SERAPHINA'S POV
I'm left stunned, a deer caught in headlights-confused, wide-eyed, and paralyzed in place.
The ground beneath me seems to crumble as I fall into a sinking pit of despair, engulfed in darkness. All the while, I'm denying it over and over again in my head.
There's no way Olivia would be in a coma. The school is safe. Despite the segregations, there's no way a student could get badly hurt like that, and no one would know the culprit.
But why would he lie to me about Olivia? He has no reason to - nothing to gain. She really is unconscious.
'It's all your fault. You promised you wouldn't let anything happen to her.'
No, I-I did my best. I left her out of everything dangerous.
'She's your friend; she's bound to get wound up in the threats that come after you at some point.'
But I didn't mean for any of this.
'You let her down, and now she's hurt.'
I-I...I did this.
The realization hits me, and my inner thoughts harp on my own role in all of this. The ringing in my ears intensifies, and my airways begin to constrict.
Suddenly, my ability to breathe recedes.
"Sera!" Artemis shouts my name, his hands gripping my shoulders, snapping me out of the panic attack that was slowly taking hold.
The frantic stare in his eyes makes me realize he must have been calling my name for a while, and my lack of response had clearly terrified him.
"Are you okay?" He asks now in a softer tone, the raw look in his blue eyes urging me to tell him how I feel. "I know she's your friend, and I'm so sorry I couldn't do anything."
I don't know when the first tear falls, or even the second, but before I know it, I'm sobbing uncontrollably, breaking down right in front of him, overwhelmed by the ceaseless amount of pain.
He doesn't reprimand me.
Instead, his arms envelop me in a hug that's both warm and firm, comforting yet gentle. It's unlike the first. This is different, more charged with unguarded emotions and a certain vulnerability that leaves me feeling exposed, naked to his eyes alone.
It's as if he's holding together all the fragile parts of me, a weathered bandage, preventing me from shattering into a million pieces and scattering to the wind.
I can't help but cling to his arm and hide my face in his chest, shamelessly seeking some kind of solace until the pain becomes slightly more bearable and my senses return to full capacity.
Suddenly, I remember who I'm clinging onto for comfort. Overwhelmed by a sudden surge of denial, I push away from him, breaking his hold and putting more distance between us.
With my face flushed and teary, I quickly avert my gaze from him. I hurriedly wipe away the tears and clear my nose, using a cough to mask the awkward silence and regain some semblance of composure.
"Where is she?" I ask the real important question.
Now's not the time to dwell in my own self-pity and sadness. I need to see her for myself and understand what really happened.
He leads me through the school building to an upper floor, where a small clinic is located for dealing with more serious student emergencies. The hall is eerily empty as we enter, save for a single occupied bed at the far end.
Olivia.
I brush past Artemis, my eyes locking onto the familiar dark, silky strands of her hair. But when I come to a stop beside her bed, the sight of her takes my breath away, drawing a gasp from my lips.
Apart from the healing scratches marring her face, her skin has taken on an unhealthy color, almost ghostly in its whiteness. Her once vibrant, pink lips now resemble two ashen lumps of clay, fused together and marred by cracks.
The tears I tried to hold earlier threaten to spill once more.
"Her condition was worse last night," Artemis breaks the silence, his voice tinged with sincerity. "Thanks to an emergency visit from a pack doctor, she's shown significant improvement."
"You call this recovering significant?" I ask, choking on my own tears.
If she's better now, I can only imagine how much worse she had been last night.
"I should have been there with her." I mutter now, mostly to myself, grabbing onto her hand and squeezing tight.
"There's no way you could have. You were busy trying to stay alive out there. None of this is your fault." Artemis assures me.
Yet, my heart doesn't feel at ease one bit. While I was too busy trying to avoid an attack, she was being targeted as well. Thinking of it now, it's almost as if we were deliberately separated just so they could do this to her.
But who, just who, would go to such horrifying lengths, nearly taking a life just to target me?
I have a list of potential threats on my mind immediately.
I gently rub her palm, feeling the chill of her skin under my thumb. A strange bump catches my attention, pulling my gaze to an oddly-shaped scar on her wrist that appears to have healed.
The scar resembles the letter 'M' upon closer inspection, as if it was crudely carved into her skin by something sharp-like wolf claws.
And then it hits me like a damn tidal wave, causing my blood to surge and burn hotter than it ever has before.
'Revenge. You want revenge.'
My anger erupts like an unquenchable flame, scorching through me, as if it could incinerate anything in its path.
I pull away from her abruptly, pivot on my heels, and storm toward the door. Just as I reach for the handle, Artemis grips my arm, halting me in my tracks.
"Where are you going?"
"None of your business." I snap back at him fiercely.
He frowns from being rejected, another blow to his ego.
"As the head of the Black Wolf Council, fully aware of a possible threat to students' lives in this school, I can't let you leave," he asserts, pulling that card on me.
"Fine." I pry my hands away from his vice-like hold finally, letting out a begrudged sigh of defeat. "I know who did it."
"What?"
"Isn't it obvious? It was Morgan. He ambushed Kamila and I because he thinks we matter to you, and went after Olivia just to get at me for not dropping out of the fucking election!" I explain it all to him, doing his entire fucking job in just seconds.
He muses on my theory, nodding his head slightly.
"Well, all that is possible."
"Possible?" I raise my brow at the fucker. "I just gave you your perpetrator on a fucking platter, and you're not even going to go after him."
"Sera, I get you're agitated right now, but we can't do anything unless there's hard evidence with no loopholes. There's an investigation going on, and when we finally have enough evidence to bag Morgan for good-"
"You don't expect me to just wait around until you've found something to hold him down with. I'm not going to let that bastard have another field day at this school. It ends right fucking now, Artemis." I say seriously.
His frown deepens now just as he takes another step closer to me with his intimidating aura and height.
"I can't let you do that. Rather, I won't."
"What!"
"I understand you're livid, that your friend lies comatose and it's ripping you apart. But listen to me-going after a Gamma wolf who commands a deadly network of sick, sadistic maniacs? They wouldn't even bat an eye or flinch at the thought of ripping you to shreds. You'd be marching into a death trap," Artemis warns, his voice heavy with a blend of frustration and genuine concern.
"Trust me, I pack more punches than you realize."
"That doesn't matter." He denies me yet again.
"Artemis!"
"No! In fact, I forbid you from doing anything about this case for the time being. All you should be concerned about is your own fucking safety." He commands me again, hanging that slave contract over my head once more.
"Fuck you, and fuck your safety. Olivia thought she was safe, and where did that land her, huh? Kamila and I were in a private garden, and we still got ambushed. There's nowhere in this fucking school that's safe!" I yell, taking a second to calm down and catch my breath as well.
When will he see it? When will he finally realize that this is just how things are in this place? Fairness is an illusion.
He needs to step out of his privileged bubble and grasp that the school system has long abandoned those who actually need care and protection.
"There is, actually. Just one place that I can guarantee no fucking asshole can touch you." He speaks again after seconds of trying to come up with something.
For some reason, my gut tell me I'm going to fucking regret this one way or another.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about you moving in with me, staying in my room for the meantime until we have enough evidence against Morgan and I'm completely sure that you're safe."
"What?"