Chapter 156 Chapter 156

Chapter 156 Chapter 156
Amber

His posture remained perfect with his wide shoulders and hands clasped behind him the way soldiers stood at ease. 
Meanwhile, I saw a few students tremble with fear.
The night air carried the faint scent of the grass crushed under hundreds of feet, mixed with perfume and the sharper edge of nervous sweat. Somewhere to my left a student shifted restlessly, his eyes darting from left to right as if he wanted to find an exit. 
I could feel my own pulse in my throat as well.
Alpha Voss gave a single, slow nod upon hearing his son’s answer but said nothing. The cold weight of his attention seemed to ease only slightly.
Alpha Thorne’s lazy voice came next, smooth as expensive liquor poured over ice.
“Soren.”
Soren stepped forward with a slight, almost insolent roll of his shoulders. Where Ryker had been rigid, Soren moved like someone who had never been told no and saw no reason to start now. 
He offered the screens a small, charming smile that did not reach his eyes. The floating lights caught the gold in his skin and the newer scar on his cheek.
“I chose the ones who already wanted blood,” he said,  like he was discussing weather. 
“The ones who get restless when things stay peaceful too long. Skill can be taught but motivation can’t. I’ve got twelve. A couple of them might die early but the rest will make it interesting for everyone else.”
I exchanged a nervous glance with Ellie.
Thorne’s half-smile widened a fraction on the screen. He turned the glass in his hand, the faint sound of ice against crystal audible even through the speakers, and said nothing else. 
His aura was warmer on the surface, almost inviting, but underneath it lay something that felt like a blade wrapped in silk. Looking at him too long made the back of my neck prickle.
Alpha Kane spoke next, his voice sounding like gravel dragged across stone.
“Kade.”
Kade stepped up and didn’t bother with a smile or a polished stance. He simply planted his feet and looked at his father’s scarred face on the screen. The resemblance between them was almost painful in the low light.
“I picked the ones who can take a hit and keep moving,” he said in a flat voice. “No one who folds after the first broken bone or the first real fear. I had ten hunters but one dropped out last week when the training got serious. I didn’t replace him because it's better to have nine who stay than ten who run when the blood starts.”
Kane’s jaw flexed once, making the thick scar along his face pulled tight. 
He gave a short grunt that might have been acceptance and glanced across the sea of students once again
It felt like standing too close to a storm that had already decided violence was the simplest solution and I inched back.
Finally, alpha Vael’s cool, refined voice followed suit but by now I had understood nothing about the four alphas or their heirs was calm or soft.
“Caspian.”
Caspian inclined his head toward the screens with perfect courtesy and answered.
“I selected for adaptability and strategic value,” he said, voice smooth as polished glass. 
“Raw strength is useful, but the Hunt rewards those who can read the field and adjust before the others realize the ground has shifted. So I picked ten hunters. Each of them covers a different weakness in the others. They function as a unit. I do not tolerate lone wolves within my ranks.”
Vael’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly in what might have been mild approval. His aura was the most unsettling of the four.
Then Alpha Thorne leaned forward slightly on his side of the screen, still smiling that same dangerous half-smile, and spoke to no one in particular. The words dropped into the silence like a stone into still water.
“And how is the fifth Alpha heir doing?”
The reaction was immediate. Students began murmuring in uneven waves, voices rising and falling like unsettled water.
“Fifth?”
“He means the Mad King’s heir”
“Damian Blackwood”
“Is he even here tonight?”
“I haven’t seen him all evening”
My heart skipped so hard it hurt. For a moment the night air felt too thin. The wind cut colder across the open grounds, lifting the edges of the banners and sending a visible shiver through the nearest rows of students. I wrapped my arms around myself without meaning to, fingers digging into the fabric of the dress.
The principal stepped forward quickly with his hands clasped tightly in front of him. His smile stretched just a little too wide. 
“The academy is treating him well, of course. Very well.” There was a flippant brightness to his tone that felt forced, almost brittle.
“He is… settling in beautifully and is loving the life here. Thriving, one might even say. We have made every accommodation necessary for a young man of his… unique background.”
Alpha Voss went very still. 
His winter-ice eyes narrowed on the principal immediately. On the screen the change was subtle, but the principal’s smile faltered. 
A thin sheen of sweat appeared at his hairline, visible even from where I stood in the crowd. The cold weight of Alpha Voss’s attention seemed to press down on the entire stage.
Alpha Kane’s gravel voice rolled out next, heavier than before.
“We heard the Mad King’s heir refused to create a faction the way the others did.”
The principal’s hands tightened until the knuckles went white. His voice climbed half an octave, still attempting that bright, dismissive tone.
“Damian is… more of a lone wolf by nature. Independent. He prefers to work alone rather than manage others. But he has shown great respect for the academy’s traditions and structure. He values his time here. Truly. The academy has done everything possible to support him and encourage his integration. We take his presence very seriously…”
“He wasn’t participating in the Hunt either,” Alpha Vael cut in abruptly and his dark eyes visible on the screen did not blink.
The principal’s smile brightened like he was growing as nervous as the rest of us. He gave a little wave of one hand, as though brushing the concern aside.
“Ah, but he is participating now. He has been slowly opening up to the academy’s structure and culture over the past weeks and showing real commitment and growth. We are quite proud of the progress he has made under our guidance, mine to be specific”
Alpha Voss’s voice sliced through the principal’s words like a knife through thin cloth.
“Then introduce us to his hunters.”