After Laila’s turn, Viola sat alone in the room and watched Emilia’s turn as well. However, unlike Laila, Emilia took so much ti opening the cover that ti ran out before she could complete the task.
She only succeeded in saving twenty people out of fifty, while Laila had managed to save forty, which ant Laila was still in the lead. The winner was determined by the ti it took and the number of people saved. If Viola wanted to surpass Laila, she would have to save more people in less ti, which seed almost impossible at this rate.
When Emilia finished her turn and gave an answer that still didn’t align with Viola’s viewpoint, a guard walked into the large room and announced to Viola,
"It’s your turn. Please follow ."
Viola felt her insides tighten, and her palms grew sweaty, but none of her nervousness showed outwardly. She took a deep breath, got to her feet, and nodded to the guard to lead the way. He guided her up a few flights of stairs to a smaller room with white walls, where a tube-like lift stood in the center. The lift doors opened the mont she stepped forward.
Viola stepped into the lift, and the doors slid closed behind her. It began to rise, taking her up into the arena.
When she erged, like the other two Luna participants before her, no one cheered. There was a heavy silence before the audience began to whisper amongst themselves, as if they had co to an event simply to mingle, already having predicted the outco of this round with the wolfless participant.
Predictability made things boring to many, and they couldn’t see why they should pay attention to sothing that seed so obvious. She was a loser who was ant to lose.
So even thought it was a waste of their ti and would have preferred if they just removed the wolfless from the arena and moved on to the more interesting participants.
Many in the crowd retrieved their phones, eager to capture s, while others began typing away on their devices to pass ti.
Fortunately, Viola couldn’t see this to let it add to her nerves, as the top of the arena had been covered and turned into a sky filled with smoke rising from burning buildings.
Viola took in the disaster unfolding around her. The scene looked far more real from within the arena than it did on the screens, she could even sll the burning wood, smoke, and ash.
She then turned her gaze from the devastation to the people standing fearfully behind her. The people who had been hurt during Laila’s and Emilia’s rounds were replaced with a new set, bringing the total to fifty again.
The children among them cowered, whimpering, and tried to hide behind their mothers’ skirts, staring at her as though she were so kind of monster who would eat them or bite off their heads. That look broke Viola’s heart, because she hated being viewed in such a way.
Once upon a ti, she had hated children and old people because she believed them to be troubleso and utterly annoying. Back then, little pups in Moonwillow had been afraid of her, because she snarled at them whenever they ca too close. She had always thought that even if she were to have her own pups with Evan soday, she would not be the one caring for them and would simply leave them to the ogas.
Life changes people, and it had changed her in a very big way. The realization disgusted her now, the way she had once viewed things, the heartlessness she had carried so easily. These little children were terrified to death. They looked so thin and fragile that she wanted nothing more than to take them away from this place and feed them properly in her penthouse, sowhere warm and safe.
Her throat tightened painfully at the thought.
Rather than bark orders at them like she had seen the other participants do, Viola did sothing different. She dropped to her knees in front of them, offering a smile to the children before speaking softly.
"It’s okay, you don’t have to be afraid. I will protect you, and no one will get hurt," she assured, reaching out to touch the hair of one of the children, who had tears on her cheeks. It was the sa girl Laila had shoved into the hole earlier.
"What’s your na?" Viola asked gently.
"Dahlia..." The girl whispered.
"What does she think she’s doing? Her ti is ticking away," Matt remarked in disbelief. As soone without a wolf, wasn’t she supposed to start things with a sense of urgency? Opening that door would take a miracle, so why the hell was she wasting ti talking to the people like she was trying to make friends? What exactly was this woman doing?
"She’s unpredictable. Let her do her thing," Sebastian muttered, his gaze unblinking as he watched her on the screen.
Despite the chaos around her, burning buildings, falling debris, and the roar of destruction, Viola remained calm, her voice soothing as she spoke to the people, as if the world weren’t collapsing around her.
Sebastian felt a strange ache in his chest, the kind that ca from recognition. She reminded him so vividly of... his mother, who, even in the worst panic, had never lost her composure. She had always reassured others, her calm a shield against fear, because she knew that panic could kill just as surely as the chaos itself.
