Chapter 16 Chapter 16 The Impossible Victory
Kai's POV
The roar of engines and excited chatter filled the observation deck at Badlands Circuit. I'd come here with a few friends from the football teamâ€"Marcus, Devon, and a couple of cheerleaders who'd tagged along. We weren't huge racing fans, but Tyler "Apex" Cross was racing tonight, and watching a legend compete was always worth the trip.
The massive LED screens above the track showed different camera angles. I was halfway through a conversation with Marcus about next week's game when something on the screen caught my eye.
My breath hitched.
A racer in full gear was climbing into a Nissan Z. The helmet covered most of her face, but her eyesâ€"those eyesâ€"were visible through the visor.
"That racer..." I blurted out, my voice cutting through our conversation.
Everyone turned to look at me.
Those eyes. Dark, sharp, fearless. The way she moved, confident and lethal, like a predator sizing up prey.
She looks exactly like Aria.
But I swallowed the rest of that thought before it could escape my lips.
"What?" Devon asked, following my gaze to the screen. "What about her?"
I blinked, realizing I'd drawn everyone's attention. Marcus, Devon, the girlsâ€"they were all staring at me now, waiting for an explanation.
"Nothing," I said quickly, clearing my throat. I forced myself to look away from the screen. "Just... thought I recognized someone."
But my eyes drifted back to the screen almost immediately.
No. It couldn't be her.
Aria didn't know how to race. Hell, she could barely look someone in the eye without flinching. There was no way that fierce, composed figure on the screen was the same girl who used to hand me sports drinks after basketball practice.
This was ridiculous.
I was seeing things. That's all.
"You good, man?" Marcus nudged my shoulder. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Yeah, I'm fine." I shook my head, forcing a laugh. "Just tired, I guess."
Around us, the crowd was getting louder. Wolf shifters and humans alike were shouting, placing bets, jeering at the screens.
"Omega's daughter? Is she insane?"
"Girls should stick to cheerleading!"
"Tyler's gonna destroy her!"
"Ten bucks says she crashes in the first turn!"
The betting kiosks were going crazy. The odds flashed on a nearby screen: 100:1 against the mystery racer.
I tried to focus on the commentary, on Marcus's jokes, on anything other than that nagging feeling in my chest.
But I couldn't.
Because deep down, some primal part of meâ€"the Alpha instincts I'd been honing since childhoodâ€"was screaming that something was very, very wrong.
Or maybe... very right.
I shook my head again, harder this time.
Get it together, Matthews.
I'd been thinking about Aria too much lately. Ever since she'd changed. Ever since she'd looked me in the eye at the mall and told me I wasn't worth her time.
It was messing with my head. Making me see her everywhere.
That's all this was.
Just my mind playing tricks.
The starting lights flashed on the screen. Red. Red. Red.
Green.
The cars launched forward, and the crowd erupted in cheers.
I told myself to look away.
I didn't.
Kai’s POV
The massive LED screens above the track showed different camera angles. I was halfway through a conversation with Orion about next week's game when something on the screen caught my eye.
My breath hitched.
A racer in full gear was climbing into a Nissan Z. The helmet covered most of her face, but her eyes - were visible through the visor.
"That racer..." I blurted out, my voice cutting through our conversation.
Everyone turned to look at me.
She looks exactly like Aria.
But I swallowed the rest of that thought before it could escape my lips.
"What?" Devon asked, following my gaze to the screen. "What about her?"
I blinked, realizing I'd drawn everyone's attention. Orion, Devon, the girls, they were all staring at me now, waiting for an explanation.
"Nothing," I said quickly, clearing my throat. I forced myself to look away from the screen. "Just... thought I recognized someone."
But my eyes drifted back to the screen almost immediately.
No. It couldn't be her.
Aria didn't know how to race. Hell, she could barely look someone in the eye without flinching. There was no way that fierce, composed figure on the screen was her.
This was ridiculous.
I was seeing things. That's all.
"You good, man?" Orion nudged my shoulder. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Yeah, I'm fine." I shook my head, forcing a laugh. "Just tired, I guess."
Around us, the crowd was getting louder. They were shouting, placing bets, jeering at the screens.
"Omega's daughter? Is she insane?"
"Girls should stick to cheerleading!"
"Tyler's gonna destroy her!"
"Ten bucks says she crashes in the first turn!"
The betting kiosks were going crazy. The odds flashed on a nearby screen: 100:1 against the mystery racer.
I'd been thinking about Aria too much lately. Ever since she'd looked me in the eye at the mall and told me I wasn't worth her time.
It was messing with my head. Making me see her everywhere.
That's all this was. Just my mind playing tricks.
The massive LED screens suddenly went black.
All of them. Every single camera feed cut out simultaneously as both cars entered the final blind zone.
A collective groan rose from the crowd.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" someone shouted behind us. "We paid good money for this!"
"Technical difficulties at the worst possible moment," Devon muttered, shaking his head. "Classic."
