Chapter 200: Her Name
Enzo
I couldn’t explain the strange connection I had to this girl named Nina. She looked almost exactly like Selena; the only differences were that her eyes were brown instead of blue, and she had freckles dotted across her nose and cheeks.
She wore her long, dark hair in two braids with bangs at the front, while Selina always had her hair done impeccably by an expensive hair stylist. And Nina dressed in jeans, warm sweaters and beanies, and beat-up Converse sneakers while Selena always dressed in designer clothing that never had any signs of wear.
I had always thought that Selena was my fated mate. And I was happy with that. And yet, every time I looked at Nina, I couldn’t deny the feeling that washed over me. I felt deeply connected to this girl in some way, and I simply didn’t have any explanation for it. Was this some sort of way to test my loyalty?
Was that why Selena brought me here – to make sure that I would stay true to her before we got married? Was Nina planted here by Selena as a way to see if I would fall for another woman?
No matter what the case was, I simply couldn’t help myself from staring at this strange girl; and for some reason, she couldn’t seem to stop staring at me, either.
When I danced with her, I had felt so comfortable. It was as though I had known her for ages, every curve of her body as I placed my hand on her waist, the feeling of her small hand in mine, the sparkle in her brown eyes… But I didn’t know her. Right?
At the end of the dance, I could have sworn that I overheard her and that other guy talking about me. They kept saying my name, and I couldn’t keep myself from getting curious. While Selena was primping in the bathroom, I finally couldn’t help it anymore and wound up going up to Nina to ask why she kept saying my name, but she seemed to think that I was just playing a practical joke on her.
At first, I told myself that maybe she just happened to know someone else by the name of Enzo – but the more I thought about it, and the more it impacted my sleep, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was something else to this.
In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I realized just how hazy my memories were before the battle against the Crescents. I thought that it was just post traumatic stress from the fighting, but I couldn’t even really remember the fighting. Instead, when I slept at night, I remembered an antidote. I remembered water raining down on top of me, and the sound of snarling rogues turning to the voices of confused and frightened people. I didn’t remember any fighting at all.
Two nights after the dance, with all of these things swirling around inside my head, I couldn’t sleep. Selena was sound asleep beside me even snoring softly and so I quietly got up and put on a sweatshirt and my shoes, then headed out to go for a walk and clear my head.
I walked around for a little bit, just enjoying the peace and quiet of the cold night, until I finally sat down on the edge of a fountain in the quad. The water seemed to be shut off for the season, so it was completely quiet there.
At least, it was quiet until I heard the sound of footsteps approaching. I quickly looked up, not expecting to see anyone of importance, but that wasn’t the case.
“It’s that girl,” Fio, my wolf, said inside of me. He had taken a particular liking to Nina as well, but he couldn’t explain it either. “Talk to her.”
“No,” I replied. “I shouldn’t. Selena will get mad.”
But even then, as she approached, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her. She looked beautiful in the moonlight, but she also looked like she was in a great deal of emotional pain. And as she came closer, I realized that she was looking at me. There was something in her hands, too: a gray wolf plushie. She had it clutched tightly to her chest like a scared child.
Neither of us spoke. It felt almost magnetic; the closer she came, the more I felt the need to stand and annroach her as wall and soon we were Horner walking toward each other with our gazes fixed firmly on one another.
When we eventually stopped, I didn’t realize it at first, but we stood so close to each other that I could smell her. She had no scent, seeing as how she was a human, but somehow I could have sworn for a brief moment that I picked up a scent that smelled oddly familiar to Selena’s just much, much weaker.
“Um… About the other night…” I began, feeling my heart race as I spoke to her.
Nina just shook her head and took a step back, increasing the gap between us. “It’s fine,” she said, clutching the wolf to her chest even more tightly. As I looked at it, even the wolf plushie looked oddly familiar, and seeing her hold it gave me a strange sense of happiness. “Sorry I was a bit of a jerk.”
“You weren’t,” I replied. “I shouldn’t have bothered you. It was silly of me.”
Both of us were silent for a few moments. I watched intently as she bit her lower lip before she finally spoke again. “You said that I was familiar to you. I’ve been feeling the same way.”
My heart leaped up into my throat then. “You… You have?” I muttered.
Nina nodded. Her eyes were still fixed on mine, and the longer we held each other’s stares, her face seemed to flash with recognition. In fact, the longer I looked at her, the more I was certain that I did know her, that I loved her…
But then, her gaze shifted up and over my shoulder, and her eyes widened for a moment. The spell between us broke. “I have to go,” she said, turning on her heel and beginning to walk away.
“Wait-“I called after her, but she didn’t turn back and only picked up her pace, leaving me standing alone and confused in the dark quad.
But when I turned back to face my own building, I saw the reason behind why she suddenly left. Selena was standing in the window, staring down at me with an angry expression on her face. I wasted no time in returning to my apartment, where Selena was waiting for me. She was pouting on the couch now when I came in, with her arms folded across her chest.
“Baby, I can explain,” I said as I approached her, but Selena didn’t seem to want to listen. Without a word, Selena suddenly jumped up and rushed at me. I thought she was going to slap me at first, but she didn’t; instead, she grabbed me around my neck and yanked me down to her level, and began kissing me deeply.
I let out a groan as her tongue slipped into my mouth, although I couldn’t be sure if it was a groan of pleasure or discomfort. Her hand traveled down my chest and worked its way into my pants, her fingers wrapping around my cock.
But then, suddenly, she stopped. “You’re soft,” she growled, pulling away. Of course I was soft; because every time I closed my eyes, I saw Nina – not Selena.
I didn’t know what to say. Selena just stared at me for a few moments, her eyes full of rage, before she suddenly. ran into the bedroom and slammed the door. I heard the lock click, and I knew that I would be sleeping on the couch tonight.
But it was true. Somehow, I knew that I was supposed to be with Nina. I couldn’t quite explain it, but these past few days, I simply couldn’t deny it. And although it made my heart ache to disappoint Selena, my heart ached even more to not be close to Nina.
