h4Chapter 755: 755-The One She Gave Hope/h4

    strongHnie:/strong

    "I’m so tired," Lamarined as he massaged Jenny’s shoulders.

    "You can rest too," Jenny told him, noticing he’d been massaging her feet, arms, and shoulders for a while.

    "No, this is me resting. I just don’t want to go out in the woods and chase after those ugly things again," Lamar said, and I knew exactly what he meant. I felt the same way.

    There were times I thought I might throw up. Those things were ugly and nasty, and when you killed them, they oozed a foul odor.

    "Are you okay, Hnie? I noticed you gagging a lot today," Penn asked.

    "Yeah, I’m just a little under the weather," I replied, not wanting to tell anyone about the pregnancy yet. Every time I got excited, I ended up losing the baby, so the excitement felt wasted.

    "How about I get you some lemonade?" he offered, getting up from the ground.

    All the academy students had been doing their best to get rid of as many Zharns as possible, hoping the message would reach the Father. Some of them had even opened different food and drink stalls.

    "Can you bring me some too?" Jenny asked her brother yfully.

    "Yeah, yeah, I’ll get everyone food and drinks," Penn replied as he walked away.

    I stretched my legs out, leaning back on my hands with my neck tilted up and my eyes on the sky. I was trying to take in as muchfort as I could before we had to go out again. But I had a feeling the brothers wouldn’t let me go this time. One of them always stayed near me. I guessed they had assigned roles or something. Emmet was mostly absent, but I knew he was doing something important.

    "How’s he doing?" Lamar asked, and I turned my head to the left, spotting Gavin next to a hot dog stall, staring off into the distance. He’d been gone ten minutes to grab us hot dogs, and now I found him zoned out.

    "He’s brutal to those things. You should’ve seen him out there," I said, remembering how he killed those Zharns like each one had personally hurt Salem.

    "It’s been over a month, and he still hasn’t shown any signs of improvement. The only time he seems alive is when he’s told we’re going out to fight the ex-Codex," Jenny said, and I nodded sadly.

    There’s no set time for healing after losing a loved one or a mate. It’s nearly impossible. Life just— changes forever.

    "Life, I guess, changes forever," I murmured, thinking of my mother. Even though she had Lord McQuoid now, I could still see the longing for my father in her eyes.

    "Anyway, I heard about your mother, and the announcements about your, you know, true identity. So far, everyone I’ve talked to has been really positive," Jenny said, reminding me that my secret was out.

    "Yeah, my pack members were happy. They actually like Hnie a lot," Lamar added, which gave me a boost of confidence.

    "I wonder what’s going on with Sydney these days," I said, zoning out again. Her father and that pack were still a mystery we needed to figure out.

    "If you want, I can look into it. My father’s trying to redeem himself, so he’s been busy tracking down bad people," she offered, and I nodded.

    "That would be really helpful. I just want to know if her father’s thinking about giving her the crown—and where the heck their alpha is," I muttered while clenching my jaw.

    To that, Jenny only nodded. Then our eyes drifted back to the stalls, where we saw Sage and Penn standing together. The two had been especially chattytely, especially during our fights with the Zharns.

    It had been three days since the project started, and oddly enough, we were seeing a lot more of Sage than before.

    "You know, your —mother-inw really tried to screw her up," Jenny said, stuttering a little. I realized she was talking about Sage.

    "Really? I never knew the truth about them hanging out," I said.

    "Well, your mother-inw told her she had a chance with Professor Emmet," Jenny added, and my jaw practically hit the floor.

    I knew Sage had a crush on Emmet, but I didn’t know Darcy had been giving her so much hope.

    "Yeah, she was dragging her along, preparing her for some supposed ritual. That’s when Sage started doing her own research. And I guess Darcy found out, or maybe she just lost interest, because she dropped her after that," Jenny said with a shrug.

    But I sat up straight, clearly interested in what Sage might know about Darcy.

    "How about we ask her ourselves?" Lamar suggested. He must’ve noticed how curious I was and was already nning to bring Sage over so I could question her.

    "Yeah, I’d love to know," I said. Now that I was thinking about the timing, it all felt off. Darcy had not been spotted with Sage right after Azura arrived, or sometime around when Azura came back.

    Was she afraid of Azura? Or did she think Emmet would never give anyone else a chance now? Too many questions were running through my mind.

    "Hey, Penn! Come over here—and bring your friend too!" Jenny called out.

    But then her eyes rolled back slightly as Lamar started giving her a head massage. He was such a good mate, honestly. He’d been kneeling beside her for half an hour, helping ease her aches after she’d been out fighting the Zharns alongside him.

    Penn returned with Sage beside him. The two sat down andid out paper tes for all of us, filled with eggs for energy, sandwiches, and other snacks. I reached for the lemonade. Even though it was cold, I felt like I needed a few sips.

    "Sage, I was just telling Hnie about you and Darcy hanging out. Would you like to tell her more about it?" Jenny said.

    As soon as she brought it up, I saw Sage’s eyes widen. She tried to signal something to Jenny, but Jenny went on, "It’s alright. Hnie won’t mind. You can talk about her mother-inw all you want. In fact, go ahead and bitch about her. She’s actually a real bitch."

    Jenny was so confident. I figured it came from being surrounded by amazing people—people she knew wouldn’t judge her for calling out someone awful. And honestly, they deserved every word.