Marked by the Alpha Team (Luna Merrick) novel Chapter 160

Chapter 160

Luna’s POV

I had wanted nothing more than to stand at the very top of the podium and hear Blackridge University announced as i school that produced the fastest runner in the race, but as I stood there with a silver medal hanging proudly around m neck, I realized that first place was no longer the only thing that mattered to me.

Two days ago, I honestly wasn’t even sure if I would be able to compete. I had been terrified that my newfound strengt] would betray me in front of everyone, exposing what I really was and destroying everything I had worked

hard to achieve. Instead, I had crossed the finish line in second place in one of the hardest races I had ever run in my life. The 1 had been absolute madness from start to finish. Every girl on that track had run like she had nothing left to lose, and th had been several moments where I genuinely believed I was about to finish third.

One athlete had almost overtaken me in the last stretch, and I had dug deeper than I ever thought possible just to stay a of her. Even then, I had only managed to secure second place by the narrowest of margins. My lungs had burned, my le had felt like they were on fire, and every muscle in my body had screamed at me to stop, but somehow, I had held on, a more importantly, I had controlled myself the entire way. Not once had my speed burst out of control, and not once ha panicked.

The image of the waterfall had stayed firmly in my mind from beginning to end, and every time I felt my strength tryin surge forward, I imagined that heavy curtain of water pressing against me, forcing me to remain steady. Standing here n with a silver medal resting against my chest, I couldn’t help smiling so widely that my cheeks actually hurt.

The girl who had won first place stood proudly on the highest platform with her gold medal shining in the sunlight, whil the athlete who finished third stood quietly on the other side of me, smiling politely whenever another camera pointed in our direction. Ironically, I was almost certain I was siniling harder than both of them combined, and I simply couldn’t hel myself.

Every few seconds my hand reached up to touch the medal around my neck as though I needed to reassure myself that it was actually real. It wasn’t gold, but to me it felt priceless. It represented far more than finishing second in a race. It represented surviving the hardest few days of my life. It represented all the fear I had pushed through, every sleepless nig every embarrassing mistake, every painful lesson under that freezing waterfall, and every moment I had nearly given up c myself.

The announcer continued talking about points being awarded to each university, and I vaguely heard that my second–plac finish had earned Blackridge University eight valuable points toward the overall championship standings. I knew those points were important. Coach Ramirez had explained the scoring system to us before we left campus, and every event contributed toward deciding which university would take home the championship trophy.

Still, if I was being completely honest with myself, I couldn’t bring myself to care very much about the team standings right now. Of course I hoped Blackridge would win, but my biggest concern had always been whether I would embarrass myself or lose the scholarship that had completely changed my life. Now that I had won a medal in my very first collegiate competition, I finally allowed myself to believe that maybe, just maybe, I really belonged here.

The medal ceremony lasted several more minutes as photographers gathered around us from different angles, asking us to face one camera, then another, before requesting individual pictures with our coaches. Coach Ramirez actually smiled when he stepped beside me, and I nearly laughed because I wasn’t entirely convinced the man even knew how to smile until today. He stood proudly beside me while another photographer snapped picture after picture, occasionally nodding in approval whenever someone congratulated Blackridge on producing such a promising freshman athlete.

I glanced sideways at him once while another flash went off, and for the briefest moment I saw something had never expected to see on his face. Pride. Real, genuine pride, and it was directed at me. The same coach who had once looked at me like I was nothing more than soine troublesome scholarship student now looked as though I had exceeded every expectation he had for me.

That realization warmed me almost as much as the medal hanging around my neck. When the photographs finally ended, Coach gave my shoulder hem pat before quietly telling me that had done well

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Chapter 160

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The moment the ceremony officially ended, I stepped down from the podium with a sigh of relief. Standing under everyone’s attention for so long wasn’t exactly my favorite thing, especially after everything that had happened since arriving at Blackridge. I was more than ready to quietly return to the bench and disappear into the crowd until it was for us to head home. My legs still felt heavy from the race, but strangely enough, I hardly noticed the soreness anym because my excitement overshadowed everything else. I had only taken a few steps away from the podium when som suddenly screamed my name so loudly that I instinctively turned around in surprise.

“LUNAAAA!”

Before I even had time to react properly, Ivy came charging toward me like an excited child who had consumed far to much sugar. She practically launched herself at me, throwing both arms around my neck with enough force that I nea lost my balance. Her hug squeezed every remaining bit of air from my lungs while she repeatedly shouted congratulat directly into my ear.

“Oh my God! You did it! You actually did it! I’m so proud of you!”

I couldn’t stop myself from laughing despite how tightly she was hugging me. “Thank you,” I managed to say laughs. “Ivy… I can’t breathe.”

between

She immediately loosened her grip, though only enough for me to breathe again before grabbing both of my shoulders looking at me with the biggest smile I had ever seen on her face. It almost looked like she had been the one standing on podium instead of me. Her excitement was so genuine that it somehow made me even happier than I already was. It felt nice knowing someone was celebrating with me rather than simply congratulating me because they felt obligated to.

The first thing Ivy’s eyes landed on was the silver medal hanging proudly around my neck. She stared at it for several lor seconds before slowly reaching toward it without actually touching it.

“Can I wear it?” she asked hopefully. “Please? I’ve never won anything before, and I’ve definitely never had an athlete as m best friend.”

I rolled my eyes dramatically, though I was already smiling before I even answered

“You say that like athletes are some endangered species,” I teased. “You’re literally studying at Blackridge. There are athlete everywhere.”

Without waiting for another word, I carefully lifted the medal over my head and placed it around her neck instead.

She gasped dramatically the second it rested against her chest. “Oh wow,” she whispered while looking down at it. “This actually feels important.”

www

I couldn’t help laughing again. “You are doing way too much, sweetie.”

She shrugged without the slightest bit of embarrassment. “Athletes are basically the cool kids around here,” she replied matter–of–factly. “People like me don’t exactly get invited into the mysterious athletic circle, but thanks to you, my days of being a random background character are slowly coming to an end.”

I stared at her for two seconds before bursting into laughter again. “Prepare to be very disappointed, sweetie.”

“I definitely won’t be.”

She grinned proudly before immediately pulling out her phone. “Pictures!”

Before I could protest, she had already wrapped one arm around my shoulders while lifting her phone high into the air. She made us pose from one angle, then another, insisting that I smile wider even though any cheeks already hurt from smiling all afternoon. Every few seconds she looked down at the pictures before deciding we absolutely needed another one. Soon she was making silly faces, sticking her tongue out, pretending to bite the medal, and pulling me to increasingly ridiculous poses that lett me laughing harder than I had laughed in weeks. Looking at her acting like this, anyone would think she had personally won the silver medal herself

09:00 Mon, Jul 13 d

Chapter 160

As we continued taking pictures together. I suddenly caught a familiar scent drifting through the air, and my la almost immediately.

It was a scent I had come to recognize without even trying.

Orion.

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