I stared at the blank screens, my jaw tight. The last thing I'd seen before the feeds died was Tyler's Porsche disappearing around Reaper's Curve with a comfortable lead. The Nissan had been nowhere in sight.
Tyler had this in the bag. Of course he did.
"Well, that's game over," Orion said, already pulling out his phone. "Girl never stood a chance."
Around us, the crowd's energy was deflating fast. People started packing up their things, shoving phones into pockets, tossing empty beer cans into trash bins.
"This was such a waste of time," a woman near us complained loudly to her friends. "I came here to watch Tyler race, not to see him embarrass some wannabe girl racer. Where's the competition in that?"
"Right?" her friend agreed. "I thought this was supposed to be exciting. You know, close calls, near-crashes, that adrenaline rush. Not a fucking parade lap."
More people were leaving now. The observation deck, which had been packed shoulder-to-shoulder minutes ago, was starting to empty out.
"Should we go?" one of the cheerleaders asked, already standing up. "I mean, if the race is over..."
"Might as well," Devon said with a shrug. "Let's hit up that diner on the way back. I'm starving."
I felt the same way, honestly. The race had been a total letdown. No drama, no excitement, just Tyler doing what Tyler always did—dominating from start to finish.
Part of me wanted to stay. That small, nagging voice in the back of my head whispered that I should wait seeing if that racer really was—
No. That was stupid.
Even if it was Aria—which it wasn't, because that was impossible—what would it matter? The race was over. Tyler had won. End of story.
"Yeah, let's go," I said, standing up and brushing off my jeans. "This was boring as hell anyway."
Orion nodded. "Waste of a Sunday night. Should've just stayed home."
We joined the stream of disappointed spectators heading for the exits, leaving the dead screens behind.
Zion's POV
Spectators were rising from their seats one by one, preparing to leave.
Watching more and more people getting ready to go, I could only shake my head helplessly in my mind. I couldn't do anything about it. Honestly, I didn't blame them—the outcome of this race seemed predetermined from the start.
At this moment, Logan and I stood near the finish line, alongside Big Marc and his crew.
"Yawn... Man, I don't blame the crowd for leaving. This is putting me to sleep."
I heard one of the race officials who'd sneered at Aria earlier—a guy named Jake—yawn and speak up. I frowned but didn't say anything to contradict him.
"Come on, Jake, cut the kid some slack. She actually got the car moving—that's something, right? Can't expect miracles from a teenage girl who probably just got her license." Another official replied with a laugh.
I could tell that while his words seemed to defend Aria, every sentence dripped with mockery. I felt uncomfortable but didn't know what to say.
Jake laughed even more arrogantly: "Oh yeah, real impressive. Totally outclassed us all." His sarcastic laugh rang out. "What a joke!"
A dozen race officials burst into laughter, constantly mocking Aria's overconfidence.
Although I also thought Aria would definitely lose, hearing these people ridicule her in this tone still made me uncomfortable. But I was powerless to fight back because it all seemed to be true. I sighed and chose to remain silent.
"Hey, look! Tyler's car is coming!"
At that moment, Jake, who'd been laughing breathlessly, suddenly pointed into the distance and shouted.
Hearing this, everyone's heads whipped around in unison.
I squinted and saw a car speeding toward us in the distance, entering our field of vision.
Because of the distance, Jake probably couldn't see clearly whether it was Tyler's or Aria's car—he was just guessing. I thought to myself.
Closer.
Even closer.
My heartbeat inexplicably quickened, my eyes fixed on the approaching race car.
When I could clearly make out the model of the car—
I stood frozen in place like a statue!
Like I'd seen a ghost!
Because... the car appearing before me wasn't Tyler's Porsche 911 GT3 RS, but rather...
The Nissan Z driven by that girl named Aria!
At this moment, without exception, everyone present—including me—had expressions as if we'd eaten shit!
"Holy fuck!"
"No fucking way!"
I don't know who spoke first, but the crowd instantly exploded.
Those spectators who'd been about to leave all stopped in their tracks.
Those who'd mocked Aria all had their eyes bulging out of their heads!
"Shit shit shit!" I heard Logan spew curse words in one breath.
Before I could react, he grabbed me in his excitement, clinging like a barnacle I couldn't shake off: "Aria won? She won? She won, she actually won! Did you see that? Holy shit, I'm so pumped!"
My brain was completely blank.
As for the dozen or so race officials who'd just been mocking Aria, led by Jake, their faces instantly looked like they'd eaten dog shit—ugly to the extreme.
"Leo's sister... actually beat Tyler..."
I muttered these words, clearly stunned stupid.
I was certain this was unprecedented in Roseville's racing scene—no, in all of California's underground racing circuit—a race like this had never happened before!
At the scene, there was no applause, no cheering, no excitement.
Everyone, including me, looked as if they'd been struck by lightning.
Dumbfounded, watching Aria's Nissan Z race car cross the finish line.