My Hockey Alpha

 Chapter 112 Bad Romance

Nina

“Are you working for Edward? Huh?” Enzo snarled.

“What? N-No,” Justin said, squirming in Enzo’s tightening grip. Enzo had him pinned to the wall with a fistful of Justin’s shirt, and while he growled menacingly at Justin, onlookers began to murmur with worry and confusion.

“Enzo,” I said, reaching out and attempting to pry his fingers away from Justin’s shirt collar, “this isn’t like you. Let him go.”

Enzo snapped his head toward me. He glared at me for a long few moments, and I could see the hint of red peeking out through the soft brown of his eyes. He was angry, but there was also a hint of something else in his face. Jealousy. I felt my heart begin to race faster than it already was as our faces lingered closer to one another.

Finally, he tore his eyes away from me. “You’re a coward,” he said to Justin before finally releasing his grip on Justin’s shirt.

I looked over at Justin then, who had an expression on his face that I couldn’t quite read. It almost looked like a mixture of pleasure and confusion, as though the brainwashing Edward had performed on him made him crave Enzo’s fury, but there was another, more innocent, part of him that didn’t understand what was happening. “Come on,” Enzo said to me, putting his arm around my shoulders and guiding me away. “Get away from this guy.”

I followed Enzo for a few steps before stopping and shaking my head. “No, Enzo,” I said, taking a step back. “What’s gotten into you?”

“What’s gotten into me?” Enzo asked. He bent down so his face was closer to mine and lowered his voice in order to keep anyone else from overhearing. As he spoke, I could smell the leather on his jacket, and our closeness made me shiver. “What’s gotten into you that you would be so stupid as to eat breakfast with Justin knowing fully well that he’s one of Edward’s pawns?”

“By that logic,” I replied, feeling myself begin to fume as my hands curled up into fists at my sides while simultaneously being strangely attracted to Enzo’s sudden burst of territoriality, “you shouldn’t be talking to me, either, because Edward brainwashed me as well. For all you know, I could be working for him right now.”

Enzo and I glared into each other’s eyes for several long moments. His eyes burned with a mixture of desire and anger before he finally scoffed and pulled away. “Whatever,” he said, turning on his heel, “if you wanna be manipulated by Justin and get yourself into trouble again, then be my guest.”

With that, Enzo stormed away and left me with a pang in my chest. “Enzo! Wait!” I called after him, but he didn’t stop or turn around. I watched as he disappeared through the doors of the building, wondering to myself just how much Enzo had changed because of his torture.

When I finally turned back around, Justin was still standing there with wide eyes. As I began to approach, however, he quickly walked away without another word, leaving me alone with the murmuring onlookers. By this point, I had completely lost my appetite… So I left as well and tried to push my pain and confusion down for long enough to go to my classes that day.

…

After classes, I returned to my dorm with an aching feeling in my body and a desire to go straight to sleep.

Lori and Jessica were sitting in the kitchen, speaking in hushed tones, when I walked in. They stopped almost as soon as I entered and looked up with wide eyes, almost as though they’d been caught in the

middle of something.

“Am I interrupting?” I asked as I set my bag down on the counter and kicked my shoes off.

Lori and Jessica were silent for a moment before looking at each other, then back at me.

“Someone leaked proof of Enzo’s… heritage,” Jessica said. She stood and walked over to me, then handed me her phone. I furrowed my brow as I took it from her, but then my eyes widened as I saw what was on the screen.

Not only had someone posted pictures of Enzo’s physical fitness test results on an anonymous Twitter account, but they had also posted numerous pictures and videos of Enzo showcasing his inhuman speed, his extreme strength, and even his glowing red eyes. There was also a video of him… Of us. It was taken on the night that he fought Ronan in the woods. I ran out of frame at the very beginning, which was when I had run after the stalker, but the camera stayed focused on Enzo and showed him shifting and fighting Ronan. It was taken from a completely different angle from where the stalker had been standing, so I knew it was someone else who took the clip. Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

“Who would do this…?” I said, my hands shaking as I looked back up at Jessica and Lori with wide eyes.

