Chapter 226: A Fated Reunion
Nina
My eyes widened and my jaw dropped when I saw Enzo standing in front of me. I felt my heart leap up into my throat.
This had to be some sort of trick… Enzo was standing right here. Somehow, he had found us in the darkness. Maybe my intuition to stay where we were was right. Maybe our fated mate bond led us to each other, and I only needed to be impatient.
“E-Enzo?” I whispered, taking a step forward and still not believing my eyes. “Is that you?”
Enzo slowly nodded. His eyes shifted back and forth between me and the rest of our friends, who were all equally as shocked as I was that Enzo had suddenly found us like this.
I wanted to run to him, but I still couldn’t be sure yet if this was a trick of some sort. But what he said next
solidified that he had come here of his
own volition.
“Nina?” he said quietly. “Is that your name?”
I nodded, feeling tears come to my eyes. Part of me was devastated that he still seemed unsure as to who I was, but an even bigger part of me was thrilled beyond all belief that he had broken through Selena’s spell just enough to at least remember my name.
“I remembered you,” he said, his voice still quiet. “I remembered all of you. Well… Sort of. But I can’t quite remember everything. I know that Selena put a spell on me, but I think I need help to break out of it completely.”
“What does it feel like?” Lori asked
suddenly. “Maybe if you can describe it
to us, we can help you.”
Enzo paused, thoughtfully chewing his lip for a moment before answering. It’s like my brain is surrounded by a thick fog. Sometimes I can see through it a little bit and get tiny glimpses of my real memories, but I can never completely get rid of it.”
Lori, Jessica, Matt, and Luke all suddenly turned to look at me. I think that they knew exactly what I was thinking; because I was Enzo’s real fated mate, I was the only one who could completely break him free. And we didn’t have the time or the resources to patiently try to make his memories return. I knew that I had to be more aggressive about it.
“I think I can help,” I said quietly, stepping away from the rest of the group and toward Enzo with tears in my eyes tears of happiness over the fact that he had returned to me. “If you’ll let me.’
Enzo stared at me for a moment before
nodding, almost sheepishly. “I’ll do anything,” he said, his voice so low it was almost a whisper. “I know you’re the key to it all.”
I knew what I had to do. But first, I glanced over my shoulder at my friends, who all seemed to take the hint and turned around to give us some privacy. Then, I gently took Enzo’s hand. My own hands were shaking, but I steadied them with a deep breath and looked up into his soft, brown eyes.
Now that we were no longer in Mountainview, Selena hadn’t bothered to put a disguise on herself or Enzo again. In fact, their disguises hadn’t returned much at all since I initially was able to make Enzo remember everything in the locker rooms. Now, I was able to see him fully with nothing in the way, and it brought tears to my
eyes just to see his brown eyes, his soft,
curly hair, his sharp jaw, and feel his
large and calloused hands. Enzo seemed to know what to do before
I even did it myself. Suddenly, he brought one of his hands up to my cheek, and he slowly bent down to my level.
When his lips gently and tentatively pressed against mine, I felt a shock wave course through my body like electricity, I couldn’t help myself; 1 kissed him harder, pressing our lips together more firmly, hoping and praying that he wouldn’t pull away.
And he didn’t
In fact, he pulled me even closer. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me as though the world was ending.
When we finally pulled away, both of our faces were red with passion. I looked up at him, my eyes widening to see a smile on his face. His eyes were no longer blurry and confused, but clear and strong.
“Thank you, Nina,” he whispered, his arms still holding me tightly. “I missed you.”
A choked sob caught in my throat. “I missed you, too,” I whimpered.
Enzo pulled me close. For a few moments, I buried my face in his chest and cried silently, partially from happiness and partially from a release of all of my pain and stress. I didn’t stop crying until one of my friends suddenly spoke up.
“Are you two love birds done yet?” Lori said. I laughed and wiped the tears out of my eyes. When I looked over at my friends, they were still turned away from us.
“Yes,” I said. “We’re done.”
My friends turned back around. When they saw that Enzo was still holding me close, they all let out a collective sigh of relief as they realized that the spell had been broken. That was all it took; that was all it ever would have taken. Our bond was too strong for even Selena to break, and we only needed a kiss to break her spell.
Enzo looked down at the fire, then up at the dark sky. The forest seemed to be lightening a bit, although not by much. I wasn’t sure if it simply meant that dawn was coming, or if our kiss had also destroyed some of Selena’s power over the forest.
“We can’t stay here,” Enzo said, looking back at the group. “We need to get moving. Selena and the witch are probably still looking for me.”
I furrowed my brow. “The witch?” I asked.
Enzo nodded. “I found her earlier performing some ritual with a witch.” Luke’s s eyes widened. “You’re not saying…”
Once again, Enzo nodded. “She’s training with a witch. It’s highly illegal, and it’s why she’s so powerful. For a werewolf to have both werewolf abilities and witch abilities… It’s a dangerous combination already, not to mention the fact that she’s the Alpha King’s daughter.” 33
I felt my chest get tight. This was even more sinister than I thought. If Selena was practicing dark magic, then she was already more powerful than I was. And, to make matters worse, my wolf was still weak. I felt her presence flicker slightly back to life when I kissed Enzo, but not much. I needed to break through the curse if my wolf was going to emerge, and only then could I defeat Selena.
But Enzo was right; first and foremost, we needed to get moving before Selena and this supposed witch found us. Only now, I wondered if we should open a portal and return home or if we should try to save Richard first.
Either way, I would be happy with either outcome. As I looked up at Enzo, who had his arm still wrapped firmly around me, I felt stronger than ever. As long as I could be by his side, I was confident that we could accomplish anything.
