Stolen meal

After leaving the food behind, she couldn't help but think that today had been a very strange day.

What had happened to Declan?

The male lead shouldn't approach the villainess Openly like this.

He had grabbed her hand, picked up the food she had wanted to eat, and stuffed it into his own mouth, cutting her meal short.

In the end, she had stood up with the tray still in her hands and looked him straight in the face.

"You can have it all to yourself, okay? Eat it all."

After saying that, she turned around and walked away.

She returned to class, only to learn that today was Sports Day.

Sports Day.

Every student was required to participate to stay physically fit. The school organized a long-distance run through the woods. A trail stretched in a large circle, beginning at the school grounds, winding through the forest, and eventually leading back to the academy.

She had not planned for this.

If she had known today was Sports Day, she would have stayed home.

She hated sports.

Sports had never been her favorite activity.

She had already graduated in her previous life. She already had a job she could do from home. Yet after reincarnating into this novel, she had somehow ended up attending school all over again.

She hated school.

She really didn't want to do this.

Letting out a long sigh, she changed into her sports uniform.

Running wasn't good for this body.

It really wasn't.

She loved this new body. She didn't hate it at all.

But sports definitely didn't suit it.

That should be a good enough reason to skip today's activity... right?

Thinking that, she walked over to Principal Adams, the PE teacher.

"Principal Adams, I'm not feeling very well," she said. "Earlier today, a venomous needle was stabbed into my back, so I can't participate in today's sports activity."

Principal Adams looked at her before slowly shaking his head.

"No, you cannot skip Sports Day. You have participated every year. What happened? This isn't like you, Hara. You're usually one of the most active students during sports. What's wrong?"

She paused, caught off guard by his concern.

She forced an awkward smile.

Come to think of it, the original Hara had never missed a single Sports Day.

She always ran alongside her childhood friends. She wanted to stay close to them, especially the male leads, no matter how exhausted she became afterward.

Even though she had weak lungs and always struggled to breathe after every run, she never once skipped the event.

But she wasn't the original Hara.

She had absolutely no interest in Noah, Ryan, Declan, Genova, or Harry.

Which made their recent strange behavior toward her even more confusing.

After thinking it over, she decided not to argue with Principal Adams any further.

"Thank you. I understand," she said politely.

She turned and walked back toward the starting ground.

Students were already gathering at the starting line, waiting for the race to begin.

She quietly took her place.

"On your marks!" Principal Adams called. "When the whistle blows three times, you will begin running."

She stood by herself and glanced around.

She deliberately stayed away from the five male leads.

She also kept her distance from Viana.

Viana frowned as she stared at her, her eyes filled with confusion, as though she couldn't understand why she was standing so far away.

Was she wondering why she wasn't standing beside her today?

Or was she disappointed that she wouldn't get another chance to shove her off balance like she always had, slowing her down before the run was even over?

She rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest.

Seeing that, Viana's mouth fell open in shock, as if she couldn't believe she had actually rolled her eyes at her.

"Whatever," she muttered under her breath.

The whistle rang out three times.

The students immediately took off, running toward the woods.

Silvercrest Academy was attended by both humans and werewolves.

The human world didn't know werewolves existed.

However, a few werewolves who had become close friends with humans had revealed the truth to them. Because of that, only a small number of humans knew werewolves were real.

She kept jogging deeper into the woods.

The trees grew thicker, and the forest became darker with every step.

Students ran along the same trail, everyone jogging with surprising energy.

This is supposed to be a jog, not a damn race, she grumbled inwardly.

Before long, almost everyone had pulled ahead, leaving her far behind.

She continued jogging at her own pace.

Step after step.

Her breathing gradually became heavier.

She inhaled deeply, then exhaled.

Again.

And again.

Soon, she felt like she couldn't catch her breath anymore.

Finally, she stopped and bent over slightly, resting both hands on her waist as she tried to steady her breathing.

The trail had become eerily quiet.

Most of the students had already disappeared into the distance.

After catching her breath for a moment, she started jogging again.

Suddenly, something huge rushed toward her.

Before she could react, she was lifted clean off the ground.

Her head spun.

When her vision finally focused, she realized she was lying across the back of a massive silver wolf.

The enormous wolf sprinted through the forest, carrying her deeper into the woods.

"Hey! Who are you? Put me down! Put me down!"

The wolf didn't stop.

"Do you think you're the only werewolf here?" she shouted. "I can shift too! I'm a werewolf!"

She could transform as well.

The only problem was that she was completely exhausted.

Right now, she didn't have the strength to shift.

She could only cling tightly to the wolf's broad back as it continued racing through the forest.

After running for quite a distance, the wolf finally came to a stop in a secluded part of the woods.

It carefully lowered her to the ground before shifting back into human form.

As expected of werewolf magic, his clothes remained perfectly intact after the transformation.

She looked up at the person who had practically kidnapped her.

Yes.

This definitely counted as kidnapping.

Standing before her was a tall young man with brown hair that fell over his forehead in soft bangs. A single earring hung from one ear, and he was still wearing his sports uniform.

He towered over her, making her feel unusually small in his presence.

"Noah..."

"Yes, Hara. It's me."

She frowned.

"Why did you kidnap me?"

She hadn't even finished speaking before Noah moved.

In a blur of speed she couldn't follow, he pinned her gently against a tree.

"Ow..."

She winced.

"My back hurts. A poisonous needle was stabbed into it earlier. Be careful."

Noah's expression immediately softened.

"Sorry," he said quietly, his voice filled with guilt.

She looked at him in confusion.

"Why did you bring me here, Noah? I'm not Viana, as you can see."

Noah didn't answer.

He simply stared at her without looking away.

Why was he looking at her like that?

She felt a little creeped out.

She blinked several times, keeping her gaze fixed on him.

"What is it?"

She forced a polite smile.

The smile disappeared the moment Noah reached out and gently cupped her chin.

"You..."

"I know you didn't push Viana intentionally."

His eyes searched hers.

"She hurt you, didn't she?"

His voice grew lower.

"Where did she injure you?"

His hand was still cupping her chin.

She froze.

What was happening?

She found herself unable to move, completely caught in the moment.

His gaze was so intense that she couldn't look away.

Slowly, his face moved closer to hers.

Her heart began to pound.

She could hear the loud thumping of her own heartbeat.

At the same time, she could hear his heartbeat as well.

His face was only inches away.

His nose was almost touching hers.

His lips hovered only a few inches from her own.