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~Aria

"I don't know what to do," Zariah says, her index finger playing with the edge of the page.

That is the first time I have heard her say those words. The way she bites her lip in thought, her eyebrows creased behind her thick rimmed glasses shows her discontent with herself. For the past hour, she has been thumbing through Malik's diary, not at all fazed by the fact that he knows it has been stolen.

Brynn bangs her the back of her head back against the wall. "Who cares?"

"Me," Zariah snaps, glancing over at me and where I lay back on her bed. "Aria cares too."

I'm curious. It isn't the fact that Malik has that, and puts dark red crosses on every girl who has been knocked from the competition, but the fact that all of us have some kind of wealthy background, with a parent or two in high positions. Right now, Zariah's early conspiracies seem more likely.

"And you never told us you were a billionaire," Zariah says pointedly, shooting a glare toward Brynn, who rolled her eyes.

"Multi-millionaire, actually, there's a difference. And that happens to be my parents," Brynn tells us, raising a dark eyebrow. "Which you may be interested in knowing that I have nothing to do with them anymore."

I cast my attention to Zariah. "Well, you know for a fact that you never mentioned how you just so happened to be one of the smartest in your Pack. Have you been playing it down around us?"

Zariah blushed. That's a first.

"That's not the point," she says irritably. "The point is, all of us have a reason behind being here, and I don't think any of us were randomly selected."

"Which means?" Brynn questions.

Zariah sighed. "It means, this entire competition is a lie. This hasn't been made fair, so what else hasn't been?"

The probability of this being true is painfully high. Why wouldn't this Alpha and his family want only the best for the Love Pack's next Luna? That must have been why Malik stopped looking for his mate, which makes me unbelievably mad. All of a sudden, I feel played, wanting to find one of the cameras I spent most of my time avoiding, to tell them our theroes.

Brynn swore.

"We have to do something," I say, the mission and Malik's necklace I have failed to get my hands on suddenly fade to the back of my mind. Justice tastes sweet on my tongue.

Zariah slams the diary shut quickly, walking toward her bed to shove it under the pillow. That is where she has been keeping it, although, she zips it up into her personal bag when the cleaner comes every morning. We tell her someone is going to find it eventually, however, she hardly listens. Not many other people come in here really, other than us, she had previously reassured us.

"Obviously, but I'm not sure how yet. It's not like we can go to someone, without Malik finding out we snuck into his room in the middle of the night.

"We will," I reassure her, knowing Zariah won't give up on this till then.

Right after our conversation, I decided to head back to my room, since Malik had told Fynn to come back in an hour, and that time had been sucked up by Zariah's worries. However, the moment I opened her door, Fynn wasn't standing there. In his place, was a shorter, older man who was slightly balding. He barely looked at me, as I slowly closed Zariah's door behind me.

"Ryan," he tells me, his voice gravelly. "Your new guard."

My heart instantly dropped, as his words sunk in deep. New guard. My mind only had to spin a few times, before I came to the exact conclusion of what had happened to Fynn, and why he isn't my guard anymore.

Malik.

I paint a smile on my face. "I would like to go back to my room now."

The guard didn't say a single word to me on our walk back. I'm hot with anger by the time we make it to my room, my irritation causing me to slam my door in the poor man's face. With everything that I have found out today, I am furious with him. How could he? I felt safe around Fynn, and at least he talked to me, unlike Malik.

My hands dig deep into my hair, as I pace around my room, trying to sort each bombshell in my brain, into different categories, so that I could properly fathom everything.

Nothing is going to help me sleep tonight, until I see him.

First, I have to sit through dinner.

"Ideas?" Zariah questions, as I sit down with my plate of food. Brynn is still getting hers, making sure the chef behind it was placing each proportion correctly. Zariah just thinks it's her way of venting right now.

I shake my head, picking my fork up. "Nothing yet."

Zariah still has no idea Malik and I meet every night. If she did, she would demand I use him for information - since that is all she worries about - and I want to focuses the this mission. Tonight, however, I'm hoping to meet him in the library, to discuss what happened to Fynn. He comes into the dining room every night to say a few words to us, which will give me a single opportunity to get his attention.

I glance over at Ryan, who lounges near the stairs. I don't trust him.

