CHAPTER 54: HEAT OF THE CHASE

Theodora couldn’t remember. Her memories of what happened after she had left Ashwood, till the moment she had woken up in Liam’s room were all blank.

It’s been a few days since it happened, and her head remained blank. She really wanted to know how she ended up wearing Sylas’s clothes, and it seems the only way to jog her memory was to ask him about it. She planned to do when she returns his clothes.

Speaking about Sylas, she expected some kind of look from him, or maybe a statement about what might have happened between them since she became sober, but he hadn’t said a word, or behaved any differently than he usually did.

The high-pitched note of the whistle pulled her attention back to the present. She and her classmates were on the field, sprinting at full speed around the large obstacle course.

Everyone was sweating profusely and had taken off their shirts - all except her. Her white shirt had turned into a stinking brown from all the crawling, running and climbing they had to do.

She turned to the man who had blown the whistle. He had taken off his coat and was monitoring everyone, and taking down notes. She had been secretly stealing glances from him, hoping a memory would surface.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

It bothered her so much.

Liam ran right in front of her, and she sped up to catch up to him.

"Hey," He said.

"We’ve gone round this field so much that I’ve lost count. When is this gonna end?" She asked.

"Tired already?"

"No, I’m just tired of crawling through mud every time,"

"He’s probably using it to test our stamina," Liam said and pointed ahead, "Look over there,"

She turned and saw some guys had stopped to drink water from either their bottles, or the tap by the side.

"Sometimes Wolves have to travel for hours without stopping, not even for a second. Especially if you’re alone and being chased by several enemies. You won’t have the luxury to stop because they could catch up at any time. Those guys taking a break...will already be dead,"

"So what? We keep running till we drop?"

Liam nodded, "Seems like it. So tell me, how are you feeling now?"

She eyed him, "I’ve told you several times. I feel alright now. The headache and the wine are out of my system,"

"You sure?"

"Very,"

Liam had found it hard to believe she was sober now. Silverbloom, when taken in high doses like she did, usually keeps someone drunk for days. Wolves only start getting sober after five days of being drunk, but she had managed to break down the chemicals in just a day.

"First, you can survive for months without food, and now you break down the most potent wine in a day. I’m itching to kidnap you back to my Pack’s Lab and run some tests on you and your Wolf," Liam chaffed with a playful smile.

"If you wake up one day and find myself chained down and being injected with some fluid, I’m coming for you and the Dark Horse Pack,"

They both laughed.

Just then, another whistle was blown. Everyone turned to Sylas, thinking he was giving a signal for the run to stop.

But the whistle hadn’t moved from his neck.

Instead, Professor Shaw stood next to him - the General homeroom teacher of the second years.

Which means...

Rhythmic thudding of lots of uneven footsteps rumbled through the ground. Liam and Theo looked back to see all the sections of second-year students running down the field, about to catch up with the first years.

They were bigger than them and carried more aura.

The first-year students running on the track ran faster, determined not to be overtaken by their seniors.

Liam and Theo shot each other a glance, and everything they needed to say across was delivered. Instantly, they increased their speed and exploded ahead.

Their arms and legs pumped faster, and adrenaline surged through their veins with intense concentration in their eyes.

"You think the Professor did this on purpose?" Liam asked next to her, almost breathless.

"I don’t even care. I just don’t want them to catch up," She replied as they kept circling the field.

"If we want to win this, we have to be the ones to catch up to them,"

"Then, it’s on,"

Behind them, the Second-years were already dominating the field. They had overtaken a lot of the first year’s presents, and were approaching them like a storm.

When Theo had to crawl through mud this time, she didn’t care whether it splattered on her face. She smashed and climbed over all obstacles, leaving more tears and bruises around her arms and legs.

She and Liam were now at the very front of the race, cutting past everything like it was nothing. The thrill had infected them, and they exchanged smiles breathlessly.

Footsteps pounced behind them, and they both turned around and saw that three second-years had broken out from the large group behind, their speed enough to catch up to them in minutes.

Aurelius, Celeste and Hezekiah.

Theo turned back with a hiss. Aurelius had that annoying smile again, and Celeste looked like he had been dragged into doing this.

And Zeke, he was glaring at her.

He’s always been glaring at her ever since she became sober. She had asked Liam if she had encountered him again after she had gotten drunk, but he said he didn’t know anything about that. Then at night, when he was ready for bed, he would drag her over to his bed and throw one leg over hers.

"They’re catching up," Liam said, "Got any more speed in you?"

She laughed mirthlessly, "I’ve got more than enough,"

"Then let’s go,"

They shot out even faster than before, their hair whipping around and flowing behind them. Sweat dripped from every part of their bodies, and Theo’s shirt clung tightly to her body.

She felt a slight change in Liam’s aura, and saw that his feet had transformed to that of a wolf’s to keep up with their inhumane speed.

He looked up and down at her for a moment, "You’re gonna overheat if you don’t change, too,"

"Don’t worry, I’m good,"

Behind them, the second-years were beginning to catch up again. Zeke looked especially excited for this, a few steps in front of Aurelius and Celeste. He was catching up fast, a little too fast, in fact.

The distance between the two first-years and the group of second-years wasn’t too far anymore, but it would all be for nothing if Zeke overtook them now.

Theo won’t allow it. Her competitive spirit had spread like wildfire inside of her.

"Unless I transform fully, I can’t run any faster than this," Liam confessed next to her, heaving hard, "You’re gonna have to leave me behind,"

*Want me to take over?* Seraphina asked inside of her, *You’ve been using your own strength all this while,*

*Let’s catch up to those second-years* Theo agreed.

*Do I have to change your legs?*

*A little. You’ll be carrying more than one weight,*

*Nice. I love it even more*

Just then, Theodora reached out and grabbed Liam’s arm tightly.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

Her toenails transformed into claws.

"We are a Pack, Liam. No one gets left behind," She stated strongly, her gaze fixed ahead.

And then, she exploded forward powerfully.