Chapter 96 *

Chapter 96 Chapter 96
Zoey’s POV
Mia's scream cut through the air.
Her body lurched forward. Her hands grabbed at nothing. The branch she'd been pulling at broke off in her hand.
Then she was falling.
Her arms flailed. Trying to catch something. Anything.
But there was nothing to catch.
She dropped toward the ground. Toward the five mountain lions waiting below.
"Someone fell!" a voice screamed from another tree.
"Oh my god! Who is it?!"
"It's Mia! Mia fell!"
More screaming. Panicked voices overlapping.
"There are five mountain lions down there!"
"She's gonna die!"
"Somebody do something!"
Mia hit the ground with a thud. She rolled. Ended up on her hands and knees.
The five mountain lions' heads snapped toward her immediately.
They started moving. Mia pushed herself up to her knees. Her face was terrified.
The mountain lions were closing in.
I looked at the branch where Mia had been standing.
Nobody had seen me push her. I was sure of it.
Everyone had been focused on gathering things to throw. On making noise. On the plan.
Nobody had been watching me and Mia.
I felt my heart pounding. Relief mixed with something else. As long as nobody saw me, I was safe.
But what if Mia survived somehow? What if she lived and told everyone that someone pushed her?
My hands started shaking.
No. No, that couldn't happen.
People would figure it out. They'd remember I was near her. They'd put it together.
I stared down at Mia on the ground.
The mountain lions were almost on her now.
She needed to die. She had to die.
If she died right now, nobody would ever know. Nobody would ever guess.
It would just be a tragic accident. She fell while trying to help.
That's what everyone would think.
My jaw clenched.
Die. Just die already.
And take Aria with you.
Because Aria would go down there to save her. She had to.
That's what heroes did.
And then the mountain lions would kill them both. Problem solved.





Third Person’s POV
The mountain lions closed in on Mia. Their eyes locked on her like she was already dead.
Mia pushed herself up to her knees. Her whole body was shaking. She couldn't move any further.
The closest mountain lion opened its mouth. Fangs gleaming in the firelight. It let out a roar that echoed through the clearing.
Then it lunged.
In the trees, everyone screamed.
"MIA!"
"OH MY GOD!"
"SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING!"
People covered their eyes with their hands. Too scared to watch. But they couldn't look away completely. They peeked through their fingers, horrified.
Silas saw Mia on the ground. His face went white.
"NO!" He started climbing down his tree. Fast. Desperate.
But he was too far away. The mountain lion's body flew through the air toward Mia. Claws extended. Mouth wide open.
Everyone thought the same thing. Mia was dead.
Then a shadow dropped from above.
Aria landed between Mia and the mountain lion. Her feet hit the ground with barely a sound.
Her right hand held a knife. The mountain lion was still in mid-air. Still lunging.
Aria moved.
Her body twisted. The knife came up in a perfect arc.
The blade drove straight into the mountain lion's skull. Right between the eyes.
The mountain lion's roar cut off instantly. Its body went limp.
Aria planted her foot on the mountain lion's head. Pushed it down to the ground.
The mountain lion twitched once. Twice. Then stopped moving.
Blood pooled on the dirt.
Aria pulled the knife out. Wiped the blade on her pants. Her face was completely calm. Like she'd just swatted a fly.
She kept one foot on the mountain lion's head. Looked up at the other four mountain lions.
Her green eyes were cold. Predatory.
The four mountain lions had been moving forward. Ready to join the attack.
They stopped.
Aria didn't say anything. Didn't move. Just stared at them.
The air changed. Something in Aria's eyes. The way she stood over the dead mountain lion.
She looked like a hunter. Not prey.
The four mountain lions took a step back. Then another. Their ears flattened against their heads. Tails tucked low.
In the trees, nobody moved. Nobody breathed.
The silence stretched out. Five seconds. Ten seconds.
Then someone finally spoke. Their voice barely a whisper.
"Holy shit."
Mia was still on the ground. She stared up at Aria with wide eyes. Her mouth hanging open.
"Aria," she whispered. "You just... you just killed it. With one hit."
Aria glanced down at her. "You okay?"
"I... yeah. I think so."
"Good. Stay down."
In the trees, Silas had stopped climbing. He was frozen on his branch. Staring at the scene below.
His whole body was trembling. Not from fear. From something else.
He looked at the dead mountain lion. Then at Aria standing over it.
His mind was racing.
When he'd stabbed the first mountain lion earlier, he'd aimed for the neck. Put all his strength into it. The knife had gone in deep.
But it hadn't been enough. The mountain lion had kept fighting. Had almost killed him.
Aria had stabbed once. One time. Straight through the skull into the brain.
The mountain lion died instantly.
Silas's hands clenched on the branch. His jaw tight.
He'd been training as a Beta since he was five years old. Combat training. Weapon training. Strategy training.
And Aria had just shown him the gap between them wasn't small. It was massive.
Like comparing a house cat to a tiger.
His shoulders shook. He didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry.
On another tree, Kai stared at Aria. His mouth slightly open.
He'd thought he understood her strength. After she'd kicked that first mountain lion. After everything he'd seen.
But this was different. This wasn't just strength. This was skill. The way she'd moved. The angle of the strike. The confidence in every motion.
That wasn't something you learned in a high school gym. Or from watching YouTube videos.
That was real combat experience.
His mind raced through everything he knew about Aria. Every interaction. Every moment. Who was she really?
Each time he thought he'd figured her out, she revealed another layer. It was like peeling an onion. Except each layer was more shocking than the last.
And he wanted to know more. Needed to know more.
His chest felt tight. His heart was pounding.
This feeling. This obsession with understanding her. It was getting stronger.
On a tree near Kai, Zoey stood frozen on her branch.
Her whole body was shaking. Violent tremors running through her.
Her eyes were huge. She'd pushed Mia. She'd wanted her to die.
But Aria had saved her. In seconds.
And now Zoey was staring at the dead mountain lion. At Aria standing over it like some kind of warrior.
Zoey's plan had failed. Mia was alive. Aria was alive. Her hands clutched the tree branch. She felt like she was going to throw up.
"Did you see that?" Tyler said to the guy next to him. "She just dropped from like fifteen feet up and killed a mountain lion with one stab!"
"That's impossible," the other guy whispered. "That's actually impossible."
"I watched it happen! We all watched it happen!"
Another voice joined in. "I couldn't watch. I covered my eyes."
"Me too. I thought this was going to be a nightmare forever."
On the ground, the four mountain lions were still backing away from Aria. Their heads were low. Eyes never leaving her.
Aria took a step forward.
All four mountain lions flinched. Backed up faster.
Then Aria did something that made everyone in the trees gasp.
She reached down. And threw the knife on the ground.
The knife landed in the dirt with a soft thud. Right next to the dead mountain lion.
Aria straightened up. Looked at the four mountain lions. Her hands empty.
"What is she doing?!" someone screamed from a tree.
"She threw her knife away!"
"Is she insane?!"
"ARIA! PICK IT UP! PICK UP THE KNIFE!"