Chapter 106: The Building Is Down
But Nyra shakes her head, her hand trembling at the blood seeping heavily from Adrian’s leg. The metal must have crushed something; the blood is far too much.
"I’m not leaving you, Adrian. Never!"
---
The fire continues to roar around them, burning hotter and spreading faster. Nyra can’t even imagine this building still standing by the time the flames are finally put out.
Another section of the ceiling collapses somewhere behind them, causing ashes, smoke and debris to rain over them, forcing Nyra to shield her face with one arm and Adrian’s with the second one.
"Nyra, go!" Adrian grits out.
"I’m not leaving you!"
"You have to! Please, just get the other students outside first.."
Nyra looks at the students collapsed nearby, then back at him.
Adrian’s face is already pale. There is so much blood now that it’s soaking into the fallen pieces of ceiling around him, staining the once-white debris a dark, muddy brown.
"Nyra..." He struggles to breathe. "If you stay here, we both die. The other students will die."
There are tears dropping down her cheek. She hates that he is right. If she keeps acting like this, those other students might die.
"I’ll come back for you, I promise!" she whispers.
Adrian gives her the faintest nod. "I’ll be waiting.." But the look he gives her seems like goodbye.
It is obvious Adrian doesn’t think he’ll make it out of here. Never. Not on her watch.
Nyra quickly grabs the two unconscious students and drags them away from the collapsing hallway. She pushes herself harder than she ever has before, carrying one while helping the other stumble through the smoke.
Every few seconds, she looks back.
Adrian is still there under the metal beam, writhing in pain. He looks like he is struggling to breathe too.
Finally, she reaches the exit and shoves the students into the arms of the waiting rescue team.
"Nyra, that’s enough! The fire is too intense, you can’t stay inside, the building might collapse any minute."
"There’s someone else inside!" she screams back. "My mate is trapped under a beam! I have to go."
Before anyone can stop her, Nyra turns and runs straight back inside to Adrian.
As she crouches down beside him, she almost cries because this time he looks much worse. He is barely conscious now.
His head has fallen against the floor, silver eyes half-lidded. The only sign of life is his chest that is rising and falling very slowly.
"Adrian!? Adrian, please answer me!"
His eyes slowly open. "You really came back?"
Nyra drops to her knees beside him.
"Of course I did. I told you I would come back for you."
"You were supposed to get help." His voice is weak. "Look at you, you can barely breathe yourself."
His hand weakly rises to push her brown hair away from her face. "You’re so damn stubborn sometimes."
"I know." She mumbles, trying to find a way around the beam. "Can you feel your legs?"
He coughs painfully, his eyes squeezing shut. "It doesn’t matter, Nyra. Just go. I don’t want you to die because of me."
Nyra wipes the tears from her face with a trembling hand. "But it’s my fault you even came inside here. I’m the reason you’re like this!" The tears fall harder, making it hard for her to see.
"Nyra, I’m not mad-"
"And even if it wasn’t my fault, I would still come for you no matter what." She cuts him off, closing her eyes, trying to stop the tears from falling.
Seeing Adrian like this, it hurts much more than anything she has ever known before.
When Nyra manages to collect herself, she reopens her eyes, but this time they look different.
"I-I can help." She exhales a long breath. "If I can just shift, I can lift this thing. I can carry you out of here."
Adrian stares at her in confusion. "What?"
"I’m serious."
"You’re an Omega." He shakes his head weakly. "I’m an Enigma and I can’t even move this thing. How the hell would an Omega-"
"I’m not an Omega."
There. Now the cat’s out of the bag. And honestly, Nyra feels relieved finally telling him this.
Adrian stares at her in confusion. "But at the awakening Rite, we all saw you shift. You’re an Omega-"
"That’s not my true wolf form." She interrupts him. "My wolf showed me her true form in my subconscious."
"What are you talking about?"
"I didn’t tell you because she warned me not to, but I don’t care anymore right now." Her voice is shaking hard. "I was never wolfless, and I’m not an Omega either. My wolf... she’s something else."
