The thought of her awakening wolf makes Heidi’s throat tighten. It’s terrifying. It’s thrilling and impossible to ignore. How, they’ve barely been taught anything.
Not how to manage a wolf inside of you. Not what to expect or how painful the experience can be. Nothing at all. What they can offer them is a chance to figure it out on their own in the labyrinth where they’ll face death one one-on-one.
Everything Heidi knows about the werewolf world is self-taught. Some from the books given to them during the time when they were working out what family to assign them to, and others, from researching on the computer Mr. Castell had placed in her room.
This sucks!
Before she can even process that or answer Sierra’s dumb accusation, Ivy cuts in with a laugh so loud it grates. "Oh, please. She probably showed him her pornstar skills."
Argh! Not that pornstar bullshit again!
The others snicker, the sound stabbing at Heidi’s ears. Her fear burns, but it’s mixed with something else... heat and fury. Heidi’s lips part before she even realizes it. The words come out fast, sharp, and fueled by that crawling itch inside her. "I’m not a pornstar!"
Her voice echoes in the hallway. For one bright second, silence reigns. Even the mean girls look slightly taken aback.
Then Maribel snorts, eyes glinting meanly. "Really?" she drawls. "Then why don’t you go explain that to Lira, hm? I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to hear you’re trying to steal her man."
The name Lira alone sends Heidi’s stomach spiraling. The girl is infamous for being feral when it comes to protecting what she thinks is hers like Amias. Not to mention she’s the school’s sweetheart. Heidi won’t survive in the school being in the bad book is someone like that.
Fantastic, Heidi thinks, head pounding. As if I needed another death wish on my plate.
Her mouth opens, poised defensively, but Sierra isn’t interested in letting her speak. Instead, she casually pulls her phone from her back pocket, tapping the screen. The glow illuminates her smug face, and then she holds it up high, angled so Heidi and everyone else can see.
On the screen, a video plays.
And Heidi’s skin loses all color, becoming chalk white. Heat doesn’t just flood her face—it sears down her neck and chest. Her legs threaten to fold. Her mouth goes desert-dry, but her palms are sweaty. She feels naked all over again, like the phone’s glow is a spotlight burning her skin off.
It’s her... in her room at the Castells’. She’s naked—oh God, naked, moving like she’s lost in a haze as her hands drag slowly down her stomach, slipping lower, rubbing...
Her entire body locks in mortification. Heat blasts through her face so fast she thinks she might combust.
"That’s me," Heidi whispers, horrified. "That’s—how—what the hell..."
What the hell is this before her? It’s a single video playing on a screen, but also the rest of her life in the pack spelled to doom.
Sierra’s laughter rings mercilessly when she sees the petrified look on Heidi’s face. "Oh, darling. Do you remember the day I gave you that little feminine wash? Back when you’d only been at our place for two days?"
The butterflies in Heidi’s stomach cries. She remembers. The gift had seemed... weirdly generous at the time, but she had been too polite and desperate not to offend her terrifying host, to refuse.
Sierra leans in, her sickly sweet perfume drifting into Heidi’s nose. "Did you really think I gave it to you out of the goodness of my heart? Please. I planted a camera in your room and told you my mom said you must use it immediately."
She proceeds to clap her hands together, laughing and clutching her stomach. "Oh, Heidi Grace, why you obedient puppy. You indeed used it the same moment you stepped inside... and look..." she gestures toward the screen, "a perfect clip. Just for me."
The girls chorus the cruel laughter, shaking their heads as their faces turn pink in pure amusement.
Heidi’s legs wobble. She clenches her hands into fists so hard, her knuckles ache. Her mind is a blur of no, no, no.
Her wolf surges harder this time and it’s not just an itch but a clawing. A restless pacing under her skin. Her senses sharpen suddenly and the faint perfume of Sierra’s rose-scented shampoo, the tacky smack of Ivy’s gum, the faint click of Maribel’s bracelets suddenly grow too sharp, too loud, and too close.
They filmed me. They violated me. They...
She swallows bile.
"You... you what?" Her voice comes out strangled, disbelief battling the rage blowing her wolf’s head.
Sierra throws her head back and laughs again, like it’s the funniest confession in the world. "I filmed you, Heidi Grace. Made it look like you were having a fun self-pleasure moment." She turns to her friends who are literally crimson with laughter now. "We even tweaked the video a bit, so everyone knows just how wayward you are. So wayward, you’re already targeting the top men of the academy."
"Everyone else might be fooled by your clueless act, but we see beyond the facade, girl. You’re a con artist. A desperate one at that." Ginny spits at her.
Maribel juts out her hip. "You brought it upon yourself, you cheap fuck. You should have known your place. Now, we’ll show you what we do to girls who go after the Alphas. They are ours!"
"Amias is Sierra’s, Grayson is mine, Morgan is Ginny’s, and Darien is Maribel’s. Sierra already has to share Amias with Lira. She won’t do the same with you because you don’t even deserve to breathe the same air as her, not to mention sharing the same man!" Ivy growled, gawking at Heidi like she was going to vacuum her into her pupils.
Inside, Heidi’s wolf snaps awake. She can feel it’s not fully there, not with fangs and claws, but with a low, demanding growl. Do something.
And Heidi feels it: a prickle in her spine, a heat curling low in her belly, a pressure behind her eyes. Like something beneath her skin is stretching, ready to rip out.