Page 59 of The Pretty Savage

"I know," Bethany said, seething with rage. "I'm not gonna say it twice." Bethany thought she was smart, ambushing me like this, trying to intimidate me.

"You shouldn't talk to me, darling. Talk to your man." But according to Bethany, that was the wrong thing to say.

She launched herself at me, heading straight for my hair that was tied in a high ponytail, thinking she would probably get some leverage like that. But she should've known better than to fuck with me, especially after I fucked her up in The Pit the other night.

I moved swiftly to the side, letting her grab my hair, but not before I grabbed her by her neck. Her eyes widened when she realized I had a hold of her, and before she could pull back, before she could do anything to me, I slammed her against the lockers, alerting everyone in the vicinity of what was happening.

"You." Slam. "Do." Slam. "Not." Slam. "Attack me." Slam. "Without repercussions!" I thundered, my fingers squeezing tightly. She gasped for air as we gathered quite the crowd around us. "And don't be a motherfucking bitch, Bethany. If you have a boyfriend, fiancé or a husband that obviously isn't paying attention to you, then you should take your frustrations out on him, not the girl that has no fucking idea what you're talking about. Instead of watching out for other girls, you're attacking me, because, what? I'm allegedly doing something with Adrian?"

"H-Hurts," she whimpered, trying to claw her way out of my hold.

"Good," I spat out. "It should. The next time you even think of attacking me, think twice. I don't have time for petty games and for little girls whose only real value is hidden between their legs. Don't come at me or mine, Bethany. You saw what I can do. You already know what I'm capable of. Don't fuck with me, darling!"

"You're killing her!" someone behind me yelled out, her voice laced with panic.

"I'm not," I uttered. "If I were killing her, trust me," I turned and looked at the dark-haired girl that came with Bethany and the panic in her eyes, "you would know. There would be a lot more blood."

I unwrapped my hand from Bethany and stepped aside, feeling the adrenaline fueling me. My head lifted, looking for Yolanda who stood on the side, shell-shocked and with a white towel in her hand.

"I think it might be time for me to go to the infirmary now," I told her as I came closer. "And if you don't mind, I think I need to get out of here as soon as possible."

Yolanda nodded, wrapping her arm around my middle and guiding me toward the exit, while the rest of the girls that were gathered just moved from our path, letting us pass.

"That was fucking badass, dude," Yolanda murmured, excitement wrapped around her words. "I have never seen Bethany scared like that."

"I honestly have no idea who that chick is and I don't want to know."

"Seriously?" Yolanda looked at me from the side, her eyes drilling into me. "That's Bethany Adler," she murmured as if the name was supposed to mean anything to me. "From the Adler family?" I was still drawing a blank as we exited the combat building, heading toward the main building where the infirmary was. "Since she came to the Academy she's been repeating one thing and one thing only," Yolanda added.

"Which is?" I finally asked, thankful we hadn’t seen anyone familiar on our little trek. We got some weird looks, but I guess at this kind of place, no one really asked questions.

"She said that her father, Senator Adler, arranged a marriage for her." Yolanda looked around just as we were about to enter the main building. "She says the marriage was arranged into the Zylla family." My blood ran cold. "It seems that she and Adrian Zylla are going to get married once she graduates."

And the apple I ate before coming over to the combat building threatened to come up. That motherfucker was engaged?

21

VEGA

There weren’t many things that had the ability to surprise me. Snow in the middle of May was one of them, which only happened once in my short life. People being kind for no reason whatsoever was another one. But learning that Adrian was engaged and was about to get married just in a couple of months? Well, that surprise definitely took the cake.

What kind of a man would touch another girl, do all those… things with another girl, if he was already engaged to be married in just a few months? I mean, it was obvious he didn't give a fuck about anyone but himself, but God—show some fucking integrity.

The first hour after Yolanda dropped that bombshell on me, I was in shock. Unable to concentrate or think about anything else. He occupied my thoughts even when I didn't want him to, and I stubbornly refused to believe it was for any other reason than the anger I was feeling toward him.

By hour two, I was slowly fuming that he would seek me out, sleep in my bed, touch me, make me come, when he had another girl he was promised to. It hit all too close to home that I would never be anyone's first choice. I was always the second, the third, the fourth, the hundredth choice to people I cared about.

To the people I would give my life for.

How many times did I find myself in the same situation, huh? How many fucking times did I trust that someone would put me first, only to betray me in the blink of an eye?

But none of those previous times made it feel as if parts of my soul were slowly shriveling, and I couldn't explain it. Why did he have such a strong hold on me? What was it about him that made me crave him, that made me want him in ways I had never wanted anyone else?

It wasn't his looks or his status. There was something in those dark brown eyes that pulled at the deepest, darkest parts of my soul, that made me think he was the one.

I didn't believe in soulmates. Hell, I barely believed in love, but he shattered all those convictions, leaving me open to a world of hurt if I allowed him to get any closer. And to know he was engaged, that his girlfriend—sorry, fiancée—went to the same school as I did right now, that I would most probably have to look at the two of them together all over campus, being all lovey-dovey.

Fuck that shit. The faster I finish this entire stint, the sooner I could get out of here and forget he ever existed.

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