Chapter 167: A New Age
Enzo
I woke up a few hours later to the feeling of Nina’s warm body in my arms. As the memory of our passionate -and somewhat kinky sex slowly flooded back into my mind, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of peace.
Not knowing what happened to my father, however, and whether the Alpha King would know about Nina or not by now quickly created a lump in my throat but I had to stay strong for Nina. I watched as she nuzzled down happily into my chest, still sleeping soundly.
If I could, I would have let her sleep all day, but I knew that today would have to be the day that we would come up with a plan to save the campus. If we didn’t act quickly, there was no knowing whether the Crescents would wreak more havoc or not especially if they knew that the son of the Fullmoon Alpha was not only here, but also the Alpha King’s missing daughter.
There was a knock on the door that woke Nina up. I lifted my head to see the door crack open and Lori’s head poke in.
“Breakfast is ready,” she said. “Sorry to wake you guys.” “It’s okay,” Nina replied, rubbing her eyes. “Thank you.”
Lori nodded and left us again, and Nina sat up in bed. She was wearing my shirt and it looked adorably large on her, making me want to see her like that every morning for the rest of my life. Finally, she turned to face me. Her cheeks were rosy and she had a bit of a smile on her face.
“Good morning,” I said, sitting up to meet her. “Did you sleep okay?” RODUCT Nina nodded. “I did, with you here. Did you?”
I nodded as well. Honestly, it was the best I had slept in weeks. I cupped my hand under her chin and planted a kiss on her warm lips before crawling out of bed and picking my pants up off of the floor. Nina followed suit, reluctantly giving my shirt back before she retrieved some clean clothes from her closet. The clothes I had found her in yesterday were far too bloody and tattered to be salvaged, and instead stared at us from the trash can in her corner.
Once we were dressed, we headed out to the kitchen where everyone else was gathered. They stood around the counter while Jessica flipped pancakes on the stove and passed plates around, hardly cooking fast enough before my teammates would come back asking for more.
Jessica handed me a plate, which I took gratefully, then handed one to Nina. I was about to take a bite when I looked over to see Nina looking down at her plate thoughtfully, then glancing over at James. He was still tied up in the corner, staring down at his lap.
“Did he eat yet?” Nina asked, nodding toward James with her head. Lori shook her head and frowned. ” Nope. He won’t eat.” “Nina, don’t worry about it,” I said, feeling my blood boil just thinking about him. “Just worry about yourself.”
Before I could stop her, however, Nina shook her head and walked over to James with her plate. I watched her in astonishment along with the rest of the team as she walked up to him and held the plate out.
“Eat,” she said. James slowly raised his head to look up at her. His nose, along with the skin around it, was a dark shade of purple now and his eyes were dark and sunken.
“Here.” She set the plate down on his lap, then walked around to the back of the chair and untied his hands. “Nina!” I jumped up from my chair, storming over to her. “What are you doing?”
“Everyone deserves to eat,” she said calmly. She released James’ hands and he rubbed his wrists, all while staring down at the plate without lifting his head. “See?” Nina said, standing and walking back around. “It’s not fair to keep him tied up like that. At least let him eat.”
For a moment, I was once again astonished by Nina’s overwhelming kindness but it didn’t last long. James paused for a moment, still staring down at the plate. Then, without hesitation, he grabbed the plate and threw it across the room like a frisbee. It hit the wall and shattered with a loud crash, sending bits of ceramic and hot pancake scattering across the floor.
“You little-” I rushed him, fully prepared to beat the hell out of him again, but was stopped when Nina suddenly put herself between us. My vision went red as Matt and Bryce ran over; Matt pulled me away while Bryce tied James up again. The little weasel was even smiling at me through his eyebrows, like he knew he could get away with anything and that they would still protect him.
“Just one more day,” Matt said, pulling me back over to the kitchen. “Just get through today. We’ll take care of him afterwards, but right now, saving the campus is our priority.”
“I could kill him,” I muttered as Bryce moved James into the other room and left him in there to keep him in solitude, a low growl rumbling in my throat as I envisioned the bullet leaving his gun and embedding itself in Nina’s thigh. “I’ll kill him with my bare hands.”
Suddenly, I felt Nina’s cool hands on mine. I blinked away the fury in my eyes as best I could as I looked down at her to see her pleading expression. You’re not a killer,” she whispered. “I know you’re not.”
“He is, though,” I snarled. “The world would be better off without him in it.”
“Then you’re no better than he is,” Matt chimed in. “C’mon. We’ve got a town to save.” Once I was finally calmed down enough to talk, we began to go over what we knew so far.
“I went to the infirmary yesterday,” Nina said as we sat around the kitchen island. “There were Crescents all over, but I have a feeling that there’s more of the antidote in there. We have a little left in Tiffany’s medical bag, but it’s not enough.”
“And the rogues are using the tunnels as their den,” Matt added. “So with the entrance in the infirmary, it’ll be even more dangerous. We’ll have to go during the day, when they’re sleeping.”
“What then, though?” Lori asked. “If Jessica and I could only turn like you guys, we could be useful somehow…”
“You guys don’t need to be werewolves to be useful,” I suddenly spoke up, standing. “Even if you’re still humans, I think we can all agree that you’re part of our pack.”
Everyone’s eyes widened at the mention of a pack. “A… Pack?” Matt asked. “Like… A real one?”
I nodded. I’d been thinking about it since Lori and Jessica first asked Nina to Claim them. They were useful enough as humans, and besides: their friendship only proved all along that humans and werewolves could coexist peacefully.
They were the ones, after all, to advocate for me when it was first leaked. “Why don’t we form our own pack?” I asked. “One that consists of not only werewolves, but humans, too. Matt, you said yourself that there’s strength in numbers. Well, why not become unified?”
There was a long, shocked silence. I was certain that they would back down, that it was too much of a huge commitment.
But then, Matt suddenly stood from his stool, strode up to me and clapped his hand on my shoulder. “If we’re a pack, then I vote for you to be our Alpha,” he said.
I could feel my eyes widening. I shook his head and opened my mouth to speak, to tell them that I didn’t know if I could take on a role like that, but before I could, Lori spoke up next. “I second that,” she said, standing.
“Me too.” Jessica stood as well, holding Lori’s hand. The rest of the team murmured and nodded in agreement; now only Nina was left. I looked over at her, still in shock that even a single one of them would agree to make me their Alpha, but she only smiled up at me.
“I also vote for Enzo to be our Alpha,” she said quietly, taking my hand in hers. “It’s settled, then,” Matt said. “Let it be known from here on out that Enzo Rivers is the Alpha of our new pack.
Enzo… Bring us into a new age in which humans and werewolves can be allies against evil.”
