FIRST NIGHT WITH THE HOCKEY ALPHA のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 161 - チャプター 170

LyraI stared at my hands like they belonged to someone else. They were shaking, not violently, but enough for me to notice. Enough for me to feel it all the way up my arms, straight into my chest. My palms still felt warm, almost like the air itself had burned into my skin.“I think… I think it just came from me,” I whispered.My voice sounded far away to my own ears.I flexed my fingers slowly, watching them move, half-expecting something else to happen, another surge, another explosion, but nothing happened.“Oh my goodness,” I breathed. “Did I just…”My thoughts tripped over each other, none of them made sense. I knew, logically, that something like this was possible. Nick had given me his blood. We knew there was something inside me now.But knowing and experiencing were two completely different things.“I didn’t train,” I muttered, more to myself than anyone else. “I didn’t even know how to use it. It just… happened.”My heart was still racing, not from fear anymore, but from d

LyraMy heart slammed so hard against my ribs I was sure Nick could hear it. The sound of it filled my ears, louder than the engines, louder than my own thoughts. Everything inside me felt too fast, like my body was sprinting while my mind was frozen in place.Please don’t be Damien. The thought came sharp and desperate, slicing straight through me. I pressed my hands together without realizing it, my fingers locking so tightly they hurt. I didn’t care. Pain felt better than the fear spiraling out of control inside my chest.Please, Nick was weak. I could see it every time he shifted his weight, every time his jaw tightened like he was biting down on pain he refused to admit was there. Ben was barely conscious, his weight heavy and wrong between us. And me? I hadn’t even learned how to breathe without my powers threatening to explode out of me.I didn’t know how to fight Damien, I didn’t know how to stop him, I didn’t even know how not to break things when I panicked. If this was him

Lyra“Nick!” My voice tore out of me, sharp and cracked. My knees buckled the moment I tried to move.The ground felt wrong beneath my palms when I caught myself, cool, uneven, slightly damp. My breath came out in short, panicked bursts as fog pressed in from every direction, thick and heavy, clinging to my skin like it had weight.I blinked hard. “Nick?” I called again, quieter this time, fear slipping into the sound whether I wanted it to or not.My head throbbed. There was a pressure behind my eyes, like someone had squeezed my brain and forgotten to let go. I pushed myself upright, swaying immediately, my balance shot to hell.I took a step forward. Or tried to. The fog swallowed everything above my shoulders. I couldn’t see the sky. Couldn’t see buildings. Couldn’t even tell if we were indoors or out. It felt like standing inside a half-formed nightmare, the kind where your body moves but your surroundings refuse to make sense.Then I heard it. A sound—low, broken. A whimper.

Lyra“No.” The word crawled out of my mouth, thin and broken, like it had scraped its way through glass to escape. My head shook without my permission, fast and hard, my whole body rejecting what Ben had just said.“That can’t be,” I whispered, then louder, desperate. “That can’t be.”Tears streamed down my face freely now, hot and unstoppable. My hands trembled as they reached for Nick again, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt like I could physically anchor him to this world if I held tight enough.“This can’t be,” I said again, my voice shaking so badly it barely sounded like mine. “Nick can’t be dead. He just can’t.”My fingers dug into the fabric over his chest. “My man can’t be dead,” I sobbed. “You don’t get to say that. You don’t.”I looked up at Ben, my vision swimming. “You have to do something,” I pleaded. “Please. You have to.”Ben crouched beside us, his face tight, his jaw clenched like he was holding himself together by force. “Lyra,” he said softly, “I’m not happy either, b

LyraBen’s eyes widened as he stared at me, he took a slow step closer to me, his voice low but edged with disbelief. “Do you really think Nick would want this?”I didn’t answer immediately. My jaw tightened as I folded my arms around myself, nails digging into my skin.Ben shook his head, running a hand through his hair. “Nick would be disappointed,” he said. “If he knew this was your plan. If he knew this is what you want to do to him.”Each word landed heavy.“He wouldn’t want this,” Ben continued, his voice firmer now. “Not from you.”I swallowed hard, my throat burning.“For years,” Ben went on, pacing slowly, “he’s been managing his health, while….I closed my eyes. “Waiting for you to come back to him,” Ben said quietly.My chest tightened painfully.“I think the happiest time of his life,” Ben said, stopping in front of me, “was when you came back. When he realized you were his Lyra."My breath hitched.“The one he’d been waiting for,” Ben added. “That moment? That was everyth