Chapter 7 Chapter 7
Violet
"The principal is going to make me your roommate," I blurted out.
His expression didn't change, but annoyance flickered in his eyes.
"Like hell he is."
"He already approved of the idea. I'm being moved to your quarters tonight."
It wasn’t his suggestion but I wasn’t stupid to tell him that, not when he was glowering at me.
"Then move yourself right back out, Gingerhead!"
"I can't! And for the record my hair is strawberry blonde" The desperation bled into my voice.
"They wanted to throw me in the dungeon or exile me. You're the only one who isn't affected by… whatever this is."
He stepped closer, and I instinctively stepped back until I hit the wall behind me.
"Listen carefully, ginger," he said, his voice deadly quiet.
"I don't want a roommate. I don't want your problems. And I especially don't want some mystery girl who smells like trouble and makes four alpha heirs lose their minds."
His silver eyes bored into mine. "Find. Someone. Else."
"There is no one else! And stop calling me ginger!" The words burst out of me, raw and a tad annoyed.
I reached out without thinking and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him closer.
"Please. I just need to survive one year here then I’ll get transferred somewhere else. Till then I'll stay out of your way, I won't talk to you, won't bother you, won't even look at you if that's what you want. Just don't kick me out. Please!!
His breathing grew erratic as he looked down at me, and I suddenly became aware of how close we were. From this angle, I could see flecks of lighter silver in his eyes, and feel the heat radiating from him.
My fingers were still twisted in his collar as I stared up at him.
His gaze dropped to where I was touching him, then back to my face, dipping to my lips.
Our breaths were in sync for a second and my heart began hammering for an entirely different reason now.
I let go like I'd been burned and sprang away from him, my back hitting the wall again.
"I'm sorry," I stammered. "I didn't mean to…"
"Do you know what you are apart from being a redhead?" he cut me off, his voice rough.
I shook my head, accepting he would never stop calling me annoying nicknames.
"You're an anomaly and do you know what they do to anomalies?" he asked.
I shook my head, not wanting to hear it but I was pretty sure he was going to answer me.
"That scent? It's unmated alpha power. Raw and uncontrolled."
He dragged a hand through his hair, looking almost frustrated.
"You don't just smell good to them. You smell like a prize to be won. Like proof of dominance."
“I don’t smell good to them” I argued. “Or they wouldn’t ask me to be exiled.”
He scoffed. “You are really naive, Red”
"What do you mean? And no more stupid name change" I asked, fighting the urge to not retort.
"Those four heirs?" He gestured vaguely back toward the assembly hall. "Right now they think you're a threat. But soon they'll realize what you actually are. And when they do, they won't want to kill you anymore."
That was a good thing, right? But then why did he speak in that sinister voice?
"Then what will they want?" I croaked.
His silver eyes locked onto mine.
"To claim you. To own you. To prove they're strong enough to bind an unmated female who can affect alpha heirs before the others can."
His expression was unreadable. "You'll become their competition and they'll come for you with everything they have."
I blinked rapidly trying to process it all.
“Uh, don’t they have mates and all? Surely alpha heirs wouldn’t want a human like me?”
I gulped, fighting to not let the truth slip out of my mouth that I was an alpha’s daughter.
Because being a wolfless daughter of an alpha was way worse than being just a regular human.
He snorted at that line.
“Alpha heirs will do anything to get power. After all, they are all here to outrun each other. Me included.”
“So you will kill me or…use me for power?” I gulped nervously. Somehow, it felt odd asking him the second question with us standing so close.
His body radiated warmth as opposed to his eyes that seemed to burn with contempt. And oddly enough, I wondered how he would look if he smiled.
His face looked rigid and jaw set with harsh angles and high cheekbones like he was on alert 24/7. But what if he loosened up a little.
For a few seconds, he didn’t say anything, didn’t answer at all. And it was just the two of us standing in the passageway with the moon shining high above us in the dark sky.
His gaze flicked to my slightly parted lips before he viciously tore his gaze away.
He stepped back, putting distance between us again when he could have just snapped my neck like he claimed he wanted to.
"You'll get yourself killed in my room if you breathe the wrong way. But at least you won't be anyone's trophy, Carrot."
My heart was hammering against my ribcage.
"So… you'll let me stay?"
He started walking away without answering. At least, he didn’t say no outright this time.
"Damian," I called after him.
He paused but didn't turn around.
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet," he said. "I give you a week to prove that I should tolerate you. If you can't, then find someone else to babysit you or just drop out of the academy."
Then he lowered his voice, the hint of a smirk tugging at his lips.
“Though I am pretty sure you won't even last a day.”
“Where are you going?” I shouted and he answered without looking back.
“To talk to the principal obviously”
Then he was gone, disappearing around the corner.
So the one person in this academy who might actually kill me for fun, not instinct, was the Mad King’s heir, the guy who I was supposed to share a room with.
And I had to now prove to him that he shouldn’t kill me first so the other heirs got a chance at doing just that later?
Fantastic!
The Moon Goddess really hated me it seemed.