My Hockey Alpha novel Chapter 380

Nina

“I don’t think it’s such a good idea to bring your friends here, to the werewolf realm.”

My mother’s admission left me utterly bewildered, like a puzzle with missing pieces that refused to fit together. I stared at her, my eyes wide, as I tried to make sense of what she had just told me.

“What?” I asked, standing. “Why?”

My mother sighed heavily and passed a hand over her face. “Honey,” she began, “you’ve got humans in your ‘pack’. It might not be such a good look. You might face a lot of discrimination. I just don’t think it’s such a good idea.”

“But mom,” I said, exchanging glances with Enzo, who looked just as bewildered as I felt, “you and Tyler are humans and you’re fine. What’s the big deal?”

My mother held up her hand, cutting me off gently.

“Look,” she said, “ever since the last Luna started with her scheme to eradicate all humans, she garnered some… attention.”

“Attention?”

My mother nodded. “Some people sympathized with her; they believed that shifters were the superior race, and that humans were lesser. For apack with non-shifters in it to arrive at the Moon Goddess Festival gala, it could cause a lot of unrest.”

“But my dad is the Alpha King,” I insisted. “Can’t he just… I don’t know, outlaw that sort of thing?”

“Honey, it’s not that simple,” my mother said with a sigh. “There are even Alphas who sympathize with the anti-human rhetoric. It’s a very nuanced topic, and it’s not just something that he can outlaw and be done with it.”

I glanced over at Enzo, hoping for some sort of explanation, but he looked just as confused as I was.

“Enzo?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I left before the anti-human stuff really started,” he explained. “So I wouldn’t really know.”

I frowned. “But it just makes no sense,” I repeated.

“You and Tyler are humans, mom; well, Tyler is half

-human, but still. You’ve attended events here. Why aren’t you a target?”

My mother took a deep breath, apparently choosing her words carefully. “Your father had a special… perfume made for us,” she said quietly. ” Something to mask our human scent. So we don’t appear human when we wear it.”

My eyes widened in shock. “I had no idea,” I said. ”

I… I never noticed.”

“I’ve heard of this before,” Enzo said. “It’s very subtle, Nina. It’s not so much that it’ll make the user appear like a werewolf, but it rather—”

“Masks the fact that we’re human,” my mother finished. “Keeps us under the radar, basically. It’s not foolproof, but it helps so long as no one. scrutinizes us too closely.”

“Wow,” I breathed, blinking slowly. “This… this is news to me. So you’re saying that our friends can’t come here because they’d be discriminated against?”

My mother sighed, her gaze heavy with regret. “I know it hurts, honey,” she said gently. “But it’s the truth. It’s just not as safe as it could be, and your father could face scrutiny if certain people discover that he’s so intertwined with humans. He’d lose a lot of support here. There could even be a mutiny.” I shook my head, trying to wrap my mind around it all. “I just don’t get it,” I groaned, throwing my hands up in the air. “He’s the Alpha King. I don’t understand how he could just roll over and let people do stuff like this.”

My mother’s eyes softened, and she reached out to gently cup my cheek. “I know it’s difficult to grasp, sweetheart,” she said, her voice gentle. “But your father really is doing his best. It just can’t be immediate, no matter how much we’d all like it to be.”

I blinked back tears of frustration and confusion. ”

Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I asked.

My mother sighed. “I’m sorry, Nina,” she said. “I know I should have told you. I guess I thought it would just make you upset, and with the baby…” Her voice trailed off.

I couldn’t help but feel a sense of betrayal, even though I knew my parents had done what they thought was best. But then, a thought came into my mind. “Does the perfume really work?” I asked, my skepticism evident in my voice.

My mother smiled faintly. “Yes, it does,” she said. ” It’s a powerful enchantment that your father has paid a lot of money for. It works beautifully. I wear it whenever we have to attend an event where my human nature could be an issue.”

“And Tyler?” I asked.

“Tyler is a half-blood,” my mother explained. “So he’s not at as much risk as I am. He’s far more accepted.”

My mind raced with possibilities then. If the perfume could make humans appear nonhuman, then maybe there was a way for Lori to use it. ” Could Lori use the perfume?” I asked, my excitement building. “She’s the only human in our pack now, unless Jessica decides to become human again.”

My mother paused, deep in thought, before she spoke. “It’s possible,” she said slowly. “But the perfume is typically specifically crafted for each user, so we would need to be careful and test it first.

We wouldn’t want to put Lori in any danger.”

I nodded, the pieces of the puzzle finally starting to come together. “I understand,” I said, my determination growing. I glanced over at Enzo, who leveled me with a determined gaze.

Be there soon.”

Rolling my eyes, I pocketed my phone and jogged over to the hockey arena, which wasn’t far at all.

Within a short time, they had all arrived; Lori, Matt, Luke, the hockey team, and of course Jessica, who was back on her feet and as spry as ever.

“Enzo,” Jessica said, looking excited. “Watch this.” Before I could respond, Jessica darted around the outside of the rink, running faster than she ever could as a human. Lori groaned and passed her hand over her weary-looking face.

“She’s gone insane,” Lori said with a sigh. “When Nina gets back, I have a bone to pick with her. She turned my fiancee into a maniac.”

“Oh, you’re just jealous,” Jessica said with a grin, leaning against the bleachers behind her. “Ask Nina to Claim you.”

“Nina isn’t Claiming anyone anymore,” I said with a laugh of my own. “Not until the baby is born. And besides, Jessica, that was a matter of life or death.”

“Yeah,” Lori replied. “And I like being a human.

The idea of having another entity inside my head, listening to all my thoughts, freaks me out. No thanks.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Nothing ever changed, that was for sure; our ragtag little group was always bantering or getting up to some shenanigans.

For a moment, I felt a pang of regret as I remembered how I had been considering passing on the pack to Matt; but that thought was still floating around my mind. It wasn’t totally out of the picture, not with the baby on the way and the whole job debacle.

“So, Enzo,” Luke greeted me with a nod, serious as ever. “What’s going on? Why did you call us here?”

I took a deep breath, trying to find the right words to explain my intentions. “I have something important to discuss with all of you,” I began. “The Moon Goddess Festival is approaching, and I want us to attend it together.”

The mention of the festival sparked confusion in their eyes, so I explained it. When I was finished, everyone’s confusion changed to intrigue.

Jessica nodded in agreement. “Count me in,” she said. “It’s been too long since we got to visit the werewolf realm. I’m dying to go.”

However, that was when I pulled the vial of perfume out of my pocket, and held it up with a sigh. “There’s one issue, though,” I said, looking

* directly at Lori. “Lori, humans aren’t accepted very well there. This perfume might hide your true nature, but we need to test it first. Otherwise, you might not be able to come.”

At my words, a hush fell over the group. Lori narrowed her eyes, stepping forward and snatching the vial from my hand.