Chapter 505

Nina

“Hold still.”

I dabbed at Matt’s bloody nose with an antiseptic wipe. He winced, but didn’t pull away as I cleaned away the oozing blood to reveal raw, bruised skin.

“It’s not broken,” I said softly. “Just cut up real good.”

“Fuck. I’m so sorry, Matt,” Enzo, who was standing beside me with his fingers curled up in his hair, said. “I really didn’t mean to—”

“Hey.” Matt shot Enzo an understanding look. “It’s alright. Shit happens.”

“Still.” Enzo cursed under his breath and turned away. He rubbed his bloody knuckles on his shirt and shook his head, but said nothing more.

I chewed my lip as I looked back and forth between the two of them. The scene I had walked in on was so shocking and grotesque; Enzo hunched over Matt, his fist raised. Matt’s hand wrapped around Enzo’s fist, his arm quivering from the strain of trying to hold Enzo back.

And the look in Enzo’s eyes. Oh, the look. It was as if he had gone feral, like a wild dog. I don’t know where his mind went during those moments, but it certainly wasn’t here. He only seemed to come fully back to his senses when I dropped the tray of coffee and gasped.

Matt exchanged wary looks with me as Enzo wandered over to the door and stepped out of the room.

“What happened?” I whispered now that we were alone. “Did he…”

“I don’t know.” Matt swallowed and shook his head. “One second we were having fun sparring, and the next second he just… snapped.”

Matt’s words made my blood run cold. “I’ll talk to him later,” I said softly. I turned to see Enzo pacing back and forth down the hallway, still clutching his hair. It was clear, in my mind, that what had happened with Mila had truly affected him.

I just hoped that he was alright.

…

“So he just… freaked out?” Jessica asked. “Just like that?”

I nodded, my face warming over my cup of tea. Lori, Jessica and I were sitting in our favorite corner booth in the diner, sharing a plate of fries and some warm drinks.

I was hardly touching the fries, though. The image of Matt’s bloodied was still fresh in my mind, like the icing on top of a cake baked by Mila and her grotesque cult.

“He’s seemed… off ever since we came back,” I said. “Which is no surprise, but still.”

Lori sighed and pushed her coffee away from herself. “PTSD, you think?” she asked.

I chewed the inside of my cheek and nodded. “That’s my best bet. I mean, after everything that’s happened, it’s expected. But Enzo has been so strong that I guess I just never thought it would affect him like this.”

Truth be told, we probably all had PTSD. The Crescents and the Luna had all done a number on us. But Enzo was always a rock throughout everything; like a constant light in the storm. He was the perfect picture of an Alpha for our little pack.

And now here he was, nearly killing Matt.

“Maybe he should give himself a chance to actually rest before he starts training,” Jessica suggested. “I mean, with the course beginning in just a few days, so soon after everything that happened, he could be setting himself up for another episode.”

“Yeah. I know.” I bit my lip and stared blankly down at the steam rising out of my teacup. “I’ve tried talking to him about exactly that, but it’s like he doesn’t hear it. I don’t think he’ll listen to me.”

Jessica leaned forward and placed her hand on top of mine. “You’re his wife. Of course he’ll listen to you.”

…

Oh, how wrong Jessica was. That night, I walked in the front door of the house with a slight sigh. I had spent the remainder of the afternoon in the infirmary on campus, working my summer hours. There was significantly less work to do with classes out and our new interns, but I sort of missed the buzz that came during the school year.

“Enzo?” I called out. “You home?”

“I’m in here.”

I rounded the corner to the living room to find Enzo sitting on the sofa. I couldn’t help but furrow my brow a bit as I looked at him; no movie, no video game, no book. He was just… sitting there. He hadn’t even changed his shirt since what had happened that morning in the weight room. There was still blood on it from where he had wiped his knuckles. It had turned brown by now.

“You alright?” I asked, taking a cautious step forward. I gestured toward his bloodied shirt. “How long have you been home?”

“Oh.” He looked down at his shirt and shrugged. “Just an hour or so. I guess I forgot to change.”

I watched as he stood and began making his way toward the stairs to go and change in the bedroom, but I stopped him before he could get there.

“Hey,” I said softly, pressing my hand against his chest despite the blood. “Talk to me.”

Enzo’s eyebrows knit together a bit, although I couldn’t tell if he was genuinely confused or trying to play it cool. “What’s there to talk about?” he asked.

I frowned. “You know what there is to talk about. Don’t play dumb.”

He looked at me for a moment, his brown eyes searching my face, before he finally sighed. “Look, I got carried away with Matt earlier, that’s all,” he said. “Just a spar gone wrong. It won’t happen again.”

But I wasn’t buying it. “There’s a huge difference between a spar gone wrong and almost killing your best friend,” I whispered.

My words seemed to strike a chord. Enzo’s nostrils flared and he turned, striding over to the kitchen. I watched as he rather forcefully grabbed a glass out of the cupboard, filled it with water, and began to drink it.

“Matt’s fine,” he said. “I apologized, we talked it out. You said yourself that his nose isn’t even broken.”

I took another step forward. “Yeah, but…” I paused, chewing my lower lip before continuing. “Enzo, I think that what happened in Mila’s clutches really affected you. And I think that maybe jumping headfirst into training might not be the best idea.”

Enzo frowned deeply, causing the subtle lines in his face to darken. “So what are you saying?” he asked with a slight scoff. “That I should just sit around? Let someone else handle it?”

“Well, no, but—”

His grip tightened around his glass. “I won’t rest until she’s dead, Nina. I can’t.”

“Enzo…” I shook my head. “I know you’re mad. I know you’re in pain. But it’s okay to rest, even for just a little while.”

“No!”

I blinked back at Enzo in utter shock. For the first time ever, he actually raised his voice at me. But it wasn’t only that that frightened me; I could have handled that.

No, it was the fact that he had gripped the glass in his hand so hard that it shattered.

Shards of glass went everywhere with a sickening crunch. The water that the glass had been holding spilled and pooled at his feet.

Enzo and I stared at each other for a few long moments, both in shock, before he released what was left on the cup and let it fall into the sink. He spread his fingers wide, inspecting his now-bloody palm.

“Nina, I—” He took a step toward me once he realized what he had done; and instinctively, I winced and took a step back. An involuntary movement, but it was too late. He had already seen the look of fear in my eyes, no matter how brief.

Enzo stopped in his tracks and blinked at me for a moment before a look of pure sadness took over his expression. “Nina, I’d never… Not you…”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and shook my head. “I know,” I whispered. “Let me fix up your hand.”