CHAPTER 164: _ GOD WOLF

The announcement of his not being a normal wolf is no news to Heidi. A normal wolf wouldn’t be male in a female’s body, would it?

"Yeah," She mutters. "I gathered. So what kind of wolf are you?"

"I’m a god wolf," he says simply.

Heidi doesn’t know which knocks her jaw off between being told she has a god wolf in her or the way he says it casually like it’s something you see every Tuesday.

Her hands fly to her mouth. "...A what now?"

"A god wolf," he repeats, as if she’s the slow one here. "The kind with powers beyond measure. The kind that can’t die the way others do."

Her heart stutters. "You’re kidding."

"Do I sound like I’m kidding?"

She opens her mouth, then closes it. Honestly? She doesn’t know. She just sits there, still, blinking with a mouth that’s half open... like maybe her brain is buffering. The words "I’m a god wolf" keep echoing in her head, looping like a cursed song she can’t turn off.

A god wolf. A male god wolf. In her.

"Right," she says finally, her voice wobbling like it’s been dunked in disbelief. "Because that makes perfect sense. Totally normal. Nothing weird about sharing a body with a celestial were-deity or whatever you just called yourself."

Her wolf sounds maddeningly calm. "I didn’t call myself a deity. I said I’m a god wolf. There’s a difference."

"Oh, forgive me for not keeping up with divine taxonomy," she mutters, flinging herself back on the bed. Her hair fans out like a messy halo against Val’s pillow. "Explain, then. What exactly does a god wolf do? Smite people? Shoot lightning out of your fur? Bake moon pies?"

He chuckles lowly in her head, the sound reverberating through her chest like a deep drum. "You joke now, but you’ll understand soon enough."

She props herself up on her elbows, staring at nothing. "Okay, no. You don’t just drop the phrase ’god wolf’

like it’s a weather report and then act mysterious. Why do I have a god wolf? Why me?"

"That, dear Heidi, is a question for the Moon Goddess." Her wolf supplies.

Heidi lets out a dry laugh that sounds more like a choke. "Oh, her. Yeah, right. The Moon Goddess hates me."

"I wouldn’t be so sure," her wolf replies.

Heidi rolls her eyes to the ceiling, like she’s hoping it’ll fall and crush her before this conversation gets any weirder. "Of course she does. Why else would she give me four mates? Four! When being fated to more than one is supposed to be an abomination. Ring any bells?"

There’s a beat of silence. Then, her wolf says, "You’re mated to four Alphas, Heidi. How is that an abomination?"

Really? Them being of Alpha blood makes it any better? She seriously can’t believe this beast.

Her head jerks up. "Excuse me?!"

"The Moon Goddess didn’t curse you," he continues calmly, like he’s discussing the weather. "She gave you the means to survive in this hellhole. To realize her wishes. She’s provided you with not one, but four Alphas to protect you and a god wolf. Do you need more examples to realize how much you’re Blessed?"

Heidi sits upright, incredulous. "Realize her wishes? Are we living in the same reality? Because the last I checked, my ’wishes’ involved not being branded a liar, not being humiliated on school grounds, and maybe... just maybe, not having people throw accusations at me for breathing near their boyfriends!"

"Still, you have more power than you think."

"Oh, don’t start with the cryptic mentor act. You sound like those old guys in temples who make prophecies just to sound smart."

He laughs again, finally absorbing his masculine tone which is masculine enough to make the fine hairs on her arms rise. "I’m only telling you what’s true. You think being mated to four Alphas is random? It’s a balance. Power calling to power. Each of them represents something you’ll need."

Something she’ll need...

Heidi frowns, swinging her legs off the bed. "You’re making it sound like a group project."

"In a way, it is."

She rubs her temples. "Well, then, I hope they’re the kind of partners who actually do their part, because I’m not carrying everyone to divine glory by myself."

It’s funny to even think that any of the Bellamy jerks could have something substantial to offer her anyway.

"They are just plain assholes." She wants to mutter internally but ends up being audible.

"Find out what?" she demands.

But before he can answer, a metallic crackle blares through the dorm’s overhead speaker, making her jump.

"Attention, students. The interview with the Moon Blessed Labyrinth survivors has officially begun. Any participant not yet present should promptly make their way to the auditorium."

That freezes Heidi, making her eyes widen. "Oh, hell."

Her wolf chuckles. "Well, there’s your cue."

"Oh, crap, crap, crap!" She shoots off the bed like she’s been electrocuted, scanning the room for anything remotely clean. The shirt she’s wearing smells like fear, dust, and blood... all remnants of her fight. The pant’s wrinkled beyond repair. Her hair looks like it tried to escape her skull sometime during the day and just gave up halfway.

"You look... feral," her wolf observes.

"Gee, thanks," Heidi mutters, ripping off her shirt and rummaging through her wardrobe. "Maybe that’ll help me stand out among the survivors."

"You already stand out."

"Not the point!"

She snatches a towel and bolts for the bathroom, her footsteps slapping against the corridor floor. The girls’ dorm bathroom is mercifully empty. She twists the shower knob until water gushes out in a scalding rush and steps in, gasping as heat licks her skin.

For a second, she just stands there, letting the water wash the grime and humiliation away. The smell of her citrus soap fills the air, sharp and bright. Steam curls around her, wrapping her like fog.

Her thoughts spiral again; Junie trapped in the labyrinth, Sierra’s smirk, the whispers that cling like oil. What if she never clears her name? What if the Alphas believe Sierra?

Her wolf murmurs in her head, gentler this time. "You don’t have to do this alone."

"I do," she whispers, scrubbing at her face. "If I depend on them, it’ll just make it worse."

"Or it might make you stronger."