fated mates. What do you think 'fate' means?" Tyler asked.

I swallowed, sitting up. "But he rejected me as his mate. We're not fated anymore."

"Why, then, do you still love him if your connection was supposedly severed?"

A quiet sob escaped my lips at Tyler's words. He was right; the connection was still there, somewhere, somehow. Maybe Enzo hadn't fully severed it. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part.

without a word, Tyler scooched closer to me and wrapped a lanky arm around me, pulling me close. Neither of us spoke for the rest of our time beneath the stars.

Not that there was anything left to say.

With a yawn, I walked up to my bedroom door and swung the door open. After a couple of hours of stargazing and talking to my brother, I was finally ready for bed or at least, what sleep I could manage to get before the sun inevitably rose in an hour.

But as I opened the door I gasped, stumbling backwards in the doorway; there, silhouetted in the window of my bedchamber, was the unmistakable figure of a man.

Instinctively, I went to scream, but my voice promptly caught in my throat when the figure lunged forward and a familiar hand caught my wrist.

"Luke?" I hissed as he pulled me into the room, shutting the door behind me.

He released his grip on me, and as I flicked on the light, those features I knew so well came into view. Only this time, they were drawn with concern.

"Nina, we need to talk."