CHAPTER THREE: AN ACCIDENT AT COMBAT LESSONS

LYSARA

At his brother's command, Kaeren lets go of me and I claw at my throat, desperate for a breath of fresh air.

" Oh My God, Lysa!” Coral, my best and only friend, comes running and stoops to the ground beside me. She helps me to my feet, gently rubbing my back in the process. “Come on, let's get you out of here!"

She takes hold of my hand and pulls me away from the crowd. Kaeren still looks like he wants to kill me, but he can't do anything now that his brother has interfered.

When I get to where Kareal is standing, he puts a hand on my shoulder to stop me. " You should learn to pick your battles carefully, little one.”

I move past him without a response. No matter how Kaeren gets pissed off, he isn't going to kill me. I'm still an Alpha's adopted daughter.

Coral takes me to my dorm and sits me down on my bed, before searching in the cabinets for first aid.

“You can't keep letting them treat you like this," she murmurs, getting on her knees before me so she can apply ointment on my sore fingers.

“You're an Alpha's daughter," I tell her. “You can't know what it's like to be bullied."

She shakes her head and looks up at me. “Alpha's daughter or not, I'll show anyone who tries to bully me my version of crazy."

I laugh because she's right. Coral is not one to sit down and take insults. If she were in my shoes, her wolf would have caused a hurricane level havoc before she even thinks about restraint.

I sigh and hope four years come to an end real quick and I can get the fuck out of this hellhole.

" So how was your journey home?” She asks, rising to her feet and taking a seat on the only chair in the room. “What did the Alpha say when you told him about continuing your studies at the pack college?”

I shrug. " He needs someone to look after Jessica, cuz she's fragile and might easily get hurt."

" Does he know she treats you like this?” She asks, truly sounding concerned. " I mean, he can maybe scold her or bring her to order.”

I scoff out a laugh. " I've lived with him for eleven years and not once has he called her to order. Not when she pushed me in the pool, knowing I can't swim, not when she fed me shrimp, knowing I'm allergic and definitely not when she almost poured hot water on me."

He didn't reprimand her then, he isn't going to do that now. I've learnt to accept my fate and make the best I can out of it.

~~~

After breakfast the next day, I dress in a pair of jeans and leather boots and make my way to combat lessons. I'm thirty minutes late because Jessica spent almost an hour deciding if it was going to be fries or toast for breakfast.

Urgh!

I hold my book closer and adjust the strap of my backpack on my shoulder as I enter the lecture hall. As usual it's filled with students, and since the teacher is already teaching, no one pays much of an attention to me.

Good!

I make my way to the back of the hall and take a seat next to Coral on the very last row. She's got a book out and is busy doodling some kind of alienlike creature.

I shake my head and lean back in my seat, hoping this class will end soon. It's the only one where I don't take part in lectures, but I'm still mandated to attend.

“So, let's begin the training!" The professor’s voice rings out through the crowd. “Our first pair to take the ring will be…"

“I will!" Jessica says standing up and walking to the front. " Professor, is it okay for me to pick my partner?” She asks in her sweet voice that makes the teachers fall at her feet to please her.

The professor smiles and nods. “Of course, Jessica! I'm proud of such enthusiasm."

Enthusiasm, my foot! If there's a reason Jessica is opting to train first, and wanting to be the one to pick her opponent, it's because she has a score to settle with said opponent.

I pity whoever is unlucky enough to fall on the receiving end of her bullshit this morning.

She scans the crowd and smiles when she spots who she's looking for. " You!”

The professor claps once and steps back to her stand. " So it's going to be Jessica Nightbourne and Emory Wiltons. Please both partners step into the ring, shift into your wolves, and fight.Fight till the other yields."

They both step to the front and that's when I see the girl properly. If I'm called a nerd– which I'm not, by the way – Emory is definitely the premium version of it. Shy, quiet and head always buried in her books.

*Poor girl," someone in the row in front of me whispers. “I heard Jessica heard her telling one of her friends that she has a crush on Kaeren."

Oh so she's a worshipper of the asshole as well! Too bad!

Both of them shift into their wolves, Jessica's a medium sized brown wolf with brown eyes, and Emory’s a grey wolf with green eyes.

“Begin!" The professor calls out.

Jessica's wolf wastes no time in charging towards the other, teeth all bared out and latches onto the side of her neck. The girl’s wolf lets out a painful howl. Letting go of her neck, Jessica’s wolf hits Emory's with her paw sending the latter across the ring.

A gasp follows from the crowd and for a second we think Emory's wolf won't get up. After two seconds of silence, she rises to her feet and weakly charges towards Jessica's. Before she can make an attack, she's been tackled to the ground by her opponent.

Jessica’s wolf sinks its teeth into its neck once more, and the painful howl once again fills the entire lecture hall.

"Jessica, that's enough!" the professor calls, but Jessica simply ignores her.

My magic hums beneath my fingertips and I act purely out of instinct. One moment I'm seated at the back of the class and the next I'm at the ring, throwing Jessica's wolf across the room and stooping before an unconscious Emory.

“She needs medical attention now!" I call out desperately as she bleeds all over the floor. Two male students rush and carry her out of the hall.

It's not until she's taken out, and I stand on my feet to find everyone staring at me with shock filled eyes that I realize what I just did.

Oh no!