My Hockey Alpha novel Chapter 423

Nina

Thorns whipped my face as I ran through the cool night air.

All I could hear was my own racing heart and my paws pounding against the forest floor. Well, that and the hyenas in hot pursuit of us. Their yips and howls almost sounded as if they were laughing at us, mocking us for even trying to escape.

More than once, I swore I felt one of them nip at my tail. And maybe they did; but I couldn’t stop. None of us could. We had to keep moving, even if our legs ached and our lungs burned.

After all, if we were going to leave our dear friend behind in that hellhole, then we might as well succeed in escaping.

Up ahead of me, Daphne’s red wings fluttered through the tree branches, always sticking close but hidden from view of the hyenas. It was for the best if she stayed hidden. That was how she had found us, anyway; by keeping herself unknown, disconnected.

Beside me, though, Enzo never once left my side-not even for an instant. I felt his dark fur brush up against mine.

At least I had one comfort in all of this.

I leaped over a fallen tree with ease. Up ahead, Daphne took a sudden turn, and I followed. More branches whipped at my face, but I didn’t stop, even when I felt a searing pain around my eye.

Just keep moving.

The hyenas, however, had flanked us. I saw a flash of mottled brown and black fur circle around, and I cursed in my head as I veered to the left. I just narrowly missed a set of gnashing teeth. If I had hesitated for only a split second longer, maybe I would have been caught.

I pushed my legs to carry me faster. Enzo stuck close to my side, keeping himself between me and the hyenas.

Their yipping grew deafening. What happened next was a blur.

Two hyenas cut us off from ahead, hackles raised and teeth dangerously bared. But overhead, in the tree branches, Daphne fluttered her red wings in a frenzy. Big, black walnuts rained down from the fronds, showering the hyenas in a rain of yelps and bruises.

While the dragon queen’s guards were somewhat distracted, Enzo and I circled around the cacophony, bursting through the thick underbrush.

Then, up ahead, a glistening stream caught our eyes.

A moment later, we plunged into the cold water. The world became muffled and icy for an eternal moment. The hyenas’ yipping seemed to grow distant and pointless.

When we burst out on the other side, we kept running. Even with our fur weighed down by the cold water, we never let up.

I don’t know how long we ran for, how far, or how fast. But I did know one thing.

We had lost them.

Finally, after what had felt like an eternity, we slowed to a trot, then to a walk. Daphne fluttered down from the tree branches and shifted back into her human form, and Enzo and I did the same.

We all stood there for a moment, panting with exhaustion and unable to speak, before Daphne nodded her head toward a nearby slope surrounded by a grove of thick trees.

“Let’s rest,” she said. “And collect our bearings.”

Enzo and I followed her down the slope, still too breathless to speak. When we got to the bottom, we fell down to the leaf-covered forest floor in between two large ferns. A decent cover, for now.

Daphne stayed standing—or rather, perched-on top of a nearby boulder. Her red hair billowed in the breeze as she kept a watchful eye on our surroundings.

“Nina, you’re hurt.”

Enzo’s voice pulled me out of a state of near-disassociation. I turned my aching neck to see him leaning over me with concern written across his face. He reached up, and I winced when his fingers brushed across my cheek.

“Listen, I did my best,” Daphne chided. “It was hell following you here, and I risked my own neck just going into that horrible fortress.”

“I know you’re worried about Luke, Nina,” Enzo chimed in softly. His hand touched my knee, and I pulled away out of instinct. I guess I was angrier than I realized.

Enzo sighed and stood. “We’ll bring Luke home. But for now, he’s okay.”

“He’s not ‘okay’. He’s somewhere in Mila’s clutches and we don’t even know where the hell he is.”

My harsh words were met with a long, tense silence. I finally stood and walked over to the boulder where Daphne was standing. I climbed up beside her and peered out into the distance; nothing but ferns and trees as far as the eye could see, which wasn’t far at all.

“I can’t see shit.”

Daphne chuckled slightly, although it was a wry sound. “I’ll fly up there and get a better vantage point.” With that, she shifted and flitted away, up into the canopy.

Enzo and I were left alone. I could feel him behind me, staring at me. When I turned, his eyes were glowing slightly. Mine probably were, too.

“I’m not mad at you,” I said with a soft sigh. “I just… I don’t know. There are a lot of emotions coursing through me right now.”

Enzo nodded and ran a hand through his curly brown hair. “Yeah. Same. But Nina, I swear I’ll bring Luke home. He’s my friend, too. I wouldn’t have left him if I didn’t know that he could handle himself, and that we could get him out of there safely.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, Daphne fluttered back down and shifted.

“Let’s keep moving,” she breathed. “They could find our trail again at any moment.”