Chapter five
Chapter Five.
Selene's POV.
You're Leon Shadowbrook now.
You've worked hard to get here.
You can't scream.
Those were my thoughts on repeat as I struggled to get up, but I couldn't help the scream that tore out of my throat when Kai's heavy boot landed on my back, throwing me face-first back into the sand and causing me to land once more on my injured shoulder.
“Yield, Shadowbrook,” his cold voice rang out from above me.
“Never,” I forced out through gritted teeth.
Much to my surprise, he took his foot off my back, and I heard his heavy footfalls as he stalked away.
“Then get the hell up and let's finish this,” he said, “besides, it's gonna be more fun when I break you myself.”
Was this asshole serious?
I struggled to my feet, ignoring the way my shoulder screamed in pain with every movement. I clutched it tightly to my body using my other hand, trying not to look at the odd way the joint was sticking out.
“That must hurt like a bitch, pipsqueak,” Kai teased as he stood in the center of the pit with his arms crossed, his face the picture of smug satisfaction.
I wasn't going to stoke his ego by confirming that though. I steeled my voice and asked, “Are we finishing this, Draven? Or isn't your fucking ego large enough yet?”
He laughed, a derisive, mocking sound. “Oh, WE aren't finishing anything, Shadowbrook. I'm giving you a chance to yield on your feet, like a proper Alpha.”
“I'll never yield to you,” I gritted out.
His eyes took on a new light, as something almost like respect swirled deep within those green orbs. He uncrossed his arms and clenched his hands into fists, and I groaned inwardly at the promise of pain.
However, I had come here to prove my worth, and one little fight and injury wasn't going to stop me.
“Very well, then, Shadowbrook. Let's do it your way.”
The fight didn't go on much longer after that. Kai had me pinned to the sand in no time, and I had no choice but to call out my surrender.
Even though I had to keep reminding myself that I was a boy the entire time he had his hand around my throat.
Riding on the high of their star student's win, the rest of the students approached the competition with a sort of ferocity that took me aback a bit.
Fights were brutal, injuries were bloody, and despite the pain in my dislocated shoulder, which faded to a dull throb as the day went on, the fire in my blood didn't dim.
It only burned hotter, and I relished every second of it.
Finally, the tournament came to a finish and the rankings were called, with Kai taking first place, obviously.
Instructor Durran continued to call the names in that boring voice of his, and I was actually starting to nod off when the sound of my own name startled me awake.
“Leon Shadowbrook, 48th place.” Instructor Durran called out and pinned me with a look so dark, I'd be a puddle on the floor if looks could kill.
Wait, me? 48th place?
That had to be a fluke, right?
There were 50 Alphas in training at Howlspire, and if I were 48th…
The council had vetted my performance to be better than two other Alphas.
I felt something warm bloom in my chest, reassuring me that my coming here hadn't been a mistake.
Baby steps, right?
Instructor Durran finished calling out the ranking list and gave his permission for us to disperse, and I dragged my injured self off the arena seat and towards the infirmary.
The plan was to get my shoulder popped back in as quickly as possible, because trying to set it myself was going to really set me back in my training.
“48th place, huh? Not bad, pipsqueak,” Kai said as he passed me at the entrance to the pit, punching me hard in my injured shoulder as he did so.
“What the fuck, Draven?” I couldn't help but shout as I struggled to stay standing.
“For good measure,” he chuckled, fist bumping Rylan Carrington who only shrugged and went along with him.
Assholes. All of them.
I shuffled to the infirmary, cursing Kai Draven back to his ancestors on my way there. On reaching the clinic, I knocked, then opened the door with my good hand.
“Hello, I'd like to get my shoulder set, please.”
“I should've known you'd come straight here, Shadowbrook.”
Every hair on my body stood on end at the sound of that voice.
Instructor Durran.
Why was he here? He wasn't even a medical officer.
“Instructor,” I tried to mask my shock, “fancy seeing you here.”
“Are you questioning my movements, trainee?” He asked, picking up a scalpel from a tray beside him.
“Of course not, instructor,” I replied quickly, not wanting him to see the way his presence affected me.
“That injury” he nodded towards my shoulder, “that's why you're here, no?”
I didn't bother answering, as I wasn't sure what trap he was trying to set.
“You know,” he continued, flipping the scalpel between his fingers, “that's a very mild injury. Not one that warrants coming all the way here.”
He noisily tossed the scalpel aside, and the noise it made as it clattered among the other instruments made me flinch, which much to my despair, he noticed.
He smirked, a dark, evil thing, unlike Kai's teasing smirks from earlier.
My mouth went dry as he stalked towards me, and as much as I didn't want to give him credit, the man was huge.
“I know you're hiding something, Leon Shadowbrook, and I'm going to expose you for the fraud you are.” He whispered darkly as he towered above me.
“I beg to differ, instructor. My records are clean.” I said, desperately trying to keep the shake out of my voice.
He chuckled, “Your records aren't the problem. It's you I'm worried about.”
“And I assure you that you have nothing to worry about sir,” I continued, keeping up the false bravado.
“In that case,” he began stepping away from me and reaching into the pocket of his pants, “you shouldn't have a problem with this.”
I just knew that whatever was on the paper he pulled out couldn't have been good, yet I went ahead to ask him anyway.
“And that is, sir?”
“Oh, it's nothing,” he said, like he wasn't about to jeopardise my entire stay in this academy, “just a full strip-down medical examination, approved by the academy council.”
Every single drop of blood in my body ran cold at those words.
This wasn't the plan.