"Nyra..."
"Right now, I don’t care about her warnings anymore." She looks toward the burning ceiling above them. "If shifting and revealing myself to everyone is the only way to save you, then I’ll do it."
Her brown eyes meet his silver ones. "I’d rather let the whole pack know my secret than watch you die in front of me."
Adrian can only stare at her as she closes her eyes again.
Inside, she’s arguing with her wolf. "I don’t care what the Goddess thinks, we have to shift right now."
"But-"
"No!" Nyra snaps at her wolf. "It is my choice. You are my wolf, not the Goddess’ and I say I want to shift now."
"What about the dangers I warned you about?"
Nyra laughs quietly. "I would like to see them try and come to harm me."
When she opens her eyes again, they are burning red like those of an Alpha, but the black rings around them signify something more.
"Adrian...it is time you see what I really am."
---
ONE HOUR AGO
Adrian pushes open the principal’s office door without bothering to knock.
"I want to watch my mate’s exams."
Adrian felt guilty. Regret. Whatever word that could translate to how bad he feels right now.
He hated himself for leaving Nyra alone for two days.
Two days.
Two whole days of staying away because he was terrified of what his wolf might do to Nyra again. He had convinced himself that giving her space was the responsible thing to do.
But sitting alone in that condo, knowing she was at the academy taking the exams without him, he couldn’t bear it anymore.
So ignoring the fear in his chest, he picked up his keys and drove down to the academy-- straight into the principal’s office.
The principal looks up from his desk, startled. "Adrian, that’s not allowed. Students aren’t permitted in the monitoring room during examinations."
Adrian isn’t having it. "I don’t care. Are you going to disobey your future Alpha’s orders?"
The principal’s face immediately changes. "Of course not. I’ll get to it right now."
He picks up his phone. "Mr Philip, you are needed in my office. Yes, right now."
A few minutes later, Mr. Philip arrives and though reluctant, he has no choice but to lead Adrian through the restricted hallway into the monitoring room.
There are several screens arranged on the walls, and each one is showing a different student taking their practical examination.
"Every student receives a practical based on their individual strengths and abilities," Mr. Philip explains, "while the Tech and Machinery team monitors their progress and records their performance. We have other rooms like this if you’d be interested in looking at those too."
Adrian has stopped listening since he said ’every student.’ His eyes are currently pinned on the boy watching Nyra’s monitor with rapt attention.
His face folds into a deep scowl as he quickly marches over to him. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
Jason turns around, startled.
Mr. Philip quickly answers before things escalate. "He’s part of the Tech and Machinery team. He and the others are responsible for monitoring the students’ practicals."
"Leave us." Adrian orders without looking at him.
Mr. Philip looks between both boys before he finally sighs and leaves the room, shutting the door behind him.
Adrian walks over and stands beside Jason, still watching Nyra’s screen intently.
Neither of them speaks for several seconds, until Adrian breaks the silence. "Be honest. Have you been watching the other students at all?"
Jason lets out a long exhale, digging his finger into his pocket. "No."
Adrian frowns, but he doesn’t come closer. "You still have feelings for her?"
"Yes." He doesn’t even try to deny it. "I liked her long before the Goddess made you and Nyra mates," Jason continues.
"And I’m staying out of your way because she’s chosen you. But that doesn’t mean I stopped loving her. And I’m sorry, but you can’t take that away from me."
Adrian exhales slowly, forcing himself not to react, his eyes returning to Nyra’s screen.
"You’ve been here this whole time. How is she doing?"
"Pretty good, actually. Compared to the other students, she’s doing very well."
Both boys stand side by side watching the screen. Nyra is confronting four boys, protecting Leah with her hands wide open.
They keep watching until Thomas wraps a hand around her neck and she pivots and flings him into the wall.
Adrian’s mouth falls open. He leans closer to the screen. "Whoa, how the fuck did she do that!?"
Jason sighs, and turns slowly to look at Adrian with a completely serious expression. "I don’t know how this would sound to you Adrian...but I don’t think Nyra is an Omega."