Part 47 (1/2)
Gaven had a pointyou had to be slightly crazy to win this race
Liesel was playing it safe Going too slow I felt like I understood so, in that moment, about Leadershi+p How you had to do what others weren't willing to do To be reckless
I shot ahead of her, but she seeht So be it Play follow the leader!
My Mark was prickling I felt on fire I wished it would stop I had to get to the head of the pack This couldn't be good
Three laps wasn't veryMaybe I was like a lightning rod, walking around; all the spontaneous crafting the ss up I looked back at Liesel I shouldn't, I said to myself No I can't don't blow her up
Liesel rubbed roup of riderswe shot into the piazza, one lap down! I thought I recognized soasped I narrowly avoided wiping out Liesel's cheap shot nearly put me into the wall Ballard was nowhere to be found He ! I wondered if he was head of the pack? Then if I wanted him to be? Paolo was a beta, after all The Pack needed to be headed by someone powerful In the absence of Gaven, Ballard truly was the second-best candidate to head them up He was special Different Whatever
Alerewolves there were repercussions There would be certainly for whoever won or lost this race
I refrained froLiesel into the wall The Mistresses had taught er I had learned to control ainst my existence truly slide
Leander, the kinda beautiful one, did so, then, that was really nasty So h Berenice was out of it, but she recovered quickly As a group, we took a sharp turn, Liesel still onRomulus killed Remus, after all It was in the wolves' natures to betray themselves, to destroy each other Gaven was so selfless How had hea twelfth I had chosen Rout for prestige
I decided to go! Just go! The Gahtaway and I left theh the sharply twisting alleyways The Gah stone walls It had gears I had never found before
I turned a corner, in fifth place, and they were all there: the crowd, and the last four riders; Ballard, Paolo, and two others We raced through the piazza, alone together Ballard looked surprised to see me When we disappeared around the bend, Paolo flew into the twoone another, single-handed, holding onto their motorcycles It seemed to be Paolo and Ballard versus the two of them I didn't knohat to do
I tried to do the tire thing on the two riders, getting in the nored me When one of thelinted off Ballard's hel bikes, and flew into my face It was like I was in a shower of stars I watched as Ballard's ainst the sound, followed by a hard thudding SMACK!, and he was off his h the air He starfished I narrowly avoided running hi his fist at us, as we disappeared down another alleyway
Ballard's heled it at the re two riders I heard it clatter a few times on the cobblestones as we disappeared down the vicolo
In st, I had paid little attention to these two, but I saho they were now Blunt and Giorgio
Two betas
The only thing I knew about them was how much they seemed to desire alphadom and the Headwolfshi+p Either their instincts were telling them to murder each other, or these tere psychopaths Maybe we all were We were about to break into the opening, when it happened again Blunt was trying to put Ballard's head into the ithout Ballard having his hel
”Halsey, don't!” said Ballard
It o against one
Soive her a proper welcoio
The two of theed ”Leave her alone!”
”If she thinks she can be in charge,” said Giorgio, ”let her prove it”
They dropped back and came at e But it was too late
We caiant BOOM! sounded Blunt's and Giorgio'sout fro across the finish line, their motorcycles on fire Ballard and I finished one-two I had to look back to see the with me? It was pandemonium In that moment, I had seemed to think the words I looked at the husks of thein the flames, and felt sickness ithin me Nausea instead of butterflies I had nearly killed theic
Storoodbecause I didn't deserve it
Ballard's fist was in the air; it was over Blunt and Giorgio were getting up, no worse for having escaped death But their rides recked!
They ca with the rest of the pack, Paolo and the other racers belatedly crossing the finish line It see? Like I was a danger er!
Soht you did really well Runner-up!” Liesel was shakingor other Apparently the races were always this way, she said ”Pretty weird, huh?”
Then why had I lostdealbut not me My blood was still up Liesel was amused ”For a newbie chick you're OK,” she said
”Thanks, Liesel,” I said
I could feel it coursing through ratulate e linewhen sohed, unexpectedly
I turned, ht there, sy in her eyes
”You very fast,” she said ”Yes, indeed”
I think I waited foron?
”You're a olf?” I said ”Why didn't you tell me?”
”You need practice sed esse in silentium Shh with talk of olves Very fast, very fast”
The knowledge that my landlady was one of us ”But you never told me Vittoria” It seemed to clunk in my brain
”She's my niece,” said my landlady ”You be nice to her”
”Why?” I said, dumbfounded
But Ballard came over to me then, and she melted away
”Ballard, my landlady is a olf,” I said, in a daze
”Shethe words It was his coronation celebration