#Chapter 134: The Claiming Ceremony
Nina
My heart shattered into a million pieces when Enzo left. I wasn’t sure exactly how long I spent curled up on the floor of my bedroom after he walked out. Why did he sleep with me if he knew that it was a bad idea? Why would he knowingly break my heart like this? I didn’t fully know or understand the answers to these questions, but I had no choice but to move on with my life. At least I could take some solace in the fact that my family would be home soon and would no longer be at risk of danger, but the concept of not even having Enzo as a friend anymore broke my heart even further
At some points during the next few days, I wished that I had just gone overseas with my mom and my brother. Thankfully, however, I still had my friends, I kept reminding myself of that every time I started to resent Enzo for what he did. At the very least, I still had Lori, Jessica, and Tiffany.
I still had my job, too. I picked up a few extra shifts at the diner to keep myself busy However, I quickly came to realize that even the diner wasn’t a safe zone when I was working one day and suddenly heard the door open, only to look up and see Enzo standing in front of me. I felt my heart drop.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, my fist shaking as I gripped the dishcloth I was holding so tightly as though it was my only lifeline. Even just seeing Enzo made me feel as though I would break down and begin sobbing.
“Nina, I really need to talk to you,” he said frantically as he walked toward me. “Please. It’s really important. I frowned and folded my arms across my chest. Instead of looking him in the eyes, I stared directly at his chin, unable to bring myself to meet his gaze. “What is it?”
“Can I talk to you outside?” he asked. ” Please.”
I looked up then to see that there was a look of pleading on his face and a sense of urgency in his eyes. Despite everything, I still cared about Enzo — so, finally, I nodded hesitantly “Fine. Let’s go.”
Enzo led me outside to the parking lot, then stopped and turned to face me once we were alone.
“You have the power of Claiming,” he said.
I raised an evebrow. “The power of what. “Claiming,” Enzo continued. “You can turn people into werewolves with just a touch. You accidentally turned Matt when you were bandaging his hand in the locker room the other day”
An incredulous chortle escaped my mouth as Enzo spoke. I rolled my eyes at him, then turned on my heel. “I really can’t believe that you would show up and fuck with me like this after everything.” I growled. “Leave. me alone–”
Suddenly, Enzo’s hand shot out and he grabbed my arm. I widened my eyes and looked over my shoulder at him, he was still staring at me with that same frantic, pleading expression on his face “I’m dead serious,” he muttered.” Look, I know I’ve been an asshole, but we really need you right now. The team wants you to turn them all so they can play during the final match. If they can’t play with me, I’ll be stuck with an inexperienced team that will probably make us lose Please”
I froze, my eyes searching his face for some hint of humor but there was none I could tell that Enzo was serious. But, that didn’t mean that I would be willing to help him so easily after what he did.
I wrenched my arm away and frowned. “No,” I said. “Find someone else to help you. When you left me the other day, you forsook any future opportunities for my help or friendship. Get lost.” I turned then and began to storm back to the diner
“We’ll be at the cabins tonight at midnight,” he called after me. “If you don’t want to help, then fine. But if you do, meet us there. I’m begging you, Nina. We can’t do this without you. We need you. I need you.”
I stopped as my hand rested on the door handle, biting my lip as Enzo’s pleas sunk in. Part of me wanted to give him the finger and go back inside, but I couldn’t deny the fact that there was an even bigger part of me that still cared about him and wanted to help — not to mention the fact that the fate of the town rested on this final match.
“Fine,” I muttered. “Midnight.”
Later that night, after spending the entire day wondering if I was making a mistake by opening myself up to Enzo again, I finally decided that it was truly best for the town if I just helped them. So, shortly before midnight, I got dressed and headed out to the forest.
When I arrived at the cabins, the entire team was there. Enzo immediately jerked his head up when he saw me, then came jogging over to me while I tentatively approached with my hands in my pockets.
“I really can’t thank you enough for coming,” he said. I shrugged. “Just tell me what to do and let’s get this over with.”
Enzo nodded, then led me over to the team. They were all sitting around the fire Some of them looked frightened, but most of them appeared to be excited.
“Are you all sure you want to do this? Last call.” Enzo looked around at his team as he spoke. Much to my surprise, they all agreed to go through with it. ” Okay,” Enzo said, turning to face me.” We all need to stand around the fire in a circle Then, join hands.”
We did as Enzo instructed, with only Enzo and Matt standing off to the side, seeing as how they were already werewolves. “Everyone, close your eyes,” Enzo continued. “Nina. I want you to channel your wolf. The rest will come naturally.”
I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but I obliged. I squeezed my eyes shut and let out a deep sigh as I searched for Cora’s presence. Her energy had been incredibly low, practically nonexistent, ever since Enzo had left me. But she was there.
“I need some of your power,” I said to her, internally, when I located her She was silent for a moment. “Why?”
“We have to help Enzo. I need to use the power of Claiming on his teammates.” As I gave her this information, Cora growled. She was angry with Enzo. ” Why are we helping him after what he did?”
I shook my head and squeezed my eyes shut harder “It’s not for him. It’s for the town.”
She was silent again for a while For several moments, I thought that she would just go back to sleep but then, finally, I felt her power grow. I clenched my jaw as I felt her power begin to travel through me, stretching out through my entire body, then extending through my hands.
Her power surged even more I felt my entire body begin to tingle. There was some slight murmuring coming from Enzo’s teammates as I assumed that they, too, began to feel this tingling.
But then… I began to feel incredibly weak. It came on so quickly that I didn’t have time to adjust to it Suddenly, my knees buckled under me, and everything went dark.
