My Hockey Alpha



Chapter 0805 Nina

The dizzying swirl of the realm jump left my head spinning for a few precarious moments as the world rematerialized around us. One second, we had been standing in the sterile confines of our headquarters the next, the familiar sights and scents of the werewolf realm enveloped us in a dizzying rush.

My heart was pounding, a rumble of nervous anticipation reverberating through my veins. After all this time wondering, fearing the worst... Aldric, my father, was alive.

The thought was almost too overwhelming to process. I clung to Enzo's hand, drawing strength from his solid presence as we hurried through the grand halls toward the infirmary wing. The corridors blurred past us in a kaleidoscope of tapestries and stained glass until at last, we reached the ornate double doors.

The first face we saw was my mother, who was standing by the doors with an ashen look on her face. Neither of us spoke. I surged forward and flung my arms around her, feeling her slender form crumple a bit in my embrace.

"Is he..." I murmured, my voice trailing off.

My mother drew in a shuddering breath. "He's alive," she whispered. "But Nina..." She pulled back, grasping me by both shoulders with a grave expression in her eyes.

"It's not good, is it?" I asked.

She shook her head, the tears in her eyes growing heavier. "I just want you to be prepared, honey."

I swallowed, nodding stiffly. Beside me, I felt Enzo slip his arm around me. Normally, his touch was a comfort. But right now, it felt as if nothing could comfort me. Finally, my mother pulled back and stepped aside to allow me

access.

"Ready?" Enzo murmured, giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. I could only manage a tight nod in response. As we stepped inside the infirmary, the familiar scent of our people's herbal remedies mixed with the scent of modern disinfectants, creating a dizzying assault on my nostrils. My gaze immediately zeroed in on the motionless figure lying in the bed at the far end of the wing, a feeble rise and fall of the covers marking each labored breath.

"Dad..." The strangled whisper escaped my lips before I could stop it.

In an instant, I was at his bedside, collapsing into the chair beside him as I drank in his ashen complexion, the bandages wrapping his chest and arms, the dark smudges of utter exhaustion ringing his eyes.

He looked... broken, a mere ghost of the formidable Alpha I had come to know over the recent months.

At the sound of my quivering voice, my father's eyelids fluttered open, his feverish gaze struggling to focus on my face. I reached out, gently clasping his hand between both of mine.

"Nina," he rasped, the barest hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his cracked lips. "You're here..."

"I'm here, Dad," I whispered, squeezing his limp fingers carefully. "It's going to be okay, you're home now and we're going to make sure you heal-"

He shook his head with painstaking effort, cutting me off. "No, child... it's too late for that." An ominous cough rattled his bones, crimson spattering his lips. Internal bleeding.

My breath caught in my throat at the sight of the blood, panic spiking through my veins. No, this couldn't be happening, not after we had just gotten him back

"Mila," Aldric continued in a wisp of a voice. "I... caught up with her. She had been creating a safehouse in the mountain ranges after fleeing her palace. When I found her, I managed to take one of her scales before she..."

He trailed off, eyelids fluttering, and in that moment my lungs constricted as if an iron vise had clenched around them. Somehow, I already knew the ending to that story.

"she killed herself, didn't she?" The question slipped out, barely more than a whisper.

Aldric gave a solemn nod, each shallow inhalation clearly an agonizing effort. "Threw herself... from the edge of a cliff," he rasped. "Impaled on the rocks below."

White-hot fury detonated in the pit of my stomach at his words. That vile snake had taken the coward's way out, denying us the vengeance and closure we so desperately needed. She had spat in the face of cosmic justice one last time.

"That's not... how I wanted it to end," I choked out through gritted teeth, hot tears stinging my eyes. "She should have paid for what she did to us, to you, to Enzo_"

"Nina..." My father's hand contracted around mine with what little strength he had left. "Vengeance is... a soul- sickening pursuit. Sometimes in this life... we do not get the endings we want or deserve."

He paused, sucking in a rattling breath that sent a horrible dread coiling through my chest.

"Our family line has been soaked in enough blood," he continued, his eyes finally focusing on mine with an unprecedented intensity. "You... you must focus on healing those wounds, on guiding our people into an era of peace and prosperity."

"Me? What about you?" I whispered. "Dad, you're not going to die... You've still got so much life to live, and Mom

My father let out a chuckle that turned into a choked cough. "I've lived for nearly two hundred years, Nina," he said. "My time was bound to draw near eventually. And your mother..."

His voice trailed off, but not from pain this time his eyes took on a softer quality, the slightest smile gracing his lips.

"Your mother made me the happiest man in these past months," he said softly. "I do wish that I could have spent more time with her-made her my wife, even. She would have made an excellent Luna-"

Before he could finish, his voice devolved into a fit of coughing, which resulted in more blood splattering the sheets around him. I quickly grabbed a towel from the bedside table and dabbed at his face, but the tears blurring my vision made it too difficult. Gently, he placed his hand on mine and shook his head.

"You will.. make a fine queen, my dearest heart," Aldric whispered, the light rapidly fading from his eyes even as they held my gaze. "Lead our people well... Nina..."noveldrama

As those final words drifted from his cracked lips, I stared at him in stunned silence, the gravity of it all crashing over me in a suffocating wave. Somewhere in the distance, I registered Enzo's comforting hands on my shoulders, but it felt muffled and far away, like trying to make out voices from underwater.

"My... people?" I echoed faintly, unable to make sense of anything else.

That was when I noticed the crimson blossom unfurling across the pristine white bandages covering his torso, seeping through the fabric like a sickening flower. A strangled cry escaped my lips as I leapt to my feet, reflexively shouting for the medics.

But as the footsteps thundered toward us in response to my cries, I already knew it was too late. My father's eyes had slipped shut, his chest stilled beneath the gruesome bloom of blood.

I didn't need a physician to tell me that the mighty Alpha King who had ruled over our realm for decades was gone.

My father was dead.