Jessica shrugged and shook her head apologetically. “I don’t know.”

“I wanted to say that it could be someone from one of the opposing hockey teams,” Lori interjected, “but it just doesn’t add up. If they wanted to out Enzo on his werewolf identity, then why would they also risk exposing the fact that the other hockey captain is also a werewolf? Ronan, right?”

I nodded. “You’re right. It’s gotta be a third party. The Crescents don’t want humans to figure out their identities just as much as the Fullmoons. But I don’t know who would do this, or why.” I handed Jessica’s phone back, then, without thinking, immediately put my shoes back on.

“Where are you going?” Lori asked.

“I need to talk to Enzo,” I said as I imagined him sitting at home, fuming over this when he was already dealing with the stress of everything that had happened recently. “I don’t want him to be alone right now.”

Before Lori and Jessica could protest, I grabbed my bag off the counter and made my way over to Enzo’s dorm. When I arrived outside his door, I could hear the sound of music coming from his apartment; I knocked, but the music seemed to drown me out, so I knocked louder.

Finally, after knocking for a third time, the door swung open.

Enzo stood in the doorway, swaying back and forth slightly, with a bottle of whiskey in his hand.

“What are you doing here?” he said, almost abrasively.

I frowned and brushed past him. As I looked around, I noticed that his apartment was in shambles, and there was another empty whiskey bottle lying on the floor by the couch. I sighed and walked over to it, picking it up and turning back to face him. “I was worried about you,” I said, holding up the whiskey bottle and shaking it lightly. “It seems as though my worries weren’t unfounded.”

Enzo scoffed and walked over to the couch, where he flopped down and sloshed a bit of whiskey on his shirt. He held the bottle out to me. “Want some?”

I shook my head and folded my arms across my chest as I glared down at him. “I take it you heard about the Twitter leak.”

He only shrugged and took another swig of whiskey. When he was finished, he looked up at me. “It’s whatever.”

“It’s not whatever,” I said. “Did it have something to do with your outburst this morning?”

“Of course not,” he replied with a scoff. “I only did that because I think that Justin is a manipulating little weasel, and…” he paused, his eyes wandering down my body and back up again as I watched him swallow a knot in his throat.

“And what?” I poked.

He shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s jealousy, isn’t it?”

Enzo’s eyes widened momentarily at my words and told me all I needed to know. Then, he took another swig out of the whiskey bottle.

“You’re ridiculous,” I whispered, turning on my heel and walking over to the door. Suddenly, I heard the sound of feet hitting the floor behind me just as I was opening the door, and saw a hand shoot out over my head. He pressed his palm firmly against the door and shut it abruptly before I could leave, towering over me with his tall and muscular frame. I turned slowly to look up at him, and saw him breathing heavily with a lustful yet bitter look in his eyes.

“Enzo–”

He kissed me before I could say anything else. I felt his hand work its way around my waist and pull me closer, and heard the bottle clatter to the floor as his tongue pressed through my lips and into my mouth. For one brief, sweet moment as our bodies melted together, I smelled that same scent that I had become so familiar with in the tunnels… but it faded quickly as Enzo suddenly pushed me away. Too quickly.

Before I could say anything, Enzo’s face turned a deep shade of red and he stared down at the floor.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice sounding choked. I knew he wanted to say more, but it was as though his body wouldn’t let it come out. “You should leave before I hurt you.”

“Hurt me?” I took a step closer to him. “You can’t–”

“Just go, Nina,” he growled. When he looked back up at me, his eyes were red and full of pain. “I can’t be doing this with you anymore.”

A sob caught in my throat. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Enzo reached behind me and opened the door for me, his own face wrought with pain as he stared down at the floor, avoiding my gaze.

“Go