Page 16 of His To Claim

“Oh shit! I’m sorry, Stella. I didn’t mean to,” Jade cries out embarrassed.

“No, don’t worry about it, it’s fine.” The guys look over to us, confused by my actions. “My parents died four years ago,” Stella clarifies, looking down at her feet nervously.

“Well, welcome to the tribe, Silver,” Drake says, extending a hand to her. Stella looks up slowly at Drake and then to his hand. She shyly takes it and smiles when he nods to her. That’s myDragon, always making everyone feel like they belong no matter what.

After a moment, Jade and Kai follow Stella toward the edge of the academy where the party is being held. Ruby and Jax take off to the right together, unable to keep their hands off one another, meanwhile, Drake and I follow behind them disgusted by their public displays of affection.

“You look good, Scar,” he tells me as his eyes roam my body. “Really good.” He winks and I can’t help but laugh.

“You don’t look so bad yourself, Drake,” I say, eyeing his ensemble. He’s wearing black basketball shorts and a black muscle shirt that exposes his tattooed arms, chest, and neck. He catches me staring as my gaze lands on his silver lip ring.

“Not sure I can keep my hands off you tonight though. I know we said we’d hide our… well, whatever this is, but...” he adds, biting his lip.

“It’s not like they don’t already suspect Drake. But I’m not sure now’s the right time. I mean our lives just got flipped upside down,” I add, and his face stiffens.

“About that,” he says, grabbing onto my wrist. “What was up with that Agent Servite guy?” he asks, a deep scowl now covering his face.

“What do you mean?” I ask, pulling my wrist from his hold.

“I saw the way he was looking at you. Like some dirty fucker who was thinking of, well fuck if I wanna know what he was thinking, Scar. But he was looking at you like he knew you, like he wanted you. And then they held you and Jade back in the office and that fucker cornered you alone again. What’s his deal, Scarlett?” His tone turns dark and controlling.

“Look, it’s a long story, one I’d rather not get into right now, alright? Tonight, I just wanna forget everything that went down today and prepare for whatever fucked up shit is to come. As for Servite, don’t worry, Dragon Man, I’m a big girl, I can handle my own shit.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about, Scar, and you know it,” he says, rolling his eyes.

“Look, Drake, I don’t get what his deal is, okay? Maybe he’s just used to getting that kind of attention from the girls that go here. He’s hot for a man his age but you don’t have to worry about me. I know how to handle myself. I ain’t into the whole sugar daddy trend.”

Suddenly, we’re startled by loud hollering and even louder music blaring from speakers around us.

“We’re here,” Stella shouts as we all turn to see what the fuss is about. I use this as an escape from Drake and his questioning as I walk up to where Jade, Stella, and Kai stand. There are about 200 plus teens spread out across the sandy area in front of us, the water a bright blue, almost clear color extending for miles. Jade and I spent hours at the beach living on the West Coast but this beach, well it makes the one we visited back home look like a muggy swamp.

We make our way down the path at the edge of the beach and look around at the enormous houses around us. The private beach is huge, complete with six beach house mansions all in a circle surrounding the sandy area in front of the water. Each house is stunning but none more impressive than the massive white mansion at the far end of the property. It has three-stories and floor to ceiling windows all around the bottom floor. A large porch wraps around the lower level of property while a large balcony wraps around the entire second story. It’s beautiful and I know this one has to belong to the Servites. It’s over the top and demands to be seen, just like the Servite men.

“This is insane,” I say, turning to Stella.

“Welcome to Servite Academy,” she says with a wide grin.

Five

SCARLETT

We head over to an empty picnic table toward the right side of the beach. Right next to it is a drink station complete with two beer kegs, a cooler full of ice and another of hard liquor and mixers. There are about ten of these spread out across the beach with teens crowded around them.

“Let’s get some drinks,” Stella says as she leads Jade, Ruby, Kai, and Jax toward the kegs.

“So how long till one of these pricks comes over?” Drake asks mockingly, but I laugh knowing he’s right.

Someone is bound to come over soon and give us a “proper” introduction. I noticed the curious stares and irritated scowls the moment we stepped foot on the beach, but everyone seems to wait for someone else to make the first move.

“I’d give it ten minutes at most,” I add, looking around at the teens spread out across the property. Everyone looks like theystepped straight out of some Hollywood high school movie. Perfect hair, banging bodies, gorgeous faces. They bleed privilege and wealth. Headmaster Servite was right, this is the crème de la crème of the world’s elite teens.

“Maybe a little longer, looks like the kings aren’t here yet,” Stella says, coming over with two drinks. She hands both Drake and me a cup.

“The Kings?” Kai asks as he hands one of the cups in his hand to Stella.

“The Kings of Servite Academy,” Ruby answers knowingly.

“Get this, they call themselves the Four Horsemen,” Jade adds, causing the group to laugh.

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