Teamed Up

Dahlia ~

“I really think you should stop getting on his nerves so often,” Sienna muttered as we strolled through the dimly lit hallway toward the dining hall. Her voice carried a half-joking, half-serious tone.

“It’s not completely my fault,” I replied, flicking a strand of hair out of my face. “He’s utterly insufferable. I hate him, I hate all of them.”

“How couldn’t you?” Sienna sighed. “I’ve been trying to hide how much they disgust me.”

I clenched my jaw. “It’s getting harder to pretend I don’t want to set this entire school on fire with everyone in it.”

The words had barely left my mouth when we rounded the corner and ran straight into some students.

Four of them… it was a pack.

The Alpha stood in the middle and his sneer was instant.

He shoved Sienna so hard and she hit the ground with a thud that echoed through the hallway.

“Watch it, dimwits,” he said with a voice that dripped with disdain, “You both reek of abominations.”

My blood boiled instantly. I grabbed Sienna’s arm and helped her to her feet as she shot the Alpha a fierce glare.

“What’s the matter?” one of his cronies jeered. “Can’t handle a little shove? Guess abominations like you aren’t as tough as you think.”

I opened my mouth to snap back, but before I could, something shifted in the air. A pressure. A charge. Like static before a lightning strike.

The Alpha’s cocky smirk faded into a horrified look as his body jerked violently, and then he was floating.

His feet dangled uselessly off the floor as his hands clawed at his throat, but there was nothing there, no one to fight against.

“What the—” one of the other pack members stammered, backing away.

The remaining three exchanged terrified glances before scattering like cowards.

And then I saw him.

Orion.

He was walking toward us in very leisurely but lethal steps that portrayed every ounce of his fury. His hair was an unruly mess of red, his black shirt was rolled up at the sleeves to reveal strong, scarred forearms that screamed danger.

The Alpha’s body hung limp in the air, his mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air. Orion’s eyes narrowed with menace.

“Give me one reason,” Orion said with a voice that was low and deadly, “why I shouldn’t blow your head off right now.”

The Alpha choked, trying to speak but unable to get a word out. His face turned red, then purple.

Sienna clutched my arm tightly, her nails digging into my skin. “Dahlia,” she whispered, “he's going to kill him.”

“That's against the rules,” I muttered, but I wasn’t entirely sure I disagreed with his decision.

Orion tilted his head slightly, studying the Alpha like he was deciding which bone to break first. “Nothing to say? That’s disappointing.”

He raised his hand, and for a terrifying moment, I thought he was actually going to do it.

“Orion,” a calm voice interrupted.

Vincent.

He had appeared out of nowhere, his steps were purposeful as he moved between Orion and the weak Alpha.

“Enough,” Vincent said firmly to Orion. “We can’t have students dying in the hands of other students in this manner, it would ruin the reputation of this prestigious academy. Let go of him.”

Orion’s jaw ticked, and for a second, I thought he might ignore him. But then, with a flick of his wrist, the Alpha dropped to the ground in a coughing, gasping heap.

“Pathetic,” Orion muttered, brushing past Vincent without so much as a glance back at the Alpha.

Vincent stepped in front of Sienna and I and he gave us a look that was skeptical but not unkind. He had always been suspicious of us, right from the moment Naima allowed us into the school so easily.

“The Proprietress would like a word with you both.” He stated.

I glanced at Sienna, who still looked like she was recovering from the sheer sexual frustration Orion’s display had left in its wake. She caught me staring and rolled her eyes.

“What? Like you weren’t thinking the same thing,” she muttered.

Oh well.

We followed Vincent through the hallways until we reached Naima’s office. The heavy oak door creaked as it opened to reveal her sitting behind her desk, a scroll was spread out in front of her and it looked at least a thousand years old.

Her sharp eyes flicked up to us, and she wasted no time. “Sit.”

We obeyed and slid into the chairs across from her as she continued studying the scroll.

“I should’ve done this earlier,” she said, more to herself than to us. “But I was too occupied with these students and getting accustomed to the school...”

She sighed and pressed a finger to her temple, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

Sienna and I exchanged a look.

“I decided to search the library more thoroughly,” Naima continued, her fingers moved to trace the delicate script on the scroll. “And I found this.”

She leaned back in her chair, her expression was victorious. “The location of the Kingmaker gemstone.”

My stomach dropped.

Sienna let out a gasp, “what?”

“This means we wouldn't have to be in this place for much longer,” I commented with a sigh of relief.

“That is correct my queen. Tomorrow, the hunting trials will be conducted in the forest and mountain regions and through that, you can find the location of the gemstones, I will tweak some things here and there to make sure you both and your team are situated in the forest.” she stated.

“The only problem now, is that this scroll is centuries old, the kingmaker gemstone might have been moved from that location.” she commented.

“Only one way to find out, right?” Sienna asked.

“That is indeed right.” Naima responded.

Something she said stuck with me.

“You said we have a team?” I questioned.

“Yes, your majesty,” She clarified. “You both will be teamed up with the Vicious boys for tomorrow’s task.”