My Hockey Alpha



Chapter 0704

Nina

"To the death."

Enzo and I took a step back, eyeing Mila cautiously.

"To the death?" Enzo scoffed. "Mila, are you insane?"

"No." She shrugged, checking her crimson nails. "Not insane. It's tradition."

"Enlighten us, then," I hissed. I had absolutely no intention of battling my own husband to the death. There had to be a crack in Mila's facade, somehow, somewhere. I was determined to find it; I had done the same with evil people before. What made Mila so different?

"Let me make this perfectly clear," Mila purred, her voice dripping with a mixture of disdain and mockery." Tomorrow, at the crack of dawn, you two will battle fiercely to the death. No tricks, no mercy will be permitted- just a vicious brawl until one lone victor remains breathing. Do we have an understanding?"

She lifted one slender brow when she was finished, regarding us like insects she planned to squash beneath the heel of her boot. I hadn't felt this small since before we had ended the Lana's reign.

I swallowed hard past the knot in my throat, gripping Enzo's feverish hand tightly. The prolonged contact with Mila's sadistic silver cage had left his skin hot and inflamed. Soon, my skin would be the same; assuming I lived.

"You sadistic witch!" Enzo growled. He rushed forward and smashed a fist against the bars, causing both Luke and I to jump, but then he recoiled as the silver seared his flesh.

I rushed over to him. He sank to his knees with a guttural groan, cradling his burnt hand. "I'll never kill my wife, you bitch," he growled. "Never."

Mila examined her dagger-sharp nails nonchalantly, unaffected by his outburst. "Then I expect she'll have to slay you instead," she said. "Tradition demands it."

"To hell with your tradition," Enzo growled, still clutching his hand.

I swallowed then, taking a step forward. "What are the stipulations?" I asked. "You have to have a reason behind only wanting one of us to live. Other than 'tradition'."

Mile paused, staring at me down her pointed nose. "If Nina lives," she said, "then I'll allow her to live here for the duration of her pregnancy; the child will be born as the bastard heir to the Dragon throne. Once it is born, I will claim it as my own, and cast Nina out; but the baby will be safe and cared for, and will want for nothing." Blinking back furious tears, I kept my tone icy. "And if by some nightmare Enzo defeats me instead?" I whispered.

Mila's red-eyed stare bore into mine. "Then you will die choking on your own blood. And once you're gone, my sweet mate will breed me an army of noble dragon heirs, and your mongrel whelp perishes alongside its whore mother."

My stomach roiled with nausea and rage. Before I could spit out a response, Enzo snarled from his knees, "We will never submit to you, Mila. This is insanity. Surely you can't actually believe in this sort of nonsense."

Mila let out a silky laugh. "Spirited words... but empty threats," she said. "Refuse my challenge tomorrow, and I'll simply execute both Nina and the child and take what I want anyway."

She swept toward the cell door, her emerald gown hissing over the floor. The long train made her look sickeningly snakelike.

"I'll give you tonight to whisper your pathetic goodbyes," she said, pausing at the door. "At dawn, I'll return for you. Be prepared for your bloody battle."

With that, she was gone. The door clicked behind her and the guards with a shuddering slam, leaving me, Enzo, and Luke entirely alone.

As soon as we were alone, I rushed forward and broke down in Enzo's blistered arms. My body crumpled into him,

exhausted and terrified and utterly weak surrounded by all of this silver. He clutched me fiercely to his chest as guttural sobs wracked through me.

I felt the barely leashed violence thrumming through his muscles-a promise of revenge, if only we could escape this damned silver cage.

"There must be some way out of here," I whispered, scanning the seamless bars. But Mila had designed our prison to weaken us, not necessarily to contain us. Even if we somehow managed to sneak out of here and overpowered the guards, her ancient magic would just force us back.

Or she might just kill all three of us where we stood, and begin a search for a new stallion to breed with.

Enzo gripped my shoulders, despair carved into his haggard features. "Nina, look at me," he said softly, forcing me to meet his eyes. "If we have to fight tomorrow, there's no way I can win. Not if it means killing you and our unborn child. You have to live so you can find a way out; so you need to kill me."

I recoiled in horror. "Never, Enzo," I hissed, yanking free of his grip. "I'm not killing you. We'll find a way out of here before then."

Luke, who was still in his cell on his own, drew his knees up to his chest. "It's useless," he muttered. "This entire place is crawling with armed guards, we're trapped in literal werewolf kryptonite, and we're up against a crazy person wielding elder magic."

"Not to mention her army of shifters," Enzo added. "They're all bloodthirsty."noveldrama

"There has to be something we can do," I said. "There are people on the outside. Reasonable people"

"Nina, we couldn't get to them even if we tried." Enzo closed his eyes, anguish twisting his mouth. "My life for yours and our child's. Please, Nina"

"No, Enzo! I won't let it happen," I interrupted. "Neither of us is dying tomorrow. We're going home, to Mountainview. My dad will send an army after Mila. She'll never be able to torture anyone ever again."

Enzo huffed. "And how do you propose we get home to begin with?" he asked. "Nina, you know your perseverance is something that I've always admired, but... for god's sake, we're trapped in a cage made of silver. I'm weak, I don't even have my wolf"

"I could be Nina's champion."

Luke's voice rang loud and clear from his cell. Enzo and I both whirled to face him; he was still sitting on the ground, his knees drawn up to his chest.

"What, Luke?" I asked. "You can't be serious."

He sighed and stood, nodding. "I am," he said. "Maybe I could stand in as your champion. Mila will get her spectacle, and maybe... maybe we can reason with her. Propose that, if I take your place and I lose, she'll let you and the baby return to Mountainview."

"No," I murmured, shaking my head. "No, Luke, I won't let you-"

Quiet authority resonated in Luke's tone as he spoke over me. "I made a pact to be your guardian," he said. "So let me protect you."

Enzo and I froze, looking at each other warily. Enzo took a step forward, his lips parted to say something; but then Luke turned toward us, tears in his soft eyes.

I heard him drag in an unsteady breath. "Take my life tomorrow if it means preserving yours," he whispered. "Let my sacrifice buy you a chance to escape this place."