My Hockey Alpha



Chapter 0692

Nina

"Nina! Look at this."

My eyes locked onto the glinting silver strands that were pinched between Luke's fingers, almost sparkling in the sunlight. At first I simply gaped in confusion.

"Silver jewelry thread? It must have fallen off of Mila's blouse when she was here with Enzo," I said.

The very notion felt like a sword through my fracturing heart, twisting and plunging deeper. It was all beginning to make sense now... how long had he been lying to me?

I sank numbly onto the rumpled bed, putting my head in my hands as sobs began to wrack my frame. Enzo wrapped up in passion with another woman, while I was at home, pregnant, waiting for him...

I couldn't wrap my mind around the image no matter how I tried. And yet the proof mocked me all around this room. I could see it everywhere: the crumbled sheets, the indentations in the pillows, the used water glasses, and now the threads.

Mila had been here, with my husband, and now he was gone. Maybe I never stood a chance against her beauty.

"I can't believe he would do this to me, to us," I murmured through my sobs. "It doesn't make any sense.

"Oh, Nina..." Luke's voice came out stiff and choked. The mattress dipped a little bit as he sat down beside me, one hand gently grasping my shoulder. "We don't need to assume anything just yet. We don't know the full story."

I shook my head bitterly even as tears streamed down my cheeks.

"You saw the footage," I said. "He went with her willingly, Luke. Maybe.. maybe he just doesn't want me anymore." I pressed both palms to my swollen belly. "Maybe he doesn't want us..."

Utter heartbreak choked off my words. I turned my face into Luke's sturdy chest, finally letting the anguish pour out of me. Enzo breaking our sacred bond. After all we had been through, he was threatening the family we had dreamed of, the family we had worked so hard to keep safe.

Luke wrapped both arms around me his quiet strength holding me together while I shook apart on the inside.

Gradually, my sobbing subsided into hiccups. I pulled away, wiping my eyes roughly on my sleeves. Luke studied me with stoic sympathy, still absentmindedly holding the silver strands in his hand.

"It just doesn't make sense," he said, staring off into the distance. "Why would Enzo..."

I followed his worried stare to the thin wires glinting on his calloused palm. Mila's delicate accessories.. that she must have torn free in their passionate throes together. I squeezed my eyes shut, fresh anguish searing through me. No, I couldn't let myself picture it, but it was too late. I already had.

But then, something happened.

I let out a yelp as a searing, burning pain suddenly erupted on my arm. My eyes flew open to see Luke recoiling, the silver threads in his hand.

"What the hell, Luke!" I shoved his shoulder furiously. The spot where he had laid those metal threads now showed an angry red welt. "How the hell..."

Luke, with his eyes wide, shot to his feet. "I didn't mean to," he said, eyeing the threads in his palm. "I just moved, and... But now I'm certain..."

I glowered at him, my feeling of betrayal simmering into anger now. "Certain of what?" hissed, still rubbing my arm.

Wordlessly, Luke extended his hand. The thin silver strands were glimmering innocuously against his calloused palm. I furrowed my brow and leaned in, still throbbing from that sudden bum. Then, I inhaled sharply at the realization that washed over me.

"Pure silver?" I muttered.

Luke swallowed, his gaze falling back down to his palm. "I had my suspicions, but I wasn't sure," he said softly. "But now... it seems like that's the case."

I frowned. "But it could still be jewelry or something," I said.noveldrama

Luke shot me an apprehensive look. "How many times have you seen a pure silver thread like this come loose from a necklace or a shirt?" he asked. "And besides, pure silver wouldn't just shred like this. No, it had to have come from something... something else..."

There was a long silence as we both considered the possibilities. It made no sense, now that I thought of it. Luke was right; it had to be something else. Something like...

"Is it a thread from a tassel, maybe?" I said, standing and crossing to the window to look at the curtains. "Maybe a curtain tieback or something."

But as I approached, I already knew the answer, there were no fancy silver-threaded curtain tassels here. In fact, there was nothing in the room that could even come remotely close to resembling those threads. Not the sheets, not the carpets, nothing.

Then, suddenly, Luke's eyes widened. "Rope," he said.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It could be a thread from a rope," Luke said thoughtfully. "And besides, it hasn't been unheard of in the supernatural realm, to use silver rope to subdue a werewolf. It's actually a pretty complex process, to make the silver rope to begin with."

My eyes slowly went wide as I took in Luke's words." So you're saying that someone may have abducted him?" I whispered.

Luke nodded, pocketing the threads. "It's a possibility," he said. "It would have to be someone who knew exactly what he was. Someone who knows about his weaknesses, and who knows where to find-or even make-silver thread."

I bolted upright, my heart suddenly racing with fresh fear... and hope. Maybe Enzo hadn't abandoned me after all. And maybe he needed me now, more than ever.

"If that's the case, then we have to find him," I said, grabbing Luke's arm urgently. "If they slipped out early this morning, maybe someone saw them leave."

Luke nodded. "Let's go back to the concierge. Maybe she can check the cameras again."

Minutes later, Luke and I had barreled out of the room and back down to the lobby, where we now stood, out of breath, in front of the front desk. I rang the bell frantically until the same concierge from earlier came out of a back room, looking surprised.

"The woman," I gasped out without preamble. "The one with Mr. Rivers. Did you see her at all

this moming?"

The concierge's eyes turned sympathetic. "I did watch the lobby footage thoroughly while you were upstairs," she said. "Unfortunately I never witnessed the woman or your husband

again."

Luke rapped his fingers on the polished wood counter with annoyance. "Could they have slipped out through a side exit, maybe?"

But the concierge was already shaking her head, knitting her brow together. "All of our side doors set off alarms if opened incorrectly," she said. "I would have been notified."

I barely stopped my frustrated growl. We were so damn close! Enzo had been here in this very building just hours ago. But like smoke he and Mila had somehow evaded detection on his way out.

I whirled on Luke, my mind spinning with possibilities. I pulled him away, just out of earshot of the concierge. "You don't think... could they have used a portal?" I whispered.

The look that Luke shot me then reflected my own dread. It seemed impossible for a portal to be opened here, but maybe....