Chapter 79 - Cowardice

Cold wind blew through the both of them as they traveled back towards the entrance of the forest with the guidance of the map Zeke made. The travel had been really slow as Jian Yu had to support a limping Alpha and another baby Alpha. 

Z, the little black wolf, was a curious one. His head was moving non-stop, exploring and sniffing everything he could as being the curious one. Life in the den wasn't as interesting as he thought. 

They had been one of the last teams to finish the second round with no score to calculate. Elimination was the only response they got from the proctors. Jian Yu wasn't sure how he felt about that. 

"Yo, what the hell happened to you two?" 

Zeke and Jian Yu were both in their waiting room when Mika's voice drifted into the room. It shouldn't be much of a surprise to hear that they were the only ones that came back with injuries. In fact, there were a whole lot more. 

Zeke was just waiting for his turn to be treated as he only supported a twisted ankle and bruised ċhėst unlike those who had really fractured their ribs that even breathing became a problem. 

Not even Z junior could cut in the line. Thankfully, he was immediately given a painkiller and was sleeping peacefully on the bench in the centre of the waiting room. 

Mika emerged from the hallway and barged into their room like it was his with Clement trailing silently behind him. 

The four of them stared at each other for a moment before Clement broke the silence. "This is kinda unexpected, especially from you, Roderick. Zero points?" 

Mika snickered. 

Her mocking smile faded a little when her gaze landed on Jian Yu. "What happened? The two of you looked like you had been mauled by a beast." 

Both Alpha and Beta in question choked on different reasons. Spending a night with your crush made one even more imaginative. 

Zeke was the one who recovered first. He sighed and relaxed his stance, sitting on the bench with his back against the wall. "You don't know half of it. We were indeed mauled by a beast. Running shouldn't be an option when faced with them but our feet think quicker than our brain. So, we ran." 

Jian Yu's eyes almost bulged out when he heard Zeke bluffing about their oh-so-boring journey. His face had almost gone red from trying to hold back his laugh. Yet, the Alpha's expression never changed, not even once, when he started his bluff. 

"We climbed a tree. Turns out, it could climb a tree too! So we climbed down and searched for a higher tree to climb. We are competing to see who could climb a higher one--" 

"What exactly happened?" This time, Clement, who seemed to have lost her patience, asked directly at Jian Yu. Even Mika, who was known for being a jokester, leveled Zeke with a deadpan look. 

"No, really," The silverette Beta sweated under Clement's intense gaze. "We were unexpectedly attacked by a bear when we had our guards down and as you can see--" 

Jian Yu pointed at Zeke. "Twisted ankle and badly bruised." 

Feeling the need to ask back due to the politeness and avoidance of feeling the pressure of being questioned, Jian Yu asked back. "What about you two?" 

"Got a tiger and a lone wolf," Mika replied with a rather satisfied smile, however there was a growl in the end of his words that vanished as soon as it appeared. His eyes narrowed and a slight irritation flashed across his face but all of it disappeared as Mika recollected himself right away and replaced it with a smile. "I expect that our score will be the highest among the others." 

"How nice for you," Zeke grumbled on the side. 

"And what about that?" Clement pointed towards the sleeping pup with her chin. "None of the proctors said anything?" 

Zeke shrugged his shoulders. "No one seemed to care when we walked by, didn't even notice." 

"Oh my goodness! How cuteee!" Mika, who had been silent the whole time, gushed softly at Z junior. He made grabby hands at it, wanting to touch but trying to hold himself back, either because Mika didn't want to disturb the wolf's peaceful sleep or the injury was the one preventing him from doing so.

Clement looked like she had something to say but a siren was blown, indicating the end of the hunting game, followed by the loud announcement by the host, requesting all those who weren't eliminated to gather at the center of the arena. 

To be honest, Jian Yu had the whole script prepared to launch like a rocket at Zeke once they got back, but right now, when given the opportunity, he felt his previous bravery was just a mere facade, something that was fueled by rage at that moment. 

And now, his guts had shrunk. He wanted to scold himself for being a scaredy cat. A coward. 

He had been catching feelings since the confession and he wasn't sure the other was serious about it or not. He heard it when the Alpha wasn't in his right mind. Now that he was sober enough to talk, would he laugh at him for asking? For making sure about it? 

But he wouldn't know unless asked directly. All he had to do was ask, nothing more! Getting laughed once was better than being hung on like this. 

Jian Yu got extremely uneasy. He squirmed in his seat, his shoulder slouching. 

He glanced a few times at Zeke. He paused, thousands of words stuck on his tongue, and he thought about what to say. The flash of worry on his face didn't go unnoticed. 

Zeke frowned at the Beta. The silverette had been avoiding making eye contact yet he looked like he had something to speak of. Consciously, he questioned the damsel in distress. 

"What's wrong? Are you hurting somewhere too?"