A whistle breaks through the moment.
"Damn, look at that. The ice prince has a heart after all."
Heidi blinks up through tears. Two boys are walking toward them with the arrogance of wolves who know the ground shifts when they walk on it. Nash and Ace. The NAY boys.
Heidi's heart nearly stops when they clap her on the back like she's one of them.
"Hell of a run in there," Ace says, his grin wolfish but not cruel this time. "Proved yourself, Wulf."
"Yeah," Nash adds, smirking, though his eyes actually hold respect.
Respect. For her.
"Didn't think you had it in you. Guess we were wrong. You're worthy of running with us now."
Heidi's eyes almost bulge out of their sockets. Did he just…? The Beta and Gammas' sons. Accepting her? Like it's nothing?
She blinks rapidly, her brain short-circuiting. She's gone from being the girl they saw as mocked, ignored, dismissed… to suddenly being worthy in their eyes? The earth might as well have flipped upside down.