Luna Katherina had been one of the calst Lunas Sebastian had ever known. As a child, he had often marveled at her, wondering how anyone could remain so composed even in the worst situation. And now, seeing Viola act with that sa serene authority, that sa quiet strength, he felt a rush of awe mixed with sothing he hadn’t expected, warmth, admiration, and the tiniest stab of longing.
She was just like his mother... yet also entirely herself.
"Now that’s my Vee," Zoe mused from beside her brother, watching Viola with a proud smile. "She’s not being aggressive or an to the kids." Zoe didn’t like unnecessary cruelty, especially from people who were supposed to be above others. She appreciated Viola’s gentleness and began to cheer at the top of her lungs for her friend, causing everyone to look at her like she had lost her mind.
~~~
Viola made sure to calm the kids enough so that their fearful expressions softened, and they stopped clutching onto their mothers before she outlined her plan.
"We will run together. Everyone, make sure to look out for each other. The stronger ones will support the weaker. Children, stay together, run as fast as you can, and take cover when I do. Do you understand?" Viola asked gently but firmly.
They all nodded in trust.
"My Mama can’t run that well. Her ankle is swollen, Luna..." whispered the little girl, Dahlia now clutching onto Viola’s finger and looking up at her.
"Don’t worry, she will have support," Viola assured the girl, gently touching her cheek. She was reminded of all the tis her own sister had reassured her when she was scared or panicking.
The little girl smiled up at her, and Viola turned to the rest.
"Everyone ready?" She looked at them and ordered two of the stronger won to support the woman with the swollen ankle. Everyone got ready behind her.
Just as the building beside them began to crumble, Viola yelled, "Run!" She clutched onto the hands of two of the children, and they all began to race toward the safety chamber, dodging and ducking the obstacles in their path.
Viola kept shouting words of encouragent to keep them going. Whenever soone fell behind, there was soone there to help them up, all coordinated based on what she had set in motion.
When one of the little boys lost his footing and fell, she bent down, scooped him into her arms, and kept running. The distance barely felt like anything to her, for she had trained and run hundreds of laps every night in the training grounds.
With words of encouragent, not barks and snarls of orders, the people gave it everything they had to keep up with Viola. The mothers, seeing this particular woman looking out for their children, couldn’t help but push themselves harder to make things easier for her.
When they reached the chamber cover together, Viola was putting the little boy she had carried down. She parted her lips to speak, but just then, Dahlia cried out, "Mama!"
Viola turned to see the woman with the swollen ankle left behind, vomiting and gasping for breath. She was an oga and had already been shot twice during Laila’s and Emilia’s rounds. Despite the injuries, she had forced herself to recover quickly because she wanted the mbership of the Silver Pack for herself and her daughter, but her body could no longer keep up.
Viola realized that if the woman got shot again, she might actually die from how weak she had beco. Her body, being that of an oga, couldn’t recover as quickly, and the little girl would be orphaned.
Viola glanced at the ticking clock and saw she still had fifteen minutes left, but she hadn’t even opened the chamber door yet.
A devilish voice inside Viola told her to forget the woman. She was just a nobody, and Viola couldn’t afford to lose because of soone insignificant. Besides, she was an expert at turning away from people to get what she wanted. She could do it again, let the woman die. Life wasn’t fair.
But another part of her, the part that had suffered for four years and was still suffering for turning away from her sister, rebelled against that thought. She had promised herself she would never turn away from soone in need again. She would never be that selfish woman with a dark heart and no compassion.
This poor little girl shouldn’t lose her mother. She shouldn’t have to suffer what Viola and her sister had suffered in the orphanage for not having parents. Fifteen minutes, that was still enough ti, Viola told herself, even though she knew deep down that it wasn’t.
"Stay down, everyone!" Viola shouted. Without a second thought, she turned back and dashed toward the woman, running with everything inside her.
"I’ll be damned! Why is she going back for one person?!" Matt exclaid again, so invested in the situation that he couldn’t help but wonder why the wolfless girl was so determined to save just one person. Shouldn’t she be focused on winning? If she was, she would have abandoned the weak woman and start trying to open that cover.
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