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Oliver cuts me off before I can explain anything. “Stop! Just stop. I don’t want to hear any more lies.” He looks over at Skye. “Do yourself a favor and request a new roommate. This one is a disease that will cause you nothing but problems. Trust me when I say she is trash. You can come sit with my sister Lulu if you want to.”

Damn, that slightly stings, but maybe he is right not to want anything to do with me. There is no way that Marcus will lethim have anything to do with me, anyway. When my eyes look at Skye, she seems torn, unsure what to believe. She met me less than an hour ago. I didn’t expect any loyalty from her, so I decide to be a good person for a second—well, goodish. I dust the bacon crumbs off of my fingers rather dramatically. “It’s cool, Skye. I got to get to class, anyway. Be careful with those who follow blindly.” I don’t give them time to answer. I am taking my plate up to the dishwashing station. By walking away, I know I am ruining any chance of repairing our relationship. However, I know there isn’t a way to make him believe me. He lived in that house, probably believing everything Marcus spoon-fed him.

I can’t let myself feel bad or overthink my actions. Before I can make it to the doors, a blonde with curly hair stands in her chair. “Attention everyone! If you want to stay on mine and my father’s good side, you shun this liar.” She points her finger at me. “Stay away if you know what’s good for you, Salem!”

This must be Lulu; it’s good to put a face to the name. She looks like a doll. She’s still wearing pink, which makes me almost gag. This is a complication that I should have considered. I knew of their existence, but never gave them much thought. The people around us record the interaction on their phones. My eyes meet hers, and I give her a bored look. I keep walking and maintain eye contact before holding my hand up and flipping her off as I walk out of the cafeteria.

Oliver doesn’t seem like too much of a threat. Lulu seems like she is going to be a thorn in my side. There won’t be any flying under the radar with my siblings gunning for me. They both are clearly under Marcus’s thumb, which isn’t surprising. I already have enemies here, and they will continue to turn people against me.

I get to class a few minutes early and start stretching out and doing the morning routine that I used to do with 203. When others come in, I stop the routine and stretch. We are in anindoor gym with turf, which I enjoy feeling under my hands. It helps to distract me from the whispers as I hear Lulu’s voice from the cafeteria playing around me from people’s phones. I avoid eye contact with everyone and pretend they aren’t here. A whistle cuts me from my thoughts, and I look up, seeing a man in a navy tracksuit enter the room. He claps his hands together as his voice booms out in the room. “Way to get a jump on it. You all take notes. Who might you be?”

“Salem,” I say, hearing the group of primarily boys snicker.

I roll my eyes and hear mock coughing, “Liar,” inciting laughter from the other guys, which fuels the fire. “Attention whore.” Another cough rings out, and I wait for the professor to regain control of his class.

Instead, Professor Merrick laughs before blowing his whistle. “That’s enough, everyone. It seems as if the 19-year-old first year is already making friends. Maybe being held back did you some good.” He says this with too much amusement, as if the whole thing is funny. He is making it seem like I had chosen not to come, that I was being pampered and lazy at home rather than attending the Academy. “This is an advanced class; you will not receive special treatment. Dean Campbell warned me of your… presence.” His nose twitches as if he smells something rotten.

“Yeah, he is a fan of mine, but don’t worry, I’ll try to be gentle with your… class.” I hear someone snicker; at least someone has a sense of humor here.

He blows his whistle, “Pair up. We will do hand-to-hand to determine if anyone should change into a different class.” He walks around, looking at everyone before his eyes harden on me. “A less experienced class.”

This is shaping up to be a shitty day. I expected this to be hard, but I never thought it would be this bad day one. Constantine warned me this would happen, and as much as I hoped he would be wrong, it turns out he was right. The professor instructs us toget paired together to spar. We circle them and watch two people go to the middle of the circle we made, sparring, dodging blows after another.

“Gage, you’re up. Show Salem how we do it here.” Gage walks to the center and blows me a kiss. His eyebrow raises, highlighting his piercing, as he takes me in. He pulls his dark blonde hair back into a bun. It’s short on the sides, and he pulls off the long hair almost too well. He stretches out his arms, and I can’t stop eyeing him slightly, appreciating his body. He got the memo that it’s sexy.

“I’ll try not to bloody up your pretty face.” He says with a smirk, running his eyes down my body. I feel a rush of desire coming from him. Why does that make me feel flattered? My beast practically gleams in delight from him, appreciating our appearance.What the hell is wrong with you? We hate him.I question my beast, who only snorts in my head.

“That’s sweet.” I shoot him a wink. “Just know I won’t be returning the favor. I prefer my fights bloody.” He rolls his eyes before taking a swing. My body moves quickly and deflects his blow before my right fist collides with his abs.

“Oh, it’s on.” He says, amused, as he smiles at me. He looks more focused as his stance changes, going into full offense mode. I deflect one, two, and three-punch combos before he surprises me with an uppercut, which connects and causes my lip to bleed. He steps back with a smug look on his face. Little does he know he shouldn’t have let me have the space between us. When I smile at him and lick the blood off my lip, his smile disappears. Gage is right about one thing. It’s on.