"I'm staying up all night to think-"

"Hey," I cut her off, absently tapping her shoulder while I keep my eyes on Ryan. "Any ideas on how to escape a guard?"

Zariah follows my gaze, and I cunning smile creeps onto her face. If there is one thing Zariah likes, it's a plan that might just get us in trouble. She proved that to me when we broke into Malik's room like hardened criminals.

"Plenty. Why?" she asks, eyes blazing with incessant curiosity.

I shrug, trying to look casual. "For the future. Never know when I may need some time to get away from that damn room."

"Who's your guard?"

I point to Ryan. She looks thoughtful.

"He used to be Rose's guard. The reason she got away from him to try kill that girl in the first place, was because he falls asleep at his post every night," she tells me. Relief shudders through me. Tonight, I should easily be able to escape.

We fell silent for a moment, while we ate. On the table beside us, I conversation sparked up.

"Your eyes are a strange colour," Phoenix says pointedly, speaking directly to Nikita, who sat at the end of our table. "Like a Phantom Wolf's."

I have heard this rumour here and there, about Nikita being a Phantom Wolf. Those creatures are meant to be cold blooded killers, or at least that's what my mother used to tell me. They live in the Devotion Pack, and kill the innocent. They are common features of scary stories around every Pack, so the idea of Nikita being one is a fear to all of us.

"They are blue. So is Aria's," the girl mumbles, nodding to me.

Everyone's attention swarmed to me, and I immediately shook my head. I have been subject to their talk once before, but that was quickly stolen after the Rose and Kendall incident. I feel tempted to shield my eyes.

"No, hers are lighter," Pheonix points, and her little follower Macie nods her head. "Yours, Nikita, are violet."

There is no way the Devotion Pack member can deny that fact. Her eyes are not a normal colour, and as much as she tried hide it under that blonde fringe of hair, we all see it, and Malik must as well.

"How do you know they aren't contacts? Isn't that a thing in your Pack, princess?" Nikita replied snarkily, and everyone admittedly smiled behind their hands.

It isn't often anyone sticks up to Phoenix Diamond, after she decided to become the main factory for gossip. She distributes it at an alarming rate, leaving us all to wonder who is going to be her next victim. We all know she does it to drag us down, so she can get closer to Malik. Well, most of us know.

Pheonix's jaw clenched at Nikita's remark, however, she didn't reply.

There is little point arguing about something she can't prove, and she knows that. If anything, it would be Malik who would have to prove something, which I am sure won't happen soon, unless Pheonix can wrap him around her finger.

Speaking of the devil, Malik suddenly walks in, capturing everyone's attention, like he does every night.

He always manages to look so achingly delightful, everytime I see him. For whatever reason, he sees it necessary to dress up magnificently at his nighttime visits, which admittedly, we all appreciate nonetheless. Has he worn anything near casual with anything of the other girls? Or is the privilege only I have had?

Recently, no of us have had to dress in any special way unless we have been going on dates. Unlike me, other girls are getting plenty. Is this Malik's way of getting me out of this competition. My heart nearly stops at the thought.

"Good evening, ladies," Malik says charmingly, his blue gaze sweeping over all of us.

If any of us were ice, we would have all melted in that moment. Even cold hearted Phoenix, who has admitted she loves Malik already. Makes me sick.

I try meet his gaze, but he doesn't look my way.

"Today, I had to say goodbye to Chastity, of the Purity Pack," Malik told us. I had a feeling someone was missing from around here. "I don't appreciate trying to be converted into a religion I do not follow."

Of course, I had seen it coming. That girl had tried her luck with all of us, so it doesn't surprise me that Malik was another one of her projects. It's a shame it took him so long to notice.

"I hope you all have a good night, and I'll talk to you all tomorrow..."

Wait.

I wanted to yell at him for his attention, as he smiled at all of us, and began to walk away. No, he can't leave. I need the time with him to berate him about Flynn, and if I can't do that, then I'll be stuck with the creepy Ryan.

Almost as if he read my mind, Malik looked over his shoulder, and we met gazes.

"Tonight," I mouth, praying it was clear. "Library."

He pauses for a moment, and I breath in deeply. Then he nods.

"Tonight."

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~Midika 💜🐼