Page 37 of The Pretty Savage

“I’m gonna take a shower,” I said, lowering down my shirt before looking over the damage. I had a feeling I’d need to strip completely to have a look at all of it. “Unless you want to see me naked, you might want to step outside.” I grinned, looking at her.

“Oh, no, no. I like you, but I don’t like you that much.”

She took a step back and closed the door softly behind her, leaving me all alone. And as I looked in the mirror again, staring at the stranger there, I wondered if I’d be able to survive this place or if it would swallow me whole.

13

ADRIAN

The wind started picking up as I stood in front of my cabin, playing with the fallen leaves on the ground, creating miniature tornadoes in its wake, reminding me of my own life.

There were monsters in this world who walked freely among regular men and women, disguising themselves as regular members of society, following their prey from one place to another without them ever knowing. They could be your friends, teachers, the cute neighbors who seemed to have everything together, smiling every time they'd pass by you and greet you with beautiful words, and all the while they'd be watching, observing, and recording information on you.

I would know because I was one of them.

But it never bothered me, this understanding I had, this knowledge that I would never fit into the regular world if they would ever see my true face. It never fucking bothered me having storms raging throughout my life, because I knew what I was born for, what I was trained for, and what my purpose was.

If they had to call me a monster then so fucking be it, but I wouldn't apologize for the things I’d done in order to get the job finished. My father showed me around like a peacock, the perfect little son he built from the ground up, doing all his biddings. But what he didn't know was that monsters couldn't be controlled. They gave you a false sense of security until they'd strike straight for your jugular, ripping away everything you were.

And he had no idea what was coming his way.

I sometimes wished that things were different and that I had a relationship with him like some of my buddies from college had a relationship with their own fathers, but the only thing we had was a picture-perfect family that hid their sins behind closed doors, smiling at the world and putting those filthy masks on their faces.

The Academy, this was the only place where I didn't have to care about slipping up. This wilderness was the only place on Earth where monsters were welcomed, praised, and rewarded for their depravity.

Then why the fuck did the look on that girl's face bother me this much?

I did not have time for emotions or connections with other people. They weren't important in the grand scheme of things, and with the exception of my friends, my close circle, I didn't care whether the rest lived or died.

But the moment she stepped inside that ring, hell, the moment she stepped inside The Pit, I remembered her from the train. Those lips I wanted to bite and hear the soft little sounds she'd create only for me; those eyes that held so much darkness, it could rival even my own.

I thought I would never see her again and I was fine with it, no matter how much the monsters living inside my chest rebelled, wanting to claim her, to call her our own, because I knew she would only be a distraction I didn't need right now, and I could find a willing female to fuck if that was what I needed.

I thought I could rein it in, this insane feeling spreading through my body when my eyes connected with hers in that dark cave. I ignored her, moving myself to the other side of the room, but the moment she stepped inside the ring… Fuck.

I could barely stand still.

It took all my willpower to stop myself from charging inside the ring, only to take her far, far away from there. Far away from those people that only wanted to harm her, just to claim their spot with The Brotherhood. They all thought they were just becoming a part of the Society that had been around since almost the beginning of the Academy, but they should've asked before signing their lives over to us.

But her… My dark angel, my obsession, she shouldn't have been there.

I still had crescent-shaped indentations on my palms from my nails as I fisted my hands while she fought up there, taking down each and every opponent as if they weren't worthy of her time. She moved with so much precision, so smoothly, and until Jax told me I was staring I didn't realize I was focusing so hard on her.

She mesmerized me, that little witch. She made me want things I never wanted to have before, and fuck if that wasn't what I needed. I couldn't need her. I didn't want to need her.

I wanted to fuck the defiance out of her when she dared to tell me no. To me. To the person that could end her life in mere seconds. She fucking dared to say no. She dared to verbally spar with me, and my cock had never been harder in my life.

I could have any woman on this campus and I didn't have a hard time scoring one-night stands whenever I wanted, but my body wanted her. My soul made the decision before the rational part of me could even argue against it.

But what bothered me the most was the fact that the moment my fist connected with her face, because I knew she wouldn't get out of there willingly, I hated myself just a little bit more. It felt wrong, hurting her, because it felt as if I was ripping part of my own heart out at that moment.

But I couldn't tell her any of this. I couldn't show her that something in me craved her nearness like an addict craved his next fix, because trusting people in this line of work meant showing weakness, and I prided myself on being a strong man. I had to be in order to do what needed to be done for my family.

My father was a spineless weasel who wasn't able to lead the family where it needed to go, and it was up to me to do what was necessary. He had to go, one way or another, but Gerhard Zylla had an army I didn't, which was why I was here.

But she couldn't be part of that army. I would rather die than have her in such close proximity to me. It was already bad enough that every part of me had felt unsettled since I’d lowered her down to her bed, leaving her behind, because I wanted to stay. I fucking needed to stay.

Walking away from her was like ripping off a piece of me, and the moment she wasn't in my eyesight, I wanted to go back. I had to fight against myself and my instincts and walk to the sparring room, only to find Jax already there.

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