Chapter 22 WOLVES AND VIPERS.
SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW.
Walking into the office, I was hit with the smell of polished wood and power. It was the kind of room that didn’t need to shout its authority, because the leather chairs, the expensive wood, and the gleam of brass told you exactly where you stood.
It looked like everything the office of the principal of a school as prestigious as Ravenscroft High would look like.
Behind the mahogany desk sat the principal, dressed in his expensive royal blue suit. His bright eyes stared sharply at me behind his thick-rimmed glasses, as he sat cross-legged in his expensive leather seat.
I looked to the seat before him. And the sight that greeted me was unsurprising.
Roxanne was there already.
Perched on the edge of the chair like a queen in her throne, her back was straight, as one of her ankles crossed over the other. She looked at me with her signature smug smirk, with a malicious glint in her eyes. Her red lip gloss catches the light like a blade behind her white teeth.
My eyes run over the room one more time, and the sight of a panel greets me. The scholars of Ravenscroft sit in a straight line with the principal in the center, ready to judge my case with their fangs drawn out to taste my blood.
The hunt had started, and I was already bleeding.
“Miss Bishop,” The principal said, as he stuck his hand out, gesturing to the chair opposite him. His tone came out clipped and formal as he got to business. “Do sit down. We need to discuss… a serious concern regarding your scholarship.”
My stomach tightened and coiled in my belly, as the weight of my trepidation settled in my heart, but instead of letting it show, I forced my chin high and held my head up like Lucien would want me to.
If they wanted me trembling and scared, they’d have to work harder.
“What concern may that be, sir?” My voice only shook a little as I spoke with as much confidence as I could muster.
I saw Roxanne smirk from the corner of my eyes, her lips stretched to the side with the kind of smile designed to salt wounds, as she pretended to think for a moment. “Maybe you should ask your… boyfriend.”
The word dripped from her lips, poison shot up in my veins.
Principal Whitley cleared his throat sharply, silencing her, as she immediately sat up with her pretentious mask slipping back on. “There have been… quite a few allegations.
One of them is that your grades from your last school were tampered with....and that you are not the stellar student you are thought to be." He says, leaning forward with a concerned expression.
"I will have you know that this is a serious issue, especially because the basis of your scholarship being offered was that you were at the top of your class in your previous school.
There's also the question of how you have maintained that scholarship; that it was not as I and the members of this board thought.... That you’ve,” He paused for a moment, and his cheeks reddened slightly, betraying his discomfort. "secured it through… inappropriate arrangements.”
My heart dropped to the floor at his words, as the malicious rumor Roxanne and her cronies spread about me stared me in the face.
Heat rushed up my neck, as humiliation burned hotter than any slap I could have ever gotten. My fists clenched in my lap as I thought back to what I truly had to do to stay on top of everyone at my former school and this school.
There is a reason I remained in the top ten best students here, after Lucien, who stood at number one, along with the horsemen following behind him, before I stood behind them; shocking every damn rich kid with a diamond spoon in their mouths, and their parents.
I remembered the nights I'd stay up studying for every test, exam, assessment... There was a damn good reason the school offered me the position of Valedictorian alongside Lucien a few days ago.
I was an academic weapon, and they would see it today.
I'd show them who the fuck I am.
“That’s a lie,” I said, trying desperately to keep my voice composed. “Every document, every test, every requirement, or assessment.....I earned my place here.”
Roxanne tilted her head slightly to the side, feigning pity as she pouted mockingly. “Some people might believe that. But then again, some other people might not… especially with all those photos circulating.”
My blood froze to ice immediately. “What photos?”
Her grin widened at my shock, as she perked up like a cat at the sight of food.
Harrington’s gaze darted between us in shock as he stared at Roxanne with a different look. It was like he realized he wasn’t in control anymore, like he’d let a snake into his office and was now realizing it.
“Regardless of… those rumors or whatever photos have been circulating, Miss Bishop, you must understand the seriousness of this situation. The scholarship board could choose to open an investigation. But until then, your standing is… quite precarious.”
I sucked in a sharp breath that stung with every inhale. “So I’m guilty until proven innocent?”
He pursed his lips, like he wanted to speak, but couldn't. He didn’t answer, and that was enough to let me realise my standing.
Roxanne leaned in slightly, her voice silk and venom-like. “Careful, Sloane. When your world is built on charity, it only takes one crack for it all to come crashing down.”
I wanted to claw the smirk right off her face, to watch as she would look in shock and trepidation with every smack I'd give her.
Instead, I stood, with my nails digging into my palms to anchor myself. With a sharp glare, I looked down at her as I said,
“I’m not here because of charity. I’m here because I’m better than you, than most of you. And deep down, you know it, and you can see it. That’s why you’re scared enough to spread lies and rumors, because you're too much of a coward to actually go toe to toe with me.”
Her eyes flashed immediately, as her cheeks grew red with anger and embarrassment, breaking through her mask of feigned sadness for just a heartbeat.
And victory pulsed in my chest; it was small, fragile, but it was mine.
Harrington's voice cut through the silence, harsh and final as he leaned forward in his seat beside the principal. “Enough.
Miss Bishop, you are dismissed. We will reconvene if we see it's necessary.”
I was dismissed. Like trash.
Like the runt of the litter.
Like, I didn't matter.
I spun on my heel and walked out before Roxanne could savor the moment of victory further. My pulse roared in my ears, as my heart pounded loudly. I could feel the humiliation and rage twining together until I could barely tell them apart.
I turned the corner, hoping to get somewhere to cry peacefully.
And then I saw him.
Lucien.
He leaned against the wall outside the office with a lazy, but calculated expression, like he’d been waiting all along.
And I could tell that he heard everything that went on in there.
Our eyes locked immediately, with his icy stare on mine. He didn’t have to ask what happened. He already knew.
“Didn’t I warn you?” His voice was low and dangerous. “Wolves never stop hunting.”
I swallowed hard, fighting the sting in my eyes as I tried to remain strong before him. “Then maybe I should stop being prey.”
In my response, he smirked immediately. His smirk was sharp, approving, as he stood straight with his hands in his pockets. His tall form stood powerfully over my short one as he walked towards me in confident strides.
"We're gonna show them who the hell you are, and it will be with the entire school watching. The damn teachers, the students...hell, even the fucking janitors and chefs will see it. And guess what?
It'll be glorious."
And for the first time since stepping into that office, I felt something other than fury.
I felt fire,