CHAPTER 93: _ YOU CAN DO THIS

The sky begins to lighten in a soft gray bleeding into the inky blackness of the night. A few birds begin to sing with soft chirps that prelude the coming of the day. The air takes on a crisp, morning chill, and the magic of the full moon begins to fade.

Amias stops, chest heaving, and body slick with a sheen of sweat. Heidi stands opposite him, panting. Her limbs are aching with a wonderful, bone-deep exhaustion. She’s covered in dirt, her hair is a mess, and her body is a landscape of tiny scrapes and bruises. But she feels more alive than she has in her entire life.

He looks at her with a new kind of respect. "You made it. Are you okay?"

"I think so," she gasps, a breathless laugh escaping her lips.

He nods, his gaze trailing from her face, down her neck, over her shoulders, and down the length of her naked body. His eyes linger for a moment on the delicate curve of her hips, the slender length of her legs. Heidi feels her skin prickle with awareness as a wave of heat washes over her that has nothing to do with their physical exertion.

When he notices her eyes trailing his, he coughs sheepishly and jumps his gaze to the sky. "The sun will be up soon and we can’t have anyone seeing you like this." He gestures to her exposed form.

Heidi’s cheeks flush with color. She looks down at herself, and a flash of self-consciousness hits her. She had been so focused on the training that she’d forgotten her nakedness. She wraps her arms around herself, her hands covering her breasts.

Amias glances at the pile of his discarded clothes on the ground, then back at her. A sardonic smile plays on his lips. "I was going to make you walk back naked as punishment for sleeping with Darien," he blurts in a teasing tone, but the coldness behind his eyes is unmissable.

He still hasn’t fully forgiven her. "I wanted to punish you for giving my brother the boast of being the first to be with you..."

Heidi’s mouth falls open. She can’t believe he would say something so cruel, so honest, but so fitting for his character.

"And that only makes him more tantalizing. I can’t wait until we have him!" Her wolf laughs maniacally.

Amias’s gaze, however, softens. The coldness in him is melting away into a weary resignation. His eyes are now focused on her shame. He sighs. "But my wolf, however, can’t have anyone else seeing what is his."

He gestures at her body, his eyes filled with a raw, possessive need. "You belong to me. And only I can see you like this."

The possessiveness in his voice is both terrifying and thrilling. The wolf inside her purrs in satisfaction.

He kneels, pulling off his pants and jacket. She watches, mesmerized, as his muscles coil and flex under the fabric. Then, without a word, he stands and picks up his pants and jacket, holding them out to her. The pants are a thick, comfortable material, and the jacket is heavy and warm.

Heidi stares at them in disbelief. "But... what about you?" she asks, gesturing to his semi-naked form. "You can’t walk back to school like this! The whole pack will be awake soon. People will see you! The Alpha’s son, in his underwear..."

Amias lets out a dry laugh. "Precisely, and they will look at me and think what? That Amias Bellamy is half naked? That he’s far gone out of his wits? I will be the one who bears the rumors. Not you. They won’t see you. They will just see me."

He holds the clothes out to her again with a silent command in his gaze. "We must not be seen together. We must arrive back at the compound before the whole school awakens. Now, get dressed, Heidi."

She takes the clothes from his hands. The fabric is soft and warm against her cold, bruised skin. The pants are far too big, but the jacket is warm and comforting. She pulls them on, feeling a strange sense of shame and protection. The shame of what she had done, the shame of being seen by him, and the fierce protection of the wolf that he is and the alpha he is.

He let her dress, and she hears him murmur, more to himself than to her, "I hope you are worth all this."

Heidi’s heart clenches. He has sacrificed his night and risks getting caught with her. He probably has more to lose and still showed up... he, Amias Bellamy—the last of the Bellamy boys she’d think could ever give a batshit about her.

The one with the perfectly amazing girlfriend—the queen of the school, Lira.

.

.

The journey back is a quiet, tense affair. The forest is slowly waking up, filled with the soft rustle of leaves and the distant chirping of birds. Amias moves silently and Heidi follows behind him, his pants tied tightly at her waist, and his jacket enveloping.

As they get closer to the school, the silence is slowly replaced by the first sounds of the morning. The distant sound of a door slamming shut, the faint chatter of voices, the smell of freshly brewed coffee. They move stealthily, passing through the back gates of the compound and skirting the edge of the school building. The windows of the dorms are still dark, but a few lights are already on in the windows of the Alpha’s suite building.

Amias stops just before they reach the main courtyard. He turns to face her, his silver eyes fixed on hers. He looks tired, but his gaze is still filled with that fierce intensity she has come to know.

"This is as far as we go. You’re on your own from here. Go back to your dorm and wait for the announcement which will definitely come in two or three hours. Don’t you dare speak to anyone about this. No one should know I helped you. Don’t look at me. Pretend like nothing ever happened."

Heidi wants to say something, but the words get stuck in her throat. She wants to thank him. She wants to tell him how much this means to her, how much he’s helped her, how his actions are a contradiction to his words. But all she can do is nod while her eyes fill with a sudden rush of tears.

He let his hand rest on her shoulder for a brief moment. "Remember everything I taught you. The labyrinth is not a game, Heidi. You must be prepared." He looks at her with profound sorrow in his eyes like there’s a part of him that believes she won’t survive it.

Like none of the Moon-blessed would.

"You’re a strong woman. You can do this."

With that, he turns and walks away. He moves with a determined stride towards the Alpha’s suite building. There’s a man who has just sacrificed his reputation for a woman whom he claims to dislike.

Heidi watches him go while all sorts of emotions swirl inside her. Shame, gratitude, confusion, and a deep, aching loneliness. The cold air seeps into her bones, and she feels utterly alone. She takes a deep breath, clutching his jacket closer, and begins to walk towards the regular students’ dorm like Ms. Vesper had described.

The labyrinth awaits after...