Chapter 148: _ Blood For Fire
Yes, she’ll fight them, but not here—Heidi decides.
Her jaw clenches. "This isn’t the place."
Sierra arches one waxed brow, as if Heidi just announced she’d rather go braid daisies than fight. "Oh? Afraid?"
The other girls snicker, their laughter bubbling up like the world’s most irritating champagne.
Heidi narrows her eyes. "Not afraid. I just prefer somewhere with more freedom. Somewhere I can actually beat your asses without worrying about the audience."
The crowd reacts like gasoline on a match. Gasps, little laughs, the ripple of bodies leaning closer. A third-year boy with a mop of curls even mutters, "Ohhh," like this is better than theater.
Sierra doesn’t miss a beat. She tilts her head, looking Heidi up and down as though she’s inspecting a bug she found in her shoe. "Translation: she’s scared." She lifts her hand, palm open to her friends as if she’s a general explaining troop movements. "She’s desperate to run away before we put her back in her place."
Ginny claps like a demented cheerleader. "Scaredy-Moon! Scaredy-Moon!"
That earns her some snickers from the crowd.
Heidi exhales long through her nose. The wolf inside her is done with words. Done with the posturing. Its voice rolls hot and low through her skull:
"Enough talk. Rip them apart. Teach them why they don’t mock us. Let them bleed!"
Her knuckles ache with the effort of not already striking. Her stomach twists, caught between fury and strategy. She doesn’t want noise. Doesn’t want attention. She wants one thing only: Sierra’s damn phone smashed to dust. That video fucking deleted.
"There doesn’t have to be a fight because I wouldn’t like to get your filthy blood on me. Hand me the phone, Sierra. Delete the video in front of me, and we walk away from this."
Damn this! She’s only retreating because of those jerks. The pricks she calls mates! What could they possibly be doing now? Were they up already? Still in the building?
Heidi can’t help her mind wandering to them again. Not with how close she is to their location right now. However, she forces herself to stay in the moment and see this to the end.
The way the four girls burst out laughing helps tether her back to reality as they aren’t even laughing politely. Neither is it even cruel giggles. It’s a full-on, tear-inducing, belly-laughter. Maribel doubles over, holding her side. Ginny actually snorts. Ivy fans her face as if she might faint from the hilarity. Sierra just stands there, chin high, laughing like a queen who’s been told the court jester has invented comedy.
"You?" Sierra finally gasps, pressing a hand to her chest. "Giving orders?"
Ginny cackles. "What’s next, she tells the Alphas where to sit?"
Ivy sneers. "She thinks she has claws now just because she survived the labyrinth. Newsflash, Moon-trash—you’re still nothing."
The laughter claws under Heidi’s skin. The wolf growls, shoving against her ribs.
"That’s it," her wolf says. "No more."
Heidi doesn’t even remember making the decision. One second, she’s holding herself in check. The next, she’s charging.
Her body snaps forward as her claws unsheathe in a clean metallic shimmer under the sunlight. Gasps erupt from the crowd as she slams into Sierra first, the phone clattering from Sierra’s hand.
Sierra shrieks, staggering backward, her nails flashing as she tries to slash Heidi, who ducks, and catches a fistful of glossy hair. She yanks it so hard, Sierra’s head jerks back with a scream. The smell of expensive shampoo floods Heidi’s nose, cloying and chemical.
Ivy pounces next, claws out, aiming for Heidi’s cheek. Heidi twists, but that’s not fast enough because the claws rake fire down her jaw, hot and sharp.
What the...
The pain lights her fury like a flare. She snarls, baring her teeth, and drives her knee up into Ivy’s stomach. Ivy folds with a whoosh of breath, eyes bulging.
"Arghhh!"
The crowd erupts in cheers and shrieks. Phones are out everywhere now, little glowing screens capturing every second.
Tall and heavy Maribel barrels in, tackling Heidi from the side. They crash to the ground, stone biting into Heidi’s back. Maribel’s earrings brush her cheek as she snarls, her breath sour with mint gum. Claws aim at her, but Heidi blocks with her forearm, feels the sting of skin splitting, but then twists her hips, rolling them. She slams her fist into Maribel’s ribs twice, until the girl grunts in pain.
But small and vicious Ginny’s already there with her fangs snapping inches from Heidi’s ear. Heidi jerks away, but Ginny’s claws rake across her shoulder, leaving behind hot lines of fire.
Four against one.
Her wolf howls in her head, ecstatic. "Yes! Yes! Let them come. Let them bleed."
Heidi bucks upward, slamming her head against Ginny’s chin. There’s a crack, and Ginny screams, clutching her mouth. Blood drips bright red down her lip, staining her teeth.
Heidi scrambles to her feet, chest heaving, blood sticky on her skin. Sierra lunges again, face twisted, but Heidi’s faster. She swipes, claws catching the front of Sierra’s top and shredding it open. Fabric rips like paper, revealing her flat chest. Sierra shrieks, stumbling back, trying to cover herself.
The crowd is roaring now, chanting, some laughing, while some are screaming. It’s chaos, and amidst it, Heidi spots the phone glittering on the stone ground near the pillar. Her goal. Her prize.
She dives for it.
Ivy claws at her leg, raking deep. Heidi snarls, kicks backward, her boot catching Ivy in the chest and sending her sprawling. She snatches the phone, and then, with all the fury coiled in her chest, she smashes it against the pillar.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The screen shatters, glass spraying like tiny stars. The body cracks down the middle. The crowd gasps as Heidi drops the ruined pieces, grinding them under her heel until there’s nothing left but shards.
Her chest heaves. Sweat drips down her spine.
"What did I tell you, pompous bitches? You–"
She can’t finish as Ginny shrieks, launching at her with a scream of pure rage. Heidi grabs her by the front of her blouse and yanks hard, ripping her fabric as well. The sound is obscene and as loud as the tearing scream of cotton giving way. Ginny stumbles, hands flying to her chest as the fabric tears wide, her bra straps straining.
Poor Ginny with a nice set of boobs sees her breasts nearly spilling free.
The crowd gasps as one. Silence for a beat. Then a roar of laughter, catcalls, shrieks let loose. Ginny’s face goes crimson. She screams, trying to cover herself, but it’s too late. Dozens of phones have captured the sight.
They wanted to make her a pornstar and post an edited intimate video of her after Sierra had set her up. It is only fair that she gives them a taste of their medicine. For that, Heidi doesn’t feel bad about ripping their blouses.
Her chest heaving is from the intensity of the fight, clawed hands are still trembling. However, when the reality of what has just happened settles on her, when her crazily enraged wolf loosens, Heidi finally feels it.
Oh, shit. This is paying fire with blood. She shouldn’t have done this. She wanted humiliation, but not this. Not like this. These girls are daughters and sisters of powerful pack council members and heirs. This... This will come biting her in the back. Heidi feels herself running out of breath, she can’t believe her own anger. Her wolf’s anger and recklessness.
It was useful in the labyrinth, yeah, but this is the school. They aren’t fighting demons now. They are fighting their peers. Pompous and annoying, yeah, but their peers still.
Why, this rogue wolf of hers...
Suddenly, a voice screams from behind.
"GINNY!"