Chapter 100
Vivian POV
As soon as Dominc left, I. Was. Pissed.
Everyone was in a rush, instructors trying to orchestrate a search party, students whispering and conspiring if Ellie was even
alive.
Some panicked, others choosing to keep celebrating the win of the day.
The clearing was now a mess, lanterns swinging from makeshift posts, casting uneven light over clusters of students who no longer know whether they’re supposed to wait or leave, other drunk in the dirt.
Dusk had long bled into night, the mountain looming dark now. The challenge isn’t finished, not officially failed either, just suspended, hanging awkwardly in the air like a bad decision no one wants to own.
I keep my hands folded neatly in front of me.
I smile when someone looks my way.
Inside, I’m vibrating with rage.
How dare he leave me for her. He just couldn’t help himself, even breaking the rules. My fists twisted my pants. What if I had fallen? Would he go after me?
No. He would. Duh.
Teachers cluster near the tree line, voices low, grim, and finally-finally-one of them raises their voice enough to carry.
“For safety reasons,” she announces, “we’re suspending the exercise until morning. With Dominic and Ellie unaccounted for, it’s too dangerous to continue searching in the dark.”
The words ripple outward, landing hard.
My smile doesn’t slip, but something sharp twists in my chest.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
I turn on Karina the second the murmurs swell, catching her arm and pulling her a step aside, my voice dropping into a tight
hiss.
“I thought you were going to keep Sarash quiet,” I say it like a soft, disappointed mother. “Letting people overheat that kihe was missing is ruining everything.”
Karina swallows. “Vivian you know I didn’t-”
“Did you not think of that?” I cut in sweetly. “Karina, I love you, but this is becoming a patter How am I supposed is total you?”
Her mouth opens, then closes. She looks guilty. “I’m…sorry. I forgot she even had triends
1 patted her shoulder, then rolled my eyes turning away
Idiot
7:4
Abigail was standing a few paces away, mutters something like shur’s retrting it utt Abat
“The pitfall trap ”
freeze
+25 Bonus
Her eyes turned to the tree line as my head snaps toward her so fast my neck aches.
“What did you just say?” I ask, voice light, almost amused as I approach.
Abigail doesn’t flinch. “Ah, nothing. Sorry, Vivian.”
The clearing seems to quiet around us, sound dimming as if the forest itself is listening.
“Do you have a theory on where Ellie is?” I bump up the worried sister act. “I’m just…scared for her. Please, if you know anything, tell me.”
But…there is something in her eyes.
And I see it. She doesn’t…belive me.
“How…do you know about the pitfall trap?” I ask, my voic suddenly lowering.
This time, I can’t keep the edge out of it.
She stiffen cold.
The question hangs between us because I was careful. Because that trap wasn’t supposed to be known. How could she?
Who even was she? Was she watching me? Keeping tabs? Why?
Because if Abigail knows-
Then someone else might too.
And that’s a problem.
Ellie POV
The forest felt different on the way back.
Maybe because I wasn’t cold anymore, but my ankle was on fire.
Honestly, I still believe Dominic was even here.
That he found me.
He was moving carefully beneath me, every step a thick, a powerful thump of his paws. His stride is slower, controlled in a way that tells me he’s thinking about every shift of weight, every place my injured leg might jolt if he missteps.
Pain pulsed dully up my ankle, a steady ache that never quite fades, but exhaustion dulls everything. My cheek tests against the thick warmth of his fur, my fingers curled unconsciously into it. Heat creeps into my tace despite the cold presaling in bron, all sides.
He’s…kinda like a big teddy bear. With teeth.
And was so wide, my leg, got sore being stretch over his back I slowly pulled them up to lay, hooking the bugs of then on to tallbed. It hurt at first, but it was more comfortable then just letting my ankle hang
I could feel his masive muscles shifting beneath me broad, powerful rolling with a step is te bem that coiled heat
I tell myself it’s just adrenaline
Just proximity just the fact that I’m cold and he’s het
+25 Bonus
My body sways gently with his stride, my breath falling into rhythm with the rise and fall of his back. I nearly fall asleep a few
times.
I had no clue how he even found me. I didn’t have the energy to ask after all that yelling. I… nearly bit his head off for saving me.
My face dug into his fur.
I would appologize later.
Stil. Why? Why would he risk it?
He never loved me like this in the past. Not once. So why…
Then the path sharpens.
Something twists wrong in my stomach.
I lift my head just enough to look, and my breath catches.
Blue berries.
Clustered low and wild to the right of the trail.
Crap.
“No,” I whisper. Then louder, sharper, “Dominic! Dominic-wait-”
The ground disappears is a flushish of snapping twigs and leaves.
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