My Hockey Alpha novel Chapter 518

Enzo sighed and walked up to me. “I think you look beautiful.”

“I look like a porcelain doll. This is ridiculous. I’m not a queen.”

“Hey. None of that.” Enzo’s voice was tender but insistent as his arms circled around me from behind, his chin propped on top of my head as he studied my reflection in the mirror. “You look every inch the queen you were born to be.”

I sniffled, leaning back against the reassuring warmth of his chest as my hand strayed to the taut swell of my abdomen. “Do I, though?” I whispered. “Or will I simply be a Luna in the shadows, like all women? Your voice giving the orders while I play the ornamental figurehead? A pretty doll to look at, but have no use?”

For a beat, Enzo was silent-contemplative. When he finally spoke, his words were measured but firm.

“Your title may bear the name Luna, but make no mistake-you will reign as the Alpha Queen.”

“I don’t want to be the queen. I want to go back to Mountainview, finish medical school…”

“You can do all that.” Enzo turned me to face him, his brown eyes catching the light. “But here, you have to play your part. You don’t need to be here all of the time; but you can’t abandon a realm that belongs to you now.”

I searched his unflinchingly earnest expression for any hint of doubt or placation, but found only steadfast belief reflecting back at me. Slowly, I gave a shaky nod, squaring my shoulders beneath the heavy weight of my jacket. “Okay,” I replied softly. “Okay, I can do this.”

With Enzo’s hand securely wrapped up with mine, I allowed myself to be swept into the current of the procession toward the heart of the palace-toward the Council chambers. My father had walked this same path countless times, I was sure, but I…

I felt like a stranger here. Unwanted. Although by whom, I couldn’t be sure; maybe it was all in my head, my own inner voice telling me that I didn’t belong.

When we finally made our way to the Council chambers, I paused, pressing my hand over my belly and drawing in a deep breath to steady myself. Enzo remained silent beside me, his hand never leaving the small of my back. His presence was like an anchor. I just wished that the sea wasn’t so stormy.

My heels clicked on the marble floor as I made my way to my seat at the front of the table, but the pounding of my heart in my ears drowned it out. In that moment, this was the entire world—this room of men, and I, one woman, feeling smaller than ever beneath their gazes.

When I finally made my way to my seat after what felt like an eternity, I slowly turned to face the Alphas. For a long, gut-wrenching moment, they simply stared at me; and I knew that, to them, I was nothing more than the little doll I had feared.

Or at least, that was what I thought.

But then, the first Alpha stood and bowed low, his hand over his heart, and it felt as if all time stopped.

“My Queen.”