Chapter 51: Is It Loud?

"Don’t walk too fast, Brianna," Benjamin’s lazy voice drawled from behind, his long strides easily closing the gap until his tall frame fell into step right beside me. "People might think you’re actually eager to get this over with."

"That’s because I am," I muttered, my eyes sweeping over the grand gothic arches with cold disdain.

This building, this entire school—it still left a bitter taste in my mouth. Not to mention I was desperately trying to avoid running into Damian or that emerald-eyed instructor. My physical conditioning wasn’t where it needed to be yet; I still wasn’t prepared to handle them if they decided I was someone they wanted to deal with.

I abruptly paused in the middle of the hallway and turned on my heel to face him.

Benjamin stopped a step ahead of me, tilting his head with a lazy smirk. "Why’d you stop?"

"You’re the one who has an errand to run," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "I don’t know where we’re going, and I certainly can’t read your mind."

"Oh, right." He snapped his fingers as if the thought had just occurred to him, stepping back into my space. "Come on then, hold my hand so you don’t get lost."

"Get lost," I snapped instantly.

Benjamin laughed, a quiet, raspy sound in his chest. He tucked his hands back into his coat pockets and turned back around. "Well, suit yourself. I’ll take the lead."

He began walking forward, and I fell into step behind him. The further into the main administrative wing we walked, the more exposed we were to the midday crowd. The chatter swelled around us, and my expression grew increasingly deadpan as I realized the flurry of whispers was mostly centered on me rather than the High Pack heir leading the way.

I was entirely numb to it all, filtering out the pathetic gossip like background noise.

But while I could filter it, there was someone who couldn’t, no matter how hard he wanted to.

"Benjamin," I called out softly, eyeing his heavy shoulders from behind. "Is it loud?"

He didn’t respond.

Why hadn’t he taken out his cigarette yet? Was he being cautious of the school environment? Surely, he couldn’t go around explaning that it was a specialized cigarette, exposing his weakness to everyone so he probably kept it away.

I narrowed my eyes, noticing the subtle tension in his posture. His shoulders were stiff, and as my gaze drifted lower, I saw his coat pockets vibrating. His hands were clenching into violent fists underneath the fabric, his arms trembling from the strain.

A sudden realization hit me like a cold splash of water.

When he had asked to hold my hand earlier, it wasn’t just his usual arrogant teasing. He had needed a physical anchor—a distraction to keep his mind from fraying under the overwhelming noise of the crowd. I was so caught up in my own annoyance that I wasn’t performing my role as a companion properly.

I let out a quiet sigh and picked up my pace, bridging the gap between us. Reaching out, I pressed my hand against his forearm, sliding my fingers down to pull his hand out of his pocket.

"Brianna?" Benjamin rasped, his voice tight as he turned his head to look at me.

A light sheen of cold sweat glistened across his forehead, his purple eyes clouded with raw, suppressed agony. Just what in the world was so important that he risked coming out into a dense crowd like this?

Even if having an Omega companion nearby softened the sensory overload, it didn’t completely erase the roaring static of hundreds of wolves. He knew the risk, yet he came anyway.

"Quiet," I commanded softly.

When I felt the subtle tremor still lingering through his fingers, I realized just holding his hand wasn’t enough to drown out the sensory assault. Taking a deliberate step closer, I leaned my body into his side, letting my weight rest lightly against his arm as I pressed my lips together.

"Is this fine?" I asked him, keeping my eyes fixed straight ahead so the surrounding students wouldn’t read too much into the movement. "Just... focus your senses on me. Like you did in the car."

The moment my body pressed against his arm, a ripple of shocked disbelief tore through the hallway like a physical force.

"Oh my god, what is Brianna doing?!"

"And Benjamin is letting her?! He didn’t even push her off!"

"Are they... are they in some sort of relationship?!"

"No way! Who would want a loser like Brianna?"

"Then explain what the hell we’re looking at right now!"

No one had a logical explanation, but they stubbornly refused to believe that someone as untouchable as Benjamin Almond could ever be involved with a wolfless Omega like me.

I filtered out their pathetic, echoing voices with practiced ease. I didn’t care about a single one of them. My entire focus was locked strictly on the boy beside me. Getting him through this chaotic hallway without his brain melting from neural overload was literally my job today—the price I was paying to secure my high-grade recovery access card.

The moment my weight leaned into his side and my hand gripped his, Benjamin let out a long, ragged exhale. The rigid tension in his frame slowly began to thaw, his suffocating grip on my hand softening as he took a deep, grounding breath.

His purple eyes, clouded with agony just a second ago, cleared up as he zeroed in on my scent and the physical warmth pressing into his arm. The roar of a hundred whispering wolves around us died down to a dull, manageable static in his head, completely eclipsed by my presence.

A faint, breathless smirk tugged at the corner of his lips, though the cold sweat still glistened on his forehead.

"You’re taking your job as my companion very seriously today," Benjamin murmured, his voice dropping into that low, rumbling hum that only I could hear. He shifted his stance slightly, casually draping his arm around my shoulders to pull me even closer against his ribs, making it look to the gasping crowd like he was effortlessly escorting me. "Not that I’m complaining."

"Don’t get used to it," I muttered under my breath, keeping my face a deadpan mask as we pushed past the staring crowd. "Where is this errand of yours?"

"Top floor," Benjamin replied, his stride instantly regaining its arrogant, unhurried rhythm now that the noise was under control. "The Principal’s office."