My Hockey Alpha
Chapter 686

Chapter 0686

Nina

My hands shook as I watched Luke and Matt drag Ronan's struggling body down the hall. Fresh blood matted the skin on his shoulder where Jessica's fangs had pierced his flesh, but other than that, he was fine.

The other battered intruders had already been hauled outside to await their fate.

Matt secured Ronan in the downstairs office, his wrists firmly tired behind his back. Ronan said nothing the whole time, his eyes just boring into me, menacing and cold. Then, the door shut in my face, and I could hear Matt's muffled voice for a few moments, followed by what sounded like a hard punch, and then another.

The whole time, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the closed door, my stomach churning. What was Ronan doing here? "Hey." Luke's gentle voice at my side made me jump. I tried to slow my ragged breathing as he watched me with a concerned look on his face. "You doing alright?”

I ran a shaky hand through my hair. "Yeah. Just...shaken up, that's all. I'll be okay."

Luke nodded, but his gaze remained full of questions. We both turned as raised voices echoed from the front yard. Through the glass panes I could see Jessica and some of the others gesturing heatedly at the bound and bloodied men who were kneeling on the lawn

"We need to move them all to the tunnels if we're going to contain this mess," Luke muttered.

I chewed my lip thoughtfully. "What about Ronan? We should keep him separate until Enzo gets here. He'll get the truth out of that monster."

At the very thought of Enzo, panic squeezed my chest. There had still been no word from Enzo all day. I wished he was here, by my side. Maybe none of this would have ever happened.

Oh, who was I kidding? Of course it would have happened.

Luke considered me for a moment before he nodded. "Okay," he said. "We'll bring everyone to the tunnels. Ronan will get his own private suite."

I laughed wryly at that notion, but then my face turned bitter. "I want to speak to him first, though," I growled. Luke shot me a wary look. "You're sure?"

"Positive," I nodded. "Give me a few minutes alone."

"Nina

"I'll be fine," I growled. "I've got personal beef with Ronan. I have the right to speak with him. Privately."

Luke paused, but then his eyes softened with sympathy and he gave my shoulder a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "Sure. We'll be right here. Just yell if you need us."

One Luke had gathered Matt with his now-bloody fists and herded him outside with the others, I steeled my nerves for a moment, my hand clutching the doorknob. Finally, I took a deep breath and stepped into the office, closing the door behind me.

Ronan stirred weakly from where he was curled up on the floor, his orange eyes burning with contempt as they found me. His upper lip curled back again, dried blood coating his teeth.

"Long time no see, Nina."

I crossed my arms over my chest as I glared down at his battered form. Matt had clearly done a number on him already." Not long enough," I growled. "What the hell are you doing back here, Ronan?"

He barked out a rasping laugh. "You think I'd forget what you two did to me last time?" he hissed. "You're lucky I haven't killed you already."

I fought back a shiver at his obvious attempts to throw me off.

"So that's what it is?" I asked. "Revenge? I thought you were smarter than that, Ronan. You still working for the Crescents?"

At that, Ronan chuckled darkly. "Revenge?" he cooed. "Please. I've got a new boss now. My dad was a coward, tucked his tail between his legs and disappeared. But my new boss... Well, he wants something from you." His heavy gaze dropped pointedly to my belly.

I instinctively wrapped my arms across my swollen stomach. My baby? What could anyone want with my baby? "You're insane," I whispered.

Ronan's orange eyes glinted with malevolent delight at my obvious fear. "Look, I'm not the one who wants the damn kid. I'm just helping move things along."

My blood turned to ice as his implications sank in. People were after my baby now and I didn't even know why. I had to figure out who was behind this attack.

I grabbed Ronan's shirt collar roughly.

"Tell me who it is," I snarled. "Who are you working for? Why do they want my child?"

When he just laughed, I slammed my palm against the wall inches from his head.

"Who?!"

Ronan flinched slightly, a flicker of doubt crossing his eyes, before his smug expression returned. "Let's just say it's a very influential family. They caught wind of some rare bloodline..." His eyes raked over me slowly. "...and now they want to... procure it."

My fists trembled with the urge to smash them into his leering face, but I managed to contain myself. I stepped back slowly, breathing hard. It was clear that Ronan wasn't going to tell me anything else.

"Luke!" I called out.

Luke burst through the door seconds later, eyeing my shaking form and Ronan's self-satisfied sneer. "Take him," I said. "Tend to his wounds. I wanna make sure he's nice and healed up for when Enzo returns."

With a threatening snarl, Luke hauled Ronan up by his collar and dragged him outside to join the others.

I barely registered the flurry of activity as Luke, Mart, and the others hurried the prisoners into vans headed for the underground tunnels. My mind was still reeling from Ronan's horrifying revelations.

What interest could some elite family have with my bloodline? What was even so special about my bloodline? Was it because of the Alpha King? It had to be, I thought to myself; they must want the Alpha King's bloodline, for some nefarious reason. I couldn't think of any other purpose behind this unprecedented attack.

"Come on." Jessica's warm hand suddenly clamped over my shoulder, drawing me back to the present with a shudder." You're not staying here tonight."

I nodded, numbly following Jessica and Lori to the car. We climbed in, and I put the truck in drive, peeling out of the driveway behind the vans.

Later, as I watched our newfound hostages being shoved into cells in the tunnels, waiting for questioning, I knew I had to call Enzo; I still hadn't heard from him, and by now, I was really starting to get worried.

I pulled my phone from my pocket with trembling fingers, navigating to his number. My heartbeat pounded in my ears as it rang once, twice, three times. By the fifth ring, panic began to take over me. Why wasn't he answering? Then...

Voicemail.

"Enzo," I said, my voice hoarse from screaming, "something happened tonight. Call me back as soon as you can."

I paused then, my mouth opening and closing as I battled with what I wanted to say. Finally, the words spilled out, tasting bitter on my tongue.

"We found Ronan. And someone wants to steal our baby,"