Before he can blink, I sweep his legs and jump on top of him, punching him repeatedly in the face. He adjusts and twists his body weight, trying to flip me to get me on my back. I spin because I can’t let that happen. Ending up on his back, I throw my arm around his neck, choking him. He tries to stand, andwith my free arm, I elbow his face repeatedly. His blood is in the air and smells delicious. It’s doing something to my system as I crave him. I don’t allow myself to focus on that. I only concentrate on taking him down as I continue to choke him. He staggers but makes it to his feet. I can feel what he wants to do. He wants to fall backward, using my body to break the fall between him and the ground. The move is one I would do as well, which will knock my breath away. I cannot let that happen.

One more squeeze on his neck before my hands grab and push off his shoulders, making my body fly up. Using that momentum, I spin so my thighs squeeze the front of his neck. I punch him repeatedly in the head, and he falls to his knees. Both hands push me off the top of his head, and I do a back tuck before landing in defensive mode.

Professor Merrick blows his whistle, and everyone stands around me, stunned. I wink at Gage, who looks dazed as I lick his blood off my knuckles. “Mmm, you taste better than I thought you would.” In return, I blow him a kiss. Everyone stands there stunned as I wait for further instructions. Yeah, I am not here to make friends.

Chapter sixteen

I feel like Iam in a daze. Maybe it is from one too many blows to the head. However, I blame the vixen who delivered the blows. The last hour feels like a giant blur. My thoughts drifted to when I first arrived in class. Brian, a wolf shifter, showed me a video of Lulu socially exiling a girl in the cafeteria. The girl calmly flipped off Lulu. She showed no fear in the video, and you can’t help but wonder if it’s all just a show she is putting on. Brian nudged me with his elbow and nodded to the girl stretching on the ground. It was her. Why did staring at her make my breath catch? She refused to look at anyone, seeming to ignore everyone around her. Every part of me wants her attention on me, even if it’s only for a second. It took everything not to walk over and ask her to help stretch her out. Maybe it was the blue balls talking? It has been a while. All that I could do was watch her stretch. She is so limber and mouth-watering.

How did one girl get on Lulu’s bad side and Professor Merrick’s bad side? When Professor Merrick paired us together, I didn’t look forward to kicking her ass. At least her eyes were on me. It at least gave me an excuse to touch her, even if it is the wrong kind of touch that I want to give her.

My whole body tingled when her eyes locked on mine, and my heartbeat picked up. It almost felt as if she had unlocked some part of me. She made my magic hum. It’s clearly one-sided as Salem stood there with her cocky attitude that I didn’t expect her to back up. She is beautiful, yet has this wildness about her. I feel she has a wicked mouth to back up the attitude.

How was I supposed to know she was prepared for a level of violence that I didn’t think she would be capable of? As much as I want to ask her out, I don’t know if I can take another blow to my manhood that quickly. It’s bad enough she kicked my ass in front of everyone. I can still feel her thighs around my neck, trying to choke me out. I would be lying if I didn’t say it turned me on.

I continue to go through the day in a daze, with my mind miles away. It stays with a girl who probably hasn’t given me another thought since kicking my ass. I must keep my studies up, but this year's odds weren’t in my favor. My parents will probably end up disowning me or treating me like they did to my brother. They like to send their problems away. That is what I am turning into for them: another problem. I still care and work so hard to get any scraps of affection that they barely seem to want to give me. The only time that happens is when I perform above their expectations or in the public eye.

As I think of my brother, it makes my heart ache. Leo isn’t just my brother. He is my twin. When we were born, it almost seemed like one soul had split in half to create us. We were inseparable. When they sent him away, they had to keep me drugged for days because I couldn’t stop crying. That was theiranswer to everything: medication to keep me compliant and sending the troubled child away. I know something is wrong with him in my heart, but they pretend he doesn’t exist. My parents told me that they sent him away at 13 to some boarding school for the troubled youth. We have had no holiday, mail, visits, or phone calls. Nothing. They ripped him away from me, and it didn’t matter if I cried, screamed, or begged them to let him come home.

That day is when I hated my parents and myself for what I had to become. At first, I thought maybe they would also send me to where he was. At least we would be together. That wouldn’t have been the case. They wanted us to be apart as punishment. Leo always joked that I was the golden child, that I am the perfect son for my parents. The truth was more ugly than that because I was too scared to step out of line, and I still am. I let them dictate my life. The only thing I have stood firm on was my friends. They had hoped that my friendship with Knox and Atticus would be severed after Leo left. Sure, Leo introduced us, and if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have ever probably become friends with them. However, if not for them, I would have lost my mind from all the pressure.

Yet, here I still am. Stuck between who I want to be and who my parents expect me to be. It’s my last year here at Black Rose. They want me to take up their many businesses and get in bed with politicians and people with heavy-lined pockets who can help us continue bringing in our fortune. I want to get into business with Knox and Atticus. Build something that doesn’t come from my parents and the money attached to them. As soon as my time at the Academy is over, I know I will have to sever my relationship with my parents or friends. Until then, I will live in denial.

I walk into the dining hall to grab food and meet Knox and Atticus. My eyes roll when I think about how much shit they aregoing to give me for getting my ass kicked by a girl. Maybe now, Knox will stop trying to get me to join him in making money fighting. My face can’t be in the underground fighting ring.

As I reach to grab a chicken sandwich, I notice I still have blood on my hand. I shake my head and try to wipe the dried blood off on my shorts. Panic tightens its grip on my chest as I hear my parents practically scolding me for not being put together. How dare I let the public see me looking like a disheveled, bloody mess? I can hear my heartbeat in my ears as my breathing quickens.

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